# ArcLight

> ArcLight is a Mac app that turns slides into live video. You build a show like a Keynote deck — every scene is a slide holding live cameras, screen and window captures, images, video, titles and shapes — then press Play and step through it with the arrow keys, using per-slide transitions such as Magic Move. The program output goes to a virtual camera (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex), a .mov recording, or a second display. Requires macOS 14 or later.

Key facts:
- Price: free 30-day trial, then $49 per year (introductory launch price; launch supporters keep it while subscribed). No account needed beyond the App Store.
- Category: live video production / presentation software for macOS (native Swift, Metal, Core Image).
- Authoring: slide navigator, canvas with snapping, inspectors, groups, templates; imports Keynote decks (with presenter notes) and PDFs.
- Sources: cameras (including Continuity Camera), displays, app windows, images, video with alpha, text, shapes, animated title presets, Motion backgrounds and particles.
- Transitions: Magic Move (layers with the same source morph between slides), Dissolve, Push, Move In, Zoom, Wipe and luma wipes, Swipe, Bars, Page Curl, Ripple, stinger clips; builds animate layers in and out.
- Look: per-camera color grading (guided picker, wheels, curves, .cube LUTs, 10 looks, Auto balance) with waveform, RGB parade, vectorscope and histogram; background blur and removal; 35 effects plus any Core Image filter.
- AI co-host (AI-first): a built-in MCP server (stdio helper `arclight mcp`, local Unix socket) lets Claude Code or any MCP client do anything the editor can — build and restyle slides, write the script and cues, set transitions and builds — and run the show (take slides, builds, prompter, recording, virtual camera). Agents can render slide stills, grab the live program frame and read color scopes. Off by default; local only, token-authenticated; every agent change is outlined, named in Undo and revertible.
- Running a show: presenter view (current, next, notes, timers), teleprompter (slide cues, notch or floating, fixed-speed or voice-tracked), edit while playing, global hotkeys, clickers, Stream Deck.
- Go Live: RTMP streaming to YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn or any custom RTMP server (works with TikTok, Facebook, Kick, X, Restream and StreamYard).
- Not yet available: remote guests, audio mixer, ISO recording, browser and NDI sources, Windows/Linux. 

## Pages
- [Overview](https://arclightlive.com/): what ArcLight does, with real app screenshots.
- [Compare](https://arclightlive.com/compare/): ArcLight vs OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit, Camtasia, Ecamm, vMix, Airtime (mmhmm) and Keynote — including when each alternative is the better choice.
- [ArcLight vs OBS Studio](https://arclightlive.com/compare/obs/): a deck-first Mac alternative to OBS for presenters, and when OBS is the better choice.
- [ArcLight vs Ecamm](https://arclightlive.com/compare/ecamm/): two Mac-native live video apps; Ecamm leads on streaming and guests, ArcLight on slide authoring, presenter view and teleprompter.
- [ArcLight vs Camtasia](https://arclightlive.com/compare/camtasia/): produce a finished video live from slides instead of editing a recording on a timeline.
- [Teleprompter for Mac](https://arclightlive.com/teleprompter-for-mac/): under the notch, floating, or full screen mirrored for a beam splitter; fixed-speed or voice-tracked; script cues take slides live.
- [Virtual camera for Zoom, Teams and Meet](https://arclightlive.com/virtual-camera-for-zoom/): "ArcLight Camera" sends slides and camera as one picture to any app that accepts a camera.
- [Help](https://arclightlive.com/help/): how to use ArcLight, for people who have the app.
- [Help: Getting started](https://arclightlive.com/help/getting-started/): install and permissions, the ArcLight Camera install, a first show from a template (camera slide, title, Magic Move), Play, and every keyboard shortcut.
- [Help: Slides and layers](https://arclightlive.com/help/slides-and-layers/): the navigator, canvas and inspectors; text, shapes, images, video, title presets, animated backgrounds and particles; Arrange (align, distribute, rotate, distort, tilt), groups, copy and paste between shows, templates, PDF/Keynote import and Relink Media.
- [Help: Cameras and screens](https://arclightlive.com/help/live-sources/): cameras (including Continuity Camera and Desk View), whole displays and single app windows on a slide; fill or fit, mirror, mask and crop; per-slide background blur or removal without a green screen.
- [Help: Transitions and builds](https://arclightlive.com/help/transitions-and-builds/): how Magic Move pairs layers, transitions in four groups, stinger clips and luma wipes; build layers in and out on a click, text by line, word or character, and the build order.
- [Help: Color and effects](https://arclightlive.com/help/color-and-effects/): per-camera correction (guided picker, Auto, sliders, wheels, curves, .cube LUTs, 10 looks, saved looks) with four scopes; 35 layer effects, any Core Image filter, and 12 blend modes.
- [Help: Web graphics](https://arclightlive.com/help/web-graphics/): animated HTML/CSS/JS graphics on a slide; the bundle and graphic.json, the window.arclight runtime (steps, params, time), the sandbox, and script trigger cues like {{Layer: step}}.
- [Help: Teleprompter](https://arclightlive.com/help/teleprompter/): write the script with [[Slide]] cues and {{step}} triggers; dock under the notch, float or go full screen; fixed speed or follow your voice; rehearsal vs live behavior.
- [Help: Running the show](https://arclightlive.com/help/running-the-show/): the Play screen and presenter view, program output on another display, the virtual camera in Zoom/Meet/Teams, recording to .mov, editing while playing, global hotkeys, clickers and Stream Deck arclight:// links.
- [Help: Set up AI agents](https://arclightlive.com/help/ai-agents/): connect Claude Code or any MCP client to ArcLight: turn on agent access, add the arclight server to a project's .mcp.json, install the producer skill, troubleshooting.
- [Help: Article to show](https://arclightlive.com/help/producer-skill/): the arclight-producer Claude Code skill turns a news article into a fact-checked script with cues, slides, cameras and animated data graphics; you pick the angle and approve the script before it builds.
- [Help: Agent API reference](https://arclightlive.com/help/agent-api/): the 13 MCP tools and about 130 operations for building your own agents; local Unix socket with a token, paths and selectors, events, rendered images, revert, and `arclight call` for scripts.

## Positioning
- Best for: creators and educators, presenters on video calls, OBS users on Mac who want a simpler, deck-first workflow, and small teams running events.
- Not best for: direct multistreaming with remote guests (consider Ecamm), free cross-platform streaming with plugins (consider OBS Studio), editing recordings on a timeline (consider Camtasia).
- FAQ: https://arclightlive.com/faq/