March was the month Conductor Live went from a functional prototype to something that looks and feels like a real broadcast platform. Here's everything that shipped.
Streaming engine
Amazon IVS integration. Replaced the Mux streaming pipeline with Amazon IVS Low-Latency channels. The IVS Web Broadcast SDK handles browser-to-cloud ingest natively via WebRTC — no relay server required. Each show gets a dedicated IVS channel provisioned automatically via /api/shows/[id]/provision.
Per-show channel provisioning. When a director creates a show, a dedicated IVS channel spins up with its own stream key and playback URL, stored in the shows table. Complete isolation between productions.
Canvas compositor optimization. Reduced compositor output from 1080p30 to 720p24 to address CPU starvation from the browser's software H.264 encoder. Starvation events eliminated. Bitrate stabilized above 600 kbps. Framerate holding steady at 24-27 fps.
Director interface
Dual-monitor PVW/PGM with TAKE switching. Preview and Program monitors side by side with a full-width TAKE button between them. Horizontal drag scales monitors from 30% to 150%. The interface finally feels like a broadcast control room.
Collapsible sidebar. Five tabs: Controls, Graphics, Rundown, Q&A, and Guests. Sidebar collapses via a button and re-expands via a pill at the edge. Vertical drag resizes the sidebar from 200px to 520px.
Rundown panel. Show rundown with segment timer, mark complete, active item sync to show_state. Countdown goes amber at 1 minute, red at 30 seconds. Drag to reorder segments.
Graphics hot strip. Two sections: ON AIR zone showing the currently live graphic with a TAKE DOWN button, and a template picker with four built-in templates — Speaker Lower Third, Pharma Disclaimer, Topic Title Card, and Logo Bug. Field inputs per template, QUEUE and TAKE LIVE actions.
Signal health monitoring. Stream status, viewer count, bitrate, frame rate, compositor health, run time, and hard out countdown — all visible at a glance in the STATS tab.
Co-producer view
Full dark production view. Co-producers get their own PVW/PGM monitors, participant grid, and rundown strip. Hover popup on each guest tile shows signal stats, framing guides, and cue buttons.
Cam/mic toggle controls. Co-producers can remotely toggle guest cameras and microphones from the popup. Fixed Daily.co owner permissions so co-producer tokens have the right access level.
Guest cue buttons. Cue to on-deck, go live, and end segment — all from the co-producer popup with auth properly wired through Supabase.
Guest experience
Three-state talent machine. Green Room → On Air → Post-Segment. Director-controlled transitions via the GUESTS tab in the sidebar. Guests see a warm, branded waiting experience in the green room and a thank-you screen after their segment.
AI camera check. Claude Vision analyzes guest framing, lighting, background, and eye level during tech check. Real-time coaching overlay guides guests to look professional before they go on air.
Guest tech check redesign. Warm Fraunces/DM Sans light design with device selection, VU meter, and the AI framing analysis. The entire flow is designed so someone who has never done a live broadcast can look professional without thinking about it.
Expanded guest state machine. Added on_deck, going_live, mic_off, cam_off, cam_on states. Remote mute signaling via Supabase guest_states JSONB. Per-guest framing state tracking.
Watch page
IVS Player SDK integration. Watch page at /watch/[slug] renders the IVS player with the show's playback URL. AUDIENCE button in director nav opens it.
Watch page v4 design. 16:9 video with glass collapsible sidebar, holographic panelist strip, ISI widget with autoscroll and read confirmation, Q&A sidebar, brand theming system, and live/offline/replay states. Locked as the reference design.
Engagement
Engagement slideout. Six engagement types wired to the database and rendered in the video stage. Slideout card positioned as a direct child of the video container with 38% glass treatment. All six test cases passing.
Q&A system. Audience submits questions, moderator approves/rejects from the Q&A tab in the director sidebar. Approved questions surface in the director view for the moderator to address on air.
Team management
Role-based invitations. Eight roles: owner, admin, director, producer, moderator, coproducer, monitor, guest. Invite team members via the GUESTS tab with role selection. Join flow for invited members.
Full audit logging. Every significant action logged to show_events via /lib/log-event.ts. Show lifecycle, team changes, streaming events, guest state transitions — all timestamped and attributable.
Infrastructure
Marketing site launch. conductor-live.com live with full marketing site, early access email capture, coming soon modal gating app access. DNS configured through Squarespace pointing to Vercel.
Subdomain architecture. conductor-live.com for marketing, app.conductor-live.com for the application, watch.conductor-live.com configured for the viewer experience.
Brand identity. Concentric C logo mark, Conductor Live full wordmark, and hero banner assets finalized. LinkedIn company page live.
March was 27 build days. April is about demo readiness and the first customer conversation. Follow along on The Wire.