Troubleshooting Resolume Arena Video Output

In this article, we'll walk through a couple steps you can take in case you are having issues getting Resolume Arena to output to your switcher or screens. While there are a number of things that could be causing this issue, we are going to cover the most common issues and how to resolve them. Here are a few of the things that may cause Resolume not to output.

Possible Issues

The master output or some other faders are down on your MIDI controller
The computer is not recognizing an external display
The composition was not built using the template composition
The output option is not set to "Advanced..."
The "Screen" does not have the correct output device selected in the Advanced output settings
The "Slice" does not have the correct input source selected in the Advanced output settings

Before moving on, it is always good practice to try these two things to see if they resolve the issue:

Save and Quit Resolume Arena, then re-launch it.
Save and Quit Resolume, then fully restart your computer and re-launch Resolume.

If those steps do not resolve the issue, continue reading as we walk through how to identify and resolve the issues listed above.

The master output or some other faders are down on your MIDI controller

It is important to review the map of our MIDI controller so that you are familiar with what each control does. In troubleshooting output issues, the first step would be to ensure that Faders 5-8 are up all the way, as these control the opacity for various layers. Perhaps the most important one being Fader 8, which controls the Master opacity, or the level of everything coming from Resolume. It is visually represented in the top left corner of the screen and will show red if the opacity is down at all.

If you try moving the fader on your MIDI controller down and back up and the Master opacity in Resolume does not change, see this article on troubleshooting your MIDI controller in Resolume Arena.

The computer is not recognizing an external display

Resolume uses the secondary display function of the computer to output to another screen or device like a switcher. If the computer does not recognize another display device connected, Resolume will not output. To verify if the computer sees the external display device, open Mac System Preferences and go to "Displays". If you do not see an "Arrangement" tab in the Display settings, the computer does not see another device connected to it.

Try unplugging any adapters or HDMI cables connected to the computer and plugging them back in. It may also be necessary to swap out any converters connected to the computer, as that may also be the cause of the issue.

Once you are able to get the computer to see the external display device, quit and relaunch Resolume and your output should now be active. If not, continue along this document.

The composition was not built using the template composition

It is always important to follow the correct process for building a composition. As a refresher, here is a YouTube video walking through the whole process: Building a Resolume Composition for a Worship Experience

One very important but easy to miss step is to use the 1_Template composition as a starting point rather than creating a completely new composition, as the template has several Layer groups necessary for Resolume to work properly. You can quickly tell if your composition was made using the template by looking as the layers on the left side of the screen. A correct composition will have layers with specific names, in groups, and color coordinated. An incorrect composition will have layers with generic names like "Layer 1" and will all be grey. See the example image below:

If you've already built your composition and didn't use the template, one easy fix is to save the incorrect composition, open the correct template, "Save As..." a new composition, and import the decks you need from the incorrect composition. This will import the content and layout of the incorrect composition but will have the correct layer names and groups.

The output option is not set to Advanced...

Resolume has several options to output to multiple displays. The one we use is the Advanced option. There are a couple things to check within this, but the simplest option to check first is if the Advanced output option is selected to begin with.

In the Output menu in the menu bar, select Advanced...
If this simple step resolves your issue, simply click Save & Close on the window that pops up
If this does not resolve your issue, leave this window open and continue to the next issue

The "Screen" does not have the correct output device selected in the Advanced output settings

It is possible that the "Screen" in the Advanced output settings does not have the correct output device selected.

Open the Advanced Output settings
Choose the Main Screen from the list on the left (the larger selection item)
In the Device option to the right, select Display 2
Click Save & Close

The "Slice" does not have the correct input source selected in the Advanced output settings

One other possibility within the Advanced output settings is that your "Slice" is not assigned to the correct layer group.

Open the Advanced Output settings
Choose the "Slice" within the Main Screen from the list on the left (the smaller selection item... this may be named differently depending on your setup)
In the Input Source option to the right, select Out_Reso1
Click Save & Close

(To learn more about the advanced output settings and how we use them, check out this snippet from a workshop our team hosted on the subject: Advanced Output Walkthrough)

Conclusion

Hopefully your issue was covered in this article. If none of these solutions worked and you continue to have issues. Be sure to submit an AVL ticket or Slack help request for further assistance. Thank you!