..::Stage Research::..

The Cue List is where it all happens in SFX. You drag-and-drop cues from Windows Explorer and/or from SFX's Toolbox to create your show. Sound Cue can be .WAV, .WMA, and .MP3 files. SFX will playback multiple, overlapping cues, independently of each other so each can have it's own separate volume and patch. By clicking on the Properties button in a Cue List row, you will open the Matrix for a cue. There, you can set the initial volume and patch. Later in you list, you can use Volume Change cues to modify the volumes of specific cues. For example, you can have the initial Wave file cue playing at -5 dB, but later on, you can create a Volume Change cue that targets this cue and changes the volume to 0 dB or any level you like.

The green highlighted bar is the current Standby cue and will be the cue that plays when SFX receives a Go. With each GO command, the Standby cue automatically advances to the next cue and waits for your next GO.

An SFX Production can contain multiple Cue List windows and you can either trigger those lists from the Transport Window, the Cue List's Transport Bar, or by creating special Command Cues.

Below are several screen shots and explanations of some of the highlighted features of the SFX cue list.
Multiple Cues. With SFX, you can play multiple, overlapping cues. The image at left shows several cues that are currently playing (i.e. the cues with the green dots). The Standby cue is currently on Q5, which SFX highlights clearly for you with a green bar, and will execute when the user clicks the GO Button. The only cues that will automatically execute are cues connected with Waits and Autofollows. The example at left also has a Volume Change cue. Along with Sound Cues, Waits, and Autofollows, the Volume Change is another special cue that allows you to modify the volume of one or more playing cues.

Cue Sequences. The first cue, Q1, is actually composed of "TrainTracksLong," a Wait of 15 seconds, and then a "WHISTLE." When executed, the TrainTracksLong will begin and then automatically 15 seconds later, the WHISTLE will play.

Collapse/Expand Linked Cues. This cue list is the same as the above cue list, except the plus/minus icon located to the far left of Q1's column was clicked which collapsed the cues attached to Q1 -- those cues are still there and will play normally, but have been hidden from view. If there were other cues that were linked by Waits/Autofollows you could choose to collapse them or not.

Volume and Patch. Setting volumes for a cue is easy: select a cue in the list and the Properties window below the cue list will display the volume and patch settings for that cue. Volume in SFX is measured in dB. The example at left shows that Q1 is a stereo sound file and the sound card has four outputs for which to route the audio. The number of outputs available depends on your sound card: some sound cards are only stereo, while others can have eight channels or more. The levels in this matrix are the intial levels. To modify them on-the-fly, see the Active Matrix.

Multiple Tracks. The traditional way to combine Sound Cues in SFX is by using Wait cues. With SFX 6, you can now drag-and-drop multiple mono and stereo files to create one multi-track cue that will playback totally synchronized. The screenshot at left shows that Q5 is actually composed of four mono Wave files. The number of Busses you have depends on the sound card you have; for this example, the sound card has only four outputs.