Device guide

Stream Deck Studio over the network

Elgato's 16-key Studio talks Ethernet, not just USB — Fantago connects to it directly over a plain TCP connection, with no Elgato software installed anywhere in the chain, and a split 16×2 layout for two operators on one deck.

No Elgato software LAN connection Split 16×2 layout

01What makes the Studio different

No Elgato software, anywhere in the chain — Fantago talks to the deck directly, over the network.

Every other Stream Deck — Mini, the standard 15-key, the XL — is a USB HID device: something has to be plugged into it and running Elgato's own software (or the Fantago plugin that replaces it) to talk to the hardware at all. The Stream Deck Studio is built differently: it has an Ethernet port, and once it is on your network, Fantago's server opens a plain TCP connection straight to it on port 5343 — no Elgato software installed anywhere, no USB cable, no companion app running on the deck or next to it.

It does

Connect over LAN

Just the Studio's IP address. Fantago opens the connection, sends a short handshake, and starts rendering keys.

It does

Split the deck in two

16×2 keys can act as two independent 8-key regions — two operators, or two different contexts, on one physical unit.

It does

Render real graphics per key

Each key is a 144×112 image, drawn server-side per press and per feedback change, not a fixed icon set.

It does not

Need the Elgato Stream Deck software running

Anywhere — not on the machine running Fantago, and nothing to install on the Studio itself.

02Five minutes to a working profile

  1. Put the Studio on your network and note its IP address — check it on the device itself or your router's client list.
  2. Stream Deck → New Profile. Name it, set Device Type to Stream Deck Studio (16×2).
  3. Connect Bridge Device. In the profile's Connected Devices panel, press it, give the connection a name and the Studio's IP, and press Connect Device. There is nothing to install — see the note below on why the button says "Bridge".
  4. Build keys exactly as on any other Stream Deck profile: select a key on the grid, assign an action, set its label and feedback rule.
  5. Save Profile and assign it to the connected device. Keys render on the physical deck within a second or two.
Stream Deck Studio profile editor with colour-coded keys across the split 16x2 grid
A working Studio profile: camera and transition keys on the left half, scenes, titles and transport on the right — each half pages independently, with its own Left/Right counter above the grid.
Connect Bridge Device modal filled in with an IP address for a Stream Deck Studio
The same "Connect Bridge Device" dialog used for every remote surface — for a Studio, the IP address is the deck's own address on the LAN, and nothing needs to be installed anywhere for the connection to work.

03Why it says "Bridge"

One dialog, two different situations underneath it — worth knowing which one you're in.

The dialog is called Connect Bridge Device and its copy talks about "the remote device running the FantaGo Bridge" — wording that made more sense for other kinds of remote surfaces than it does for a Studio, and is worth unpacking so it doesn't cause a moment of doubt about whether you need to install something.

"FantaGo Bridge" is not a piece of software that runs on the Stream Deck, and there is nothing to install on the Studio or next to it. It is the name of the component inside the Fantago server itself (SurfaceBridge) that opens outbound network connections to physical surfaces instead of talking to them over USB. For a Stream Deck Studio, entering its IP in this dialog is the entire setup — the "Bridge" is server-side, and the Studio is simply the address it connects to.

04Split mode: two decks in one

The 16×2 grid can behave as one continuous 32-key surface, or as two independent 8-key halves.

With split mode on — the default for a new Studio profile — the grid divides into a Left region and a Right region, each with its own page counter and its own Duplicate control. That turns one physical Studio into two practical surfaces: a technical director's transport controls on the left half and a graphics operator's titles on the right, both live on the same desk, each paging independently without disturbing the other's layout.

ℹ
Split mode is a profile setting, not a hardware mode — switch it off for a profile that should behave as one continuous 32-key grid instead, for a single operator who wants every key on one uninterrupted page.

05What actually draws on a key

Every key is a rendered image, not a fixed icon from a library.

A key's face is generated as a small SVG (144×112) — text, colour, an icon, optional drop shadow — and rasterized server-side each time it needs to change: on save, on feedback state change, or when a Logic Flow's Style node overrides it at runtime. Because rendering happens on the server and the result is pushed to the deck, the same button-building tools used for browser panels — colour, label, icon, blink — work identically on a Stream Deck Studio key.

ℹ
Blink on a Studio key does not use a client-side timer. A single 200ms ticker on the server drives blink phase for every connected surface and re-renders the key directly — avoiding a real gotcha found during testing, where a Stream Deck's own runtime throttles timers on pages it considers hidden, which stalls a locally-animated blink after a minute or so. Server-driven blink has no such limit.

06Frequently asked questions

The connection shows green briefly then drops

Fantago only marks a Studio connected once real data has arrived from it, not on a successful TCP handshake alone — a half-open link or a stale switch entry can accept the connection without the device actually being there. If it flaps, check the Studio's network link and that nothing else on the network is contending for the same IP.

Do I need the same network as the machine running Fantago?

The Studio needs a route to the Fantago server on TCP port 5343 — same subnet is simplest, but any network that can reach that port works.

Can I use split mode with fewer than 16 keys per side?

Each region is fixed at 8 keys (2 rows × 4 columns) per side; what changes with split mode is whether the two halves page independently, not how many keys each has.

Does a Studio profile support feedback rules the same way as other decks?

Yes — the same feedback-rule mechanism used for the smaller Stream Deck models and for panel buttons applies unchanged; a key lights from a device's live state exactly as a panel button would.