From busking to a show file
How to program a light show
A cue list connects stage states to transitions and show events, but consoles do not all store and edit those states the same way. On a tracking console, a value can carry forward until another instruction changes or blocks it; on a state or cue-only workflow, edits may stay local. Learn the actual console model, then use groups, palettes or presets, deliberate hard values, and a full run from earlier cues to make every edit observable.
Planning and browser practice are references, not show approval. Verify fixture manuals, circuit ratings, hanging limits, venue rules, and local code with a qualified person.
01 · Read the brief
Start with the brief and the system.
What triggered this guide
You changed cue 4 and cues 5 through 20 changed with it.
The decision to make
Understand how a programmed show is built and why edits to one cue leak into later ones.
02 · Use the method
Brief it, change one variable, prove the result.
Design method
Write one observable job and the audience, camera, subject, or document that will prove it. Confirm the authorized system limits. Change one controllable variable, compare it with the prior state from the position that matters, then record both the result and the handoff.
Safety boundary
A browser page or calculator cannot authorize electrical, structural, rigging, access, fire, laser, atmospheric-effect, or work-at-height decisions. Stop and use fixture documentation, venue procedure, local requirements, and the qualified person responsible for the actual system.
Evidence note
Patch from the actual DMX512 data model
ANSI E1.11 defines interoperable asynchronous data transmission for controllers and lighting equipment. One packet can carry a start code and up to 512 data slots; fixture modes determine how devices interpret them.
ESTA ANSI E1.11-2024Evidence note
Treat tracking as a console behavior, not a universal cue law
ETC documents that values and edits track forward until another instruction or block on an Eos tracking system, while cue-only and state workflows can behave differently.
ETC Eos documentationEvidence note
Use angles for observable jobs
ETC’s design guide distinguishes visibility, form, depth, mood, and eye-line tradeoffs across front, side, back, top, and other angles instead of prescribing one plot for every stage.
ETC lighting-angle guideEvidence note
Keep work at height inside qualified procedures
OSHA applies general-industry fall-protection and PPE requirements to entertainment work and emphasizes protection from occupational hazards; a web guide cannot authorize rigging or access work.
OSHA entertainment interpretation03 · Work the order
Work from evidence to handoff.
- 1
Identify whether the console and show file use tracking, state, cue-only, or a mixed workflow, and read the manufacturer terms for record, update, hard values, blocks, and references.
Proof before the next move: You can predict whether one upstream edit will affect a named later cue before pressing Update.
- 2
Name the event and intended stage state for each cue before recording it, then choose timing from the action, music, sightline, and performer movement.
Proof before the next move: The cue label explains what changes and why; its fade can be called and judged against the real event.
- 3
Use groups and reference-based palettes or presets where the console supports them, and verify what the reference owns rather than assuming every desk behaves alike.
Proof before the next move: Changing one test reference updates only the intended cues and parameters, then the original value is restored.
- 4
Record the cue, clear or release the programmer as the desk requires, back up to an earlier known state, and play into it.
Proof before the next move: Playback recreates the intended result without live programmer data secretly owning the stage.
- 5
Before an upstream edit, inspect the tracked or state data and choose the console-specific tool: normal track, cue only, a hard value, block, or another explicit instruction.
Proof before the next move: A run through the edit boundary proves exactly where the change begins and where it stops.
- 6
Save and version the show file, preserve the prior known-good copy, and rehearse the full cue-to-cue sequence with the person who will call or operate it.
Proof before the next move: The show can be restored, every handoff is named, and no untested cue follows the edited section.
04 · Choose a rep
Practise the exact decision.
Free reps open immediately. Protected reps open the exact practice request and may require sign-in, remaining free practice, or the required belt.
Practise what you just read
Build the comparison, then bring the evidence to the room.
Use the free stage to compare one visual decision. A browser score cannot approve a real show, camera result, rig, or safety decision.
The free stage and calculator need no signup. Protected practice may ask you to sign in; saving remains optional.
05 · Resolve the edges
Questions
Why did editing one cue change ten others?
On a tracking console, the changed instruction may carry forward until another move, hard value, block, or filter stops it. On a state or cue-only console, the cause can be different. Inspect the console’s data view and record defaults, restore the prior file if needed, then make the edit with the intended scope and run through it.
Should I program a show or busk it?
Choose from repeatability, rehearsal time, musical freedom, staffing, risk, and the recovery plan, not from venue stereotypes. A show can combine programmed cues, reusable references, and live operation; rehearse the boundaries between those modes.
What is a palette actually storing?
On consoles with reference-based palettes or presets, a cue can point to stored parameter data so an intentional reference update reaches its users. Exact behavior, ownership, and update syntax vary, so test one reference and inspect its consumers before changing the show.
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