Bitfocus Companion Buttons Inside WorshipMetrics: The Companion Tab, Slide Actions, and Commands

Three ways Present and Companion work together

Bitfocus Companion builds button panels for your gear. WorshipMetrics Present runs your slides, lyrics, and screens. Together they do three things:

	What it does	Example
The Companion tab	Shows your Companion buttons inside Present	The slides volunteer presses “Lights: Worship” without leaving Present
Slides press buttons	A slide presses a Companion button when it goes live	The “Prayer” slide also cuts to the wide camera and dims the stage
Buttons drive Present	A Companion button sends a command to Present	A Stream Deck button advances the lyrics or starts the countdown

1. The Companion tab

The Companion tab sits beside Audio, Overlays, Clocks, and Macros in Present. It shows Companion’s own buttons, so whatever you’ve built in Companion is right there, live, with its colors and feedback.

In Tech Manager on the booth computer:

1. Open Present, then the Companion tab.
2. If Companion is running on this computer, it’s found and connected automatically. Otherwise, Tech Manager checks the church network for it and lists what it finds.
3. A green check means you’re connected.

In the web app:

• Chrome and Edge show the buttons inside Present once you allow “access devices on your local network.” Use Companion’s IP address, not a computer name.
• Safari and Firefox open Companion’s buttons in their own window.
• The web app reaches Companion over the church network, so it works for a laptop or tablet in the building.

Make the buttons bigger: the gear at the bottom right opens Buttons view, where you choose which pages, columns, and rows to show. Showing fewer columns makes each button larger.

2. Slides that press Companion buttons

1. In Present, open Settings, then Connections.
2. Under Send to other gear, click Add device and choose Bitfocus Companion. Enter Companion’s address; the usual port is filled in. Click Test.
3. Right-click a slide, choose Add action…, pick your Companion device, and choose Press button with the page, row, and column.
4. Click Test now, then Done.

The action reads as a sentence, such as “Press button 1 / 0 / 1,” and the booth sends it when the slide goes live. One Companion button can do many things at once, so one slide action can cut a camera, change lights, and switch a sound scene.

(More on slide actions: protocol triggers in Present.)

3. Companion buttons that drive Present

In Tech Manager on the booth computer:

1. In Present, open Settings, then Connections.
2. Under Receive commands, switch on HTTP (or OSC). Nothing listens until you do.
3. Copy the address shown, and use it in a Companion button with Companion’s generic HTTP connection.

The Command list shows what’s available, including:

• /wm/next and /wm/previous
• /wm/cue/3 (go to slide 3)
• /wm/blackout and /wm/clear
• /wm/timer/start/ followed by a timer’s name
• /wm/macro/ followed by a macro’s name

The same address works as an OSC address and an HTTP path.

What to know about the network

• Companion runs at church, on the booth computer or another computer there. WorshipMetrics shows and presses its buttons; it doesn’t replace Companion.
• Keep Companion on the staff or AV network, not the guest Wi-Fi. Its buttons page doesn’t ask for a password by default.
• Give Companion’s computer a fixed IP address, and record it in the Signal Map.

Why it matters

Your volunteers already work in Present on Sunday. Putting the buttons for the rest of the system right beside the slides means one window, one place to look, and fewer things to learn. It’s the same idea as the three-seat setup: smaller, clearer jobs that more people can do.