Roles in Descript Rooms

Every participant in a Descript Room has a role that determines what they can do, whether they’re recorded, and what part of the session they appear in. Roles in Descript Rooms are separate from your Drive membership.

This article covers:

The different roles in Descript Rooms (Host, Co-host, Producer, Viewer Guest)
What each role can see, do, and access
How to assign or change a participant’s role

Room Roles at a Glance

Capability	Producer	Host / Co-host	Guest	Viewer
Seen?	❌	✅	✅	❌
Heard?	Yes, via push-to-talk. Also hears other Producers when unmuted in the Control Room.	✅	✅	❌
Recorded?	❌	✅	✅	❌
Start/stop recording?	✅	✅	❌	❌
Sees	Recording Room	Recording Room	Recording Room	Recording Room
Hears	Recording Room Other Producers in Control Room (when unmuted)	Recording Room Push-to-talk from Producers	Recording Room Push-to-talk from Producers	Recording Room Push-to-talk from Producers

Host and Co-host

Each Editor on a Drive has their own Room. The Editor who launches a Room becomes the Room owner and is automatically assigned the Host role.

Hosts are the owner of a Room session. They appear in the Recording Room, are recorded, and have full control over the session.

Co-hosts have the same permissions as the Host, but they don’t own the Room or the resulting project. The Co-host role is only available to Business or Enterprise Drives.

Host and Co-host abilities:

Start and stop recording
Assign roles to other participants
Monitor participant connection and upload status
View and adjust AV inputs (Host tools)
Leave Editor Comments during the session. Learn more about leaving comments during a live Room session →

Producer

The Producer role is only available to Business or Enterprise Drives.

Producers remain completely offscreen in the Control Room. They are not recorded or visible during the session, even when using push-to-talk. Their audio is heard live only by selected participants and never included in the final recording.

Watch out for mic bleed and echo

If a participant isn’t wearing headphones and Echo Cancellation is turned off, their mic may pick up speaker audio when a Producer uses push-to-talk. This can result in unintended audio being captured in the final recording.

To avoid echo and mic bleed, we recommend all participants wear headphones. If headphones are unavailable, select "No" under the “Are you wearing headphones?” section when joining the Room. Learn more about adjusting your settings →

Producer abilities:

Access the Control Room (exclusive to Producers)
Monitor participant connection and upload status
View and adjust AV inputs of other participants
Assign and change participant roles
Use push-to-talk to speak to Recording Room participants. Learn more about push-to-talk →
Leave Editor Comments during the session. Learn more about leaving comments →

Viewer

The Viewer role is available on Creator, Business, and Enterprise Drives.

Viewers join the session in a dedicated space called the Viewer Room. It’s separate from the on-stage Recording Room and the backstage Control Room where Producers collaborate. Viewers are not seen, heard, or recorded—but they are listed in the Not Recorded group of the People tab, so all participants know who’s present.

Viewers count toward the Control Room participant limit, even though they don’t interact with Producers or manage technical settings.

Guest

Guests are on-stage participants with limited permissions.

Join via invite link (no Drive membership required)
Appear on stage and are recorded
Can participate in public chat and send DMs to other participants

Assigning Roles

Hosts, Co-hosts, and Producers can assign roles before a participant joins the Room or anytime before recording begins.

Roles can’t be changed during a recording

To change someone’s role, stop the recording, update their role, then start a new session.

Room owners:

The Editor who creates the Room (the Room owner) is assigned the Host role by default. If they prefer, they can choose to enter the Room as a Producer.

Dropdown to change role before entering the Room. Hit Esc to close. — Select your role before entering the Room. Click the image to view at full size.

All other participants join as Guests by default. Their role can be changed by a Host, Co-host, or Producer either before they’re admitted or any time before recording begins.

When participants request to join:

Hosts, Co-hosts, and Producers receive a notification
Use the dropdown next to their name to assign a role before admitting them

Assign a role before admitting a participant to the Room. Click the image to view at full size.

To change a participant's role after they’ve joined:

Open the People tab in the sidebar
Click the dropdown next to the participant’s name
Select the new role from the list