The CueSync Interface
4 min readDesktop App
Find your way around the CueSync shell — the EdgeBar's Create/Control/Connect groups, the Command Palette, live status readouts, and panic controls.
One Shell, Every Screen
CueSync uses a single shell that stays constant no matter which screen you're on. Learn it once and you'll always know where everything lives. Four regions are always present:
- Deck strip — the slim bar at the very top, showing each active Pioneer deck's model, live BPM and track while a deck is on the network.
- Content area — the main workspace; it swaps as you move between screens.
- EdgeBar — the bar along the bottom. Navigation, live status, and emergency controls all live here.
- Overlays — the Command Palette, timecode transport, and notification banners appear on top of the content when needed.
The EdgeBar — Navigation + Live Status
The EdgeBar does two jobs at once: it's your primary navigation, and it's a live status strip that shows the health of your show at a glance. Destinations are organized into three groups, separated by dividers.
Create — build your show
| Screen | Edition | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Show Editor | Theatre | Compose multi-track cue sheets against timecode |
| Cues | All | Edit and manage the cue stack |
| Cue Pads | All | A pad grid for manual cue triggering |
| Palette | All | Looks for every protocol — consoles, media servers, QLab, lasers, the pixel wall — plus the pixel wall's designer |
| Track Prep | DJ | Analyze tracks, browse your library, and pre-assign cues before your set |
| Track Program | DJ | Visual timeline of AutoPilot's fire plan against the loaded track, with a per-rule on/off |
Control — run your show
| Screen | Edition | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Home | All | Live dashboard for active Pioneer decks |
| Auto Pilot | DJ | Music-reactive automation from phrase and energy |
| Run Mode | Theatre | Timecode-driven cue execution with GO/Back transport |
Two DJ screens are reached from the View menu rather than as EdgeBar icons: Local Audio (View → Local Audio) plays and analyses your own audio files with no DJ hardware, and Performance (View → Performance Mode, Cmd+F11) is the full-screen live DJ dashboard.
Connect — wire up your gear
| Screen | Edition | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Devices | All | Discover and configure connected hardware |
| Pro Decks | DJ | Detailed Pioneer deck telemetry |
| Network | All | Output protocol connections and health |
| Timecode | Theatre | Timecode source configuration |
| Diagnostics | All | Connection logs, latency, and output health — appears once switched on under Settings → Advanced → Show the Diagnostics screen (from the next launch) |
Editions: the Production edition includes every screen above. DJ and Theatre editions see the screens marked for their workflow plus everything marked All. Settings is pinned to the far right of the EdgeBar and is always visible.
Between the navigation and the panic controls, the EdgeBar carries a row of live readouts that update in real time — cue count and next cue, active pads, healthy outputs (X of Y), a beat pulse, latency and CPU, AutoPilot state, the current timecode value (Theatre), and your edition badge. The edition badge turns amber during a grace period — act before it turns red.
The Command Palette
Press Cmd+K from anywhere to open the Command Palette, then type to fuzzy-search every action CueSync knows: navigation, project (new/open/save), cue control (fire, skip, stop all), outputs, settings, and help. Use ↑/↓ to move, Enter to run, Esc to dismiss. It's the fastest way to do anything without memorizing a shortcut.
Panic Controls
Three panic states are there for when something goes wrong mid-show. The EdgeBar reports them — a BLK, FRZ or MAN token lights in the live readouts and a strip above the EdgeBar reads BLACKOUT ACTIVE, FREEZE ACTIVE or MANUAL OVERRIDE with a RECOVER or RELEASE button. You engage one from Transport → Panic (Cmd+Shift+B Blackout, Cmd+Shift+G Freeze, Cmd+Shift+M Manual Override, Cmd+Shift+R Resume All), from the Command Palette, or in Run Mode from the BLACKOUT button.
| Control | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Blackout | Latches. Pauses AutoPilot, holds the Cues list's automatic triggers, cancels running fades, and sends every connected output its own blackout command | A level is wrong and you need everything dark instantly |
| Freeze | Holds the look. Pauses AutoPilot and the automatic triggers; outputs keep their last levels and a manual GO still works | Stop all automation without killing output levels |
| Manual Override | Stops AutoPilot firing on its own and nothing else — the Cues list's triggers and the Cue Pads stay live | Fire by hand without AutoPilot firing on top of you |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open Command Palette | Cmd+K / Ctrl+K |
| GO (fire next cue) | Space |
| Back out one step (in Run Mode, double-press to stop the show) | Esc |
| Jump to a screen | Number keys (shown in each nav icon's tooltip) |
Every shortcut is rebindable in Settings → Shortcuts, including chord combinations.
Read-Only vs. Activated
Before you activate a license, CueSync runs in read-only mode, where you can open the built-in demo show, press Space to step through its cues and watch each one fire on screen with nothing sent to real equipment, look through its Show Editor timeline and Run Mode, and tour the cue, pad, AutoPilot, device, network and Settings screens. Building and saving your own shows, and connecting real outputs, need a subscription. Screens that need a licence show a card explaining what unlocks them.
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