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 Catalina (10.15)
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
Uncheck “Mirror Displays”
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
Displays and Screen Saver
Set “Start after:” to “Never”
Disable Sleep
System Preferences
Energy Saver
Set “Turn display off after:” to “Never”
Uncheck “Put hard disks to sleep when possible”
Uncheck “Enable Power Nap while plugged into a power adapter”
Disable Automatic Graphics Switching
System Preferences
Energy Saver
Uncheck “Automatic Graphics switching”
Uncheck “Put hard disks to sleep when possible”
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”
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 “Automatically keep my Mac up to date”
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 “Desktop and Documents Folder”
Automatic synchronization can require a significant amount of processing power and degrade system performance.
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.
Download Preflight for Sierra (10.12), High Sierra (10.13) and Mojave (10.14)
All of the settings below are found under System Preferences and should be changed prior to launching PlaybackPro or PlaybackPro Plus.
1) Unmirror the displays. PlaybackPro works with an extended desktop mode so mirroring displays should be unchecked in the Displays preferences.
2) Uncheck Displays have separate spaces.
3) Turn off screen saver.
4) Adjust Energy Saver sleep settings. You may not have all of these options depending on your system. If your system has a battery it is best to adjust the settings on both the Battery and Power Adapter tabs.
5) Uncheck Automatic Graphics Switching. If your system has two graphics chipsets a setting in Energy Saver will appear at the top. Uncheck it so the more powerful graphics processor will always be used.
6) Turn off system audio sounds. This is also a good time to click on the Output tab and select the audio output if you are using an external audio device.
7) Disconnect from the internet. Connections to the internet can generate unwanted background connections that could impact system performance during playback.
8) Turn off Bluetooth. We don’t recommend the use of Bluetooth devices in show environments.
9) Turn off automatic updates. In the event you forget to disconnect the internet is it also a good idea to disable automatic application updates. There are also some applications, like Flip4Mac, that have separate settings so be sure to turn those off as well.
10) Turn off TimeMachine. LIke automatic updates, if TimeMachine is on it can make unwanted system calls in the background that can impact performance.
11) Disable Spotlight indexing for external drives. Spotlight is a great technology that helps macOS locate files faster on a drive, however, it takes time and it can slow down a system. If you don’t have time for Spotlight to index an external drive you can add it to the Privacy tab to prevent it from being indexed.
12) Disable FileVault. FileVault encrypts all the contents of a MacOS disk. It requires significant overhead and it should be disabled. If your system has it enabled, you need to check with the system admin before changing this setting.
13) Disable Desktop and Documents iCloud syncing. In MacOS Sierra, Apple introduced a feature which automatically syncs your Desktop and Documents folders onto iCloud. This can require a lot of background processing if you place large video files into either of these folders.
14) Stop unnecessary apps from loading on startup. The Login Items list is populated with apps that load during macOS startup and may not be needed when playing back content. A clean install of macOS will have an empty Login Items list. To stop an app from loading at start up, select it in the list and click on the minus (-) button. We recommend you understand the function of any application prior to removing it from the list.
15) Enable Scrollbars. The default setting for scroll bars in modern macOS versions is to hide them based on mouse or trackpad activity. We believe it is helpful to always have them activated.
