Set cue points

A cue point marks where a file starts, stops or loops. Cue points are grouped into cue sets, and a file can have more than one set: one for the full anthem, say, and another for a short stinger. Each hot button source picks the set it uses.

Still images have no timeline and no cue points.

Open the Clip editor

You make cue sets on the media file in the library, in the Clip editor.

1. In the top bar, select the music note icon to open the Library.
2. Select a media item. The details panel opens on the right.
3. Select Edit cues and sponsors (or Edit cues without Pro). The Clip editor replaces the library table and opens on the Cues tab.

The header shows the file's title and details. Select Library to go back. You can also open the Clip editor from the hot button editor.

Still images have no timeline and no Clip editor. If the file's folder is offline, the header shows Not connected.

Screenshot pending

cue-points-01-editor — the Clip editor on an audio file, Cues tab, playhead at a non-zero position with several cues in the list. Tracked in website/SCREENSHOTS.md.

The transport has these controls:

• Play, which turns into Pause while the file plays. Pause leaves the playhead where it is, and Play carries on from there.
• Stop, which stops and moves the playhead back to the start. It stays available if the folder goes offline while the file plays.
• Back 5 seconds and Forward 5 seconds.
• A playhead time field, which shows the time and also accepts a typed time.
• Loop, which plays the active cue set while you listen. It repeats the region between Loop Start and Loop End and stops at Cue Out; a set without loop points does not repeat. Play starts at Cue In, or at the position you selected while the file was stopped.
• A zoom control. Fit shows the whole file; zoom in to place a cue exactly.

Select a position on the ruler, the waveform or a free part of the Cues lane to move the playhead there, or drag to move it through the file.

Turning the mouse wheel over the timeline zooms in or out at the pointer, one step of the zoom control at a time. To scroll the zoomed timeline left or right, swipe sideways on the trackpad, or hold Shift and turn the wheel.

The Cues lane sits below the waveform. Each cue is a flag on the lane, colored by type. Select a flag to select the cue and move the playhead to it, or drag it to move the cue.

Cues at the same position share a flag. Select the flag again to select the next cue on it; dragging a shared flag moves only the selected cue. A flag that does not fit next to the others moves to a new row below them.

Overview

The Overview strip below the timeline always shows the whole file: the waveform, each cue in its type's color, the loop region, the playhead and, when you are zoomed in, a box around the part the timeline shows. Select a position on the strip to move the playhead there and bring that part into the timeline. Drag on the strip to move the timeline without moving the playhead.

Cue point types

Type	Does
Cue In	The position where playback starts when the hot button fires.
Cue Out	The position where playback stops, before the natural end of the file.
Loop Start	The start of a loop region. Use it with Loop End.
Loop End	The end of the region. Playback goes back to Loop Start.
Marker	A bookmark with a name. It has no effect on playback.

Add a cue point

1. Move the playhead to where you want the mark.
2. Select + Add cue at playhead. The cue appears in the list below the waveform.
3. In the inspector, select the Type.
4. Optional: type a Name, for example verse 2 or chorus loop.

Select a cue's flag on the Cues lane, or its row in the list, to open its inspector. The playhead moves to the cue too, and if the file is playing it carries on from there. The inspector has these controls:

• Type, Name and Position. A time typed in Position is saved when you press Enter, select another cue, switch tabs or go back to the library. It cannot be later than the end of the file.
• Set to playhead moves the cue to the playhead's current position.
• To fine-tune the position, press the Left or Right arrow key after selecting the cue's flag or row, or in Position. Each press moves the cue by 0.01 s, or by 1 s with Shift.
• Play from here plays from the cue's position.
• Duplicate copies the cue 1 second after it.
• Remove… removes the cue after you confirm.

Each row of the list also has Play from here and Remove buttons.

Loop a region

With Loop Start and Loop End, a hot button loops a region until you stop it. Playback runs in this order:

1. Start at Cue In, or at the start of the file if you did not set Cue In.
2. Play forward to Loop Start.
3. Loop between Loop Start and Loop End.
4. Stop at Cue Out, or at the natural end if you did not set Cue Out.

Use a loop for a music bed under a speaker, or for a goal horn that keeps going until you cut it.

Manage cue sets

The Cue set picker at the top of the tab selects the active set, and the list and the waveform follow it.

A file without a cue set shows No cue sets yet. Select + Add cue set to make the first set, which becomes the file's default set. A set with no cues shows No cues in and the name of the set, with + Add cue at playhead.

• + Add set adds a new, empty set.
• Rename… in the ⋯ menu (Cue set actions) puts a name field in place of the picker. Type the name and press Enter, or press Escape to keep the old name.
• Default cue set in the ⋯ menu makes the active set the file's default, marked with a Default chip. A hot button source that has not picked a set uses this one.
• Remove… in the ⋯ menu removes the active set after you confirm.

Save your changes

The Clip editor has no OK button. It saves each change as you make it, and the header shows Saved.

An invalid set is not saved until you fix it. Until then, a message below the waveform gives the reason, and the header does not show Saved:

Message	Fix
Cue Out comes before Cue In	Move the Cue Out after the first Cue In.
Loop Start and Loop End are not paired	Give each Loop Start one Loop End.
Loop End comes before Loop Start	Move the Loop End after its Loop Start.
Loops overlap	End a loop before the next Loop Start.
Another cue set already uses this name	Rename the set.

If you switch to another set before fixing it, the set reverts to its last saved version.

The cue dialog of a hot button edits the same cue sets, and the Clip editor always shows their saved state. An invalid, unsaved change is lost if the same file changes in the other editor.

Use a set in a hot button

A hot button source picks its own set, regardless of the file's default set.

1. Right-click a hot button.
2. On the Sources & triggers tab, expand the source.
3. Select a set from Cue set.
4. Select Save.

hinweis

No cue set plays the file from the start to the end and applies no cues.

See also

• Build a hot button
• Tag and find media