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Custom Router panel
Docs for
Overview
Getting started
What is Bitfocus Buttons?
Install Buttons and get started
Manage your Buttons license
Activate Buttons offline
Find your way around Buttons
Create your first backup
Add an ATEM connection
Choose a control method
Choose an installation path
Install Buttons on Debian or Ubuntu
Understand HA clustering
Kubernetes HA
Update or remove Buttons
Positions
Understand positions
Create a position
Add controls and sections to a position
Create your first button
Use a connection's presets
Build more capable button actions
Add more feedback to a button
Organize controls in a section
Shift Section
Organize controls with a Folder Section
Add a Popover Section
Build and reuse a Shared Section
Build a Router Section
Understand Custom Routers
Custom Router panel
Surfaces
Surface compatibility
Add and attach a surface
Device orientation
Connections
Update a connection's module safely
Monitor and troubleshoot a connection
Router integrations
VideoHub and AJA KUMO
Utah Scientific BPS
Generic SW-P-08
Nevion VideoIPath
Arkona BLADE//runner
Routing
Physical routing
Configure ports and labels
Take a physical route
Understand route status
Topology graph
Routing Presets
Get started with virtual routing
Configure Nested Shapes
Reverse routing
Tielines
Routing Projects
Routing settings
Troubleshoot a route
Tally
Understand the Tally system
Send ATEM tally and labels to a UMD
Interpret Active Tally state
TSL/UMD connections
Diagnose tally problems
NMOS
Understand NMOS in Buttons
Connect Buttons to an NMOS Registry
Built-in Registry Server
Configure NMOS connections
Discover and adopt
Browse the NMOS inventory
Manage NMOS multicast addresses
Diagnose NMOS problems
Understand Cuelists
Build a Cuelist
Read and advance a running Cuelist
Control a Cuelist from a Position
Workflows
Understand workflows
Build your first workflow
Reuse a group of workflow nodes safely
Troubleshoot a workflow
Recipes
Sequence a timed automation
Call an HTTP endpoint from a workflow
REST endpoint
Use variables
Understand variable scope
Understand nested variables
Update expressions for v1.8
Plan and use Tags
Access
Create and manage users
Create roles and assign permissions
Grant access to specific resources
Show different controls by role
Sessions
Set up PIN and NFC sign-in
SSO
Get started with SSO
Connect a generic OIDC provider
Connect LDAP or Active Directory
Map identity claims to roles
Secure a Buttons deployment
Integrations
External control
Connect to Bitfocus Listener
USB Relay
Install USB Relay on Windows
Install USB Relay on macOS
Install USB Relay on Linux
Install USB Relay on a Raspberry Pi
Get started with the Control API
Secure and monitor the Control API
Control API reference
API reference
Administration
Enable and manage installable features
Services and health
Configure and monitor scheduled backups
Restore a backup and verify it
Export or import Buttons configuration
Store and rotate connection secrets
Replace the HTTPS certificate
HA backup and recovery
Settings
Collect support information
Reference
Glossary
Button Inspector reference
Network ports reference
Expressions
Internal actions reference
Routing Presets panel reference
Startup configuration reference
Workflow nodes
Connection workflow nodes
Workflow workflow nodes
Internal workflow nodes
Position workflow nodes
API workflow nodes
Utility workflow nodes

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You are viewing documentation for Buttons 1.8.See the docs for Buttons 1.6
Buttons/Positions/Custom Router panel

Custom Router panel

Custom Router can help you build focused routing panels with the controls operators need. You choose the controls, their appearance and position, and how people move between groups. The enclosing Custom Router owns the panel's current selections and displayed state so the controls work together.

Warning

A Custom Router can change real signal paths. Build and operate this example with non-production ATEM destinations.

Before you begin#

  • Add a working ATEM connection with routing sources and destinations.
  • Create a position and open its editor.
  • Choose ATEM destinations that are not carrying production signals.
This example builds a day-to-day panel with a small group of ATEM sources and destinations, deliberate Take operation, and controls grouped in a folder or popover.

How Custom Router owns the panel's state#

A newly created Custom Router is an empty section that owns the routing state for everything placed inside it. That state includes the selected source and destination, enabled levels, selected routing Preset, label choices, and recent take result.
Controls inside the section read and update the same state. A source button changes the selected source, a destination button changes the selected destination, Take acts on those selections, and Clear Selection discards them. This shared owner is what lets you mix and match source, destination, Preset, label, level, and utility controls instead of using a fixed router layout.
Folders, popovers, and shared sections can organize those controls without splitting the panel. As long as they remain inside the Custom Router, their routing buttons still use the state owned by that Custom Router. A routing button moved outside it no longer has a Custom Router to operate on.
Selection represents the route the operator is preparing. Active state represents what the controlled system currently reports. With a separate Take button, selecting a source and destination does not change the route until the operator takes it.

Create the Custom Router#

  1. In the position editor, select the canvas cells that should contain the panel.
  2. Right-click the selection, then choose Create... → Custom Router.
  3. Select the new Custom Router to open its inspector.
  4. Under Take Behavior, set Auto Take Mode to Off (Require Take Button).
  5. Under Source Selection and Destination Selection, leave Control Mode set to Editable.
  6. Under Levels, choose the signal levels this panel should route. For an ATEM bundle that should keep picture and embedded audio together, enable Video and Audio. Include only levels that exist in the routing resources you intend to use.
  7. Under Source Label Default and Destination Label Default, choose the Label Type and Fallback Strategy that make the endpoints recognizable to the operator. See Understand physical routing.
With Off (Require Take Button) selected, the panel separates route selection from execution. The After Successful Take setting controls whether the panel keeps both selections, clears both, or clears only the selected source after a successful take.

Add sources, destinations, and utilities#

  1. Open the Routing sidebar in the position editor. Its panel is titled Routing Presets.
  2. Set Source Button Type and Destination Button Type to Normal Selection.
  1. Expand Physical Source, then drag the ATEM sources needed for this panel into the Custom Router. For example, add Input 1, Input 2, and Input 3 if those labels match your ATEM resources.
  2. Expand Physical Destination, then drag in the non-production destinations the operator should control, such as an available M/E or auxiliary destination.
  3. Expand Utilities, then add Take and Clear Selection.
  4. Arrange the controls so their source and destination roles are clear.
  1. Select Apply to save the panel.
Normal Selection buttons can show selected and active routing state, compatibility, source contribution, and tally marks when the corresponding information is available. The labels and state come from the enclosing Custom Router and the routing resources, not from the button's position on the canvas.

Tip

Keep Take and Clear Selection visible while sources or destinations are inside folders and popovers.

Group controls with folders and popovers#

Create folders and popovers inside the Custom Router when the panel needs more controls than should remain visible at once.
  • Use a Folder Section for navigable groups such as Studio sources, Remote sources, and Playback.
  • Use a popover for occasional choices that should open temporarily without replacing the current group.
Place the generated routing buttons inside those nested elements. Moving a folder, popover, shared section, or routing button outside the Custom Router disconnects it from the state owned by that Custom Router.

Add a routing Preset#

A saved routing Preset can appear alongside individual source and destination controls.
  1. In the Routing sidebar, expand Routing Presets.
  2. Set Preset Button Type to one of these behaviors:
  • Select Preset adds the Preset to the Custom Router's current selection. The operator then uses Take to execute it.
  • Direct Take executes the Preset immediately.
  1. Drag the Preset into the Custom Router or into a folder or popover nested under it.
  2. Select Apply.
Use Select Preset when the panel should preserve deliberate selection followed by Take. Direct Take is intentional one-press execution and can change several destinations at once.

Operate the panel#

  1. Open the position on an operator surface or in the live position view.
  2. Select an ATEM source. Its button should display the selected state.
  3. Select a non-production destination. The source and destination now represent the prepared route.
  1. Select Take.
  2. Observe the destination and the connected ATEM. The panel should display the active route reported by the routing system; its selected state follows the configured After Successful Take behavior.
  3. Select Clear Selection when you need to discard the current choices without taking another route.
If After Successful Take is set to clear a selection, the corresponding source or destination indication clears after the successful take. This does not undo the active route.

If you get stuck#

What you see
What to try
A generated routing button has no selection or routing effect.
Confirm that the button, or the folder, popover, or shared section containing it, is mounted under the intended Custom Router.
Selecting a source and destination does not change the ATEM route.
Check Auto Take Mode. With Off (Require Take Button) selected, use the panel's Take button.
An expected ATEM endpoint is not available in Routing Presets.
Confirm that the connection exposes the corresponding routing resource, then clear the sidebar search and expand the appropriate physical source or destination group.

Undo the test route#

Select the source that was active before the test, select the same non-production destination, and choose Take. The displayed active state should return to the original source reported by the ATEM.

Where to go next#

  • Get started with virtual routing when the panel should present logical resources instead of controls tied directly to the ATEM.

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