Every minute of the show gets a row.
Build the rundown, set the hard out, and Next back-times the whole thing for you. Then run it live: a show clock, a segment countdown, and each crew member watching their own role — camera, audio, graphics, prompter — on their own phone. In a browser, on any device. Link the teleprompter and your switcher once, and each call updates them: the script goes to the teleprompter, OBS or vMix cuts to the right scene, and a Scene graphic goes up.
14-day free trial · runs in your browser · your rundown stays in your own drive
See the tool in action.
What it does.
Back-timing to a hard out
Set the time the show has to end and Next works backwards. Run long on a segment and it shows you, live, exactly how far over you are and what it costs the rest of the show.
Calls that drive the prompter and your switcher
Link them once in Run mode. Then each time you call a segment, Next sends its script to the Just Read It teleprompter, cuts OBS or vMix to the scene or input named in that row, and shows a Scene lower third, headline or BRB screen from the row’s Graphics cell. No OBS plugin or WebSocket password: OBS’s own Browser Source does it, and vMix runs a script Next gives you. Tested on OBS 32 for Mac and vMix 29 on Windows 11.
One role per screen
Eleven crew views — producer, director, A1, lighting, graphics, prompter, camera and the rest. Everyone sees the columns that are theirs and none of the ones that are not.
Call the show, live
Mark a segment aired and the next one goes live now, not when the clock said it would. The whole crew follows on their own devices, in real time.
Your file, your drive
The rundown is an .xlsx in your own Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox. Starting Frame never stores the show — you can open it in Excel, hand it to a client, and keep it after you cancel.
Questions.
What is a run of show?
A run of show — also called a rundown — is the minute-by-minute plan for a live event: every segment in order, how long it runs, who is on, and what each department does during it. It is the document the crew runs the show from.
Is there a free run-of-show template?
Yes — free .xlsx rundown templates (award show, sales kickoff, all-hands and more) at startingframe.com/templates. Download them for Excel, Sheets or Numbers, or open one straight into Next to run it live. One email unlocks the downloads.
How much does it cost?
Next is part of the Starting Frame Membership — $24/month or $240/year, with a 14-day free trial and no card charged during the trial. That one membership also covers the teleprompter and the whole free creative set.
Can the crew see it on their phones?
Yes. Invite a crew member by email and they get a role-aware view on their own phone that follows the live segment automatically — they see what is on now and what is next, in their own department language.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Next runs in a browser on any device — laptop, tablet or phone. There is nothing to download and no per-seat client to manage on a show floor.
Does Next work with a teleprompter?
Yes. Next links to Just Read It, the free Starting Frame teleprompter; linking needs Next, which is part of the membership. Each segment’s script goes to the talent’s screen when you call that segment, paused at the top until the operator presses Play. Turn on Roll on call and, from your second call on, each call starts a 3-2-1 countdown and the scroll by itself. Undo never starts it rolling.
Can Next switch OBS scenes and show lower thirds?
Yes. In Run mode, click Switcher, create a switcher link, and add the OBS link to OBS as a Browser Source with Advanced access. Each call then switches OBS to the scene named in that row, using your OBS transition. A second link shows Scene graphics from each row’s Graphics cell: a lower third, a headline, or a BRB, Starting soon or Ending screen, in your own Scene look. No OBS plugin or WebSocket password needed; tested on OBS 32 for Mac. Next won’t undo a switch you make in OBS by hand; your next call switches as planned. Scene and Just Read It stay free; linking them is part of Next.
Does Next work with vMix?
Yes. In Run mode, click Switcher, create a switcher link, and press Copy vMix script. Paste it into vMix under Settings → Scripting, then Start it. Each call cuts vMix to the input named in that row’s Source cell, by title or number, with vMix’s enhanced security left on. Scripting is part of vMix 4K, Pro and MAX. Tested on vMix 29 4K on Windows 11.
What happens to my rundown if I cancel?
You keep it. The show file lives in your own cloud drive as a standard .xlsx, not on our servers, so cancelling never takes your work with it.
Start a free trial.
Free, in your browser — no sign-up. When you're ready for the production tools — a teleprompter and a live run-of-show — there's a membership for that.
The free tools are free forever. The Starting Frame membership (14-day trial) adds Next (live run-of-show) and the saved-scripts library in Just Read It. The free tools stay free either way.