Help & Setup Guide

What this app does

SmartVerses helps worship and production teams manage slides, Bible verses, timers, remote collaboration, recording, and ProPresenter automation from one app. It can turn raw text into slide-ready content with simple rules, regex/JavaScript, or AI-powered processing.

When you click Go Live, SmartVerses can write one line per file for ProPresenter Linked Text, trigger ProPresenter actions, update audience displays, and keep browser-based views in sync depending on how you configure it.

Quick start

1. Open Settings → Text Import Templates.
2. Create or edit a template (pick a color and layouts).
3. Set an Output Path and a File Name Prefix. Example: /Users/you/ProPresenter/live/ and sermon_.
4. Go to Slides → Import → paste or upload your text.
5. Pick a template and click Process, then select an item.
6. When ready, click Go Live on a slide.

Templates 101

• Layouts: choose how many lines a slide shows (One, Two, Three, etc.). Go Live writes one file per line:prefix1.txt, prefix2.txt, …
• Logic / Notes field supports different ways to pre‑process text:
  • Regex: describe how to split or capture sections (e.g. by blank lines, headings). Keep it simple if you're new to regex.
  • JavaScript: you can provide a small snippet to transform text (e.g. split on "---").
  • Process with AI: enable, pick provider/model, and add your prompt. The app will generate slides from your instructions.
• Output Path: folder where the .txt files are written. The app creates the folder if missing.
• File Name Prefix: base name for each line file. Example: with prefix sermon_, files become sermon_1.txt, sermon_2.txt, …

Connect to ProPresenter (Linked Text)

1. Open ProPresenter and create a new presentation/slide.
2. Add N text boxes for the slide layout you want (e.g. 3 boxes for a Three‑Line slide).
3. For each text box: Format → Linked Text → choose File, then select the matching file from your template's Output Path:
   • Top line → prefix1.txt
   • Second line → prefix2.txt
   • Third line → prefix3.txt
4. In SmartVerses, click Go Live on a slide. The app writes the latest text to the files; ProPresenter will display the linked content instantly.

Troubleshooting

• No text in ProPresenter? Check the Output Path folder for prefix1.txt etc., and verify Linked Text points to the same files.
• Wrong line showing? Confirm the slide's layout and which text box links to prefix1.txt, prefix2.txt, …
• Nothing updates? Click Go Live again; verify you have write permission to the Output Path.

Live Slides - Real-Time Collaboration

Live Slides is a WebSocket-based system that allows real-time editing of slides from any browser on your network. Perfect for collaborative editing or remote presenters.

1. Go to Settings → ProPresenter → expand Live Slides to configure output path, file prefix, and ProPresenter triggers when a live slide goes live or is taken off. For the WebSocket server port and auto-start, use Settings → Network.
2. In Slides → click Live Slides → select or create a session
3. Click Restart/Resume Session to get a typing URL
4. Share the URL with team members - they can open it in any browser to edit slides in real-time
5. Changes made in the browser notepad instantly sync to SmartVerses and update ProPresenter via Linked Text

Stage Assist - Timer & Schedule Management

Stage Assist provides powerful timer functionality with schedule management and ProPresenter integration.

1. Navigate to Timer in the main navigation
2. Load Schedule:
   • From File: Import a JSON schedule file
   • From Image (AI): Upload an image of your schedule - AI will extract the schedule automatically
   • Get Latest from Master: Sync schedule from network master (requires Network Sync configuration)
3. Edit Schedule: Click any cell to edit session name, times, duration, or minister
4. Start Timer: Click Start on any session row to begin countdown
5. Countdown Timer: Set hours, minutes, seconds and click Start for a custom countdown
6. Countdown to Time: Set a target time (e.g., 10:30 AM) and countdown to that time
7. Schedule Automation: Click the magic wand icon on any session to configure:
   • ProPresenter slide activation when session starts
   • Stage layout changes
   • Multiple automations per session
8. Settings:
   • Auto Play: Automatically start next session when current ends
   • Allow Overrun: Allow timer to go negative when session exceeds time
   • Dynamic Time Adjustment: Automatically adjust subsequent sessions based on early end or overrun
   • Use Durations: Use duration field instead of end time for countdown
9. Remote Access Link: Click the link icon to get a URL for remote access to timer controls

Video & Audio Recording

SmartVerses features professional-grade video and audio recording with crash-safe streaming technology. Record for hours without memory issues, and recover recordings even if the app crashes or power is lost.

Video Recording

1. Navigate to Recorder in the main navigation
2. Configure Settings: Go to Settings → Recorder to set:
   • Camera: Select video input device
   • Video Audio Input: Microphone to embed in video
   • Video Format: MP4 (widely compatible) or WebM (better quality)
   • Resolution: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, or 4K
   • Video Audio Codec: AAC (MP4) or Opus (WebM)
   • Video Audio Delay: Adjust sync if audio is ahead of video
   • Output Folder: Where recordings are saved
3. Start Recording:
   • Select your camera and audio device
   • Click the red Record button to start
   • Use Pause to temporarily pause recording
   • Click Stop to finalize and save the recording
4. Production Features:
   • Streaming Technology: Video chunks are written to disk in real-time (no memory accumulation)
   • Long Recordings: Record for 10+ hours without running out of memory
   • Crash-Safe: If app crashes, your video is preserved on disk
   • Live Preview: See camera feed while recording
   • Timer Display: Track recording duration in real-time

Audio Recording

1. Format Options:
   • WAV: High-quality uncompressed audio (48kHz, 16-bit mono)
   • MP3: Compressed audio with bitrate options (128k, 192k, 320k)
2. Configure Settings: In Settings → Recorder:
   • Microphone: Select audio input device
   • Audio Format: Choose WAV or MP3
   • MP3 Bitrate: Quality setting (higher = better quality, larger files)
   • Output Folder: Where recordings are saved
3. Start Recording:
   • Select your microphone
   • Click the red Record button
   • View real-time audio levels in the visualizer
   • Click Stop to finalize and save
4. Production Features:
   • WAV Streaming: Native Rust recording with periodic disk flushing (max 1 second loss if crash)
   • MP3 Streaming: WebM chunks streamed to disk, converted to MP3 after recording
   • Crash-Safe: All audio data preserved even if app crashes
   • Audio Visualizer: Real-time level monitoring

Crash Recovery & File Recovery

SmartVerses uses streaming recording technology that writes data directly to disk as it's captured. This means your recordings are safe even if:

• The app crashes unexpectedly
• Power is lost during recording
• The computer shuts down
• The recording wasn't properly stopped

Recovering Corrupted or Incomplete Recordings

If you find a recording file that won't play (due to crash, power loss, or incomplete stop), you can recover it using FFmpeg:

SmartVerses - Bible Search & Transcription

SmartVerses provides AI-powered Bible search and live transcription with automatic verse detection.

1. Navigate to SmartVerses in the main navigation
2. Bible Search (Left Panel):
   • Type Bible references like "John 3:16" or "Romans 8:1-4" for direct parsing
   • Type phrases like "For God so loved" for AI-powered search
   • Toggle AI Search to use AI models (OpenAI, Gemini, or Groq) or text-based search
   • Navigate between verses using Previous/Next buttons
   • Click Go Live to send verse to ProPresenter
3. Live Transcription (Right Panel):
   • Click Start to begin live transcription using your configured transcription mode
   • Bible references are automatically detected in speech
   • Paraphrased verses can be detected if enabled in settings
   • Detected references appear below the transcript
   • Auto-trigger to ProPresenter can be enabled for automatic "Go Live"
4. Configuration:
   • Settings → Transcription: choose cloud, local, browser, or remote transcription, plus paraphrase detection and key point extraction
   • Settings → SmartVerses: Bible search provider, output paths, ProPresenter integration

Network Sync

Synchronize playlists and schedules across multiple SmartVerses instances on your network.

1. Go to Settings → Network
2. Choose sync mode:
   • Off: No synchronization
   • Master: This instance broadcasts to others
   • Slave: This instance receives from master
   • Peer: Bidirectional sync with other peers
3. Configure:
   • Remote Host: IP address of master/peer (required for Slave/Peer mode)
   • Sync Playlists: Enable playlist synchronization
   • Sync Schedule: Enable schedule synchronization
   • Sync Port: Port for sync server (default: 9877)
4. Import from Network:
   • In Main → Import dropdown → From Network
   • Loads playlists from master server
5. Get Schedule from Master:
   • In Timer → Load Schedule dropdown → Get Latest from Master
   • Fetches latest schedule from master server

Global AI Assistant

Access AI assistance throughout the app via the chat button in the bottom-right corner.

1. Click the AI chat button (bottom-right) to open the assistant drawer
2. Available Actions:
   • Create Slides: Generate slides from text using AI
   • Create Playlists: Generate playlists with multiple items
   • Set Timer: Start countdown or countdown to time
   • Update Schedule: Modify schedule items
   • Edit Current Slides: Modify slides in the selected playlist item
   • Proofread Slides: Check spelling and grammar
3. Context Awareness: The assistant understands:
   • Current page you're on
   • Selected templates
   • Current slides
   • Active schedule
4. Configure AI providers in Settings → Account

AI Automation

Use AI to automate slide processing and proofreading.

1. In Main, select a playlist item with slides
2. Click the AI Automation dropdown (magic wand icon)
3. Available options:
   • Proofread Slides: AI checks spelling and grammar, then updates corrected slides
   • Auto-attach Timers: Match slides to timer sessions from the loaded schedule
4. Proofread corrections are highlighted in green for 30 seconds after processing

Advanced ProPresenter Integration

SmartVerses offers extensive ProPresenter control beyond basic Linked Text.

1. ProPresenter Connections:
   • Configure in Settings → ProPresenter
   • Add multiple ProPresenter instances
   • Enable/disable specific connections
   • Test connections
2. Presentation Activation:
   • Per-slide: Right-click slide → ProPresenter Integration
   • Per-item: Click presentation icon in header → configure default activation
   • Per-template: Set in template settings
   • Configure number of clicks (activation and take-off)
   • Select specific ProPresenter connections
3. Stage Layout Changes:
   • Configure in schedule automation
   • Automatically change stage layout when session starts
4. Timer Sync:
   • SmartVerses timers sync with ProPresenter countdown timers
   • Timer displays in navigation bar when running
   • Automatic timer updates when sessions change
5. Auto-Scripture Slides:
   • Bible verses can be automatically formatted
   • Configure custom file mapping for verse text and reference
   • Available in templates and SmartVerses

Import Options

Multiple ways to import content into SmartVerses.

1. From Text:
   • Paste text or upload .txt file
   • Select template
   • Process with regex, JavaScript, or AI
2. From Live Slides:
   • Import from existing Live Slides sessions
   • Select session from list
   • Creates new playlist item linked to session
3. From Network:
   • Load playlists from network master
   • Requires Network Sync configuration
   • Select from available playlists
4. AI-Generated:
   • Use Global AI Assistant to create slides
   • Automatically added to selected playlist

Slide Management

Advanced slide editing and organization features.

• Edit Slides: Right-click any slide to edit text inline
• Change Layout: Use layout dropdown to change slide layout (one-line through six-line)
• Add Slides: Click + button to add new slides with specific layouts
• Delete Slides: Right-click → delete or use delete button
• Timer Assignment: Assign slides to timer sessions from dropdown
• Copy to Clipboard: Copy all slides in an item to clipboard
• Rename: Rename playlists and items using edit button
• Take Off: Right-click live slide → Take Off to trigger ProPresenter take-off clicks