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Documentation
Cues let you line up a sequence of clip assignments and step through them during a show. Each cue is a row of clips mapped to your output groups. When a cue activates, those clips start playing on the assigned groups simultaneously.
You can advance cues manually (tap a button, hit a MIDI pad) or let them auto-advance on a timer. The timer can run in seconds or sync to the global BPM, so your visual changes land on the beat.
Cues live in named cue lists. A project can hold as many lists as you like, but only one is active at a time. Switch the active list from the selector in the toolbar, where you can also rename lists, delete them, or create new ones.
Switching lists is a hard cut: playback resets and any output groups the old list was driving go dark. If you start adding cues before you've made a list, Modulaser creates one called "List 1" for you.
The cue view shows a grid. Output groups run across the top as columns, cues stack vertically as rows. Each cell holds a clip assignment, shown as a thumbnail.
To assign a clip, drag it from the library into a cell or click an empty cell to assign the currently selected clip. Double-click a clip cell to open that clip in the main editor. Click a cue row to select it for FX editing without changing output; double-click the row to activate it.
Right-click a cell for options: edit the clip, remove it, or clear the laser (blackout that output group). Clearing takes precedence over any clip assignment. When you step to a cue that leaves out a group the previous cue was driving, that group fades out and goes dark. Groups no cue touches keep whatever they were already playing.
You can also right-click a clip in the clip columns and use the Add to cue submenu to assign it to an existing cue or create a new one. Dropping a clip onto the Drop to create new cue zone at the bottom of the grid creates a new cue with that clip already assigned; drop a multi-clip selection there to get one cue per clip.
Drag cue rows by the handle to reorder them. Each row has a delete button to remove it. Add new cues with the Add Cue button below the grid.
The toolbar has transport controls: Previous, Play/Pause, Stop, and Next. It also shows elapsed time for the active cue.
Each cue can auto-advance after a set duration. There are two layers to this:
If no duration is set at either level, the cue waits for a manual advance. You can also hold a specific cue on purpose: right-click its duration cell and choose Hold (wait for GO). Held cues show HOLD and stay put until you advance them by hand.
Duration and fade cells show inherited values muted and overrides in full color. Clear a cell to drop back to the list default.
Duration mode controls the unit: Seconds or Beats. In Beats mode, timing syncs to the global BPM. Set a cue to 4 beats and it advances on the bar, regardless of tempo changes. When you switch modes, existing values convert automatically.
Cues can fade between states instead of cutting. Each cue has a fade-in (how long the new clips ramp up when the cue activates) and a fade-out (how long the outgoing clips ramp down as the cue leaves). Set them per cue, or set list-level defaults that apply to any cue without its own override. A missing fade is an instant cut, and setting a cue's fade to 0 forces a cut even when the list default has one.
When two consecutive cues route the same output group to different clips, the transition runs in sequence: the old clip fades out, then the new one fades in. A single set of galvos can't draw both paths at once, so that swap takes fade-out plus fade-in to finish. Groups touched by only one side of the transition ramp at the same time.
Fades use the same unit as duration: seconds or beats. They apply the same way no matter how you advance, whether by Next/Previous, jumping to a non-adjacent cue, or auto-advancing on the timer. In Beats mode, a fade's length is locked in when the cue activates, so a tempo change mid-fade won't retime it.
Stop always cuts instantly and ignores fade-out, so it works as a panic button. Pausing mid-fade holds the ramp in place, and resuming continues from there.
A cue can recall effect settings alongside its clip assignments. Select a cue and the FX inspector at the bottom lets you opt specific controls into it: an effect's on/off toggle, a scalar control, or an output group's opacity. When the cue activates, those values snap into place.
Overrides are non-destructive. They sit on top of the effect chain you built in the output-group FX board without touching its saved defaults, and they clear when cues stop. Each cue fully replaces the previous cue's overrides, so stepping to a cue with no overrides returns to your authored settings.
Editing the overrides on the active cue applies live, so the inspector doubles as a preview.
The Loop toggle in the toolbar controls what happens at the ends of the list:
Reordering rows during playback is safe; the active cue tracks its new position. Removing the active cue stops playback. Cue lists save with the project.
Cue edits undo with CmdCtrlCmd/Ctrl + Z: clip assignments, durations, holds, fades, FX overrides, list settings, and the lists themselves. Transport and switching the active list don't undo, since they're performance actions rather than edits.
Cues and Timeline are both ways to sequence clip playback, but they serve different workflows. Only one can be active at a time, so starting one releases the other.
Cues are for live performance. You step through states manually or on beat-synced intervals, and the order can shift on the fly. Timeline is for pre-programmed shows with frame-accurate automation tied to timecode.
If your show is improvised or loosely structured, use cues. If it's locked to a track or timecode source, use timeline.
Cue transport is fully mappable through MIDI and OSC, which makes them practical for hands-on live control.
Map transport to pads on your MIDI controller and you can step through your show without touching the screen. Jump-to-cue addresses let you skip ahead or circle back in non-linear sets.
A practical way to use cues for a live show:
Combined with Macros, you get per-clip parameter control on top of the cue sequence. Step to the next cue for a new visual state, then use macro faders to shape it in the moment.