Cues and timing
2.1Cue types
Every cue has a number (free text, like 4.2), a name, notes,
a colour and an armed switch, all on the Basics tab. A disarmed cue is skipped by GO. Basics also
sets the cue's pre-wait, continue mode and post-wait, and, for audio
and video cues, the media file.
The Triggers tab holds the ways to fire a cue besides GO: a hotkey, a key that fires the cue directly whatever the playhead is on, and a timecode trigger.
2.2Timing and continues
Each cue has three times. The pre-wait runs between GO and the cue's action. The action is the cue itself: a sound playing, a fade running. The post-wait is counted from the start of the action and is used by auto-continue.
| Continue mode | What happens next |
|---|---|
| Do not continue | Nothing. The playhead moves to the next cue and waits for GO. |
| Auto-continue | The next cue fires when this cue's post-wait has run out. |
| Auto-follow | The next cue fires when this cue's action ends. |
Chained cues start on exact sample boundaries, so a sequence keeps its timing however long it runs.
Groups
| Group mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Start first child and enter group | Fires the first cue inside the group and moves the playhead into it. |
| Start first child and go to next cue | A playlist: the children play one after another while the playhead moves on past the group. |
| Start all children simultaneously | Fires everything inside at once, each with its own pre-wait. |
| Start random child and go to next cue | Fires one child picked at random. |
Select cues and press Ctrl+G to group them. ← and → collapse and expand a group. Groups can hold other groups. Each level is inset with a guide line, so you can see where a group ends.
2.3Fades
A Fade cue changes another cue while it runs. Choose the target cue, the duration and the curve (linear, S-curve or logarithmic), then tick what to change:
- Level in dB, for audio and for video soundtracks.
- Opacity, for video and text.
- Geometry: position, scale, rotation and crop. This starts from the target's own geometry, so only the values you change will move.
- Video effects: the target's Video FX settings are copied into the fade when you tick it; change the values to fade to. An effect switched off here fades out, and effects the target doesn't have fade in from nothing. Take the target's effects copies them again after you change the target.
- Objects, for targets in object audio mode: the positions and spread to move the objects to, edited on the same room view.
Light cues can't be the target of a Fade cue: lighting fades with its own Light cues (see Lighting).
Tick Stop target for a fade-out: the target stops when the fade ends. Pausing a fade freezes it, and resuming it continues with the time that was left.
2.4Timecode
OpenQ can run a cue list from incoming SMPTE timecode, for a show locked to a video, a band's click track or a lighting desk. It reads LTC (timecode as an audio signal) on an audio input or MTC (MIDI Time Code) on a MIDI input, at 24, 25, 29.97 drop-frame or 30 fps.
Setting up a cue list
Right-click the cue list's tab and choose Timecode…. Choose what the list follows (LTC or MTC), the audio input and channel or the MIDI input it arrives on, and the frame rate. The window shows the timecode coming in, and while that list is in front the standby card shows it too. Each cue list follows its own source, so one list can follow the band's LTC while another is run by hand.
Timecode triggers
On a cue's Triggers tab, tick Fire at and type the time (hh:mm:ss:ff). When the list's timecode runs past that time the cue fires, whatever the playhead is on, and its continues run as usual. The tab shows what the list follows and what it is receiving; Set up… opens the list's timecode settings.
Only timecode running forward fires cues. When the source jumps (a locate or a rewind) or stops, nothing fires, and triggering picks up again from the new position, so rehearsing a section by rolling back the source is safe.