A cue list is built in five steps: add your material, put it in order, check each cue, trim and set the cues, and save the list. At the end you have a file that you can open and run again next week. This page takes the shortest route, and parts 2 and 3 describe each step in full.
Step 1 — Add your material
There are two ways to add material, and the result is the same.
You can drag files into the list. Select your files in File Explorer and drop them on the cue list. A line shows where the files will be inserted. This also works inside a group, so you can drop files exactly where they belong.
You can also use the toolbar. Click Media for video and audio, or Still for pictures. Both buttons open a file window that accepts the same file types as dragging.
What you can drop
| What | Result |
|---|---|
| Video and audio files | A media cue for each file |
| Pictures | A still for each picture |
| A folder | A group with the contents of the folder |
A playlist file (.m3u, .m3u8, .pls) | A media playlist |
A shortcut (.url) | The link in the shortcut |
| A web address | A media cue if the address plays directly, and otherwise a web page |
A .playoutgroup or .playoutbundle | The exported group, added to your list |
A .playout file | A complete list. The Import window opens, where you choose whether it replaces your list or is added to it |
The program does not add files that it cannot read. Instead, it lists them in one message, so your list never has an unexplained gap or a cue that plays black because its file cannot be read.
Step 2 — Put the cues in order
To change the order, drag lines up and down. A group moves as one block, with everything inside it.
The numbers follow the structure of the list and update by themselves, so you never need to renumber anything. The top level is numbered 1, 2, 3, and the cues in a group are numbered 3.1, 3.2.
Use groups from the start. If you make one group for each part of the show, such as the opening, the notices and the closing, a list of forty lines becomes a list of six, which is much easier to read. Click the heading of a group to collapse or expand it. A collapsed group still shows the state of the cue that plays inside it.
Step 3 — Check each cue
The program fills in the duration as soon as it has loaded a file, so the list shows the length of the show before you have set anything.
To check a cue, click its line to arm it. The cue appears at once in the next-cue picture beside the preview, where you can see whether it is the right file, the right shot and the right way up. The preview and the output do not change until you press GO.
Video and audio play only when they are on air, so a clip does not play before GO. The next-cue picture shows its first frame, which is enough to check that it is the right file. If you also want to hear the clip, put it on air at a moment when nobody is watching.
Step 4 — Trim and set
Four columns control how a cue behaves. You can set all four for a whole selection at once in the right-click menu, which saves a lot of time in a long list.
| Column | What to set |
|---|---|
| In / Out | Where in the file the cue starts and stops. The file itself does not change. |
| Vol | The volume, from 0 to 100 %. |
| Transition | How the cue comes in: a hard cut or a fade. |
| Follow | What happens at the end: hold the last frame, continue with the next cue, repeat, or stop. |
The Follow column decides how much you need to do during the show. Set it to next for clips that must play one after another, and leave it on hold where a person decides when the show continues. The cues on hold are the moments when you press GO.
Step 5 — Save
Choose File → Save, or press Ctrl+S. The first time, the program asks for a name and suggests DocumentsUltimate PlayoutLists, which is also where Open starts. After that, Save writes to the same file without asking. The name of the list appears on the right of the toolbar, with an asterisk while there are changes that you have not saved.
A .playout file contains the list: the cues and their settings. It refers to your media where the files are stored, but it does not contain them. To give the complete show to someone else, choose File → Export… and export the whole list as a bundle. A bundle puts the list and all its files in one .playoutbundle file.
Opening the list again
To open a list, choose File → Open… and select the file. The lists that you opened or saved recently are under File → Open recent.
If a cue refers to a file that has been moved, the program tells you when the list opens. The message shows how many cues are affected, and each affected line gets a warning mark with the full path in its tooltip. Open the list well before the show, so that you have time to solve the problem.
Under Settings → General, you can let the program open the last list when it starts, which is useful on a computer that runs one recurring show.
An example list
If you want to practise, build a list like this one. It contains most of what you will use:
1 Group: Before the start
1.1 Still — welcome slide follow: hold
2 Opening clip follow: next
3 Hold — black follow: hold
4 Group: Notices
4.1 Notice 1 follow: next
4.2 Notice 2 follow: hold
5 Closing clip follow: stopThis list needs four GOs, and everything between them runs by itself.