Welcome to QLab! This documentation gives a comprehensive overview of the features and capabilities of QLab 4. There’s a lot here, but you don’t need to read everything, or read in any particular order. If you’re brand new to QLab then we think Getting Started is probably a good place to get started!

You can find tutorial videos at qlab.tv.

You can download a PDF version of this documentation by clicking here.

This documentation was last updated on November 1, 2024 for QLab 4.7.

General

• Getting Started. A tour of QLab’s interface and an introduction to QLab’s basic principles.
• What’s New. What’s new in QLab 4?
• Change Log. A full log of all changes in every release of QLab 4.
• System Recommendations. What you need to run QLab.
• Preparing Your Mac for QLab. How to get optimal performance from your QLab machine.
• The Inspector. An introduction to the inspector and the two inspector tabs which all cues use (Basics and Triggers).
• Cue Sequences.
• Group Cues.
• Cue Lists.
• Cue Carts.
• Importing Go Button 3 shows.
• Keyboard Shortcuts.
• Licenses.
• Features by License Type.
• Templates.
• Workspace Settings.
• QLab Preferences.

Workflow Tools

• The Tools Menu. Load to time, Renumber cues, Jump to cue, Record cue sequence, and some others.
• Find. Searching in your workspace.
• Paste Cue Properties. a.k.a. “Fancy Paste”
• The Sidebar.
• The Status Window.
• The Audition Window.
• Override Controls.

Audio

• Introduction to Audio In QLab.
• Audio Cues.
• Mic Cues.
• Fading Audio and Audio Effects.
• The Audio Patch Editor.

Video

• Introduction to Video In QLab.
• Video Cues.
• Camera Cues.
• Text Cues.
• Fading Video and Video Effects.
• The Video Surface Editor.

Lighting

• Introduction to Lighting In QLab.
• Light Cues.
• The Light Dashboard.
• The Lighting Command Language.
• The Lighting Patch Editor.
• The Light Library.

Control

Controlling QLab

• QLab Remote.
• Using OSC to control QLab.
• Using MIDI to control QLab.
• Using timecode to control QLab.

Control Cues in QLab

• Network Cues.
• MIDI Cues.
• MIDI File Cues.
• Timecode Cues.
• Devamp Cues.
• Script Cues.
• Other Cues.

Scripting

• OSC Dictionary.
• OSC Queries.
• AppleScript Dictionary.
• Scripting Examples.

Tutorials

General

• The GO Button in QLab 4. The GO button in QLab 4 has some new tricks up its sleeve.
• Introduction to Cue Sequences. A demo workspace for exploring auto-continues, auto-follows, and Group cues.
• Introduction to Cue Carts. A tour of how cue carts look and work, and how you can use them.
• How to Use a Mac. A primer on basic use of Apple Mac computers, since QLab runs only on Macs.

Workflow Tools

• How to Move a Workspace to a New Mac. From studio to booth, or from main to backup, moving workspaces is often necessary.
• How to trigger QLab 4 with Timecode. Using QLab as a show-control listener.
• How to Live-stream With QLab. An exploration of the tools needed to live-stream the output of QLab to the internet.
• The QLab Zoom Guide. Everything you ever wanted to know about using QLab with Zoom.
• Sound Check. Two methods for using QLab to perform a speaker check.
• Sam’s Toolbox. A collection of useful scripts.
• Basic Computer Networking for Theater. Since more and more shows involve computer networks, a strong understanding of the basic terms and concepts of networking can be a real asset for a QLab user.

Audio

• Introduction to Audio Cues. Learn the basics of the Audio cue.
• Introduction to Fading Audio. Learn about up-, down-, and cross-fading audio levels, as well as fading groups of Audio cues, and fading audio effects and rate.
• Introduction to Audio Rate and Pitch. Using the rate control to change an Audio cue’s playback speed and pitch.
• How to Crossfade Two Sounds. A quick step-by-step on crossfades.
• How to Fade Pre-show Music. A quick discussion of a commonly used technique.
• How to Work With Offline Audio Interfaces. How do you prep cues for a 4-, 8-, or 64-channel sound system before you get to the theater?

Video

• Introduction to Video Cues. Learn the basics of the Video cue.
• Introduction to Text Cues. Learn the basics of the Text cue.
• Introduction to Fading Video. Learn about fading opacity, position, scale, and rotation.
• How to Fade In a Group of Video Cues. Fading in groups of Video cues requires a little math trick.
• How to Replace a Projector. Touring or just fixing problems with video outputs.

Lighting

• Setting Up for Lighting in QLab 4. Get your system set up and ready for action.
• Adding Lights and Making Light Cues. Learn about the light patch, the Light Dashboard, and recording Light cues.
• Introduction to Light Cues. Learn the basics of the Light cue.
• Introduction to Pull From Cue. Learn how to use cues as palettes to help build light looks throughout a show.

MIDI & OSC

• Introduction to Network Cues. Learn the basics of Network cues and how to use them to control QLab.

Control Cues

• Introduction to Control Cues. Learn about Go-to, Arm, Disarm, Wait, Load, Target, and Reset cues.
• Start, Stop, and Pause Cues. Learn about these three basic cue types.
• Introduction to Devamp Cues. Explore the capabilities of the Devamp cue to work with loops, repeats, and precisely timed cue triggering.