CutWire Prism app icon Free & open source · GPLv3 · v0.1.2

Live visuals that don't take a weekend to learn.

CutWire Prism is a node-based live video mixer for volunteers, streamers and small venues. Wire your sources, mix two decks, and push to a projector, NDI or a virtual camera — free, forever.

Download Prism Star on GitHub →

Linux · Windows · macOS (source build)

CutWire Prism main window: asset library, node graph and live control panel
For schoolsFor churchesFor streamersFor theatresFor small gigsFor AV volunteers

Features

Everything a small production needs. Nothing that scares a volunteer off.

Resolume is powerful and expensive. TouchDesigner is powerful and steep. Prism picks a different fight: be usable in ten minutes, honest about what it does, and free.

Node canvas, not a spreadsheet

Drag media onto a graph and wire Input → Process → Layer → A/B → Output. What you see is what plays.

Two decks, one crossfader

Familiar A/B mixing with AUTO, CUT, per-deck speed, and transitions from crossfade to 3D cube and flip.

Sub-50ms feel

FFmpeg decode into OpenGL compositing. Cue a clip, hit CUT, it's on the wall. No spinner, no lag.

Everything is a source

Video files, images, slideshows, cameras, screen capture, shaders, HTML, text, Lua, NDI, or a phone via QR.

AI background removal

Drop a webcam node, add Remove BG, and MediaPipe segmentation keys out the room. No green screen required.

Scripting when you need it

Lua 5.4 for live text and data overlays. GLSL fragment shaders — including audio-reactive presets — as first-class sources.

NDI, OBS & virtual camera

Output to a projector window, NDI network, or a virtual camera that appears in OBS, Zoom or the browser. Control from OBS over WebSocket.

Panic buttons that actually work

Blackout, Pause the current frame, or slam a Stay Tuned overlay. Always one click away when the laptop misbehaves.

How it works

One pipeline. Left to right.

Every Prism show — school match, church service, or streamed DJ set — is the same five kinds of nodes wired in the same direction.

  1. Step 1
    Input

    Video, camera, screen, shader, HTML, text, Lua, NDI, phone.

  2. Step 2
    Process

    Crop, flip, AI background removal — live.

  3. Step 3
    Layer

    Stack and position sources on a 1280×720 canvas.

  4. Step 4
    A/B Select

    Assign sources to Deck A or Deck B.

  5. Step 5
    Output

    Projector, NDI, virtual camera, or recording.

Node editor showing input, process, layer, A/B select and output nodes wired together

Ten minutes to first show

  1. 1Import your media into the asset library.
  2. 2Drag sources onto the canvas.
  3. 3Wire Input → Process → Layer → A/B → Output.
  4. 4Assign to Deck A or B, or bind a hotkey.
  5. 5Mix with the crossfader, AUTO or CUT.
  6. 6Open the output window, enable NDI or virtual camera, hit record.
Hotkey grid: keys 1–0Q–PA–LZ–M fire to Deck A. Add Shift to fire to Deck B.

Screenshots

Real UI. Not concept art.

Every input under one menu

Every input under one menu

Media file, video URL, camera, screen capture, canvas, shader, HTML, text, NDI, phone over WebRTC — one picker.

Process what comes in

Process what comes in

Chain Remove BG, Crop and Flip on any input. AI segmentation keys a webcam without a green screen.

Layer layout in real time

Layer layout in real time

Drag, resize, snap, fit or stretch. Changes hit the output the moment you move a handle.

Titles, lower thirds, live clocks

Titles, lower thirds, live clocks

Styled text sources with gradients, outlines, shadows and script variables like {now} and {date}.

HTML overlays without the HTML

HTML overlays without the HTML

A visual editor for scoreboards, timers and lower thirds. Or drop in your own HTML file when you want full control.

Lua scripts drive live data

Lua scripts drive live data

Run a 5.4 script on an interval to generate scores, weather, tickers — anything you can express in a few lines.

Made for

People with a real deadline and no budget.

School & college events

Cricket and football highlights, live scoreboards, assembly slides, prizegiving reels — run by student volunteers.

Churches, theatres, community AV

Lyrics, camera cuts, pre-recorded segments and a Stay Tuned card for when the laptop needs a moment.

Small concerts & clubs

Music videos, GLSL shaders reacting to the audio FFT, quick cuts between decks with a real crossfader.

Streamers & OBS setups

Feed Prism into OBS as a virtual camera, or trigger scenes over the OBS WebSocket. NDI in and out.

Local sports broadcasts

Score overlays, freeze-frame replays, program recording with markers, FLAC audio capture.

Download

Free. Open source. Actually free.

GPLv3, no account, no telemetry, no upsell. Version 0.1.2 is early and under active development — please file the bugs you hit.

Linux

Recommended

Install from Flathub, or grab an AppImage from the GitHub releases page.

flatpak install flathub org.cutwire.Prism
flatpak run org.cutwire.Prism
Open on FlathubAppImage on GitHub

Windows

Installer

Download the latest .exe installer from GitHub releases.

# Download Prism-Setup-x64.exe from
# github.com/CutWire-Studios/Prism/releases
Windows installerAll releases

macOS

Build from source

No prebuilt binary yet — build from source with CMake. Note: virtual camera output isn't available on macOS.

git clone https://github.com/CutWire-Studios/Prism
cmake -B build && cmake --build build
Build instructionsTrack macOS binary

Under the hood

Built with tools you already trust.

Prism is a native desktop app — no Electron, no browser tab pretending to be an app. Everything runs on your GPU, and every dependency is either open source or a standard media SDK.

Read the source → Open an issue
  • Qt 6 WidgetsNative UI
  • C++20 · CMakeCore
  • FFmpegDecode
  • OpenGLCompositing
  • Qt WebEngineHTML overlays
  • Lua 5.4 + sol2Scripting
  • kissfftAudio FFT
  • ONNX Runtime · MediaPipeAI segmentation
  • libdatachannelWebRTC phone cam
  • NDI SDKNetwork video

Your next event's visuals — on your laptop, tonight.

No login. No trial. No feature tier. Grab it, wire a few nodes, and go live.

Download CutWire Prism View on GitHub