Playback

Syntax

• <number>
  • A playback fader number from 1 to 32.
  • Optionally use 0 to refer to the special Live playback fader (or see the Live command).
  • Optionally use Next or Previous to increment/decrement to the next or previous active playback.

Abbreviation

P

Description

Choosing The Active Playback

The Playback command changes the currently active playback fader and/or allows a playback fader’s properties to be changed. Playback faders are the functional units in the DMX output stack that control the playback of cues, streams and maintain the fade progress and timing of linked cues. Each playback fader operates as an independent layer of control in the DMX output stack and has properties that control how each playback layer is merged with the preceding layer, and the overall intensity of the channels in the layer. Use the Playback command to change the active playback fader, or in conjunction with an action command like At, On, Off or Set to change the playback’s submaster level, or to set the layer properties. When used alone or in logic expressions, the Playback command returns the currently active playback fader.

Selecting a Range of Playbacks

The Playback command works differently from other selection commands. When selecting a range of playbacks (for example using the command Playback 3>5), the first playback of the range becomes the “active” playback while all of the playbacks in the range become selected. This is for two reasons, (1) only one playback can be active at a time, but (2) the selected range can be used for working with playbacks with the At, Clear, Enable, and Disable commands. For example, the command Playback 1>7 Clear will clear all seven playbacks, but only playback 1 will become “active”.

Incrementing or Decrementing to the Next/Previous Playback

Use the commands Playback Next or Playback Previous to increment/decrement the currently active playback to the next/previous playback.

Incrementing past the last regular playback fader moves to the special Live playback. Also, the increment/decrement commands do not move past the Live playback or before the first playback.

Determining The Active Playback

The question mark ? can be used to ask what the currently active playback is. A number will be returned, from 1 to 32 indicating which playback is currently active.

*Many commands operate on the currently active playback fader, such as Channel, Clear, Cue, Fade, Follow, Go, Group, Link, Stack, Start and Stop. Since each playback fader maintains its own set of DMX channels and properties, such as the current and next cue, fade and follow times, cue link, and more, it is important to make sure that you use the Playback command to specify which playback you are targeting when using the above commands.

!Although CueServer can have a maximum of 32 playback faders, your configuration may have fewer, depending on the combination of playbacks and DMX universes that you have chosen. If you select a playback that is not available, the subsequent commands sent to that playback will have no effect.

Changing The Active Playback Without Selected Object(s)

A special form of the Playback command is available that changes the active playback fader without modifying the current selection. For example, if the command Playback 1; Channel 1 At FL is executed, Channel 1 will be set to Full in Playback 1. After the command is finished, the current selection will be Channel 1. You can change the active playback without loosing the Channel 1 selection by the command Playback Set 2; At FL. The active playback is changed to Playback 2 without loosing the Channel 1 selection, so the At FL command will operate on Channel 1 in Playback 2.

Examples

Playback 1
Makes playback 1 active. All future playback related commands will be directed to playback 1.

Playback 2 At 75
Makes playback 2 active and sets the playback’s submaster to 75%.

Playback 3
Cue 1 Go
Makes playback 3 active, then executes cue 1 in playback 3.

Playback 4
set Playback.Mode "Override"
Makes playback 4 active, then sets the playback’s layer mode to “override”.

Playback 2>4 At 50
Makes playback 2 active and sets playback 2, 3, and 4’s submaster to 50%.

Playback 4>8 Disable
Makes playback 4 active and disables playbacks 4 through 8.

Playback 1; Channel 1>10 At 33
Playback Set 2; At 66
Sets channels 1 through 10 to 33% in Playback 1, and channels 1 through 10 to 66% in Playback 2.

Playback 1 At FL
Playback Next At 66
Playback Next At 33
Sets the submasters of Playback 1 to 100%, Playback 1 to 66%, and Playback 2 to 33%.

See Also

• At, Off, On, Set