Stop Target When Done
If you’re paying attention in the previous lesson, you’ll notice that even though your audio file stopped making sound, it continued to play. We can see this either by looking at action column or by looking at the active cues panel.
What’s happening is that the audio file is actually still playing, we just can’t hear it. It’s like having my Walkman continue to play, but with no headphones plugged in. That’s tragic for my Walkman because it’s going to use up all my batteries. It’s bad for your QLab file because each audio file that’s playing uses up your computer’s resources. A short sound or song will automatically stop at the end, but a very long song or a sound effect that is set to play infinitely … forever … It’s important to release those recourses so that QLab can play other cues or so that you can perform other tasks on your computer.
So, if you’re finished with your audio cue once a Fade Out is complete, you are to stop the target. This is done in the Audio Levels tab by checking the box “Stop target when done”. You’ll notice that the name of the cue automatically changed to include “Fade and stop”
Now when we Fade Out the cue or when it finishes, the original cue will stop.
Assignment
Adjust the previous lesson’s workspace and enable the “Stop target when done” feature. Then try it out!
Were You Listening?
Why is it important to stop your audio cues after they fade out?
Answer
So that your computer can use those resources to perform other tasks.