Live Studio Layouts Explained: Spotlight, Showtime, Pip and More

Introduction

In Live Studio, a layout is the way your sources, host camera, guests, screen share, video clips, are arranged on screen at any moment. Layouts (also called scenes in other tools) are the building blocks of a polished live show.

Live Studio ships with eight ready-made layouts plus a Custom layout for anything else. This guide walks through each one and shows when to use it.

To follow along, open any Live Studio stream and click Layout in the sidebar.

Spotlight

A single source takes the whole canvas. Everything else is hidden.

Use Spotlight for:

Opening monologue ("Welcome to today's show...")
Closing remarks
Solo Q&A with no guest on camera
A full-screen video clip from your media library
A hot take where you want all attention on one face

Spotlight is the layout to fall back to when a guest drops or you need a clean moment with no distractions.

Showtime

Host on one side, primary content on the other, with a polished broadcast frame around both. The most "TV news" of the layouts.

Use Showtime for:

Walking through a deck while you talk
Reacting to a video while staying on camera
Tutorial shows where you demonstrate while explaining
Product launches with a screen share next to the presenter

This is the layout most viewers expect from professional live shows.

Half Screen

Three people, with one speaker emphasized. The key speaker is sized larger; the other two are smaller and arranged alongside.

Use Half Screen for:

Interview-style shows with one host and two guests
Panel discussions where one person is leading
Co-host shows where one person handles the segment

If you have exactly three people and one of them is doing most of the talking, this is your layout.

Pip (Picture-in-Picture)

A primary content source fills the canvas, with a small camera overlay sitting on top.

Use Pip for:

Gaming streams (game full-screen, your face in the corner)
Tutorial videos where the screen share is the star
Watching a clip together with guests in the corner
Teaching software, with you commentating from the corner

Pip is the layout for when content matters more than the host, but the host still needs to be visible.

Thumbnails

Main content in the middle, with a sidebar of smaller thumbnails for additional sources.

Use Thumbnails for:

Watch parties, main video center, reactions on the side
Sports panels, the game in the middle, hosts as thumbnails
Conferences, slides center, attendees thumbnailed

Thumbnails works best when the main content carries the show and the rest are reaction faces.

Grid

A dynamic layout that auto-arranges any number of sources into an even grid. Two guests give a 2-up, four give a 2x2, six give a 2x3, and so on.

Use Grid for:

Multi-guest interviews and panels
Round-table discussions
Group calls where everyone talks equally
Watch-along streams where multiple reactions matter equally

Grid is the egalitarian layout, no one is "in front" of anyone else.

Cover

Sources fill the entire screen edge-to-edge with no background visible behind them.

Use Cover for:

Maximum immersion
Single-camera shows where the camera is the entire frame
Vertical 9:16 streams for TikTok and Shorts where every pixel counts

Contain

Sources are framed against a visible background, sized to fit fully without cropping.

Use Contain for:

Branded shows where the background carries your colors and logo
Mixing portrait and landscape footage on the same canvas
Vertical phone footage on a horizontal canvas (the background fills the gaps)

Custom

A free-form layout editor. Drag sources to any position, resize them, layer them. Save your own layouts and switch to them like the presets.

Use Custom for:

Branded layouts that match your visual identity
Unusual configurations (e.g., five guests in a deliberately asymmetric arrangement)
Layouts that include image overlays, frames, or fixed graphics in specific spots

How to Switch Layouts Mid-Show

Click any layout in the sidebar. The switch is instant, no fade, no pause. Your viewers see the new arrangement on the next frame.

A common rhythm for an interview show:

Open in Spotlight, host alone, intro
Switch to Half Screen when guests join
Switch to Pip for screen-share segments
Switch to Grid when everyone talks at once
Close in Spotlight, host alone, sign-off

Tips

Pre-build the layouts you need before you go live. Don't reach for them for the first time on stream.
Practice the switch order. Knowing which click takes you where saves awkward pauses.
Save Custom layouts for recurring shows so you don't rebuild every week.
Keep one Spotlight ready for emergencies (a guest drops, your screen share crashes, you need to reset).