Just as a pilot has a pre-flight checklist to ensure the plane is ready to fly we have created a general checklist for you to use prior to running PlaybackPro in a show.
Some settings are specific to the version of macOS you are using so please click the appropriate tab below.
Download Preflight for macOS Monterey (12.x)
All of the settings are found under System Preferences and should be changed prior to launching PlaybackPro or PlaybackPro Plus.
Disable Display Mirroring
System Preferences
Displays
Right-click on image of display
Select "Stop Mirroring"
PlaybackPro Plus only works in Extended desktop mode.
The option to "Stop Mirroring" will only be available if the displays are actively mirroring.
Disable Displays Have Separate Spaces
System Preferences
Mission Control
Uncheck “Displays have separate Spaces”
If this setting is checked, some Mac and switcher combinations will produce black on all displays.
Disable Screen Saver
System Preferences
Desktop and Screen Saver
Uncheck "Show screen saver after..."
Disable Sleep
System Preferences
Energy Saver or
Battery
and/or
Set “Turn display off after:” to “Never”
Uncheck “Put hard disks to sleep when possible”
Uncheck “Enable Power Nap...”
Uncheck “Low Power Mode”
Disable Automatic Graphics Switching
System Preferences
Energy Saver or
Battery
and/or
Uncheck “Automatic Graphics switching”
This setting only appears if your system has two graphics chipsets.
Disable System Audio Sounds
System Preferences
Sound
Uncheck “Play user interface sound effects”
Uncheck “Play feedback when audio is changed”
These settings mute all MacOS sounds.
System Preferences
Sound
Select the output device you would like to use for all playback audio
Disconnect from the Internet
System Preferences
Network
Turn off all Internet connections
Background Internet connections may create additional processing and deplete system performance.
Disable Bluetooth
System Preferences
Bluetooth
Turn off all Bluetooth connections
Wireless connections for devices like mice or keyboards can be unreliable in show environments.
Disable Automatic Updates
System Preferences
Software Update
Uncheck “Automatically keep my Mac up to date”
System Preferences
Software Update
Uncheck “Check for updates”
Unanticipated software updates can significatly impact system performance.
Disable Time Machine
System Preferences
Time Machine
Uncheck “Back up Automatically”
Continual backups can cause computer performance degradation and affect playback.
Disable Spotlight Indexing
System Preferences
Spotlight
Turn off MacOS Spotlight indexing for external drives
Indexing helps macOS locate files faster on a drive but it takes time and can slow down a system.
Disable FileVault
System Preferences
Security and Privacy
Turn off FileVault
FileVault is data encryption and is off by default. Encryption requires significant processing overhead and can impact playback performance. If your system has FileVault enabled, you need to check with the system admin before changing this setting.
Control Apps On Startup
System Preferences
Users and Groups
Minimize the number of apps loaded at startup
Minimize the number of apps loaded at startup. Fewer background apps results in more system resources for playback.
Enable Scroll Bars
System Preferences
General
Under “Show scroll bars”, select Always
Modern macOS versions hide scroll bars based on mouse or trackpad activity. It is helpful to always have them on when using PlaybackPro Plus.
Disable iCloud Syncing
System Preferences
Apple ID
Uncheck "Apps on this Mac using iCloud:"
This step is not necessary if you have disabled Internet connections as outlined in section 7. If your computer remains connected to the internet, we recommend unchecking apps which sync with iCloud to avoid unexpected performance degradation. Please note that unchecking iCloud apps may, depending on your answer to the dialog box, remove local copies of files from your computer, proceed with caution.
Helpful Tips
Optimal File Types
If a file does not play well in PlaybackPro or PlaybackPro Plus a quick solution can be to re-encode and rewrap the file in a .mov container using QuickTime Player.
Other transcoding software like Apple Compressor or Adobe Media Encoder can be very helpful to process playback content.
Our recommended codecs are Apple ProRes 422 (Standard), h.264 or h.265 in a .mov (preferred) or .mp4 container.
