Show control for Mac · 2.0 alpha

One person. One GO. The whole room.

SPRKplug runs the slides, video, music, and timers for a live event from one calm screen. It was built inside a working production company for the technician who runs the whole room alone.

FreeDownload free for a limited time
Download for Mac What it does

2.0 alpha 15 · macOS 15 or newer · Apple silicon · 10.6 MB · How to install

Try the console: Space GO Esc Panic ←→ slides

Northwind SummitDemo show
8:57:40
ProgramNothing on screen
Now running 0
Watch

49 seconds. One show.

What it does

Everything a live event needs. One screen.

Download free
Slides and lyricsDrop in Keynote, PowerPoint, or PDF, or paste a song's lyrics. Notes go to the speaker; a clicker drives it. Video and screensSponsor loops and demo reels with fades and loops. Each screen can show its own mix. MusicWalk-in playlists that crossfade, walk-ons and beds from sound files or Spotify, and Talk over to dip the music for an announcement. Timers and messagesCountdowns to a clock time, and messages only the speaker sees. One GOSpace or a MIDI foot switch fires the next cue. Group cues to start together or one after another. Safe under pressureTwo-stage Panic, a show lock, a safe slide, a Ready check before doors, and a show that reopens itself after a crash.
The live screen

Three questions.
One glance.

What is live? What happens next? Where am I? Every part of the screen answers one of them, and nothing on it asks you to switch modes. Tap a marker to see what it does.

The SPRKplug live screen: the run of show on the left with four cues running, the Program monitor, speaker timer, and Now Running list on the right.
A show day, start to finish

8:10 to 9:32.
No surprises.

A keynote morning at the Northwind Summit, with one technician and one Mac. Scroll through it.

Stage Display with the current slide, next slide, notes, time left, and stage messages. Stage Display showing a full-screen countdown timer.
Stage Display

Speakers see what they need. Nothing more.

Stage Display picks its layout from what is running: slides and notes, a large timer, or the clock and next cue.

  • Current and next slide, with the notes from the Keynote or PowerPoint file.
  • Time left in big numbers, and the clock beside it.
  • Messages only the speaker sees, like “Wrap by 9:32”. The audience never does.
When it goes wrong

Panic has
two stages.

Press Esc once and everything fades out cleanly, sound and screens together. If a fade is too slow, press it again and it all stops at once. Dialog boxes keep their own Escape.

House sound
Audience screen
Walk-on music and the keynote deck are live.
Show running
Amber

Show Mode

One switch protects the show. No edits, drags, or imports. GO, clears, pausing, messages, and Panic all keep working.

Safe slide

Never black

Press S (or the clicker's blank button) and outputs whose Look includes Holding show your safe slide while you sort it out.

Window

Close, keep going

Closing the window never stops the show. Only Quit does. ⌘0 brings the window back.

Out of order

Load, then GO

Enter or double-click loads a cue as Next without firing it. Press GO when the room is ready, or use Go Cue for an immediate jump.

Program

Monitors that tell the truth

Program previews the selected output, fades included. Its label and connection status tell you whether you are viewing a connected output, a test window, or a placeholder.

Edits

Change it live

Fix a typo in a lower third or a slide while it is on screen. The change shows up at once.

Before doors

Every problem comes with a fix button.

The Ready check looks at screens, sound, music apps, missing files, and the schedule. Each problem says what is wrong and gives you the button that fixes it. When it is ready, enter Show Mode from the same screen.

Ready check: 3 ready, 4 need you, 3 optional, with Choose screens and Find it buttons beside each problem.
Color moods

Monolith

True black, white highlight. Maximum contrast for dark rooms.

Six tested pairs of background and highlight. Red always means live and amber always means it needs you, in every one.

Prep is the product too

The night before, handled.

Drop in videos, sound files, images, and PDF, Keynote, or PowerPoint decks. Decks become slides with their speaker notes. Everything is copied into one show file that moves between Macs in one piece.

Inspector with a sound waveform, In and Out markers, fade slopes, and House or Headphones output.
Trim by earDrag In and Out or set them at the preview playhead. Preview starts muted; enable Headphones sound when its output is ready.
The slide editor with a navy We're back in 10 slide, background swatches, and speaker notes.
Make slides right thereHolding slides, agendas, and speaker intros from templates. Edit a slide while it is live and the room sees the fix at once.
Position tab for a video cue with scale, X, Y, rotation, and opacity controls.
Put it where it goesScale, position, rotate, and fade any video, image, or slide. Drag it in the preview and a playing cue moves at once.
Edit view with the media library open and the inspector showing a cue's settings.
Cues that go togetherStart a cue on GO, with the one above it, or after it ends. Brackets in the margin show the group at a glance.
Hands on the keys

Run it blind.

A presentation clicker works as the arrow keys, so the speaker can drive their own slides while you keep GO.

SpaceGOFire the cue marked Next
EscPanicFade out. Again to stop now
← →SlidesOr the speaker's clicker
SSafe slideOr period, the clicker's blank button
⌘LLockProtect the show
V C BSong sectionsJump to verse, chorus, bridge
Music

The song they asked for at 8:55.

Local files are the professional path. Streaming is there for the last-minute request, with its limits shown plainly.

Streamed audio is never cached and plays through the Mac's system output, not SPRKplug's outputs. A personal streaming subscription does not license public performance; the venue or client is responsible for that.

Sound filesWaveform trims, fades, loops, and a named output. Music crossfades music. Effects play on top and never interrupt.
Walk-in playlistsYour own songs, one after another, crossfading, shuffled if you like. Skip song is one click.
Talk overOne key dips every song while someone speaks, then brings the music back.
SpotifyPaste a song, album, or playlist link. Or press Capture while Spotify plays to start the song right at that moment.
Music appSongs from your Music library, controlled the same way.
Video soundA video with sound fades the walk-in music out by default, or dips it until the video ends.
FreeDownload free for a limited time

Ready
when you GO.

SPRKplug 2.0 is in early access. Download it free while it is in alpha, run it on your next show, and tell us how it went.

Download SPRKplug 2.0 alpha 15 Quick Start guide (PDF)
macOS 15 or newerApple silicon (M1 or later)Notarized by AppleWorks offlineNo account
  1. 1Open the downloadDouble-click SPRKplug-2.0-alpha.15.dmg.
  2. 2Drag to ApplicationsThat is the whole install. Nothing else is added to your Mac. To remove it, drag it to the Trash.
  3. 3Open itmacOS asks once whether to open an app you downloaded. Click Open, and you're in.

Signed and notarized by Apple. SPRKplug is signed with SPRK Productions' Developer ID and checked by Apple, so it installs and opens like any trusted Mac app.

SPRKplug is early software, provided as is. Rehearse before you rely on it and keep your original files. Questions or feedback: hello@sprkproductions.com

Downloading, installing, or using the included NDI components is subject to the NDI component terms.

SHA-256: 88ad24aa98cc331b12889e4bdcabb0217629954f4e28140611d81ef40bb0bcf5 · Checksum file