Active speaker, Highlight, and talking indicators

Use active-speaker switching, Highlight, fixed solo sources, and talking indicators for live VDO.Ninja productions.

This guide explains the common ways to feature the current speaker, manually highlight a guest, keep other guests visible in OBS, and show a green talking indicator around people who are speaking.

Quick choice

Goal	Best option
Automatically show only the current speaker	Use &activespeaker=1 or &activespeaker=3 on a scene/view link
Automatically show all current speakers	Use &activespeaker=2 or &activespeaker=4
Automatically make the current speaker larger while others remain visible	Use &activehighlight=2 or &activespeakerfeatured
Manually feature one guest from the director room	Use the director Highlight / Featured control
Build a fully custom OBS layout with fixed guest boxes	Use a large &activespeaker browser source plus separate &solo sources in OBS
Add a green border or dot when guests talk	Use &meterstyle=2, &meterstyle=3, or &meterstyle=4 with CSS
Feature social chat messages	Use Social Stream Ninja; this is separate from VDO.Ninja guest video highlighting

Automatic active speaker

Add &activespeaker, &speakerview, or &sas to a viewer, room, or scene link.

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&activespeaker=3&cleanoutput

Modes:

Mode	Behavior
&activespeaker=1	Shows one speaker at a time, including audio-only sources
&activespeaker=2	Shows everyone currently talking, including audio-only sources
&activespeaker=3	Shows one speaker at a time, but only video sources
&activespeaker=4	Shows everyone currently talking, but only video sources

Use 3 or 4 for most OBS scene layouts, since audio-only guests will not replace the video layout.

You can slow down one-speaker switching with &activespeakerdelay, &speakerviewdelay, or &sasdelay. This applies to modes 1 and 3.

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&activespeaker=3&activespeakerdelay=1200

The delay is in milliseconds. This helps prevent rapid switching when people briefly interrupt or laugh.

&activespeaker&activespeakerdelay

Automatic active speaker Highlight

Use &activehighlight=2 when you want VDO.Ninja to keep everyone in the scene, but automatically make the current speaker larger using the secondary Highlight / Featured layout.

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&activehighlight=2&cleanoutput

&activespeakerfeatured is an alias for the same mode.

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&activespeakerfeatured&cleanoutput

Options:

Mode	Behavior
&activehighlight=2	Uses the secondary Highlight / Featured mode, so the active speaker becomes larger while other guests remain visible
&activespeakerfeatured	Alias for &activehighlight=2
&activehighlight=1	Uses normal Highlight, which is closer to a full speaker focus mode

By itself, &activehighlight=2 does not enable &activespeaker, so it does not hide non-speaking guests. If you combine it with &activespeaker, the normal active-speaker hide/show behavior still applies.

You can also add &activespeakerdelay if speaker changes are happening too quickly.

This link still needs to receive and process guest audio, so do not add &noaudio or &noap to the same scene/view link. By default, it follows video-capable speakers, similar to &activespeaker=3, so audio-only sources do not take over the Featured layout.

&activehighlight

Large speaker plus smaller guests in OBS

If you need exact positioning, crops, borders, or per-guest filters in OBS, use a hybrid OBS layout:

1. Add one large OBS Browser Source for the automatic speaker view.

2. Add each guest as a separate smaller OBS Browser Source using their solo link.

3. Add &noaudio to the smaller solo sources so audio is not duplicated.

Large automatic speaker source:

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&activespeaker=3&cleanoutput

Fixed side guest source:

https://vdo.ninja/?view=GUESTID&room=ROOMNAME&solo&cleanoutput&noaudio

Replace GUESTID with the guest's stream ID. Permanent guest IDs make this easier to maintain between shows.

Do not add &noaudio to the active-speaker source, since the automatic switching needs incoming audio levels. If the active-speaker source should not be heard in your final mix, mute that OBS source or route audio elsewhere in OBS instead.

Mocked example: a large active-speaker source with fixed solo sources in OBS.

Active speaker layouts in OBS&solo

Manual Highlight / Featured guest

From the director room, use the Highlight / Featured control on a guest to make that guest the featured video in scene outputs and connected room views that follow Highlight.

This is useful when the producer knows who should be on screen, such as a host, presenter, guest answer, or screen reader.

Tips:

• Use a normal scene link for the OBS program source:

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&cleanoutput

• Click Highlight / Featured in the director control room to feature a guest.

• Hold Ctrl on Windows/Linux or Cmd on macOS while using Highlight for the partial featured mode in supported layouts, where the guest becomes larger instead of fully replacing the layout.

• Add &ignorehighlight to a viewer or scene link if that link should not follow director Highlight changes.

Mute follows Highlight

If you want the highlighted guest to be the only unmuted guest, add &highlightmute to the director link.

https://vdo.ninja/?director=ROOMNAME&highlightmute

Aliases:

• &hmute

• &mutefollowhighlight

• &mfh

This is intended for producer-controlled panels where the highlighted person should be the only active on-air microphone. Manual mute changes are still possible, but the rule applies again the next time Highlight changes.

&highlightmute

Green border or talking dot

Use &meterstyle when you want visible feedback that someone is talking.

https://vdo.ninja/?room=ROOMNAME&scene=0&meterstyle=2&cleanoutput

Common modes:

Mode	Behavior
&meterstyle=1	Shows a VU-style meter
&meterstyle=2	Shows a green border around a talking guest
&meterstyle=3	Shows a small green dot when a guest is talking
&meterstyle=4	Hides the built-in meter and adds data-loudness / data-speaking attributes for CSS
&meterstyle=5	Pulses an audio-only avatar/background image while speaking

Mocked example: a green talking border, dot, and meter-style loudness feedback.

For custom CSS, data-speaking is usually easier than raw data-loudness.

video[data-speaking="2"] {
	outline: 6px solid #00ff66;
	outline-offset: -6px;
}

video[data-speaking="1"] {
	outline: 3px solid #99ffbb;
	outline-offset: -3px;
}

data-speaking="0" means quiet, 1 means low-level speaking, and 2 means loud speaking.

&meterstyle

API-driven switching

For most active-speaker Featured layouts, use &activehighlight=2. Use the API/loudness path only when you need custom rules, custom layout objects, or external production controls.

Available building blocks:

• getLoudness or &pushloudness can report guest loudness to a parent page.

• The layout API can apply a custom layout object or switch predefined layouts.

• The soloVideo / highlight API command can toggle Highlight for a guest.

This is flexible, but it is more work than the built-in &activehighlight=2 mode. It usually requires a parent page, Stream Deck / Companion workflow, or custom script to decide who is loudest and then update the layout.

IFRAME API Basics&layouts

Featured chat messages are separate

Featured social chat messages are handled by Social Stream Ninja, not by &activespeaker or the director Highlight video controls.

Use Social Stream Ninja when you want to select YouTube, Twitch, or other social chat messages and show them as an OBS overlay.

Social Stream Ninja

Common issues

If active speaker never switches:

• Make sure the scene/view link is receiving audio.

• Do not add &noap; audio processing is needed for loudness-based features.

• Try &meterstyle=2 first to confirm VDO.Ninja can detect who is talking.

• Use &activespeaker=3 if audio-only sources are unexpectedly taking over the scene.

If the layout is switching too quickly:

• Add &activespeakerdelay=1000 to &activespeakerdelay=2000.

• Use manual Highlight when the producer needs deterministic control.

If you need the exact "current speaker large, everyone else still visible, all inside one VDO.Ninja scene link" behavior:

• Use &activehighlight=2 or &activespeakerfeatured.

• Use the OBS hybrid method only when you need custom per-source positioning or filters.