Recording & Output
Ghost Arcade provides multiple output options for live projection, recording, and integration with other software. Send your visuals to projectors at 4K 60fps, record your canvas to video files, or share your output in real time with applications like OBS, Resolume, and TouchDesigner via Spout.
Display Output
Send your output to any connected display or projector. Ghost Arcade supports multi-monitor configurations, allowing you to keep the editing interface on one screen while projecting fullscreen output on another.
- Multi-monitor support — the application detects all connected displays automatically. Select your output display from the settings panel.
- Resolution up to 4K at 60fps — output resolution matches your selected display. Performance scales with GPU capability.
- Fullscreen output window — press
F11to toggle fullscreen on the output window. The output window can be moved to any connected display before entering fullscreen.
Tip — For the best projection results, set your output display to its native resolution in your operating system display settings before launching Ghost Arcade.
Screen Recording
Record your full canvas output directly from within the application. The built-in recorder captures exactly what is rendered to the output window, including all layers, effects, and blend modes.
- WebM and MP4 formats — choose your preferred container format. WebM uses VP8/VP9 encoding for fast, lightweight captures. MP4 uses H.264 for broad compatibility.
- Toolbar controls — start and stop recording from the record button in the toolbar. A red indicator confirms when recording is active.
- Keyboard shortcut — toggle recording on and off with a single keypress for hands-free operation during live performance.
Note — Recording performance depends on your system hardware. If you experience frame drops while recording, try reducing the output resolution or simplifying your layer stack.
Spout Output
Windows Only
Spout enables real-time texture sharing between applications using shared GPU memory. When enabled, Ghost Arcade broadcasts its canvas output as a Spout sender that any compatible application can receive with zero-latency overhead.
Send your visuals directly to:
- OBS Studio — capture Ghost Arcade output as a source for live streaming or recording with additional overlays.
- Resolume Arena / Avenue — use ill Visuals as a live source within your Resolume composition.
- TouchDesigner — pipe visuals into TouchDesigner for further processing, generative feedback, or complex multi-app pipelines.
- MadMapper — feed your output into MadMapper for additional projection mapping and spatial control.
- LED control software — route visuals to LED mapping tools like MadMapper, Lightjams, or any Spout-compatible LED controller.
How it works — Spout shares textures through GPU memory rather than copying pixel data through the CPU. This means the receiving application gets your output at full resolution with virtually no performance cost or added latency.
Enable Spout output in the output settings panel. The sender name appears automatically in any Spout-compatible receiver running on the same machine.
Performance Optimization
Getting the smoothest output at the highest resolution requires balancing your layer stack against your hardware capabilities. Here are the most impactful optimizations:
Close unnecessary layers
Every visible layer consumes GPU resources. Hide or remove layers you are not actively using, especially heavy layers like 3D models and gaussian splats.
Reduce effect chain length
Each effect in a chain adds a render pass. Keep chains short for live performance. Consolidate where possible — a single complex shader often outperforms a chain of simple effects.
Use lower resolution for preview
While building your composition, work at a lower output resolution to keep the interface responsive. Switch to full resolution only for final output and recording.
GPU matters more than CPU
Ghost Arcade is GPU-accelerated. A dedicated graphics card has far more impact on performance than a faster processor. Integrated graphics will work for basic setups, but a dedicated GPU is recommended for complex compositions.
Dedicated GPU for 4K output
Running at 4K 60fps with multiple layers and effects requires a modern dedicated GPU. An NVIDIA RTX or AMD RX series card is recommended for high-resolution live output.
Output Settings
Configure your output pipeline from the settings panel. These options control what gets sent to your display, recorder, and Spout output.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Resolution | Set the output canvas resolution. Higher resolutions produce sharper output but require more GPU power. Common choices: 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160. |
| Frame rate | Target frames per second for the render loop. 60fps is ideal for smooth live visuals. Lower values reduce GPU load if needed. |
| V-Sync | Synchronize the render loop to your display refresh rate. Prevents tearing artifacts but may add a small amount of input latency. |
| Background color | The color rendered behind all layers. Set to black for most projection scenarios. Useful for compositing when sending output to other applications via Spout. |
| Output display | Select which connected monitor or projector receives the fullscreen output window. The dropdown lists all displays detected by your operating system. |