Exporting a Studio Show to the Desktop App
2 min readCueSync Studio
The two ways to move a finished Studio show into CueSync, what transfers with it, and what you finish on the desktop.
There are two routes, and both produce the same show.
Open directly in the desktop
With CueSync running and signed in on the same machine, use Open in CueSync desktop — in the Studio header, or from the Cmd+K palette. The desktop fetches the show over your license and imports it immediately. This is the fast path when you design and run on the same computer.
Export the file
Press Export to download a .cuesync file, then File → Open it in CueSync. Use this when the design machine and the show machine are different, or when the show machine is offline.
The export dialog first shows a sign-off summary by discipline. It is advisory — it never blocks an export, and the button reads Export anyway only when something is still unapproved.
Importing replaces the open show
An import replaces whatever show is currently open in the desktop. If a show is live, or you have unsaved changes, CueSync asks before proceeding rather than pulling the floor out mid-show. Choosing Cancel leaves your current show untouched.
What transfers
Show metadata, the track structure, acts and scenes, and every cue — position, number, name, notes, tolerance and offset frames, enabled and standby flags — segregated into one lane per discipline. Cue intent is folded into the desktop's notes field as an [INTENT] block, so the design reasoning arrives with the cue.
What does not transfer
- Protocol actions. Studio holds no bindings — it does not know your rig. Every imported cue arrives with an empty action list, and the desktop's flight check flags them as needing binding. This is the intended handover: the operator decides which console, universe, and fixture each cue speaks to.
- Audio. The export carries no audio bytes. It carries the filename it was prepped against, and CueSync tells you which file to attach — "Prepped against act1.wav". Attach the master in the Show Editor to restore the waveform and timecode playback.
After importing
- Bind protocol actions to each cue.
- Attach the master audio file named in the import message.
- Save.
On DJ Edition, which has no Show Editor, an imported Studio show is flattened into the DJ cue stack automatically, so the cues are reachable where that edition runs them. Theatre and Production editions open the track structure as designed.
If it doesn't work
- "Open in CueSync desktop" does nothing — CueSync must be running and signed in on that machine. If it is not signed in it will say so; if it is not installed, the browser has nothing to hand the link to. Export the file instead.
- Imported cues do nothing — expected until you bind them. Imported cues carry no protocol actions; the flight check lists every cue still waiting for one.
- No waveform after import — the audio is not attached. Add the master audio file in the Show Editor.
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