Layouts: Grid, Spotlight and 1-on-1
How the call can be arranged, what each layout is for, who chooses it, and what happens when someone shares their screen.
There are three ways a call can be arranged. The host chooses, and everyone sees the same layout.
Grid
Everyone the same size, in rows. Good for talking, practicing together and social get-togethers.
The pictures may be trimmed at the edges to fill the grid neatly: a face stays in view, but the edges of a wide shot can be cut off. For something people need to see in detail, like hands on the keys, use Spotlight or 1-on-1, which show it much larger.
Spotlight
One player large (marked ★ SPOTLIGHT), with everyone else in a strip of small pictures. This is the layout for a performance, a masterclass or a lesson in a group.
- Until the host picks someone, the host is the one in the spotlight.
- Your own small picture is always first in the strip.
- If there are more people than the strip can show, it pages: on the web and in the Mac/Windows app, use the arrows at each end. An arrow tells you when someone on another page is speaking, and you still hear everyone.
- If the featured player drops out briefly, the large picture says they're reconnecting.
- The Score button for the session's sheet music only appears in Spotlight.
1-on-1
Just the two of you, each seeing the other full size, with your own picture small in the corner. Made for private lessons. It's only offered when exactly two people are in the call; if a third person joins, the call shows them all in a grid.
In a piano lesson, 1-on-1 shows the whole camera picture, uncropped, so the keyboard isn't trimmed off.
Which layout a session starts in
| Session | Starts in |
|---|---|
| Performance | Spotlight |
| Course | Spotlight |
| Camp Gather (performance) | Spotlight |
| Practice, piano lesson, social Camp Gather | Grid |
The host can change it at any time.
Changing the layout (host)
Web browser
Use Grid, Spotlight and 1-on-1 in the middle of the control bar. To feature someone, open the ⋮ menu on their picture and choose Spotlight, or in Spotlight just click their picture; click again to bring the spotlight back to yourself. Remove spotlight goes back to Grid.
Mac or Windows app
Use Grid, Spotlight and 1-on-1 in the host part of the control bar. To feature someone, open the menu on their picture and choose Spotlight. Remove spotlight takes it off them.
iPad or iPhone app
On an iPad the layout buttons are on the control bar. On an iPhone they're under Call settings → Layout. To feature someone, press and hold their picture (or tap its ⋮) and choose Spotlight.
Choosing Spotlight for someone switches the room to Spotlight if it isn't already.
When someone shares their screen
A shared screen (including a teacher's extra cameras, or a video from the Asset queue) needs room, so:
- In Grid or Spotlight, the call switches to Spotlight by itself, with the shared screen large, and switches back when the sharing stops.
- In 1-on-1, it stays 1-on-1. The person watching sees the shared picture large, with the sharer's face and their own picture small. The person sharing still sees the other person large, with what they're sending shown small in the corner.
- A very wide picture, such as two cameras side by side, is shown at its own shape. In Spotlight the sharer's face sits in a band under it; in 1-on-1 the two faces sit in a row above it.