From busking to a show file
How to program a light show
A programmed show is a list of states with times between them, and the thing that surprises everyone is tracking: a value you set holds forward until something changes it. That is the feature and also the way a show quietly rots. Palettes and block cues are the two tools that keep a long show maintainable.
The order to do it in
Step 1
Build the look you want on stage first, then record it as a cue. The cue stores the state, not the button presses.
Step 2
Give each cue a fade time. Most of what reads as professional is timing rather than the looks themselves.
Step 3
Store positions and colours as palettes, so a cue points at "the vocal position" rather than at numbers.
Step 4
Understand tracking: an edit upstream flows downstream until something re-asserts the value.
Step 5
Use a block cue where you need to stop that flow, so an edit earlier in the show cannot leak past a known-good state.
Drills that practise this
Cue Stack Builder
The Desk
Palette Builder
Track Edit
Show Caller
Try it before you read more
Three briefs on a real club rig, scored on the stage you made, and you keep the picture. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.
Questions
Why did editing one cue change ten others?
That is tracking working as designed. The value you changed was holding forward into every cue that never set it. Re-focus a palette once and every cue using it follows, which is the same mechanism working for you instead of against you.
Should I program a show or busk it?
Depends on how repeatable the event is. A theatrical show or a timecoded set wants programming. A band that changes its setlist nightly wants palettes, groups and the confidence to busk. Most working operators do both.
What is a palette actually storing?
A reference, not a copy. That is the entire reason palettes exist: re-point the palette and every cue that used it updates, which is the difference between a ten-minute fix and re-recording forty cues.
More lighting guides
Stage lighting setup, in the order that actually works
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DMX lighting explained, without the jargon
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Stage lighting for small venues and bars
Make a small handful of fixtures in a low room look deliberate rather than thrown at the stage.
How to light a band
Know where to put light on a band so it looks like a show rather than a lit rehearsal.
Stage lighting colours and what they actually do
Understand how stage colour mixes and which choices ruin faces.