Run Mode

What it's for — Run Mode is the focus-mode console for running a Theatre show live. It shows the most important information a stage manager or operator needs at a glance: the next cue, timecode health, per-track readiness, and transport controls.

The screen, region by region

Status bar (top) — Shows elapsed time, total show duration (as a progress bar), the current section name, and timecode signal health. The timecode indicator names the active source (CDJ, MTC, LTC, or TCNet) and shows a Freewheel badge when timecode is riding the local generator after a source loss rather than live incoming signal.

Hero area (centre-left) — A large card showing the next cue to fire. Includes the cue name, number, a waveform-peak thumbnail of the track it belongs to, and a countdown timer showing how long until the cue fires based on the current timecode position. The countdown turns urgent (and the card pulses) when fewer than five seconds remain.

Call sheet (centre-right) — A per-track panel showing the last fired cue and the next cue for each track. Use this to confirm what just happened on each output path and what is coming next without having to look at the full show editor.

Mini timeline (below hero row) — A compact, auto-scrolling timeline of all cues across all tracks. The playhead tracks the current timecode position in real time. Scroll left or right to preview upcoming cues.

Transport controls (bottom) — Play, Pause, and Back buttons and a rehearsal mode toggle (OFF / DRY / LIVE). The transport is disabled while a show is actively playing — you cannot accidentally change mode mid-show. Press P to play or pause. Press R to cycle the rehearsal mode (OFF → DRY → LIVE), but only when stopped or paused. Back steps the playhead to the previous enabled cue and re-asserts that cue's look — the theatre "go back one" for a missed call. At the top of the show it is a safe no-op.

Activity log (expandable) — A collapsible panel at the bottom that records every cue execution with status (fired, failed, skipped) and track name. Filter by status or track. Export to CSV for a post-show record.

Common tasks

1. Start the show — Press P or click Play. If any cues are not marked Ready and you have "confirm start with unready cues" enabled, a pre-show gate dialog appears. Click Review to see a per-track readiness matrix, or Start Anyway to start immediately.
2. Pause mid-show — Press P or click Pause. The timecode engine holds position.
3. Resume after a pause — Press P again. Resuming from a pause skips the pre-show readiness check — it is only triggered on a fresh start.
4. Cycle rehearsal mode — Press R (only when stopped or paused). OFF mutes all output; DRY steps through cues without sending to hardware; LIVE fires for real.
5. Step back a cue — Click Back in the transport. The playhead jumps to the previous enabled cue across the active tracks and that cue's look is re-asserted on the rig.
6. Fire a cue from the keyboard — Cues whose trigger is Hotkey fire when you press their bound key (letters, digits, F1–F12, or Space-as-SPACE) anywhere in Run Mode, as long as the key isn't a reserved Run Mode shortcut and you aren't typing in a text field. Only the next cue in the stack is evaluated.
7. Hold timecode triggers — If you need to freeze trigger evaluation without pausing playback, click Hold TC in the transport area.
8. Export the activity log — Expand the activity log panel, then click the CSV export button. A save dialog lets you choose where to write the file.
9. Filter the activity log — Use the status and track filter chips above the log list to focus on failures or a specific track.

Tips & gotchas

• The pre-show gate only fires on a fresh start, not a resume. A stopped-to-playing transition runs the readiness check. A paused-to-playing transition skips it — you already confirmed you wanted to run.
• Transport controls are locked while playing. The rehearsal mode toggle and direct-play buttons are intentionally disabled during active playback to prevent accidents. Stop the show first.
• Countdown warnings appear as notifications at 5, 3, and 1 second. These are per-cue debounced — the same cue cannot re-emit the same threshold twice — so you will not see duplicate alerts if the operator pauses and resumes near a threshold.
• Freewheel means the local clock is driving. If the timecode indicator shows Freewheel, the show is advancing on CueSync's internal generator because the incoming signal was lost. Check your timecode source. The show continues running, but the accuracy of cue timing depends on the local clock rather than an external reference.
• Audio drift shows in the call sheet. If a track's audio is drifting from timecode by more than a set threshold, the call sheet row for that track gains a warning indicator.
• "Start Anyway" always starts. The pre-show gate is advisory. It cannot block you from running your show — it only surfaces information so you can make an informed decision.
• Already-fired cues stay fired when timecode jumps backward. If an external console or DAW scrubs the clock back (a rehearsal loop, a re-roll), one-shot cues that already fired — pyro, video starts — do not re-fire automatically. A throttled warning reminds you: use Back or a Goto to explicitly re-arm the section you want to run again. This is deliberate — an automatic re-fire of a one-shot mid-show is worse than a missed rehearsal repeat.
• Follow and Auto chains break on Stop, Pause, or a seek. If you halt the show mid-chain, the pending chained cues are cancelled — restart from the cue you want with GO or a Goto.
• Hotkeys respect the stack. A Hotkey-triggered cue fires only when it is the next cue. If nothing happens on the key press, check what the hero card says is next — and remember bare number keys punch capture cues in the Show Editor, not here.

Related

• Home — Next GO card links here from the home dashboard
• Show Editor — Build and arrange the cues that Run Mode fires
• Timecode — Configure and verify timecode sources