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Version: 14.0

Using a Cue

Because it's possible to play back a large number of cues at the same time, the console has to have rules on how it combines the output from different cues. These are called HTP and LTP rules.

Combining Cues with HTP and LTP​

Control channels are handled in two ways:

  • Dimmer or intensity channels work on the principle of "Highest Takes Precedence" (HTP). If an HTP channel is active at different levels in several cues, the highest level will be output. When you fade out a cue, the HTP channels fade out with it.

  • All other channels work on the principle of "Latest Takes Precedence" (LTP). The latest change takes over from any other values, so the most recent cue to be turned on is the one which is output. When you fade out a cue, LTP channels retain their values until changed by another cue.

Playing Back a Cue​

To fire (play back) a cue, raise the fader. (Make sure there are no values in the programmer by pressing the Clear button, because anything in the programmer will override the playback).

  • You can fire several cues at once.

  • The HTP levels in the cue will be mastered by the fader level; for example if you set the fader at 50% then all HTP levels will be 50% of their programmed values.

  • LTP channels are triggered as soon as the fader goes above 0%. If a fade time is programmed the LTP channels will start to fade; if there is no fade time they will snap to position (unless the cue is set to Mode 2 in which case they fade with the fader position; see the timings section Fader Modes for details of modes).

  • You can Flash the cue by pressing the grey flash button. You can

    Swop (solo) the cue by pressing the blue Swop button (all other active cues will turn off while the button is pressed). This assumes you haven't reassigned the function of the buttons using [Key Profiles](/docs/14.0/system-settings/key-profiles), see below.

  • You can Preload the cue by assigning the Preload function to the blue or grey buttons using Key Profiles. Preload sets the attributes of fixtures in the playback which are not currently active in any other playbacks. This is useful to avoid the fixtures visibly moving into position or changing colours or gobos when you raise the fader of the cue.

To assign Preload, hold <Keys.HardKey>Avo</Keys.HardKey> Shift and press <Keys.SoftKey>Edit
Key Profile</Keys.SoftKey>, then press the button you want to assign (also see
[Key Profiles](/docs/14.0/system-settings/key-profiles)). Note that this will assign the function
to all buttons of the same type.

  • You can fire a one-shot cue with timings by assigning the Go function to one of the handle buttons using Key Profiles. This allows you to fire the cue without needing to hold down a button while the timing completes. You can also fire the cue again without needing to release it.

  • You can set playbacks to high priority if you do not want them to be overridden by other playbacks using the same fixtures. For example, if you have a couple of fixtures acting as a spotlight, but they are also programmed into some colour washes, you probably want the spotlight cue to take priority over the colour washes. See Priority in Playback Options.

Changing Playback Pages​

The console allows multiple pages of playbacks. Page buttons are provided near the faders or you can also touch the top and bottom of the roller graphic on the screen. If you touch the middle of the roller graphic you can jump to a page number by entering the number.

If you have stored cues on the touch select buttons, you select different pages using the Playbacks page touch buttons.

Consoles without Motorised Faders​

  • Playbacks which are fired when you change page remain active. If you want to fire a cue on a fader which is already up from a previous page, lower the fader to zero then raise it again. The cue from the previous page will stop and the cue from the new page will fire.

  • If you return to a page with an active playback, the fader will not resume control of the playback until it matches the current level of the playback. This prevents the playback level jumping when the fader is first moved. If a playback is active from another page the display area is purple and shows the page number at the top in light blue. You can change this behaviour using the Playback Paging user setting.

Consoles with Motorised Faders​

  • Playbacks which are fired when you change page remain active, but thanks to the motorised faders you can then use the fader to fire a playback from the new page. If you want to kill the original playback you need to return to the page it is on and lower the fader back to zero. If a playback is active from another page the display area is purple and shows the page number at the top in light blue. You can change this behaviour to be like consoles without motorised faders using the Playback Paging user setting.

  • You can set a legend for each playback page. The legend is shown on the 'Pages' roller on the screen. Use Set Legend from the main Program menu then Page Legends. While in this menu you can change the page to set legends for different pages.

  • If your console features the 20 executor buttons on the top right of the console, they can be paged using two of the macro buttons. The page change macros are part of the fixture library; if you do not see the macros, download and install the latest library. The same applies to the 10 static playback faders on the Tiger Touch.

Viewing Active Playbacks​

The Active Playbacks window shows details of which playbacks are active. When you have a number of layered playbacks with different effects, this provides an easy way to see which playback is causing which effect. Each button shows the playback legend, which page they are from and which attributes are affected. To show the window press View/Open, Open Workspace Window, Active Playbacks.

Active Playbacks Window

Click on a playback to instantly kill it. You can also press Playback Options followed by the playback in this window to change parameters of the playback.

Speed and Size Masters​

Playbacks can be assigned to Speed and Size Masters which allow you to modify the speed and size of shapes or effects stored in a cue using a separate master fader (or in the case of chases, to modify the speed of the chase). This is really useful to modify the look when several playbacks are running at the same time.

You can also assign the fader of the playback the effect is stored in to control shape speed or size using the Fader Settings in Playback Options.

See Speed and Size Masters for more details.

Releasing Running Playbacks​

You can release a running playback to its previous state by pressing

Release *(Off button on Pearl Expert)*, then the select button of the playback to be released. Channels will release back to their state in the previous playback until no playbacks are left to be released. If the Release to Home setting on the Release menu is Enabled, channels will go to the power-on state, which you can program (see [next section](#programming-the-release-power-on-state)). If the option is disabled, channels will remain in the state of the last playback. You can release all running playbacks by pressing Releasethen Release all playbacks.

You can also configure the key profile so that the blue or grey buttons can be used to release the playback using Key Profiles.

Channels will always release with a fade time, this defaults to 2 seconds but you can change it using Master Release Time in the Release menu. You can also set an individual release time for the playback from the Release tab of Playback Options.

  • You can instantly kill a playback by pressing Avo + the swop button of the playback.

  • You can set a mask so that only certain attributes release from the playback when the playback is killed. This uses the Release Mask option in Playback Options. Normally all attributes will remain in the state last used in the playback - for cues which trigger strobing or other effects this might not be what you want.

Releasing a Whole Page of Playbacks​

You can use the Release function to release a whole page of playbacks in one operation. Press Release then the Goto Page button, or touch the current page in the playbacks view. You will get the following options:

Release this Page - releases all active playbacks on the current page and playback fader groupRelease Playbacks Not On This Page - releases any active playback on the same fader group from another pageRelease All Playbacks In This Group - releases any active playback in the fader group.
"Fader Group" refers to a particular area of the console, for example the main faders below the screen on a Tiger Touch or the top row on the left hand side of the Arena.

Release Mask​

You can release individual fixtures or attributes, and remove fixtures from shapes in playbacks using the release mask. There is a Global release mask which affects all release operations, or you can set a Local release mask which affects only the current playback.

Global Release Mask​

If no local release mask is set for the playback, attributes release according to this mask. The default is for no attributes to release.

To set the mask, press Release then Global Release Mask. The softkey shows which attributes are enabled.

Global Release Mask

Local Release Mask​

To set the local release mask for a playback, select Playback Options and press the select button of the playback. Then press

Release Mask. If the option is set to Mask Source Global then press the option again to change to Mask Source Local.

Programming the Release / Power On State​

You can program the state which fixtures will go to at power on, or when all playbacks are released. It can be useful to program this as a general lighting state so that there is some light on the stage when the console powers up, or when all playbacks are released.

The release state can be programmed in Shared mode or Individual mode. In Shared mode you just have to set the desired state for one of each type of fixture, and that state will be used for all fixtures of that type. In Individual mode, the state of each fixture will be recorded individually as you have set it.

  1. Set up the look you want

  2. Press Record, then Release

  3. Select Shared values or Individual values

  4. Press the Record softkey

  5. The Release state is saved

To test, fire some playbacks, then release them by pressing

<Keys.HardKey>Release</Keys.HardKey> followed by the select button of the playback. The
fixtures should return to your programmed release state.

Turning Off Individual Fixtures​

You can turn off individual fixtures or certain attributes of them using the Off menu. This will cause the attributes/fixtures to release to their previous state before the playback was fired.

Press Off button followed by a playback to open the \'Off Playback with Mask\' menu. Select the fixtures to be turned off, set mask as required and then press Off to turn the fixtures/attributes/shapes off.

On Titan consoles that do not have separate Release and Off buttons, pressing Off followed by a playback will release it which is not what you want. On these select the softkey Off Playback Values then select the playback.

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