CueBoard: a tool for video operations in theatre

A tool for video operations in theatre

CueBoard came out of the need to plan, before a production begins, what runs when on which output. Which camera, which playback source, which fade time, which cue.

CueBoard stores no video, only information about it. There are two views onto the same show: the rundown for everyone who plans along, and the timeline for running the media server.

The rundown

Around the table sit directing, design, stage management and technical staff · and hardly any of them think in seconds. So the rundown is not a time axis but a table.

Every row is a moment of the show, carrying a cue number, a name and a trigger (“on the applause”, “when the light turns”). Every column is an output with its layers, counted from the top down, the way they sit on top of each other.

The cell tells the story

Every cell shows with colour and gradient what happens there, without anyone having to read a number:

• Hard cut: the colour is simply there.
• Fade in: transparent at the top, the image arrives from below.
• Crossfade: the old colour on top, the new one below.
• Keeps running: the same block without dividing lines, the name only at the top.
• Fade out: the colour runs out towards the bottom.

Layers carry the colour of their output, slightly darkened. A continuous clip therefore reads as one block at a glance · not as eight separate cells.

Rearranging, not re-entering

A clip can be dragged as a whole: grab it anywhere along its run, and the start, the moments in between and the closing fade out move together, keeping their length. If the target is occupied, CueBoard asks: replace or swap. Hold Alt to copy, and right-click or the ⋯ menu offers the same commands in words.

Sections bring in acts and scenes: a dividing row of their own that consumes no cue. And because shows get long, outputs can be folded into a narrow colour strip and sections into a single row · a miniature of the whole evening while you work on one spot. The browser remembers this per person; it is a matter of view, not a change to the show.

Who sees what

The rundown has its own show password. Whoever comes in with it lands here directly and never has to deal with tracks, fade curves and seconds. New shows open with a First steps card and a short tour that only starts once there is something to point at.

From a finished rundown a timeline can be generated at the press of a button · and of course all of it prints as PDF.

The timeline

Where seconds matter, at the media server and during tech week, the same show sits on a time axis.

The building blocks

• Output. A physical destination (projection, TV, LED wall) with a name, resolution and colour.
• Input. A source: live camera or pre-produced content. Custom properties can be added freely.
• Track. A row on the timeline, independent of any output. Multiple tracks can share an output.
• Clip. A box on a track: "input X runs from second A to B", including fade-in/out and a comment.
• Cue. A coloured marker with a line across all tracks, optionally with a note.

What it does well

The live strip under the timeline shows continuously what is playing on each output, with fade status and time to the next change. During playback it tracks live, which makes it the actual rehearsal view.

Music, bars and tempo

Many entries are tied to the music, not to the second. So CueBoard understands songs: with a bar count, time signature, tempo changes and repeats. A score can be imported as MusicXML, and bars and notes then appear right above the timeline.

That way a cue means not just "at second 92" but "in bar 19, third repeat".

Working together in real time

Several people can edit the same show at the same time. Changes appear immediately for everyone else, without getting in each other's way while typing.

From cue to shoot schedule

Video in theatre often means shooting your own material. So a shoot schedule is part of it: date, location, which theatre departments are needed (props, costume, hair and makeup, stage, lighting, sound …) and what they prepare, who arrives when and in which costume.

Output and sharing

Everything can be printed as PDF: the rundown, the full show sheet, just the cue list, or the shoot schedule, in German or English. Plus CSV tables for spreadsheets and a complete JSON export as a backup.

CueBoard is bilingual, runs in light or dark mode and works on mobile too, with a vertical timeline for the phone.

Availability

CueBoard is not a public product. It runs on private infrastructure and is unlocked on request for individual productions. Anyone who would like to use it for a production or project is welcome to get in touch, access and a show password follow from there.

Get in touch