Dual Canvas

DualStream's headline feature: produce a 16:9 horizontal stream (for Twitch, YouTube desktop) and a 9:16 vertical stream (for TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, Kick mobile) from the same session at the same time.

How It Works

DualStream renders two independent canvases from your sources:

• Horizontal canvas — 1920×1080 (16:9), optimized for desktop viewers
• Vertical canvas — 1080×1920 (9:16), optimized for mobile viewers

Both canvases share the same sources but each has its own layout. Move your camera to the center of the vertical canvas while keeping it in the corner of your horizontal canvas — each layout is independent.

Setting Up Dual Canvas

Viewing Both Canvases

Use the View menu to control canvas visibility:

• Both — See horizontal and vertical canvases side by side
• Horizontal Only — Focus on the 16:9 layout
• Vertical Only — Focus on the 9:16 layout

Arranging Sources Per Canvas

Each source can be positioned independently on each canvas:

1. Add a source to your scene.
2. Switch to the horizontal canvas view and position it.
3. Switch to the vertical canvas view and reposition it for mobile.

Sources maintain separate transform (position, size, crop) for each canvas orientation.

Streaming Both Canvases

In the Stream Setup modal:

1. Assign your horizontal canvas to your desktop platform (e.g., Twitch).
2. Assign your vertical canvas to your mobile platform (e.g., TikTok via Custom RTMP).
3. Go live — both streams start simultaneously.

Each canvas gets its own encoder, so you can set independent bitrates for horizontal and vertical outputs.

Per-Canvas Bitrate

Click the bitrate button in the Toolbar to set independent bitrates for each canvas. Mobile platforms often accept lower bitrates than desktop platforms, so you can optimize bandwidth usage.

Performance

Dual canvas encoding uses two parallel GPU encoders. Requirements:

• A dedicated GPU with hardware encoding support (NVENC, AMF, or QuickSync)
• Sufficient upload bandwidth for both streams combined

If your GPU can handle a single 1080p60 encode, it can handle dual encoding. Modern GPUs have multiple encoding sessions available.

FAQ

Do I need a powerful GPU for dual canvas?

Any modern GPU with hardware encoding handles it well. NVIDIA GTX 1660 or better, AMD RX 5600 or better, or Intel Arc.

Can I stream both canvases to the same platform?

Yes. You can send horizontal to your main Twitch channel and vertical to a separate Twitch account, or both to YouTube.

Can I use different scenes for each canvas?

The same scene is rendered on both canvases, but each source has independent positioning per canvas. You control the layout for each orientation separately.