Cue2 Documentation

Cue2 is free and open-source software for cue-based playback of audio, video, text, and show control. It is built for live performance, installations, and any workflow that needs reliable, low-latency triggering of media and network commands.

This manual covers the product as it exists in the current development line. Each page shows an Applies to badge with the Cue2 version it was last verified against (currently v0.1:StripyHat).

Start here

If you want to…	Go to
Install and open Cue2 for the first time	Install & first launch
Learn the core ideas in a few minutes	Concepts
Play your first audio file	Zero to audio
Put video on a display	Zero to video
Understand cue timing and sequences	Cue sequences
Dig into the audio engine	Audio technical: signal path
Dig into video decode and present	Video technical: decode & present
Drive Cue2 over the network	OSC command reference

How this manual is organised

Getting started     → install, concepts, shortcuts, licensing
Tutorials           → short, hands-on procedures
Fundamentals        → workspace, cues, timing, transport, undo
Audio               → patches, routing, levels, deep engine notes
Video & displays    → layers, canvas, layout, decode/present
Control & components→ control, OSC send, MIDI out
Networking          → OSC / MIDI listen, maps, full command list
Settings            → show settings and app preferences
Reference           → glossary, formats, FAQ
Project             → contributing and building

Mental model

Cue2 organises a show as a session saved in a .c2 showfile. Inside the session, a cuelist holds cues (shells). Each cue can carry one or more components (audio, video, text, OSC, MIDI, control) that run together when the cue is triggered.

Show (.c2)
├── Cuelist
│   └── Cue (shell: number, name, waits, follow, triggers…)
│       └── Components (audio, video, text, OSC, MIDI, control…)
├── Show settings (patches, canvas, OSC/MIDI maps, defaults…)
└── App preferences (keyboard map, language) — stored per user, not in the showfile

Platforms

Cue2 targets Windows 10+, macOS, and Linux, with media decode via FFmpeg and audio I/O via SDL3. See System requirements.

Version note

Cue2 is under active development and is currently in alpha. A great deal of work has gone into making it reliable, but you should still treat it with the caution appropriate to alpha software.

Bug reports, feedback, and suggestions

Report bugs, share feedback, or suggest features through the Cue2 GitHub issues tracker.

When filing a bug, attach the current session log (cue2.log & Cue2System.log). You can review the current session in-app from View → Log. On-disk logs live in the Cue2 user-data folder:

Platform	Typical path
Windows	%APPDATA%\Techmop\Cue2\logs — for example C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\Techmop\Cue2\logs
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Techmop/Cue2/logs
Linux	~/.local/share/Techmop/Cue2/logs

The current session is cue2.log. Previous sessions are kept as timestamped files (for example cue22026-08-15T10.13.15.log) until they are pruned. The same folder also contains the engine log (Cue2Sytem.log), which is useful if the app crashed before the session log was written.