Tracking is a console programming mode (or a design paperwork style) which includes within a cue only the changes to be made. This is particularly useful where a scene contains just small adjustments (a streetlamp turning on, curtains being drawn) whilst the main scene remains the same. If a change is made to the main scene, each individual cue will not require updating as the changes will track through the sequence.

In order to understand what that means, it's helpful to refer back to the time when dimmers were not "remote controlled" electronic devices. They were individual resistance or autotransformer controllers that had to be manually set, with a lever, to whatever value was desired. If a dimmer did not have a change in a subsequent cue, the handle of the dimmer was not touched when that cue was called for.

Today, that logic is called "tracking". The channel only changes when a "new" level is recorded for it. When a pencil-and-paper cue sheet was written for such a cue, that mechanical dimmer number would only have a blank or a dash ("-") for its value. In the early days of computerized lighting, this was a virtue because a tracking level did not consume any memory storage space. It was a "non-change". Many designers find that having changes track forward automatically saves them time, even if it sometimes calls for another edit, farther on, to stop the "track" of a change.

Generally consoles which support Tracking will have a method for Tagging & Untagging parameters to indicate whether they should be programmed or not. It is good practice to use Block cues for large changes or blackouts etc, in order to prevent unecessary information from tracking through the cue list - however the use of too many Block Cues can lead to the benefits of using tracking being reduced.

Tracking is an increasingly popular method of operation with the advent of moving lights, as moving light parameters are especially difficult to manually track with a cue-only desk.

Cue Sheet

A tracking cue sheet lists only the changes, and as such will have empty spaces, or a dash, where no datum is recorded. A zero level has a special convention that tracking zeros are not repeated. This dates back to saving time when writing manual dimmer cue sheets, but it also makes both paperwork and computer screens easier to read:

Cue 1 (Block cue)

Cue 2

Cue 3

The opposite of Tracking is Cue Only, or Full Mode.

Tracking Consoles

As stated above, tracking consoles are becoming increasingly popular. The Strand 500-series, Strand 300-series, and ETC Obsession are probably the best known, with the GrandMA, Wholehog 2, Wholehog 3, Frog, Leap Frog 48/96, Frog 2, Express and Pearl also supporting tracking cue stacks.

See Also

• Cue Only
• Block Cue