Built for the control room

ABRAM 2.1 is available today, with a run of show rebuilt for live broadcast and events. Every item is timed to the second, the show runs from the keyboard, and a presenter countdown, a stage manager's view and a clock open on any screen in the building. Graphics systems read the rundown from a live data feed, and a Stream Deck runs the show through Bitfocus Companion. Built for the control room.

A rundown built for show callers

The run of show now reads the way a show caller works. Every item carries a number (A1, A2), a front time, its length in minutes and seconds, the actual time on air and a back time against the hard out, all beside the title so the numbers never scroll away. Blocks group the show with their own running totals, and a floated item stays in the rundown without taking time.

Build the whole show from the keyboard: arrows to move, type to edit, Cmd+Enter for a new item and Cmd+Shift+Enter for a new block. Each cue column has its own colour, and any single cue can take its own, so CAM 2 looks the same everywhere it appears. Shift from here moves the rest of the day in one step, All days shows the whole run, and the editor opens in its own window.

Call the show live

Press Run show and the run bar counts down the item on air, turns orange once it runs long, and shows what's next and how far over or under the show is. Space takes the next item, Pause holds the clock, and a message to talent goes straight to the presenter's screen. ABRAM records what aired and when.

Every screen in the room

Pop out opens a screen for each person in the room. The presenter gets a giant countdown, the item on air, what's next and your message. The stage manager sees talent, notes and every cue, the clock shows time of day beside the item and hard-out countdowns, and each department sees only its own cues. A floating clock stays on top of your other windows.

Each screen is a link, so it opens on a second display, a crew phone, or as a browser source in OBS or vMix with a transparent background. Share links in the run of show's Settings put a screen in front of people without an ABRAM account. Each link opens one screen, read-only, and expires after the show unless you choose 1 day, 7 days or never. You can revoke one at any time.

Connect your graphics and your buttons

A data feed link serves the live rundown in four formats: JSON, flat JSON for binding straight to title fields, XML and CSV. It carries the show, the item on air with its time remaining, what's next and every item with its cues, with countdowns exact to the second, ready for vMix data sources and other graphics systems.

The ABRAM module for Bitfocus Companion runs the show from a Stream Deck: Go live, Next, Previous, Pause, Resume, End show and the message to talent. Its variables and feedbacks follow each department's current and next cue, so a cue in ABRAM can fire your own Companion buttons. A Companion link can run the show, so only people who manage the project can make one. Download the module for Companion 5.0 or later, and the run of show guide walks through the setup.

Ask ABRAM about the show

ABRAM now reads the run of show in chat. Ask it to change an item's length, title, cues or notes, or to set the hard out, and it shows you an approval card before anything changes. It can also move the rest of a day by seconds. The client portal shows the rundown in minutes and seconds, with day sections, item numbers and the hard out, and leaves floated items out.

Gear that stays ready

On Studio, the Equipment logistics settings now run your gear. Gear that needs repair can't be booked and shows Needs repair in every picker, and units in repair come off the bookable count. A transit buffer holds gear for the days either side of a project booking, and the inventory shows it as In transit.

When gear comes back from a job, ABRAM opens an inspection in the new Inspections tab, and routine inspections come due on the interval you set. The contact you choose for each gear type is assigned the work and notified. Bulk import now reads condition and all 15 gear types from your spreadsheet, and flags anything it doesn't recognize on its row before saving.

And there's more

• Free sends three invoices a month from its own Invoices screen.
• Photography, editing, design, sound and multi-discipline projects can now turn on the Stripboard and the run of show.
• Invite on a work order emails the guest right away and shows the date it was sent.
• Owners and admins can change a member's role.
• Project progress counts approved deliverables as done, matching each work package.
• Removing someone from a production frees their place for someone new.
• Crew who decline an invite can add a reason if they want to.
• Your work profile in Settings shows your record in each workspace, your style tags, who you work well with and how your matches went, and you can switch it off.

Availability

ABRAM 2.1 is available today at app.abram.network. The run of show, its screens, share links, the data feed and the Companion module are included on every plan, and equipment logistics is part of Studio. The pricing page shows what each plan adds.

Bitfocus Companion, Stream Deck, vMix and OBS Studio are trademarks of their respective owners. ABRAM is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.