Adding Media Cues
A media cue is the primary visual or audible element on a WATCHOUT timeline-it is what the audience actually sees and hears. Every image, video, audio clip, composition, NDI capture, and virtual display playback on stage originates from a media cue. Understanding how media cues are created, what default values they receive, and what properties control their behavior is essential for building any show, because nearly every other timeline feature-tweens, fades, stacking, conditional logic-operates on or modifies a media cue.
What Is a Media Cue
A media cue combines two sets of information: timeline-level properties that position the cue in time and on a layer, and media-level properties that describe what content to play and how to play it.
The timeline-level properties include:
- Start time-where on the timeline the cue begins.
- Layer-which layer the cue occupies (see Working with Layers).
- Locked state-whether the cue is protected from accidental edits.
- Color label-an optional visual tag for organizational purposes.
- Condition-whether the cue is Enabled, Disabled, or governed by an expression (see Conditional Cues).
The media-level properties carry everything about the content itself-source, duration, position, orientation, fades, blend mode, playback speed, looping, and more. Together, these two groups of properties define the complete state of a media cue.
Media Sources
Every media cue has a media source that determines where its content comes from. The source is set automatically when you place an asset on the timeline, but you can change it in the Properties panel.
| Source Type | Description | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| Asset | Links to an asset in the Asset Manager by ID | Most common-images, videos, audio files, SVG shapes, 3D models |
| Composition | Plays a composition (nested timeline with synchronized tracks) | Multi-track video+audio content; see Compositions |
| Virtual Display | Captures the rendered output of a virtual display | Re-compositing display outputs within the show |
| NDI / Capture | References a capture source (NDI, webcam, or other live input) | Live camera feeds, external application capture |
| None | No media source assigned | Placeholder cues or cues that have had their source removed |
The "NDI" source type is the internal name, but it actually covers all capture input types-not only NDI streams. Any capture source configured in the show can be referenced through this type.
Adding a Media Cue to the Timeline
The standard workflow for placing a media cue:
- Import or locate the asset in the Assets window. If the asset has not been added yet, drag the source file into the Assets window or use the import function. Wait for optimization to complete-assets in the
OptimizingorFailstate cannot be reliably placed. See Asset Types for supported formats. - Open the target timeline. Navigate to the main timeline or a composition timeline where the cue should appear.
- Drag the asset from the Assets window toward the timeline area.
- Position the cue by hovering over the desired start time and layer. WATCHOUT shows a preview of where the cue will land. Snapping guides appear when the cue aligns with nearby cue edges or the playhead (see Snapping During Placement below).
- Drop the cue to commit the placement. The cue is created with default values derived from the asset type and show defaults.
- Adjust as needed. Move, trim, or edit properties. Add tweens for motion and effects. See Adjusting Timing for timing operations.
Hold Shift while dragging to disable snapping temporarily. This gives you free placement when snap targets would otherwise pull the cue to an unwanted position.
The show defaults for auto-fade, image duration, and fade curves apply to all newly created cues. Changing these defaults does not retroactively modify existing cues. Configure them early in your show build via the show settings to avoid repetitive manual edits.
Auto-Adjust Duration
The Auto-Adjust Duration setting controls whether a cue's duration updates automatically when related properties change.
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| None | Duration is fixed. Changing playback speed or replacing the asset does not alter the cue's duration. This is the default. |
| Asset | Duration matches the asset's intrinsic duration. If the source asset is replaced with one of a different length, the cue duration updates to match. |
| Proportional | Duration adjusts proportionally when playback speed changes. Doubling the speed halves the duration, keeping the same amount of source media visible. |
When Auto-Adjust Duration is set to Asset or Proportional, editing the playback speed or swapping the asset can shift the end point of the cue, potentially overlapping with subsequent cues. Verify your timeline layout after making speed or asset changes on cues with auto-adjust enabled.
Fades and Transitions
Fades control how a media cue appears and disappears. Each cue can have an independent fade in and fade out, configured through the cue's tween settings.
How Fades Work
- Fade In ramps a property (typically opacity or volume) from zero to full over a specified duration at the start of the cue.
- Fade Out ramps the same property from full to zero over a specified duration at the end of the cue.
- Each fade has a type (Opacity, Volume, or Generic), a transition curve (easing), and a span that can be either a fixed duration or an overlap for cross-fades.
Show Defaults for Fades
When auto-fade is enabled in Show Settings (the default), every new media cue receives:
- Fade in: 1 second, Linear curve
- Fade out: 1 second, Linear curve
These defaults are controlled by the Fade In Duration, Fade In Curve, Fade Out Duration, and Fade Out Curve settings in Show Settings. Disable auto-fade if you prefer cues to appear with hard cuts by default.
Free-Running Mode
When Free Running is enabled on a media cue, the media playback position is based on the system clock rather than the timeline transport. This means the media continues playing at its natural rate even when the timeline is stopped, paused, or scrubbed to a different position.
Use free-running mode for:
- Live clocks and timers that must advance in real time regardless of timeline state.
- Ambient background loops that should not jump or restart when an operator pauses the timeline.
- Synchronized external content where the media must track wall-clock time rather than show time.
Free-running cues ignore timeline stop and pause commands. If you stop the timeline during rehearsal, free-running cues will continue advancing. This is intentional but can be surprising during debugging. Disable free-running on a cue if you need it to respond to transport controls normally.
Looping
Looping allows a media cue to repeat a region of its source media indefinitely (or for the cue's duration). The loop is defined by a start and end point within the source media:
- Loop Start-the offset into the source media where the loop begins.
- Loop End-the offset where the loop resets back to Loop Start.
When looping is active, playback proceeds normally from the cue's In Time until it reaches the Loop End point, then jumps back to Loop Start and repeats. The loop continues for as long as the cue is active on the timeline.
If no loop points are set (the default), the cue plays through its source media once and holds on the last frame (for video/image) or ends (for audio).
Pre-roll
The Pre-roll property controls how far ahead of the cue's start time WATCHOUT should begin preparing and loading the media into memory. This is specified as a time offset before the cue's start time.
When the playhead reaches the pre-roll point, WATCHOUT starts buffering the media so it is ready for seamless playback at the cue's actual start time. For most assets, the default pre-roll is sufficient. Increase the pre-roll value for large media files (high-resolution video, long image sequences) that need additional time to load from disk or network storage.
If you observe a brief stutter or delay when a cue begins playing, increase the pre-roll value to give WATCHOUT more time to buffer the media before playback starts.
Presentation Properties
In addition to the core timeline and media properties described above, media cues expose several presentation properties that control how the content is rendered on stage.
Frame Blending
When enabled, Frame Blending interpolates between source video frames to produce smoother playback when the timeline playback rate does not match the source frame rate. This is particularly useful when playing back content at non-native speeds.
Frame blending doubles the memory usage for the affected cue because WATCHOUT must hold two adjacent frames in memory simultaneously for interpolation. On systems with limited GPU memory, enabling frame blending on many concurrent cues may impact performance.
HW Acceleration
HW Acceleration enables hardware-accelerated video decoding on supported codecs and GPU hardware. When enabled, video decoding is offloaded to the GPU, freeing CPU resources for other tasks.
HW Acceleration is not supported for all codecs. HEVC (H.265) playback may not be compatible with hardware acceleration on all GPU configurations. If you experience playback issues with HW Acceleration enabled on HEVC content, disable this setting and rely on software decoding.
Render Surface
The Render Surface property controls which sides of a 3D surface are rendered when content is mapped onto geometry.
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Inside | Only the interior-facing side of the geometry is rendered |
| Outside | Only the exterior-facing side of the geometry is rendered |
| Both Sides | Both the interior and exterior faces are rendered |
Show on Stage Tiers
Controls which stage tiers the cue is visible on. Use this to restrict a cue's output to specific tiers when your show uses a multi-tier stage configuration.
SDR White Point
The SDR White Point property sets the luminance level (in nits) that represents white for SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) content when displayed on an HDR-capable output. Adjusting this value controls how bright SDR content appears relative to HDR content in mixed-content shows.
Blend Mode
The Blend Mode property determines how the cue's pixels are composited with the layers below it. The following modes are available:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal | Standard alpha compositing-the cue's pixels replace or blend with lower layers based on opacity |
| Add | Pixel values are added to the layers below, producing a brightening effect |
| Multiply | Pixel values are multiplied with the layers below, darkening the result |
| Screen | Inverse of Multiply-brightens the image by screening pixel values |
| Lighten | For each pixel, the maximum of the source and destination values is used |
| Darken | For each pixel, the minimum of the source and destination values is used |
| Linear Burn | Adds the source and destination values and subtracts white, producing a darker result than Multiply |
Anchor Point
The Anchor Point defines the reference point on the cue used for position, rotation, and scale operations. The Properties panel provides a visual widget with directional arrows for setting the anchor to any corner, any edge midpoint, or the center of the cue.
Changing the anchor point does not move the cue on stage-it changes the origin around which transformations are applied. For example, setting the anchor to the top-left corner causes rotation to pivot around that corner rather than the center.
Chroma Key (Per-Cue)
Media cues have per-cue Chroma Key settings that allow you to key out a specific color directly on the cue without applying a separate effect. This is useful for removing green-screen or blue-screen backgrounds from video content.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Toggles chroma keying on or off for this cue |
| Show Alpha Mask | Displays the key mask instead of the final composite, useful for tuning key parameters |
| Target | The color channel to key: Red, Green, Blue, Hue, or Saturation |
| Tolerance Min | Lower bound of the target color range to remove |
| Tolerance Max | Upper bound of the target color range to remove |
| Spill Removal | Controls the amount of color spill removal applied to edges of the keyed area |
Chroma keying operates in YUV color space. The tolerance range defines a band around the target color value; pixels within this band are made fully transparent, while pixels near the edges are partially transparent based on a spill ring formula that smooths the transition between keyed and non-keyed areas. Adjusting Tolerance Min/Max and Spill Removal together controls both the size of the keyed region and the quality of the edge cleanup.
Enable Show Alpha Mask while adjusting the Tolerance and Spill Removal values. The alpha mask view makes it easy to see exactly which pixels are being keyed out, without the distraction of the background composite.
3D Model Properties
When a media cue references a 3D model asset, additional properties specific to 3D rendering become available in the Properties panel.
Size and Scaling
By default, WATCHOUT auto-scales 3D models to fit within a 1000 x 1000 x 1000 bounding cube. Two scale modes are available:
| Scale Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| To Size | Scales the model to fit within specified width, height, and depth dimensions while preserving aspect ratio |
| By Factor | Applies a multiplicative scaling factor to the model's original size |
Surface Properties
Each mesh within a 3D model has surface properties that control its appearance:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Mesh Name | The name of the mesh as defined in the source 3D file (read-only in Producer) |
| Asset | The texture asset applied to the mesh surface |
| Remove Texture | Removes the currently assigned texture from the mesh |
Mesh names are defined in the source 3D model file and cannot be edited within WATCHOUT Producer. To rename meshes, modify the model in your external 3D modeling software (e.g., Blender, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D) and re-import the asset.
Snapping During Placement
When dragging a cue onto the timeline, WATCHOUT snaps the cue edges to nearby reference points to help with precise alignment.
- Snap threshold: 6 pixels-the cue edge must be within 6 pixels of a snap target to engage.
- Snap targets: start and end edges of other cues on the same layer or adjacent layers (one layer above or below), the current playhead position, grid lines, and markers.
- Disabling snap: hold Shift during the drag to suppress all snapping. Snapping also respects the global Edit Snapping preference.
Snapping is especially useful when aligning cues for seamless transitions or when placing cues to start exactly at the playhead position.