Core Concepts

These are the ideas everything else in CueForge builds on. Read this page once and the rest of the manual will feel obvious.

Projects and shows

A project is one .cueforge file containing everything about one show: the cue list, media references, output mappings, and settings. A show is what the project becomes when you run it — the running sequence of cues in Show Mode. One project file, one show.

The cue list

The cue list is the spine of the show: an ordered list of cues that the operator works through with GO. Each cue has a type, a name, and settings. Cue numbers are computed from position and nesting — they are not editable fields and they renumber automatically when you reorder.

The twelve cue types

Group	Cue types	Purpose
Media	Audio, Video, Image	Play or show content
Timing	Wait, Timer	Pause the list, or count for the operator
Structure / Control	Group, Stop, Call, Memo	Organise the list and control the flow
External	OSC, MIDI, HTTP	Talk to other equipment

See Cue Types for the full reference of every type and its settings.

Groups: Sequential and Scene

A Group Cue gathers child cues. Its Group Mode decides what “firing the group” means:

• Sequential — children run one after another, each advancing according to its own continuation setting. Use this for a sequence of cues that belong to one scene.
• Scene — all children start together; the group completes when every child has completed. Use this when sound, video, and lighting hits must land at the same instant.

See Group Cues.

Start, lifetime, and continuation

Every cue has three timing ideas:

• Start — when the cue begins: when fired by GO, chained from the previous cue, or following it after a delay.
• Lifetime — how long it runs. An audio cue lives until its media ends (or is stopped); an image can hold indefinitely.
• Continuation — what happens when the cue completes. In the inspector this is Manual (the next cue waits for GO), Auto-Continue (the next cue fires immediately), or Auto-Follow (the next cue arms and waits for GO).

Markers and phrases

Markers are points you place on an audio waveform — “verse starts here”, “lighting hit”, “fade point”. They live in the Audio Deep Editor and are covered in Markers and Cue Points.

Phrases are regions of a song — intro, verse, chorus. Phrases are show-design regions: they describe structure for the designer.

Note: Phrases do not fire outputs yet. They describe song structure; advanced phrase features are deferred to a later release.

Edit Mode and Show Mode

• Edit Mode is where the show is authored. Nothing in Edit Mode can fire live output; auditioning is safe. See Edit Mode.
• Show Mode is where the show runs. Editing is locked; the interface is reduced to what the operator needs. See Show Mode.

Tool windows

Advanced surfaces open as separate desktop windows from the Window menu. Re-selecting an item focuses the existing window instead of opening a duplicate:

• Outputs — the projection-mapping editor for a logical output; display binding lives in Settings → Outputs & Displays.
• Show Graph — read-only view of show structure and live engine state.
• Timeline — a timecode ruler following engine show time.
• Control Mapping — author and test external-control mappings; triage incoming triggers.
• Open Prep Authoring Window — the detached Audio Deep Editor.

The inspector

The inspector is the properties panel in Edit Mode. For the selected cue it shows identity (name, type, number), a timing and continuation summary, a routing summary, operator notes, any warnings, and the Open Deep Editor entry for audio cues. See Interface Tour.

Preflight

Preflight is the automatic analysis that runs before you enter Show Mode. Errors block entry; warnings are acknowledged per session. It checks media, routing, targets, timing risks, external control, and much more. See Preflight.

Triggers vs control mapping

These two surfaces are easy to confuse:

• Triggers (the Triggers section in every cue editor) fire this cue from an incoming OSC, MIDI, HTTP, or internal-cue signal.
• Control Mapping (the Window → Control Mapping window) maps incoming signals to any target: global show actions, specific cue actions, or continuous parameters like bus gain.

See Triggers and Control Mapping.

Show Lock, PANIC, and dirty state

• Show Lock (Cmd/Ctrl+L in Show Mode, or the lock toggle) freezes the show configuration: no editing, no undo, no new or open project — but saving stays allowed. Engine-enforced; in Edit Mode a locked show appears as a read-only state.
• PANIC (Escape) stops everything immediately, always works, and recovers only by deliberate operator confirm.
• Dirty state means the project has unsaved changes; guard dialogs protect it when you quit or switch projects.

Integration status at a glance

Honest status of the trigger and cue families in this beta:

Family	Status
Internal Cue, OSC, MIDI, HTTP (in and out)	Verified with real software senders
grandMA3, QLab, Resolume (send)	Early access — validate against your equipment
Timecode	Internal clock or external LTC/MTC input; cue firing requires deliberate arming
grandMA2	Documentation draft only

See Current Limitations and the integration guides.