Cues and Shows

To record a look onto a Cue, first set up the look, then press RECORD and press the SELECT button of the Playback to record the Cue onto.

To test the Cue, first clear the programmer by pressing CLEAR then raise the Playback fader or press the Playback flash button.

Note that recording a Cue onto a Playback generates a Cue Stack with a single Cue. However, as there is only one step, it behaves as though it is just the Cue on the Playback.

To view a recorded Cue, press the SELECT button for the Playback, and then press CUE to open the Cue Window.

To configure options when recording, press SHIFT + RECORD and a toolbar of record options will be displayed. Choose the options you require then press the SELECT button of the Playback as above.

Recording a Cue Stack is the same as recording a Cue - you simply record multiple Cues onto a Playback and you end up with a Cue Stack.

So, for example to record a stack of two looks, the first yellow dots, the second blue triangles:

To test the Cue, clear the programmer by pressing CLEAR then raise the Playback fader or press the Playback flash button.

View the Cue Stack by selecting the Playback and pressing CUE STACK to open the Cue Stack Window.

When you record more than one Cue onto a Playback the Cue Stack controls the transition from one Cue to another. In Normal mode by default the Cue Stack operates like a chase - i.e., each Cue is executed in turn, with timing being handled by a Chase Speed for the whole Cue Stack.

In Theatre Modes the default timing is Cue Timing – individual Fade times on each step with GO stepping from one step to the next.

The timing mode can be changed, so that the Cues play back in a theatre style using the GO / STOP buttons. Select the VIEW OPTIONS view and press the CUE TIMING and CHASE TIMING soft buttons to modify the timing mode.

MagicQ utilises a large hard disk to enable storage of a virtually infinite number of shows. When you are programming a show, the show is stored in memory. To store your show on the disk you need to press the SAVE SHOW soft button in the Setup Window.

Whilst programming, you should regularly save your show, so that if the unexpected happens and the power fails your show data is not lost. You can choose any filename - the console will automatically set the file extension to .shw.

By default, the console periodically saves a backup of your show to disk. It uses the same show name but with the file extension .sbk.

It is a good idea to save your show to different file names so that you have various points you can back-track to if things go wrong. For example, save the show as myshow-patch.shw after you have patched and then as myshow-final.shw after you have finished programming.

When you shut down the console through the QUIT soft button in the Setup Window, the console automatically saves a backup copy of your show with a .sbk extension. When you subsequently restart the console, this file will be re-loaded. This ensures that the console starts up as it was when the QUIT soft button was pressed.

Now you have Cues and Cue Stacks recorded you can play back your show using the Playback faders and buttons. You can control how each Cue Stack is played back using the Cue Stack options – for example you can set the fader to control LTP fades or FX size and speed.

Make sure the master faders are raised!

Note that if you have a large show file you may wish to turn auto backups off during playback. Remember to turn them back on when you are programming.

If you get stuck at any point, just press the HELP button!