A board operator following the cue sheet, running lighting in time with the dancers on stage
Event lighting operations

Every cue,
in sync.

The performer's intent and the operator's craft — united in a single cue.

A cloud service where performers, stage managers, and lighting operators share every stage cue on the same screen. It closes the gaps in understanding that used to arise from handwritten cue sheets and word-of-mouth, and turns each agreed cue into console-ready programming data.

Join the waitlist → See features
How it works Supported consoles
Cue management for stage lighting. One sheet. One source of truth. Sync every cue.
  • Timeline × 1×8Locked to the track
  • Stage blocking editorDrag dancers into place
  • Performer–lighting alignmentComment, review, approve
  • Console exportCSV / ETC Eos ASCII
  • Shared in the cloudLatest data, anywhere
01 / As-Is

Two handwritten documents —
re-copied and re-programmed every show.

Dance-recital lighting runs on two handwritten documents: the lighting brief the instructor writes, and the cue sheet the operator builds from it. Neither follows a shared format, and spotting cue times, re-copying, and programming the console are all done by hand.

What's a cue sheet? A cue sheet is the operator's master list of lighting cues, each timed to a precise moment in the show — the document the board operator actually runs the performance from. In Japanese dance recitals it's traditionally kept by hand as a separate sheet (the “Q-sheet”), copied over from the instructor's lighting brief. CueSync merges the two into one.

2kinds

Handwritten docs with different jobs
(brief / cue sheet)

20cues

Average cues per song

60min

To program one song by hand
(once for every song)

5steps

Spot → meet → build cue sheet
→ program → show

ISSUE A

Misaligned intent

“Bring them to center,” “your call” — the performer's intent arrives in plain words, and the lighting side reads it differently. The gap shows up on show night.

ISSUE B

Person-dependent, handwritten

Notation and shorthand live in one person's head. Change the operator and quality drifts; every handover costs training time.

ISSUE C

Double transcription

Copying the lighting brief into the cue sheet by hand — transcription errors and double maintenance that never go away.

ISSUE D

Timing by ear

Replaying the track over and over to catch each cue's timing by hand. Slow, and only as accurate as your ear.

ISSUE E

Manual programming

Entering it all into the console is the biggest task of all. It grows with every song and piles up right before the show.

“Writing a lighting brief is a whole different skill — and reading one is a pain.” — from a note left on an actual handwritten sheet
02 / To-Be

What changes, step by step.

We only replace the handoff and the re-copying. The operator's judgment and craft stay exactly where they are.

Step Before CueSync
Timing Replay the track over and over; catch timings by hand Double-click the waveform. The 1×8 grid lines up to the track
Lighting brief Handwritten; format and detail vary, slow to decode Drag to block, tap to pick the look — kept in one format
Review meeting Cross-check paper against rehearsal video, confirm out loud Intent and technical reading side by side on one screen; agreement captured in comments and approvals
Cue sheet Hand-copy from the lighting brief Blocking, time, and count are filled in for you — just add color and effects
Programming ~1 hour of manual entry per song Export a timed cue template as a head start for programming
03 / How it works

One set of cue data,
seen three ways by three roles.

The two documents fold into a single unified digital cue sheet — and that becomes the one source of truth. The core idea: put the song's timeline and the count dancers work in — the 1×8 (one 8-count = 8 counts = 2 bars) — onto one shared grid.

01 Instructor / performer lead

Enter the intent

Pick color, area, effect, and mood with a tap; describe the movement in your own words. Block the stage by dragging dancers into place. No lighting vocabulary required to be understood.

02 Lighting operator

Build the cue sheet

Blocking, time, and count fill in automatically, so you just add cue numbers, color, effects, and fades. The performer's intent sits beside every cue, so intent and technical values stay in one view.

03 Stage manager / director

Get on the same page

Put the performer's intent and lighting's technical reading side by side. Comments and approvals put the agreement in writing — and end the “who-said-what” for good.

Single Source of Truth

Transcription disappears by design, and looking at the same screen closes the gap in understanding.

The printable cue sheet and the console-export data all derive from the same single record.

04 / Features

Built to fit how the room already works.

Everything below is a real screen — not a mockup.

FEATURE 01

Lay a 1×8 grid
over the waveform.

Upload the track and its waveform appears; set the BPM and the first beat, and the count grid snaps into place against the music. To mark a cue point, just double-click the waveform.

  • Set BPM by tap-tempo or by hand
  • Auto-detection is offered as a draft — a human always confirms
  • Work in 1×8: the 8-count (2 bars) dancers actually count in
A cue-sheet screen showing the audio waveform with a 1×8 count grid
Waveform + 1×8 grid + playhead
FEATURE 02

A dense, operator-first
cue sheet.

Time and count run across the top; cues, lighting look, movement, stage blocking, and notes run down the side. It's the structure of the handwritten cue sheet, made digital.

  • The performer's intent sits on every cue, in one view
  • Edit fade times and timing inline
  • Edit an approved cue and it drops to “needs re-sync,” prompting another check
The cue-sheet editor with cues 041–045 laid out side by side
Cue sheet — operator view
FEATURE 03

Capture what you want,
without the jargon.

The performer's screen shows no technical terms. Pick color, position, and mood with a tap; describe the movement freely. Block the stage by placing dancers on a top-down view.

  • “Here's how lighting reads it” stays visible on the right
  • Spot a mismatch on the spot and fix it before it reaches review
  • Turning free text into a pickable vocabulary is the key to closing the gap
The performer input screen: tap to pick color and mood, then write the intent
Performer / instructor input screen
FEATURE 04

Approve intent and
technical reading, side by side.

For each cue, the performer's intent and lighting's technical reading sit side by side. Settle it in comments, lock it with approval. Approvals and send-backs are kept as history.

  • Unapproved and needs-attention cues rise to the top automatically
  • See the whole song's sync progress at a glance
  • Only the stage manager / admin can approve
The review screen with performer intent and lighting's technical reading side by side
Alignment (review) screen
FEATURE 05

See the hours you saved,
as a number.

Track each show's progress, its approval rate, and how much programming time you avoided — all on one dashboard. Export history keeps who exported what, and when.

  • Progress and approval rate per show
  • Estimated hours saved (against hand entry)
  • Member and role management, plus invites
The admin dashboard: shows, approval rate, and estimated hours saved
Admin dashboard
05 / Console

The goal isn't fully automatic import —
it's a head start that cuts programming time.

Cue states and timing vary widely from console to console, with no shared standard. CueSync's realistic target is to produce a head start for programming — a timed cue template.

● Available

Generic CSV

.csv

Exports cue number, timecode, count, color, area, effect, fade seconds, intent, and notes as columns. Opens straight in any spreadsheet.

● Available

ETC Eos family

USITT ASCII (.asc)

Generates cue number, label, up/down time, and channel levels in ASCII.

● Available

grandMA2 / 3, ChamSys, Avolites

via CSV

For consoles with limited native cue import, CSV works as the intermediate format.

● In development

GDTF / MVR (patch)

.gdtf / .mvr

Interchange for fixtures, addressing, and 3D layout. Patch and cues are treated as separate things by design.

One thing we want to be straight about. Each export format follows the manufacturer's published spec, but import behavior varies by console model and firmware. Please always test an import with throwaway data before you rely on it in a live show. We'll help you validate during onboarding.

06 / Pricing

Pricing

Prices are still being finalized. Join the waitlist and we'll reach out the moment they're set — and we're happy to talk about early access.

Free

Kick the tires

$0

  • Operator seats 1
  • Invited clients up to 3
  • Concurrent events 1
  • Export trial
Popular

Solo

Freelance lighting techs

Coming soon

  • Operator seats 1
  • Invited clients unlimited (free)
  • Concurrent events plenty
  • Export fully unlocked

Pro

Production / lighting companies

Coming soon

  • Operator seats 3+
  • Invited clients unlimited (free)
  • Concurrent events unlimited
  • Export full + batch

Enterprise

Large-scale, multi-site

Let's talk

  • Operator seats unlimited
  • SSO / audit logs yes
  • Storage high-capacity
  • Export full + API

You only pay for lighting-side seats. Inviting performers and instructors is free. Bringing more people onto a show never changes your cost. We didn't want a tool that gets more expensive the more collaborators you invite.

07 / FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can it import into the console fully automatically?
No — and that isn't our first goal. Patch (assigning fixtures and addresses) and cues (states and timing) are different things, and cues especially vary so much between consoles that there's little shared standard. What CueSync aims for is to generate a head start — a timed cue template — that cuts programming time dramatically. The final polish stays in the operator's hands, and we think that's exactly where the craft shows.
Can an instructor with no lighting background use it?
The performer's screen carries no technical terms. Color, position, and mood are picked with a tap; movement intent is written in everyday words. Blocking is just placing dancers on a top-down view. And you can see, right there, how what you entered reads on the lighting side.
Do you lose the value of handwriting, or the operator's interpretation?
A lighting look is inherently creative and a little ambiguous, and formalizing all of it is not the goal. CueSync only touches the handoff — the part where things get lost in translation. It's built to support and surface interpretation and craft, not replace them. Even “I'll leave it to you” can be kept as an explicit state.
Does it work on a tablet in the room?
It works on both desktop browsers and tablets. Add it to your home screen and it launches like an app, with touch targets sized for fingers. Offline editing isn't supported yet, to keep data from getting crossed.
Are audio and show data handled securely?
Audio is stored in a space closed to each organization, playable only by authenticated members. Show data can't be seen from outside your organization either. Permissions split by role (admin / director / lighting / instructor) — an instructor, for example, can't edit technical values.
When can I start using it?
We're validating it in real productions right now. Once a launch date is set, we'll reach out to waitlist members first. If you'd like to try it on a specific show, we'd love that — just mention it in the form's message field.