Playback Control
The Playback window controls cue execution. Every playback is presented as an executor column — a BACK button, an info screen, a level fader, and PAUSE and GO buttons. Faders provide real-time level control over the cuelist a playback runs.
Playback Controls
| Control | Function |
|---|---|
| Go | Advance to the next cue in the sequence. If paused, resumes fading from the paused position. If off, starts from the first cue. Go fades the cue at the fader’s current value. |
| Back | Step back one cue, fading over the departing cue’s fade-out time. |
| Pause | Toggle that freezes the playback’s active fades exactly where they are (GM3-style: pure crossfade freeze, nothing else). Press it again to resume from the frozen point — Go also resumes. A paused playback is shown as paused in its column, so it is never confused with Off. |
| Flash | Momentarily forces the playback to full level with zero fade (GM3 Flash). If the playback is off, Flash turns it on instantly at full. While flashing, the button is lit and fader moves don’t change the level. Pressing Flash again recalls the override: the level returns to the fader’s position, and a playback that was off when the flash started turns back off. |
| Black | The mirror of Flash: momentarily forces the playback to zero level with no fade — an instant, explicit blackout of that one playback. If the playback is off, Black turns it on at zero. Pressing Black again recalls the override (fader level, and a playback that was off turns back off). |
| Goto | Jump the playback to a specific cue with that cue’s own timing, from any cue in the list (not just the neighboring one). Open a cue in the sequence’s detail view and choose Goto (running playback) from its menu — the playback running that sequence jumps straight to the cue. |
| Load | Arm a cue as the next Go’s destination (GM3 Load): from a cue’s menu in the sequence detail view, choose Load for next GO. The armed cue’s name appears on the column’s screen; the next Go jumps to the loaded cue and clears the load (a Go with no load advances normally). |
| Fader | Control the playback’s cuelist level (0-100%). Live while the playback is running. |
Each column also carries a PREV and OFF row above BACK: Prev steps back to the previous cue, and Off fades the playback to black over the cue’s fade-out time, then resets the sequence to the first cue (a Go during an in-progress off-fade cancels the off). Off never touches the fader — it stays at the operator’s level, so the next Go fades the cue back in at that same level. To bring the level down, use the fader itself (a drag to zero blanks the playback).
Tapping a column’s info screen opens the Configure Playback sheet, where you assign a sequence to the playback (or unassign it) and fire GO/BACK. Cues drive DMX only through a playback: a sequence that is not assigned to a playback does not run.
Reassigning column buttons
Every button on an executor column (Prev, Off, Back, Pause, Go, Flash, Black) can be re-mapped to any of those functions — for example, a column set up for one-finger GO/BACK operation, or a column that trades its Flash for a second Black. A quick tap always performs the button’s current function; to change it, long-press the button (or right-click it) and pick the new function from the list. The assignment is saved per column and survives restarts. Duplicates are allowed — two buttons on one column can do the same thing.
Flash vs Black
Both are momentary level overrides with the same rules (lit while active, fader moves don’t change the level, recall restores the fader level and re-disables a playback that was off): Flash forces the level to full — a momentary brightening of the running cue; Black forces it to zero — a momentary blackout of the running cue. Flash is what you hit to make a cue appear at full instantly; Black is the quick kill that still remembers everything (a Go while blacked resumes at the fader’s level, not from scratch).
Pause vs Off
- Pause is a non-destructive toggle: it freezes the current fades where they are, and pressing it again (or Go) resumes from the interrupted point. The column shows the paused state while it is frozen.
- Off is a hard reset: it fades the playback’s output to black and returns the sequence to its initial position, effectively removing that playback from contributing to the stage.
Shared Sequences (Windows)
More than one playback can be assigned to the same sequence. A sequence runs as a single playback: the first playback that is GO’d owns it, and every other playback on that sequence becomes a window into the same show. All windows stay in perfect sync — the same cue, the same position, the same level at all times.
Each window is a full transport: GO, BACK, and OFF from any window drive the shared sequence for everyone. This is handy when one column is set up for simple GO/BACK/OFF operation and another is reserved for extra buttons (pause, blackout, and similar) — both control the same running sequence.
Windows show the shared position and level but do not get their own fader; they mirror the level of the fader that owns the sequence. Removing the owning playback (or re-assigning it to a different sequence) stops the sequence and clears all of its windows.
Faders
Faders are allocated per playback: when a playback is GO’d it receives its own fader, and the slot is recycled when the playback releases it. There is no fixed 10-fader bank and no user-configurable pages — faders grow on demand as more playbacks run.
The fader owns the level: no gesture (Go, release, or drag) ever moves the fader to 100%. Fresh fader slots rest at 100%, and Go fades the cue at the fader’s current value. Faders scale dimmer (intensity) channels only — pan, tilt, and color are never touched.
Fader-bank pages — and faders for other targets (intensity masters, overlays, flow effects, grand master, playlists) — are not yet available.
Below the grid, a strip holds the grand master fader, blackout, and snapshot controls, all live: the GM fader scales the dimmer channels (0-100%), the blackout button forces every channel to zero, and riding the fader back up out of blackout clears it. Both apply to the final output.
Crossfader
Not yet available. The crossfader is on the way (position, left/right targets, and a curve: linear, equal power, or custom), but it is not yet rendered in the Playback window.
Related Documentation
- Intensity Masters — Overlay level control
- Playlists — Multi-cuelist coordinated playback
- Emphasis & Dim — Per-master boost and reduction