Output and master controls

Grand master, blackout, solo, highlight, lowlight, emergency, mute and panic.

Playback is the process that resolves all active data layers into final output values sent to DMX/Art-Net/sACN.

This section explains, in operator terms, how layers are merged and why a value you set may or may not be visible.

Layer precedence - lowest to highest

At each frame LMX merges the active sources per fixture/capability. Later stages win over earlier ones (unless a capability’s merge rule says otherwise, e.g. HTP intensity):

Premove - dark-move pre-positioning. Lowest priority; never wins against anything actively driving an attribute.
Cue layers - active cues from all cue lists, with their fade/release timing. Cue-owned SFX ride this stage.
Faders (normal) - sources loaded on faders, scaled by fader level. Fader-owned SFX ride this stage.
Programmer - your manual edits (group values, fan spreads, direct values, XYZ targets, programmer-owned SFX). Wins over cues and normal faders while values are present. BLIND suppresses this stage - though the 3D visualiser can be told to show it anyway with CONFIG BLIND VISUALISER FULL (or PROGRAMMER to see the blind edit on its own). Output on the wire stays blind either way, so an Art-Net-fed remote visualiser still shows the stage look.
Override faders - faders flagged OVERRIDE. The only stage that runs after the programmer, so it takes colour, position, gobo and every other LTP attribute off the programmer outright. Intensity is HTP, so an override fader raises it and never pulls it down - which is what keeps working lights up while you programme, and means a loaded override fader sitting at zero takes nothing away.
Global output stages - highlight/lowlight/solo, mute, blackout, emergency, and the grand/group masters. These run after all content is merged and are never recorded into cues.

SHOW LAYERS lists the currently active layers; INSPECT FIXTURE <id> CAP <name> (or WHY FIXTURE <id>) traces exactly how one value was resolved.

Frame-by-frame output flow

For each fixture and capability:

Gather candidate values from active layers.
Apply precedence/merge rules (HTP for intensity-class capabilities, latest wins for the rest).
Apply timing interpolation for active transitions.
Convert normalised values to DMX channel output.
Send the output frame.

This loop runs continuously at the configured FPS (CONFIG FPS <n>).

In the GUI

The global output stages - the top layer of the merge - are driven from the control bar along the top of the main window: the Live/Blind switch, Blackout and Emergency buttons, and the Master (grand) fader.

The global output / transport bar

The Blackout button

In the GUI	What it does	Equivalent command
Live / Blind switch	Show or suppress the programmer stage in output	`LIVE` / `BLIND`
Config → Programmer → Blind Visualiser	Let the 3D visualiser show a blind programmer (`OFF`/`FULL`/`PROGRAMMER`)	`CONFIG BLIND VISUALISER <mode>`
Blackout button	Force all output dark (recoverable)	`BLACKOUT`
Master fader	Scale the whole rig’s intensity (grand master)	`MASTER GRAND <level>`
Emergency button	Fire the stored emergency state, above every other layer	`EMERGENCY`
GO button (Cues tab)	Advance the cue list	`GO`

Transport itself - firing cues - lives on the Cues tab (see Cues). To trace why a fixture is outputting a given value, use SHOW LAYERS and WHY FIXTURE <id>.

CLI commands for playback control

GO                             # next cue in the selected cue list
GO <cue>                       # jump to a cue
GO PREV                        # step the selected cue list back
GO <cuelist> <cue|NEXT|PREV>   # drive another cue list
STOP [ALL] [CUELIST <id>] [FADE <seconds>]
KILL [CUELIST <id>]            # stop immediately, no fade
LOAD <cuelist> <cue> AT FADER <id>
FADER <id> <level 0-100>
LIST FADERS
SHOW PROGRAMMER
CLEAR PROGRAMMER

Practical merge examples

Example A: cue vs programmer

Cue sets INTENSITY 100.
Operator sets INTENSITY 30 in the programmer.
Output follows the programmer (30) until the programmer is cleared.

Example B: fader scaling

Cue list loaded on fader 2.
FADER 2 50.
The fader contributes the cue’s values at half strength.

Example C: premove coexistence

Cue 1 leaves a fixture dark.
A future cue has a pan/tilt move.
Premove starts positioning while dark.
When the real move cue arrives, the normal cue layer wins.

Live troubleshooting checklist

When output is unexpected, check in order:

SHOW PROGRAMMER - is a manual override active?
LIST FADERS - is a fader (especially an OVERRIDE fader) contributing?
SHOW LAYERS - what cue layers are active?
WHY FIXTURE <id> - which source is winning this attribute?
STOP or targeted STOP CUELIST <id>, then CLEAR PROGRAMMER, then re-issue the intended GO.