Following a Performer

This is the operator manual – what to actually do during a show. It assumes the system is calibrated, the camera is mounted, and the outputs are wired into the consoles that need them. If any of those aren’t true, head back to Quick Start first.

Read On-Screen UI before this chapter if you haven’t – you need to recognise the marker, grid, and status indicators on screen.

Pre-show checklist

Before the audience walks in, take five minutes:

1. Camera connection green. Live picture in the operator monitor, no “connection lost” banner. If you have a connection issue, fix it now – see Troubleshooting.
2. Calibration sanity check. Walk a marker around the stage with the gamepad. Position numbers in the corners should be roughly correct. The grid lines should sit flush with the floor markings.
3. Walking test with someone on stage. Have someone walk through the entire performer area – corner to corner, edges and centre. Follow them with the marker. Check that the lighting console / media server / spatial audio is reacting as expected across the full area, not just one path.
4. Speed set to a sensible default. If the show alternates between still moments and energetic action, set speed mid-range and adjust live; if it’s mostly one tempo, set speed to match.
5. Reset position. Park the marker at the Default X/Y/Z position before the show starts. Use the Reset button if you’ve been driving it around during checks.

The basic technique

The gamepad sticks are velocity control. Stick deflection sets the marker's speed; centring stops it dead.

Hold position

Let go of the stick. The marker stays put until you push it again. Don't nudge a still target – small involuntary movements add up to jitter.

Track a moving performer

Lead with the stick. Push gently in the direction the performer is moving and modulate the deflection to match their speed. Three rules of thumb:

• Don’t chase. If the marker is behind the performer, don’t lurch forward to catch up – that overshoots. Push smoothly, let the marker accelerate to the right speed, then ease off.
• Lead the move. When you see a performer about to take a step, start the stick a beat before they actually move. This compensates for human reaction time and the camera-encode-network latency that always exists somewhere in the chain.
• Watch the screen. Tracking happens on the monitor – that’s where the marker, grid, and crosshair live. Looking back and forth between screen and stage tends to introduce drift. Having the station in a space where the stage is not visible is an industry best practice with all remote-control systems. When you operate in a different space, we recommend an audio feed and comms with operators of the systems that consume OpenFollow’s data feeds and triggers.

Use the crosshair

The ball is what most operators visually track, but the crosshair is the precise pointer. For tight aims (a halo on a performer's head), align the crosshair.

Speed control

The Speed up / down keys / buttons (defaults: R / T on keyboard, Left Bumper / Right Bumper on the gamepad) shift between the configured min and max speeds. Use it to match the show:

You can change speed mid-cue. The marker’s current velocity is unaffected – the new speed only applies on the next stick input.

Z (height)

Following is a 2D job: you steer the ground position and keep it on the performer. Z is a separate value you set by hand – how far above the ground position the ball and crosshair are drawn – and it stays there until you change it. Set it where you want it, then adjust whenever:

• You switch to a different performer and want the marker higher or lower than for the last one.
• The performer steps onto a riser, platform, or set piece above the stage plane.
• The performer sits, kneels, or lies on the ground.
• The performer climbs scenery, gets carried, or appears on a flying piece – Z follows them up. Z is harder to drive than X/Y because the trigger / button modulates it linearly without the same feel as a stick – pre-rehearse these moments.

Default Z control: Q / V on keyboard, Right Trigger / Left Trigger on the gamepad.

Checking the marker by eye

For a performer at main grid level, keep their feet inside the marker’s ground circle on screen. The ground circle is the position you’re steering – when the performer’s feet sit inside it, you’re centered on them in X / Y.

The crosshair shows where the current Z puts the marker. Raise or lower Z until it sits where you want it on the performer.

Tip: pre-set Z values with Stream Deck + Companion

If the show calls for different Z values at different moments, build a Stream Deck panel (via Bitfocus Companion) with one button per value that fires an OSC command setting the marker’s Z. One button gets you to the right Z instantly – no trigger-pull guesswork.

Use the OSC input address /marker/<id>/z <height> for a Z-only update that leaves X and Y untouched. See OSC input for the full address scheme.

Reset

The Reset button (default X on keyboard, X button on the gamepad) snaps the active marker to the configured Default X/Y/Z position instantly. Use it when:

• The marker has drifted to where you can’t see it on screen.
• You need a clean, repeatable starting position before a cue.
• You’ve handed control off and want the marker out of the way.

Reset is a hard jump, not a smooth move – receivers will see the marker teleport. Don’t hit it during a live cue unless that’s exactly what you want.

Switching markers

If you operate more than one marker (e.g. two performers, one operator), the next/prev marker keys / buttons cycle which marker your inputs drive. The marker you’re currently driving is highlighted on the on-screen overlay – see On-Screen UI.

Common patterns:

• Hand-off. Push the active marker to the right side of the stage on the lead, then switch to the second marker for the support entering stage left. The first marker stays where you left it; downstream consoles see no interruption on its data.
• Park and switch. If a marker isn’t needed for a stretch, park it (a Reset works), switch to the marker you need, and forget about the parked one. It’ll keep broadcasting its parked position until you come back.

Working with cues

OpenFollow plays well with cue-driven shows. Two patterns:

Pre-positioning via OSC

The lighting console (or QLab, or any OSC source) can hard-position a marker via /marker/<id> x y z before the operator picks up. The cue jumps the marker to where the performer will enter; the operator takes over from there.

From the operator’s side: don’t fight the jump. When you see the marker reposition, let it settle, then start tracking from the new position. If your stick is deflected at the moment of the jump, the marker will move from its new pre-positioned location – usually not what you want.

Hands-off cues

Some scenes don’t need an operator at all – a performer is at a fixed position, OSC pre-positions the marker, and the operator does nothing until the next free-movement scene. That’s fine. The marker stays where the cue put it and PSN keeps streaming its position.

Multi-operator workflows

For shows with more than one tracked performer at a time, two common setups:

• One operator, multiple markers. Switch between markers as the show calls for it. Works for shows where only one marker is moving at any moment.
• Multiple operators, one marker each. Each operator on their own OpenFollow instance, each driving a different marker ID. All instances broadcast on the same network; consoles see the consolidated stream. Best for shows with simultaneous tracked movement.

Common mistakes and recovery

After the show

Turn off the software. All settings are stored. On the next restart, markers will be in their default positions.