Looks & Scenes

What Looks & Scenes Are

Looks and Scenes (Create group, shortcut L) are the reusable output presets your cues reference. They live in one palette with two tabs — GMA3 Looks and Scenes — and are available in all editions.

• A Look targets a GrandMA3 console — it maps to a single executor, cuelist, preset, or sequence. When the Look fires, CueSync tells the console to activate that element. AutoPilot can select Looks automatically based on the musical moment (phrase type, energy, BPM).
• A Scene is cross-protocol — it groups output bindings across any mix of connected systems (lighting, video, effects) into one named snapshot. When a Scene fires, every binding fires at once. Scenes can be released, returning their bindings to the prior state when the Scene ends.

Looks vs. Scenes — Which Do I Use?

Use a Scene whenever you want a single cue or pad to fire multiple output types together — it's the primary cross-protocol coordination tool. Reference the Scene from the cue rather than adding a separate action per protocol.

Use a Look when you're driving a GrandMA3 console specifically, especially if you want AutoPilot to pick it automatically for matching musical moments.

Common Tasks

1. Create a Look — On the GMA3 Looks tab, click +, name it, and select the GrandMA3 executor, cuelist, or preset to bind.
2. Create a Scene — On the Scenes tab, click +, name it, then add protocol bindings one at a time (each binding picks an output and the value to send).
3. Test-fire — Select any Look or Scene and click its test-fire button; output fires immediately and a success or failure toast appears.
4. Check usage — The number badge on each tile shows how many cues or pads reference it. A zero count means nothing will fire it during the show.

Tips & Gotchas

• Orphaned references become silent no-ops. If you delete a Look or Scene that cues still reference, those cue actions silently do nothing at fire time. The usage badge and a delete confirmation help you avoid this.
• AutoPilot uses Looks, not Scenes, for automatic moment-matching. Set each Look's phrase, energy, and BPM affinity so AutoPilot can choose the right one for each moment.
• Test-fire always works, even with AutoPilot paused. AutoPilot's paused state only suppresses its own automatic firing — manual test-fire from the palette always goes through.

Related Articles

• Working with Cues
• Using CuePads
• GrandMA3 Setup Guide