---
title: "Recording & Playing Back Cues - Programmer Manual - DMXDesktop"
lang: en
source: /es/knowledgebase/programmer-manual/recording-and-playback
---

Manual del Programador Grabando y Reproduciendo Cues

Manual del Programador

# Grabando y Reproduciendo Cues

Guarda tus looks programados como cues y reprodúcelos usando el panel de faders - desde grabar tu primer cue hasta gestionar la reproducción de múltiples cues.

## 10. Recording Cues - Saving Your Work

A **cue** is a saved snapshot of everything currently in your programmer - intensity, color, position, beam settings, and active effects. Recording a cue lets you recall that exact look later with a single fader move or button press.

### The Basic Recording Workflow

Select Fixtures

Program Look

Record

Choose Slot

Done!

Here's the step-by-step:

1. **Select your fixtures** on the floorplan
2. **Program the look** you want - set intensity, color, position, beams, effects using the attribute tabs
3. Click the **Record** button (red circle-dot icon) or press R
4. The interface enters **Record Mode** - fader buttons change color to show they're ready to receive
5. **Click any cue fader button** to save the look to that slot
6. If the slot already has a cue, you'll be asked to confirm the overwrite
7. The cue is saved, the button turns blue, and record mode exits automatically

### What Gets Recorded

Everything in the programmer state is captured:

- **Intensity** values for all selected fixtures
- **Color** settings (RGB, CMY, color wheel positions)
- **Position** values (pan, tilt, fan settings)
- **Beam** properties (gobo, prism, shutter, strobe, iris, zoom, focus, frost)
- **Active effects** and their parameters (type, speed, crossfade, spread, colors)
- **Palette references** - if you applied a saved color or position palette, the cue remembers which palette was used

### Automatic Cue Type Detection

DMXDesktop routes your recording to the appropriate fader section based on what you've programmed:

| What You Have in the Programmer | Where It Records | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Multiple fixtures with programmed values | Cues tab | Full lighting look - the standard case |
| 1 fixture selected, no programmer state | Fixtures tab | Solo fixture state (color only) |
| Multiple fixtures selected, no programmer state | Groups tab | Group selection state |
| An active cue playing (not a stack) | Cue Stacks tab | Adds the active cue as a step in a stack |

Note

You cannot record while a cue stack is actively playing. Stop the stack first.

### Default Fade Times

Cues recorded from the programmer default to **0ms fade time** (instant). You can change fade times later by editing the cue in a cue stack, or by using exec functions.

### Walkthrough: Recording Your First Cue

1. Click your "Front Wash" group button to select all front wash fixtures
2. Press I, drag the master fader to **200** (about 78%)
3. Press C, click a warm amber gel (e.g., Lee L20 Medium Amber)
4. Press R - you're now in Record Mode
5. The fader panel appears. Click the first empty cue button (Cue 1)
6. Done! The button turns blue. Your amber wash is now saved as Cue 1
7. Pull the fader up to see it in action

## 11. Playing Back Cues - The Fader Panel

The fader panel is your playback control center. Open it by clicking **Cue Faders** or pressing Q.

### Fader Types

The fader panel has five tabbed sections:

| Tab | What It Shows | How Many |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fixtures | One fader per patched fixture | Auto-synced with your patch |
| Groups | One fader per fixture group | Auto-synced with your groups |
| Cues | One fader per recorded cue | Paginated in sets of 20 |
| Cue Stacks | One fader per cue stack | Up to 20 |
| Functions | The 10x10 execute grid | 100 slots |

### How Cue Faders Work

Each cue fader has a **slider** (vertical) and a **button** (below the slider):

Slider: drag up to activate

CUE
1

Button: click to toggle

**Slider behavior:**

- **Drag up from 0** - Activates the cue. The slider position becomes the intensity multiplier.
- **Drag down to 0** - Deactivates the cue and stops it.
- **Any position in between** - The cue plays at that percentage of its recorded values.

**Button behavior (outside special modes):**

- **Click** - Toggles between 0 and 255 with a **2-second animated crossfade**. This is the "flash" function - one click fades in, another click fades out.

### Intensity Scaling Chain

The final output of any channel in an active cue follows a three-level chain:

Stored Value

e.g. 200

×Fader Position / 255

e.g. 191/255 = 0.75

×Master Dimmer / 100

e.g. 80/100 = 0.80

=Final Output

= 120

**Example:** A fixture was recorded at Red = 200. The cue fader is at 191 (75%). The master dimmer is at 80%.

Output = 200 × (191 / 255) × (80 / 100) = 200 × 0.75 × 0.80 = 120

### Cue Pages

For large shows with many cues, the Cues tab is organized in **pages of 20 faders**. Numbered tabs (1–20, 21–40, 41–60, etc.) let you switch between pages. Your current page selection is remembered between sessions.

### Walkthrough: Playing Back Multiple Cues

1. Open the fader panel (press Q)
2. Click the **Cues** tab
3. Drag **Cue 1** (your amber wash) up to 255 - it fades in
4. Drag **Cue 2** (a blue backlight) up to 180 - it layers on top at about 70%
5. Now both cues are active simultaneously. The system merges them using LTP (Latest Takes Priority)
6. Drag **Cue 1** down to 0 - the amber wash fades out, leaving only the blue backlight

## 12. The Master Dimmer

The master dimmer is a **global intensity control** that scales all DMX output. It sits at the top of the fader panel.

### The Rotary Encoder Interface

The master dimmer uses a **rotary encoder knob** with a 270° sweep (from 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock position):

- **Drag vertically** to adjust - up increases, down decreases (±0.5% per pixel of movement)
- **Scroll wheel** - ±1% per tick for fine adjustment
- **Double-click** - Instantly resets to 100%
- The **percentage display** in the center shows the current value

### Visual Color Gradient

The encoder ring uses color coding to show the current level at a glance:

| Range | Color | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 80–100% | Green | Full output |
| 40–79% | Orange | Reduced output |
| 0–39% | Red | Low output / near blackout |

### How It Affects Output

The master dimmer multiplies every intensity channel being sent to your fixtures:

- **100%** - No effect, everything at programmed levels
- **50%** - All output halved
- **0%** - Complete blackout (all intensity channels zero)

Important

The master dimmer affects **intensity channels only** (dimmers, RGB levels). It does not affect position, gobo, prism, or other non-intensity attributes. A gobo keeps spinning at master dimmer 0 - only the beam brightness drops.