Control Cues
A Control Cue changes the playback state of one or more target Timelines. Media cues place content on a Timeline. Control Cues start, pause, stop, and reposition Timelines. Use Control Cues to coordinate playback between Timelines.
What Control Cues Are
A Control Cue is a point-in-time instruction on a Timeline. When the playhead reaches the cue, it fires once and changes the playback state of the target Timelines. A Control Cue has no duration.
Each Control Cue specifies:
- A state to apply to the target (Play, Pause, or Stop).
- A target defining which Timelines are affected.
- An optional jump that repositions the target's playhead.
- An optional start delay before execution.
Control Cues are one cue type. Output Cues send external TCP, UDP, or HTTP messages. Variable Cues automate show variable values. These are separate cue types, not subtypes of Control Cues.
Control Cue States
The state property determines what happens to the target Timeline when the Control Cue fires. The property is labeled Set Timeline State. The model state is Run; the UI labels it Play.
| State (UI) | Effect |
|---|---|
| Play | The target Timeline plays from its current position. This is the default state. |
| Pause | The target Timeline holds at its current position. |
| Stop | The target Timeline stops. |
States are ranked Stop > Pause > Play. This ordering decides conflict resolution when several Control Cues fire at the same instant.
Creating a Control Cue
- Position the playhead at the desired time on the Timeline.
- Right-click the Timeline to open the context menu.
- Select Add Play Control Cue or Add Pause Control Cue. The menu has no Stop entry; set Stop in the cue properties after creating the cue.
- The Control Cue appears at the playhead position.
- With the cue selected, set targeting, jump behavior, and state in the Cue Properties panel.
Name Control Cues that serve as jump targets. Named Control Cues and named Marker Cues both appear as jump targets.
Targeting
The target property is labeled Target Timelines in the Cue Properties panel. It decides which Timelines a Control Cue affects. The UI has four modes.
| Mode (UI) | Targets |
|---|---|
| All | Every Timeline in the show, minus any exclusions. |
| Others | Every Timeline except the one containing the cue. |
| List | An explicit set of Timelines and folders. |
| Enclosing (default) | Only the Timeline that contains the cue. |
Enclosing is the default. List mode targets a set of Timeline IDs plus folder IDs; every Timeline in a listed folder is included.
All and List modes have an Exclude Enclosing option. When set, the Timeline containing the cue is excluded from the target set. Others mode always excludes the enclosing Timeline.
In All or List mode without Exclude Enclosing, a Play cue can re-trigger its own Timeline. Set Exclude Enclosing unless you need the cue's own Timeline in the target set.
Jump Behavior
A Control Cue can reposition the target Timeline's playhead before the state change. The Jump property is a single dropdown with four options.
| Jump (UI) | Behavior |
|---|---|
| No Jump (default) | The state change applies at the target's current playhead position. |
| To Time | Jumps the target's playhead to the time in Target Time, then applies the state change. |
| To Cue | Searches forward for a cue matching Target Cue on the target Timeline, jumps to it, then applies the state change. |
| Backwards to Cue | Searches backward for a cue matching Target Cue, jumps to it, then applies the state change. |
How To Cue and Backwards to Cue search
- To Cue searches strictly after the current playhead time. If no match is found ahead, it falls back to the last matching cue on the Timeline.
- Backwards to Cue searches strictly before the current playhead time. If no match is found before the current position, the jump fails. Backward search does not wrap.
The two directions behave differently on purpose. The forward fallback supports looping (jump to a loop point from any position). The backward search never wraps past the start.
Jump Targets
A To Cue or Backwards to Cue jump searches the target Timeline for cues with a matching name. Two cue types can serve as jump targets:
- Named Control Cues — any Control Cue with a name.
- Named Marker Cues — any Marker Cue with a name.
Both types are indexed together as jump destinations. Use a Marker Cue as a labeled position without placing a Control Cue at every destination.
Use Marker Cues as jump targets for plain labeled positions. Reserve named Control Cues for destinations that also change state or jump.
Conflict Resolution
When several Control Cues target the same Timeline at the same instant, the most restrictive state wins. Because states rank Stop > Pause > Play, a Stop overrides a Pause, which overrides a Play. If one cue says Play and another says Stop at the same instant, the target stops.
Start Delay
The Start Delay property adds a wait between the playhead reaching the cue and the cue executing. The delay is a duration.
Use start delays to stagger a sequence of state changes. Place several Control Cues at one position and give each a different delay. The target Timelines then start in sequence.
Blind Edit Mode and Control Cues
When you edit a timeline in blind edit mode, the blind edit runs in isolation from the live show. Control cues inside the blind edit are skipped, so they cannot start, stop, or jump real timelines while you work on the copy.
Best Practices
- Name every Control Cue that serves as a jump target. Unnamed cues cannot be found by To Cue searches. Use descriptive names like "Scene 3 Start" or "Loop Return Point".
- Prefer List or All mode for multi-target control. Folder-based targeting survives Timeline reorganization better than fixed sets.
- Set Exclude Enclosing as a default. Unless a Control Cue needs to affect its own Timeline, Exclude Enclosing prevents self-triggering in All or List mode.
- Avoid circular jump chains. A Control Cue that jumps to another Control Cue that jumps back creates an infinite loop. For looping, use one cue at the end of the loop that targets a marker at the start.
- Use Marker Cues as jump landmarks. Place Marker Cues at scene starts, loop points, and recovery positions. This keeps the Timeline readable and provides jump targets without extra state-change logic.
- Combine with Conditional Cues for branching. Attach a condition expression to a Control Cue. The cue fires only when the expression is true.
- Test targeting in multi-timeline shows. All mode without exclusions stops every Timeline, including background loops. Verify the exclude lists.
Troubleshooting
For control cue problems (cue does not fire, wrong target, jump fails, conflicting cues, infinite loops), see Timeline and Cue Issues → Control Cues.
Related
- Marker Cues — named markers serve as jump targets for control cues
- Output Cues — separate cue type for sending external messages
- Variables and Variable Cues — separate cue type for automating show variables
- Timeline Triggers and Expressions — external triggers that can start timelines
- Conditional Cues — attaching conditions to control cues for interactive branching
- Blind Edit Mode — how control cues are isolated during offline editing