Show Timeline

What it's for — The Show Timeline visualises your Auto Pilot fire plan against the loaded track's structure. Use it to review and tune the automation rules that govern when CueSync fires Looks and output actions across your show.

The screen, region by region

Toolbar (top) — Contains the Show Program name, a rule count summary ("N rules"), and zoom in/out buttons. The playhead position and pixels-per-beat density are displayed on the right.

Beat ruler lane — A horizontal ruler marking beat positions across the full track. Labels appear at regular beat intervals that adapt to the current zoom level.

Phrase lane — Colour-coded blocks representing the phrase structure of the loaded track (Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Break, Outro, etc.). The lane width matches the beat ruler so you can see exactly which phrases fall where.

Energy lane — A waveform-style curve showing the track's energy level beat-by-beat. Peaks correspond to high-energy moments such as drops and choruses; troughs correspond to breakdowns and outros.

Lighting automation lane — Shows the Look actions Auto Pilot has scheduled for the Lighting category. Each block represents a moment where a Look is queued to fire.

Effects automation lane — Shows the output actions scheduled for the Effects category.

Rules panel (right sidebar, collapsible, 320 dp) — Lists all rules in the active Show Program. Each rule entry shows:

• Name and priority badge
• High-impact badge (if the rule affects prominent moments)
• Enable/disable toggle — turn individual rules on or off without deleting them
• Condition summary — a human-readable description of what triggers the rule (phrase type, energy threshold, BPM range, etc.)
• Intent count — how many output intents the rule carries
• Expandable detail — click a rule to see the full condition tree

Common tasks

1. Load a track to visualise its fire plan — Load a track on a connected Pioneer CDJ/XDJ. The timeline populates with that track's structure and Auto Pilot's planned fires.
2. Review the automation plan — Scan the Lighting and Effects lanes to see where Looks and actions will fire. Compare them against the Phrase and Energy lanes to confirm they land at the right musical moments.
3. Enable or disable a rule — In the Rules panel, click the toggle next to any rule. Disabled rules are skipped by Auto Pilot without affecting the rest of the plan.
4. Select a rule to inspect its conditions — Click a rule row to expand it and read the full condition tree (phrase type, energy range, BPM window, etc.).
5. Zoom the timeline — Click the zoom buttons in the toolbar, or use Cmd+= / Cmd+-. Beat density adjusts so labels remain readable at every zoom level.

Tips & gotchas

• The timeline reflects the current track. If no track is loaded on a Pioneer deck, the timeline shows an empty state with a prompt to load a track. The fire plan updates automatically as you change tracks on the decks.
• Automation snaps to the beat grid. All planned fires are positioned at beat boundaries. The fire plan cannot place an action at a sub-beat position — that precision is handled by per-cue nudge offsets configured in the Cues screen.
• Disabling a rule here affects the whole show. A rule you disable in the Rules panel stays disabled for every track until you re-enable it. If you only want to suppress a rule for one moment, consider adjusting its conditions rather than toggling it off entirely.
• The Show Timeline is a read-and-tune view, not a clip editor. You cannot drag automation blocks to new positions here. To change what fires and when, edit the rules in the Rules panel or adjust the Look affinities in the Looks & Scenes screen.

Related

• Track Prep — Analyse the track structure that feeds this timeline
• Looks & Scenes — Configure the Look affinities Auto Pilot uses to populate the Lighting lane
• Cues — Manual cues that fire alongside Auto Pilot's automation