First launch
The welcome you see the first time, the “First steps” checklist, what comes with the app, and your first test with the projector.
The first time you open it, Himnova Live starts in your computer's language (English, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese, or English if it's something else) and shows a full-screen welcome that gets you ready for your first service in a few minutes. You only see it on a new install. If you update from an earlier version, the app opens as usual.
The welcome
The steps are listed on the left, and you can click any of them to jump there. Back and Next, at the bottom, go through them in order. Everything you choose is saved right away, and you can change it later in Settings.
| Step | What you choose |
|---|---|
| Hello | The language, and the appearance: Dark for working in low light, or Light. The first time through, changing the language also swaps the installed Bibles for that language's. |
| Your church | What LOGO shows, which is what the congregation sees when nothing is live. It can be your church's name over a background, or your logo. |
| Screens | Which screen is the projector, and which one is for the musicians, if you have one. With two or more screens, a map shows them the way the computer has them arranged. Click one to put your LOGO on it. |
| At the end | What happens when a video, presentation, song or audio file ends (the options). |
| Folders | Which folders on the computer show up in Media and Songs. Your videos, pictures, music and documents folders are already linked. |
| Bibles | The Main version, which the Bible tab opens with; a second one in Parallel, for a bilingual service; and the other included versions, which install with one click. Beside them, John 3:16 as the congregation will see it. |
| Streaming | If you stream your services, Yes, we stream turns on the NDI® output for OBS or vMix and tells you how to receive it. |
| How it works | The four basic ideas of the app: choose, project, cover and move on. Plus Show me “First steps”, which is on by default. |
| Done | A summary of your choices, each with a Change button. Start closes the welcome. |
Skip the welcome, at the bottom of the list of steps, closes it from any step except the last one and keeps what you've chosen so far. Esc doesn't close it. To see it again, go to Settings › About › Open the guide.
First steps
When the welcome closes, First steps shows up in the bottom right corner. It's a short checklist of six things to try in the app itself, and each one checks itself off as you do it.
- Choose something for the preview: put anything in Preview.
- Send it to the projector: send anything with GO LIVE.
- Cover with BLACK or LOGO.
- Build the schedule: add one row to the Schedule.
- Look at the songs: open the Songs tab.
- Save the schedule, or open a saved one.
When it's collapsed, it shows only the next thing to do, with a hint. The arrow expands it and the ✕ closes it. If you closed the welcome with Start while Show me “First steps” was off, it doesn't appear. To bring it back and start over, use First steps in Settings › About.
What comes with the app
- Bibles in the app's language, already installed. In English, that's the King James Version, the American Standard Version and the World English Bible. Versions in the other languages install with one click, without internet (which ones).
- Your computer's videos, pictures, music and documents folders, linked in Media (how they work).
- Four timer scenes: a 10-minute countdown, a countdown to 10:00, a clock and a stopwatch.
- A ready-made look: eight soft-blur backgrounds and four motion backgrounds in Media, seven song themes (which ones), a subtle background behind Bible verses, timer scenes with backgrounds, and three overlays ready to fill in under Functions › Overlays. You can change or delete any of it. If you update from an earlier version, these are added, and only items you never changed get the new look.
- No songs, since lyrics are copyrighted. Each church types in its own or brings them over from another program (how).
Connect the projector
Connect the projector or TV to the computer and turn it on.
Set the computer to extend the display, not mirror it. On Windows, press Win + P and choose Extend. On macOS, go to System Settings › Displays and make the projector an extended display. On Linux, check in the display settings that the screens aren't mirrored.
Open Himnova Live. The projection window doesn't show up yet. It opens automatically, on a screen other than the control window's, the first time you send something with GO LIVE or click BLACK or LOGO. To open it sooner, click Open projector above the Live monitor, and it opens on BLACK. In the welcome's Screens step you can also click the projector on the map, which opens it there showing your LOGO.
Your first test
In the Bible tab (bottom left), type “john 3” in the search box and press Enter.
Click verse 16. It shows up in Preview, the middle column. Nobody else can see it yet.
Click GO LIVE at the top, or press Enter. The verse appears on the projector and on the Live monitor on the right.
Click BLACK to blank the screen and LIVE to show it again.
Tip: If you skipped the church's name or logo in the welcome, LOGO shows the “Night” background with no text. Set it up in Settings › Projection › Logo. Choose Name over background and type the name in Church name, or choose Image and load your logo in Logo image. That's what the screen shows whenever nothing is live.
Next, take a tour of the control window, column by column.
Something didn't work the way the guide says? Tell us on GitHub what you did, what you expected and what happened, and we'll see whether the app or the guide needs fixing. Report a problem (opens in a new tab)