Name: Show Transfer (R-Flow app)
Brand: R-Flow
Price: 29.00 USD
Availability: InStock

R-Flow · Show Transfer

What it does

Show Transfer packs a composition and everything it leans on (media, MIDI and keyboard mappings, Advanced Output and effect presets, your Fixture Library, Extra Effects plugins) into one folder you copy to a drive. It exists because media paths inside a .avc are absolute, so a composition copied on its own opens on the new machine full of red clips, because H:\Masks\Stripe 16.mov simply isn't there. Export keeps each file's drive and folder structure under Media/ and writes a manifest listing every original path. Import copies the media wherever you want it on the target machine and rewrites every path in the composition to match, which is the difference between copying the files across and the show playing. You can pack a single deck instead of the whole comp, and Preferences stay off by default, because one rig's display and output setup has no business landing on another.

Key features

Why it earns its place in your booth

Every clip path rewritten

Import copies the packaged media wherever you point it, then rewrites every media path inside the composition to match its new home. That rewrite is why the show opens with its clips online instead of red.

Media keeps its folder tree

"Copy media files" is on by default, and each file lands under Media/ with its original drive and folder structure intact, so "H:\Masks\Stripe 16.mov" becomes Media/H/Masks/Stripe 16.mov inside the package. Keeping the drive letter as a folder is what stops two clips called intro.mov from different drives landing on top of each other in the package. Import drops that drive folder again when it copies, so read the gotcha below if your show pulls same-named media off two drives.

Mappings and presets come along

Under "Also include", R-Flow offers whatever it finds in your Resolume folder: MIDI, keyboard, OSC and DMX shortcuts, Advanced Output presets, effect and source presets, colour palettes, envelopes, animation presets, the DMX fixture library and your Extra Effects FFGL folder. Twelve are ticked by default, each one showing its file count and size, and folders that are empty or missing are never offered.

Pack a single deck

The Deck dropdown packages one deck on its own, stripping the other decks out and correcting the deck count in the file. Useful for a guest slot where the venue machine has no business holding your other four sets.

Missing media flagged up front

The scan reports how many media files it found and their total size, and switches to a warning colour with a separate MISSING count when referenced clips aren't on this machine. It asks before packaging anyway, and the package README lists the first 60 missing paths with the full list in MANIFEST.json, so an offline drive is something you find in the workshop rather than at soundcheck.

Preferences and plugins stay manual

Preferences (screens, audio device, output setup) are off by default and never installed by import. Those files describe this machine's hardware, not the venue's, and the venue's output setup is the last thing you want overwritten on show day. Arena's own plugins/vfx folder is opt-in as well, and stays a hand copy at the other end since it needs admin rights.

Documentation

How to use Show Transfer

Open the Show Transfer app

It opens in Export mode: an Export / Import switch at the top, your Compositions list down the left, the what-to-include panel on the right, and a progress bar with a status line (starting at "Ready") along the bottom. Flipping the switch rebuilds the whole panel below it, so finish one job before you swap to the other.
Pick the composition to pack

The Compositions list reads your Documents > Resolume Arena > Compositions folder, newest saved first, showing each .avc or .avs with its file size. Click one and R-Flow immediately scans it for every media path inside. "Refresh" re-reads the folder if you just saved from Resolume. If you get "Resolume's Compositions folder wasn't found", R-Flow couldn't locate Resolume under your Documents folder, and there's no way to point it elsewhere.
Choose a deck, or leave it on All decks

The Deck dropdown offers "All decks" plus every deck in the composition, listed as "1. Deck name". Pick one and the packaged .avc has the other decks stripped out and its header reset to a single deck. Changing the dropdown rescans straight away, so the file count and size always match what you're shipping.
Read the scan result before you trust it

The summary line above the checkboxes reads like "148 media files, 62.4 GB", counting the files it found and their size, and it adds a MISSING count in warning colour when referenced files aren't on this machine. The report box below lists the missing paths (first 40, then a count of the rest). Missing files never make it into the package, so if a drive is offline, plug it back in and click the composition again before you ship a show with holes in it.
Tick what travels with the composition

"Copy media files" is on by default and is the whole point of the exercise. Leave it alone. Under "Also include", R-Flow only offers folders that exist and hold files, each labelled with its file count and size. Pre-ticked: MIDI mappings, keyboard shortcuts, OSC and DMX mappings, Advanced Output, video and source presets, colour palettes, envelopes, animation presets, the DMX fixture library and your Extra Effects (FFGL) folder. Starting off: audio effect presets, Mixer presets, Interface presets, Arena's plugins/vfx folder (large, and the target machine's Resolume ships the same bundled plugins) and Preferences, which carry this machine's hardware setup.
Choose folder and export

"Choose folder and export…" only becomes clickable once the scan finishes. If anything was missing you get a Missing media confirmation first, and answering No backs you out so you can reconnect the drive. Otherwise pick the parent folder you want the package to land in (external drive, NAS share, desktop) and R-Flow creates "<Composition> - Show Package" inside it, with the deck name in there too if you chose one. The status line names each file as it copies, and an Export complete dialog offers to open the folder when it's done.
Copy the whole package folder across

The package is a plain folder, never a zip: MANIFEST.json, README.txt, Composition/ with the .avc, Media/ holding every clip under its original drive and folder tree, plus a folder for each extra you ticked. Copy all of it, MANIFEST.json included, because that file is the relink table and nothing works on the far side without it. README.txt inside spells out what's in the package and what still needs doing by hand, including fonts used by text clips (not collected) and Arena's vfx plugins, which have to be dropped into Program Files with admin rights.
Check the far machine can import it

Import runs in R-Flow on the target machine, and Show Transfer is not one of the trial apps, so that install needs a licence. No R-Flow at the other end? The package is still usable by hand. Copy Media/ wherever you want it and relink the clips in Resolume yourself, because the paths in the packaged .avc still point at your drives and will not resolve on their own. README.txt in the package says the same thing.
On the far machine, point Import at the package

Open Show Transfer on the target machine and flip the switch to Import. Click "Browse…" next to "Package folder" and select the package folder itself, the one holding MANIFEST.json. Use the Browse button. Typing or pasting a path into the box does not enable "Import show". The report then prints a SHOW PACKAGE summary (composition, deck, when and where it was made, media count and size, what's included) so you can confirm you grabbed the right one.
Say where the media lives, then Import show

"Media goes to" auto-fills with an Imported Shows folder named after the composition, but only when the box is empty, so a second import in the same session keeps the first show's folder until you clear it or re-Browse. Change it with the second "Browse…" if your media belongs on a dedicated drive. Leave "Install the included mappings and presets into Resolume" ticked to put the packaged shortcuts and presets into this machine's Resolume folders, remembering that same-named files get overwritten. Click "Import show": the media copies, every clip path in the composition is rewritten to the new location, and the relinked .avc lands in this machine's Compositions folder. The report ends with files copied, paths relinked, where the composition landed, and a problem count if anything went wrong (up to 20 lines, such as a file missing from the package or an extras folder that would not copy). Read it, because non-zero copy and relink counts do not mean everything arrived.

Reference

Settings

Export / Import	The segmented switch at the top. Export packs a show off this machine, Import unpacks one onto it. Switching modes rebuilds the whole panel below, so finish one job before flipping to the other.
Deck	Dropdown next to the composition you picked, defaulting to "All decks". Pick a single deck and the packaged composition contains only that deck, saved as "<Comp> - <Deck>.avc" with the deck count corrected to 1. Punctuation is stripped out of the deck name in that filename, while the package folder uses the deck name exactly as you typed it in Resolume. Changing it re-runs the scan, so the summary above always describes the file you are about to build.
Copy media files	On by default. Without it there is nothing to relink on the far side. Untick it only when both machines already see the same media at the same paths, such as a shared NAS or a drive lettered identically on both rigs.
Also include	The list under the media summary. A checkbox only appears for a folder that exists on this machine and has at least one file in it, and each one shows its file count and size. On import these go back to the same place under Documents > Resolume Arena, overwriting files of the same name.
MIDI mappings, Keyboard shortcuts, OSC mappings, DMX shortcuts	Your four Shortcuts folders, all on by default. These are what make the show playable on the target machine rather than just visible. Untick them when you are handing the package to someone else's rig that already has its own controller mappings.
Advanced Output, Video effect presets, Source presets, Colour palettes, Envelopes, Animation presets	Ticked by default, and small enough that there is no reason not to. Your screen setup preset, saved effect and source presets, palettes, envelopes and animation presets are the things a show leans on constantly. Leave them ticked unless you are certain the target machine already has identical copies.
Audio effect presets, Mixer presets, Interface presets	The three include options that start off. Tick them if your show depends on saved audio effect or mixer presets, or if you want your interface layout to travel with the package.
DMX fixture library	Documents > Resolume Arena > Fixture Library, on by default. Keep it ticked for any show that drives lighting, since a fixture your composition patches to has to exist on the far machine.
Extra Effects (FFGL)	Your user-installed FFGL effects from Documents > Resolume Arena > Extra Effects, on by default. These do get installed on import, into the same user-level folder, so no admin rights are involved. The Import screen's warning about FFGL plugins refers to Arena's plugins/vfx folder only. Plugins installed anywhere else are not collected.
Arena's plugins/vfx folder	Off by default, and only offered when Arena's install folder is found. It packages Arena's own bundled plugins out of Program Files, which is a lot of data, and import never installs them. Someone copies that folder by hand on the target machine, with admin rights. Tick it only when you know the target install is missing something the show needs.
Preferences (display/audio/output, machine specific)	Off by default. Copies seven preference files (MIDI, OSC, DMX, advanced and simple output, config and extensions) into the package, and import never installs them. They describe this machine's displays, audio device and output routing, none of which will match the rig you are handing the package to. Include them as a reference copy only.
Package folder	In Import mode, point this at the package folder itself, the one holding MANIFEST.json, README.txt and Composition. A path typed or pasted into the box will not arm the Import show button, so use Browse.
Media goes to	In Import mode, this is where the packaged media lands on this machine, and the exact path every clip in the composition is rewritten to. It fills itself in with Documents > Resolume Arena > Imported Shows > <composition name> when you pick a package, but only while the box is still empty, so clear it before you import a second show. Change it to whichever drive has the space and the read speed for playback.
Install the included mappings and presets into Resolume	Ticked by default in Import mode. Copies everything from the include list back into Documents > Resolume Arena on this machine, overwriting same-named files with no backup and no undo. Untick it on a machine that is not yours, or when you only want the media and the relinked composition.

Pro tips

💡 Scan at home, days out, with every drive plugged in. The summary line above the report gives you the file count it found, the total size and a MISSING count when anything is unaccounted for, and missing files are never packaged, so a scan reading 0 missing is the only one worth exporting from.

💡 If the scan does report missing files, reconnect the drive and click the composition again to rescan. Answering yes to the prompt writes the package without those clips, and the show lands on the other machine with them still unresolved.

💡 For a guest slot, pick the deck in the Deck dropdown before exporting. You get one composition holding just that deck, though persistent clips and any composition-level sources still ride along, so the package can be bigger than the deck alone suggests. Keep deck names free of characters Windows won't accept in a folder name (slashes, colons, question marks), because the package folder uses the deck name exactly as typed.

💡 Export straight onto the drive you're handing over. There is nothing to unpack on the far side, and if the drive drops out mid-copy you can run the same export into the same folder again, since files already there at a matching size get skipped. It merges rather than replaces, so clear the folder first if you renamed media since the last export.

💡 Import resumes the same crude way export does. If a copy dies halfway, run the same import again at the same destination and files already there at a matching size are skipped. The catch is that a matching size is all it checks, with no checksum and no date, so a stale file the same size as the new one survives. Point "Media goes to" at a fresh folder per show and the problem never comes up.

💡 Do the import the afternoon before, not at doors. There is no Cancel button once media starts copying, and the relinked composition goes into Documents > Resolume Arena > Compositions under the same name it had in the package, overwriting any local show that shares that name without asking.

💡 When both machines see the same media (a shared NAS, or an identical drive letter on both rigs), untick "Copy media files". The package stays tiny and the composition arrives with its original absolute paths intact, which is exactly what you want when the media is already sitting where the file expects it. Nothing in the app tells you this, and it only works when the paths genuinely match on both ends.

Good to know

⚠️ Every media path inside a composition is absolute, which is why a straight copy of the .avc opens full of red clips on another machine. Import fixes that by rewriting each path, but only for files it copied. Untick "Copy media files" and the show installs with the original paths untouched, which is useful only when both machines see the same drive letter or NAS.

⚠️ Show Transfer finds media by absolute path, meaning drive letters (H:\...) and UNC shares (\\server\share\...), for the file types Resolume plays. A clip stored as a relative path is invisible to the scan, so it is neither copied nor relinked and never shows in the missing count. Anything with an unusual extension is only caught when it sits in a normal video, audio or source clip slot. If a clip you know about is not in the file count, that is why.

⚠️ Media sitting on a drive that is offline when you scan counts as missing and is never packaged. The scan flags the count, the export asks whether to continue anyway, and the files are listed in README.txt and MANIFEST.json, but those clips arrive unresolved. Reconnect the drive and scan again.

⚠️ A clean scan is not a promise of a clean package. A file that exists when you scan can still fail to copy, whether the drive drops out, permissions bite, or the path gets too long once the drive folder is added on top. Those files are moved to the missing list, which means they are not packaged and not relinked, and the only sign is a line at the end of the export report saying how many files could not be copied. Read that last line before you unplug the drive, and check the missing list in README.txt.

⚠️ Media is copied at full size and nothing is compressed, so a show with 200 GB of clips produces a 200 GB folder you carry across yourself. Nothing checks free space on either end.

⚠️ Export keeps each clip's drive folder in the package (Media/H/Masks/intro.mov), but import drops that drive letter when it copies, so the media lands under your chosen folder in its original folder tree, and Media/H/Masks/intro.mov becomes <Media goes to>\Masks\intro.mov. Two clips with the same name and the same folder path on different drives therefore collide on the target. The second copy overwrites the first, or is skipped when the sizes match, and both clips end up relinked to the same file. If your show pulls same-named media off two drives, rename one before you export.

⚠️ Exporting a single deck removes the other decks from the file and fixes the deck count, and stops there. PersistentClips live at composition level and are left alone, so a one-deck package can still carry (and relink) media belonging to clips outside that deck. Layer, column and composition-level references to the decks that went are left as they were. Treat a one-deck package as your comp with the other decks pulled out, not a clean single-deck show built from scratch, and open it to check before the venue does.

⚠️ Fonts used by text clips are not collected. Install them on the target machine or your text renders in a fallback face. The README warns about it, the app cannot do anything about it.

⚠️ Arena's own plugins/vfx folder is off by default, and even when you include it, import never installs it. Copy Plugins/Arena vfx into Program Files by hand on the target machine, which needs admin rights. Extra Effects from your Documents folder is the exception. That one does get installed for you, despite the blanket wording on the Import screen.

⚠️ Preferences are off by default and import never installs them, because they carry this machine's screens, audio device and output setup. Send them as a reference copy if you like, but dropping them onto a different rig is how you end up with a black output five minutes before doors.

⚠️ Installing the included mappings and presets overwrites same-named files in Documents/Resolume Arena with no backup, no dry run and no undo. If the target machine has its own MIDI map or Advanced Output preset under the same filename, it is gone.

⚠️ Extras copy quietly, and so do their failures. If a folder you ticked cannot be read, it is missing from the package and nothing tells you. Open README.txt in the finished package and check the included list against what you ticked before you hand the drive over. Preferences are listed as included whenever the folder exists, even if none of the seven files made it in.

⚠️ The relinked composition is written into Documents/Resolume Arena/Compositions under the same filename it had in the package, with no overwrite prompt. If the target machine already has a show by that name, rename yours before you export. If the Compositions folder isn't found, the relinked .avc is quietly left inside the package's Composition/ folder instead, and mappings and presets are skipped only when the Resolume Arena folder itself is missing.

⚠️ Import is all or nothing: media, composition and every included extra, in one pass. There is no deck picker on this side, no dry run and no relink-only mode. The one thing you can turn off is installing the mappings and presets.

⚠️ There is no Cancel button. Scan, export and import all run in the background, and quitting R-Flow mid-copy leaves a partial package with no MANIFEST.json, which Import will refuse to open. Let it finish, or start the export again from scratch.

⚠️ While a scan or an export is running, clicking a different composition or changing the Deck dropdown does nothing, and nothing tells you why. Watch the status line rather than the mouse, since it moves from "Scanning composition…" to a scan summary, or names each file as it copies. Wait for it to settle before you change anything.

⚠️ The Compositions list is the top level of Documents > Resolume Arena > Compositions and nothing else. Comps filed away in subfolders are not shown, and there is no Browse button to point the app at another folder. If Documents is redirected to OneDrive, R-Flow does not follow it here and you get "Resolume's Compositions folder wasn't found." with no way around it. Move or copy the .avc into the real Compositions folder and hit Refresh.

⚠️ The packaged .avc is rewritten, never copied byte for byte, and import rewrites it a second time. Resolume opens it happily, but formatting and any comments in the original file are gone, so don't expect the packaged composition to compare cleanly against the one on your machine.

In action

Requirements

Windows PC running R-Flow on both machines (Show Transfer is not part of the trial, so the target install needs a licence too)Resolume Arena installed under your Documents folder on the source machine, so the Compositions, Shortcuts and Presets folders can be foundEvery drive holding your media connected and readable when you scan and export, or those clips are left out of the packageEnough free space on the destination for a full-size copy of the show's media, since nothing is compressed and nothing checks the space for youNo network, ports or Resolume webserver needed. Export, copy, import

Plays well with

Resolume Arena compositions (.avc and .avs) read straight from your Documents > Resolume Arena > Compositions folder, with the relinked composition written back into the same folder on the target machineResolume's own Shortcuts, Presets, Fixture Library and Extra Effects folders, packaged from Documents > Resolume Arena and put back in the same place on importFFGL plugins: your user-level Extra Effects folder is packaged and installed, while Arena's Program Files plugins/vfx folder is packaged only and copied by handExternal drives and NAS shares: the package is a plain folder you copy across yourself, with no network link between the two machines

What it does

Why it earns its place in your booth

Every clip path rewritten

Media keeps its folder tree

Mappings and presets come along

Pack a single deck

Missing media flagged up front

Preferences and plugins stay manual

How to use Show Transfer

Open the Show Transfer app

Pick the composition to pack

Choose a deck, or leave it on All decks

Read the scan result before you trust it

Tick what travels with the composition

Choose folder and export

Copy the whole package folder across

Check the far machine can import it

On the far machine, point Import at the package