Cue Actions

In the triggers tab of the inspector, there are a few other useful tools that might make your life easier, that might save your workspace a few cues, that might save you a bit of time. QLab asks you, “When starting the action of this cue …” what would you like to do?

The first option is the Fade & Stop. When this is enabled, QLab will fade out then stop other cues over a specified amount of time. If I have a song playing and I begin the next one, the previous song will fade out over 1, 2, 3 seconds.

I can also choose to stop only cues in the same group, only cues in the same cue list, or every single cue that is active.

The second option is called Ducking. While this cue is playing, all other cues will lower in volume, duck … underneath this cue … by this many decibels and will fade over this amount of time.

So if I have a sound effect that needs to receive a stronger focus than the effects in the background, this will allow me to craft that focus without a bunch of extra fade cues.

Conversely, if I specify a positive volume, this feature will switch from ducking to boosting and will boost the volume of all other cues while this one is playing.

Finally, the second trigger. If this cue is playing and the cue is executed again, GO is hit again, what should QLab do? By default, the cue will choose to do nothing says “Let me finish, okay?” But we have other options. I enjoy using the Hard Stop and Restart option for improv performances and for stand-alone kiosks, these especially in conjunction with QLab’s Cue Cart tool.

Speaking of Cue Carts, you can also opt to create the second trigger when the cue button is released. Here the audio file will continue to play only as long as I keep my finger pressed on the button. That’s pretty neat.