ETC GDS CueSystem User manual

Copyright © 2016 Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.
All rights reserved. Product information and specifications subject to change.
Part Number: 7493M1200-4.0.4 Rev: A
Released: 2016-09
This product is intended for professional use only.
Read this entire document before using this product.
CueSystem
User Guide

ETC
®
is a registered trademark of Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. in the United States and other
countries.
GDS
®
is a registered trademark of Global Design Solutions in Bristol, UK.
All other trademarks, both marked and not marked, are the property of their respective owners.
ETC intends this document, whether printed or electronic, to be provided in its entirety.

Table of Contents i
Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Help from ETC Technical Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
PC Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Installing and Setting Up the System . . . . . 5
Installing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Installing PC Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Configuring the IP Address of the PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Starting the Software and Connecting to the Network. . . . . . . . .5
Discovering and Configuring Devices
on the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
About Device IP Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Changing the IP Addresses of the Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Adopting Devices to the Local Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Adding Desks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Editing Desk Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Deleting Desks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Patching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Associating Desks and Patching Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Managing the Patch Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Using the Overview Window . . . . . . . . . . 13
Sending Manual Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Sending a Standby Cue (Red Light) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Sending a Single Go Cue (Green Light) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Sending Multiple Go Cues (Amber Light) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Programming Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Creating Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

ii CueSystem
Playing Back Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Playback Using the CueSystem Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Connecting a Playback Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Adding a Cue List to a Playback Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Playback Using a Playback Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Using Show Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Creating a New Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Saving Show Files on the Local PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Opening Show Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Setting User Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
User Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Introduction 1
Introduction
Welcome to the CueSystem User Guide. CueSystem provides simple, reliable cue-light control
for theatres, conference areas, and any venue that requires a cue-light system.
Document Conventions
This document uses the following conventions to draw your attention to important
information.
ETC’s user documents are designed for printed or electronic use. However, there are many
advantages to using the electronic (.PDF) versions. In addition to the benefits of a PDF (such
as word search, bookmarks, and commenting tools) you can click on headings in the Table of
Contents and jump to the desired page. Throughout this document, any cross-references
(indicated in blue italics like this: Introduction on page 1) are links that may be clicked to jump
to the specific part of the manual.
All of ETC’s documents are available for free download from our website:
www.etcconnect.com.
Please e-mail comments about this manual to: T[email protected].
Note:
Notes are helpful hints and information that is supplemental to the main text.
CAUTION:
A Caution statement indicates situations where there may be undefined or
unwanted consequences of an action, potential for data loss or an equipment
problem.
WARNING: A Warning statement indicates situations where damage may occur,
people may be harmed, or there are serious or dangerous
consequences of an action.
WARNING: RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK! This warning statement indicates situations
where there is a risk of electric shock.

2CueSystem
Help from ETC Technical Services
If you are having difficulties, your most convenient resources are the references given in this
document. To search more widely, try the ETC website at www.etcconnect.com. If none of
these resources are sufficient, contact ETC Technical Services directly at one of the offices
identified below. Emergency service is available from all ETC offices outside of normal
business hours.
When calling for help, please have the following information available:
• Detailed description of the problem
• Be near the equipment for troubleshooting
• Notification number if you have called in previously
Americas United Kingdom
Electronic Theatre Controls Inc. Electronic Theatre Controls Ltd.
Technical Services Department Technical Services Department
3031 Pleasant View Road 26-28 Victoria Industrial Estate
Middleton, WI 53562 Victoria Road,
800-775-4382 (USA, toll-free) London W3 6UU England
[phone] [phone]
[email protected] [email protected]
Asia Germany
Electronic Theatre Controls Asia, Ltd. Electronic Theatre Controls GmbH
Technical Services Department Technical Services Department
Room 1801, 18/F Ohmstrasse 3
Tower 1, Phase 1 Enterprise Square 83607 Holzkirchen, Germany
9 Sheung Yuet Road [phone]
Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong [email protected]
[phone]
[email protected]

Overview 3
Overview
CueSystem provides simple, reliable cue-light control for theatres, conference areas, and any
venue that requires a cue-light system.
CueSystem allows all hardware to be integrated into standard RJ45 Ethernet connections and
offers total flexibility in terms of patching and configuration on standard networks.
CueSystem desks come in either rack-mount or desktop configurations with 4-channel
(desktop only), 8-channel, and 12-channel versions available.
CueSystem consists of four main parts:
Desks
Provides the physical button inputs to control the outstations.
Multiple desks can be used on one network to create a larger
channel/output count.
CueSpider
outstations
Remote cue-light indicators provide real time red/green LED
indication and cue text information. Also provides dynamic feedback
to the desk.
PC application
Used for managing CueSystem options and patching. Also used for
advanced show control and cue lists. The PC is used for initial
configuration of the system. Once the system is configured and a
show file is created, a playback unit can be used instead of a PC for
playing back show files.
Playback unit (Optional) Provides show control of pre-programmed cue list. Also
allows for simple updating of existing cues.
Desk
PC Application
CueSpider
outstation Playback
unit (optional)

4CueSystem
Features
• Ethernet connectivity
• Real time feedback—the controller only lights if the CueSpider outstation does
• Single preset mastering and cancel options for all channels
• Configurable user options—adjust the behavior of the system
• Left-hand and right-hand mastering for all controllers over four channels
• Robust carry handle (desk version)
PC Requirements
The following is the minimum specification required for a PC to run the CueSystem software
application. The PC is used to configure the system initially and to control user options, if
required.
Operating system Windows®7 or higher
Processor 2 GHz or higher
RAM 1 GB or higher
Free disk space 1GB
Video resolution 1024 x 768
Software
•Microsoft
®.NET framework 4.6.1 or higher (installer will download if
not present)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer®11 or higher

Installing and Setting Up the System 5
Installing and Setting Up the System
Installing Hardware
See the CueSystem Control Desks & Playback Units Installation Guide and the CueSystem
CueSpider Outstation Installation Guide for installation instructions. CueSystem documents
are available for free download at www.etcconnect.com/cuesystem.
Installing PC Software
Download the PC software from www.etcconnect.com/cuesystem and run the installer.
Follow the on-screen prompts to install the software.
Configuring the IP Address of the PC
After you install the software, you must change the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway of
the PC to match the CueSystem network IP address scheme. For a single client PC, we
recommend that you use the following settings:
Starting the Software and Connecting to the Network
One CueSystem desk or playback unit must be assigned as a master controller, storing all
show file and setup information for the rest of the system. By default, this unit is a playback
unit. If no playback unit is present, the master controller must be a desk. For more
information, see Adopting Devices to the Local Network on page 8 and Controller on page
22.
After you start the software, you must enter the IP address of the master controller for initial
setup.
Step 1: Double-click the CueSystem icon on your desktop. The CueSystem software application
opens.
Protocol Address
IP Address 10.101.167.125
Subnet Mask 255.255.0.0
Gateway 10.101.1.1

6CueSystem
Step 2: Select File > Options, and then click the Controller tab.
Step 3: In the IP Address field, enter the IP address for the master controller, and then click
Save.
Step 4: Click the blue Connect button in the lower-left corner of the CueSystem window.The
application attempts to make a connection to the controller. If the connection is
successful this label changes to Online (in green).
Step 5: You are now prompted to load the show file from the controller. All CueSystem
hardware is shipped with a demo show. Click Yes to load the demo show from the
controller. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the system. In future sessions,
you will still see this prompt, but the show file on the controller will be the last one saved
rather than the demo show.
Note:
Your Windows display settings must be set to use text at 100% size in order for the
CueSystem software to display correctly. To set this, go to Control Panel > Display,
and then select the Smaller - 100% option.