grandMA3 setup

What this does: connects a grandMA3 (console or onPC) to Helm Cues. Each cue stack becomes a sequence, each cue a timecode event, and edits travel both ways.

How it fits

• Cues hosts, the desk joins. The desk connects only while Cues hosts a session.
• You never type a desk IP into Cues. The desk finds Cues.
• Timecode fires the cues. Cues sends no Go during the show. The desk’s timecode chases Cues’ LTC, MTC or Art-Net, and its events fire the sequences. Set up timecode out first: Timecode.
• A Helm plugin runs on the desk. Reference: grandMA3 plugin.

Port	Direction	Desk row
UDP 8000	Cues → desk	Helm IN. Change it in Cues under Change ports….
UDP 8001	Desk → Cues	Helm OUT. Fixed.
UDP 8005	Cues ↔ Cues	None. Lets Cues list other sessions to the desk.

Before you start

• Same subnet. Desk and Mac on one subnet, no VLAN or router between them. Cable, not Wi-Fi.
• Two networks on the Mac? Cues uses the one on the desk’s subnet. To force one: Settings → Network → Primary Network Interface.
• onPC on this Mac works. While it runs, a desk on another machine cannot reach this Cues.
• Plugin 0.16.16 on the desk with this Cues: notes keep their line breaks, and a stack added while joined goes live. 0.16.15: Import Track… imports one track without importing them all, and stack appearances go by name. 0.16.13 forgets a session it is not in, and takes cue notes. Cues no longer sends a heartbeat: on 0.16.11 or older the desk reads HELM CONNECT · OFFLINE 30 s after Cues starts. 0.16.8 at least for live edits. Cues finds every sequence, page and timecode on the desk by name (from 0.16.4) and writes each desk cue as one line the plugin checks (0.16.6). Below 0.16.6 the plugin still connects, but no live edit reaches it and the MA3 chip reads plugin 0.16.6 needed. 0.16.6 and 0.16.7 misread the desk’s cue numbers and add extra cues: update, then see Extra cues. 0.16.6 sets the desk’s speed master as a fader level. From 0.16.11 every track select sets the track’s BPM, always.

1. Install the plugin

1. Download grandMA3 Plugin from Downloads.

2. Import it into the desk’s Plugin pool. Steps for onPC and console: Install or update.

3. Press the new Helm 0.16.16 tile → Setup Desk. It builds the two OSC rows, the Helm appearances and the Playhead and Control macros, then checks the link. Track Nav comes with the first Import Tracks. Details: Setup Desk.

2. Desk OSC rows

Setup Desk makes these. By hand: Menu → In & Out → OSC.

Row	Port	Settings
Helm IN	8000	UDP. Receive On, Receive Command On, Send Off. Interface: the desk port on the Cues subnet.
Helm OUT	8001	UDP. Send On, Receive Off. Same interface. Destination IP: the Cues Mac. Connect… sets it.

• Only these two rows. Setup Desk never touches the desk’s IP, subnet or any other network setting.
• The plugin repairs its own rows. Pressing the tile, HELM CONNECT, HELM TRACK or HELM AUTOSYNC fixes a Helm row with no destination: 127.0.0.1 and UDP, then OSC restarts. Helm’s rows are Helm IN, Helm OUT and any row on port 8000 or 8001. Your own rows are left alone.
• Helm IN on another port? Set the same number in Cues: Settings → Helm Sessions → Desk → Change ports… → Desk input port.
• Helm OUT can sit anywhere in the list. The plugin uses the row aimed at port 8001.

3. Connect

1. In Cues, open the show.

2. View → Sessions… (⇧⌘D). Settings opens on Helm Sessions.

3. Press Host this show. The first time, allow incoming connections when macOS asks.

4. Read the Desk card: Bridge up · 0 desks joined · port 8001 → 8000.

5. Press Show join code… and note the address. The Mac’s IP is the part before the colon.

6. On the desk, press the Helm tile → Connect….

7. First time on this desk: type the Mac’s IP in Manual IP, then Connect. After that the list shows the sessions Cues knows. Pick one.

8. The desk reads HELM CONNECT · <session> in green. In Cues the desk is in Devices, type Desk.

Setup Desk joins too: with Cues host filled in and one session on offer, it connects on its own. It builds Track Nav only from what Cues sent in this session: see Session memory.

Link state

The desk prints every command it runs on its command line. So nothing runs on a clock, in Cues or on the desk: no heartbeat, no polling. The desk’s command line shows nothing from Helm until you act.

• The desk no longer polls Cues. If Cues quits, the desk finds out at its next Import or press.
• On the desk, HELM CONNECT shows what the last exchange with Cues said. It changes only on the next one:

Exchange	HELM CONNECT reads
Connect… or Setup Desk gets Cues’ answer	· <session> green, or · PENDING, · DENIED, · NO SESSION
Import completes	· <session> green
Import gets no answer, or stops mid-push	· NO LINK red. The command line says why.
A press while not green	The desk asks Cues and shows its answer, or · NO ANSWER
Disconnect	Plain HELM CONNECT. The desk forgets the session and its track list.
In Cues: Allow	What Cues set
In Cues: Remove, Deny or stop hosting	Plain HELM CONNECT. The desk forgets the session and its track list; Track Nav macros turn grey. Plugin 0.16.13.

• A press on a green desk sends one hello and does not wait. Cues does not answer it.
• In Cues, a desk is Joined from its hello until it disconnects, three sends to it fail in a row, or Cues restarts. The Devices table and the MA3 chip say when Cues last heard from it: last heard 14:03:22. A quiet desk is still joined.
• After a Cues restart, each desk rejoins at its next press or Import.

Allow and Block

• Desks need approval before they pull (Desk card). Off by default: a desk joins at once.
• On: a new desk waits in Requests with Allow and Block. The desk reads HELM CONNECT · PENDING in amber. Cues ignores it until you choose.
• Allow lets it in. It rejoins without asking, after a Cues restart too.
• Block refuses it. The desk reads HELM CONNECT · DENIED in red. Unblock is in its ⋯ menu in Devices.
• Desks in the roster, Rename, Forget: Sessions → MA3 desks in the session.

Check MA3 connection…

One dialog checks the whole path. Open it from the Desk card, or Help → Check MA3 Connection….

Step	Passes when	Offers
Session	This Cues hosts a session	Open Sessions…
Desk	A desk has said hello since Cues started. None yet: it waits 15 s for one.	The connect steps
Allowed	The desk is allowed, in this session	Allow or Unblock
Plugin	Plugin 0.15.0 or later. Below 0.16.8 it warns: live edits need 0.16.8.	Update the plugin, run Setup Desk
Round trip	The desk answers Cues twice within 5 s	The Helm IN row and port

• Nothing changes on the desk or in the show. The desk’s command line shows the two round trips.
• Session warns when onPC runs on this Mac.
• Run again repeats every step.

4. Names and desk numbers

Names, not numbers

The desk finds everything Cues made by name:

On the desk	Its name	Example
A stack’s sequence	The track’s prefix, then the stack name	01 - Main
A track’s page	The track name	Intro - Want You Now
A track’s timecode	The track name	Intro - Want You Now

• Pool numbers are only where new sequences are created; the desk finds them by name after that. Move a sequence, page or timecode in its pool on the desk and everything keeps working: live edits, Import, Panic, the nav macros.
• Import uses what is there. A sequence with the stack’s name is used wherever it sits. None yet: Import creates it on the numbers below, or on the next free number when that one holds something else. It never stores over another object.
• Names must be unique. The prefix, the track number by default, keeps a “Snare hit” stack on every track apart. Two tracks with one name share a page and a timecode on the desk: Lighting Control, Settings → Desk import → Checks and the desk’s import check say so. Two stacks with one name on a track: the later one gets 2 on the desk.
• Rename a stack or a track and the desk keeps the old name until its Import. The chip reads Import needed and that track’s live edits wait. Import finds the old name and relabels it: the looks and the timecode stay.
• The desk takes no . , ; " \ $ & * ? ^ { | } ~ in a name. Cues sends a space instead. ' becomes ’.

Desk numbers per track

Per track: Sequence Options → Lighting Control. Every track at once: Desk import.

Field	Default	On the desk
Starting Sequence #	101 for the first track. Each new track: the next free block, 201, 301 … With Desk import numbering on: its place.	Where the Main stack’s sequence is created when the desk has none of its name. The other stacks: the next numbers.
Starting Page	The track number. With Desk import numbering on: its place.	Where the track’s page is created when the desk has none of its name
Executor Start	101. With Desk import numbering on: Starting playback.	Main’s executor on the track’s page. Below 200 maps onto the fader row: 1 and 101 both give 201, fader 1.
Timecode Pool	1 for the first track. Each new track: the next slot. With Desk import numbering on: its place.	Where the track’s timecode is created when the desk has none of its name
Desk name prefix	Blank	What the track’s sequence names start with. Blank follows Settings → Desk import → Sequence names, which defaults to the track number, so 12 - Snare hit never clashes with another track’s Snare hit.
Desk GO drives Cues	Off. New tracks: Settings → Desk import → Desk GO drives Cues.	Play from the cue or Line up on the cue: GO on a desk cue moves Cues’ Live to that cue. Cues writes the call into the desk cues’ Command. For shows with no timecode. See Live → Desk GO drives Cues.
Desk GO stacks	Main stack only	Which stacks’ desk cues call back: the Main stack, or every visible stack

Same numbers only matter for new sequences

Two tracks on the same numbers no longer overwrite each other: the desk finds each sequence by name, and a new one skips a number that is taken. Lighting Control still warns, so new sequences land in their own block. Tracks made before Cues 0.2.18 all start at sequence 101 and timecode 1: Desk import gives each its own block.

• Main first, then the list. The stack named Main is the first playback: Executor Start (201, fader 1). The other visible stacks follow in list order on the next faders. Hidden stacks sit after them. No stack named Main: the first visible stack leads.
• Playbacks follow the list on the next Import. Reorder stacks or rename one to Main and the track reads Import needed. Import puts each sequence on its executor. The sequences stay where they are.
• Cues never moves, deletes or stores over a sequence. The desk backs up the tracks’ sequences before every Import.
• Hidden stacks are not sent to the desk. A sequence already there stays.
• Sequence names: Settings → Desk import → Sequence names: Stack name only, Track number - stack (two digits: 07 - Snare hit, 12 - Snare hit) or Track name - stack. A change needs an Import on each desk, which relabels the sequences.

Desk import

Settings → Desk import, in the Project group: how every track lands on the desk. It is saved in the project. Tracks take it in track order: the No. column on the Project page, lowest first. Unnumbered tracks come after the numbered ones. Ties and unnumbered tracks go in project order.

Setting	Default	What it sets
Starting sequence	101	Where the first track’s Main stack is created
Offset to the next track	100	From one track’s Main to the next track’s Main. Track 2’s Main is on 201, track 3’s on 301. Room for that many stacks per track.
Backup offset	1000	Before an Import, the desk copies each sequence to its number + this. 0 = off.
Live BPM to the desk	Off	While a track plays, each tempo change on its beat grid sends the desk its BPM. See Live BPM to the desk.
BPM master	3.1	The speed master Live BPM to the desk sets
Starting playback	101	Main’s executor on every track’s page. 101 lands on 201, fader 1. The other stacks take the next faders.
Starting page, then + per track	1, +1	Each track’s page
Starting timecode pool, then + per track	1, +1	Each track’s timecode pool

1. Settings → Desk import. From the Project page: Settings, then Desk import. From Lighting Control: the Settings ▸ Desk import link.

2. Tick Number tracks from this.

3. Set Starting sequence, Offset to the next track, Backup offset and Starting playback. Then Starting page and Starting timecode pool. Gives shows the first three tracks.

4. Press Apply to all tracks…

5. Read the preview. It opens over Settings; Esc closes the preview only. One row per track, old → new. Under it, each stack in desk order with its sequence and executor, old → new. no Main marks a track led by its first visible stack. Collisions are listed under the table.

6. Custom tracks keep their numbers. To renumber them too, tick Also put custom tracks back on the scheme. Their stacks still go Main first.

7. Press Apply to N tracks. The numbers are saved. Nothing goes to the desk: they are where its next Import creates what it does not hold by name yet.

• Desk GO drives Cues in Desk import is the switch every new track starts with: Off, Play from the cue or Line up on the cue, and Main stack only or Every stack. Existing tracks keep theirs: set them in Lighting Control.
• The backup offset reaches the desk. Cues sets it on the plugin when the desk joins, with every push, and at once when you change it. The plugin’s Settings field shows it. Change it in Cues.
• Track select always sets the BPM. TRACK_SETUP line 2 is Master 3.1 At BPM $CURRENT_TRACK_BPM: picking a track on the desk sets the speed master to the track’s opening BPM. There is no switch for it. Details: Track nav macros.
• Backups. Before Import Tracks or Import Track…, the desk copies each sequence of the tracks involved. A copy goes to the next free number from its number + Backup offset, named <name> @v<sync version>. Copies pile up: clear old ones on the desk.
• The offset is room for stacks. A track takes one sequence per stack: Main, the visible ones, the hidden ones. An offset of 100 holds 100 stacks. More stacks than that run into the next track. The preview warns only when they really overlap.
• Backups need room too. With an offset of 100 and backups at +1000, track 11’s sequences sit where track 1’s backups go. The preview and Lighting Control warn. Raise the backup offset above the last track’s sequences, or set it to 0.
• Starting playback is the same on every track’s page. The field shows the executor and fader it lands on.
• New tracks follow it while numbering is on. A new track takes the next place in track order, past any numbers another track holds. Off: the next free block of 100, as before.
• A grandMA3 timecode import keeps the sequence numbers the file names until the next Import. That Import builds the stacks in Main-first order; the sequences the file named stay on the desk. Page, pool and executor come from Desk import. A track whose sequences differ is marked custom.
• Custom tracks. Change Starting Sequence #, Starting Page, Timecode Pool or Executor Start by hand and the track is marked custom. Apply to all tracks leaves its numbers alone. Lighting Control tags each field off the numbering: custom, or scheme 301 on a track not yet applied. Back to scheme… puts one track back on its place, with the same preview.
• Undo. Edit → Undo (⌘Z) puts the old numbers back in one step. The stack order always follows the list.

Apply changes where new things are created, nothing else

• Pool numbers are only where new sequences are created; the desk finds them by name after that. Sequences, pages and timecodes already on the desk stay where they are and keep working.
• A number taken on the desk by anything else is skipped: Import creates the new one at the next free number above.
• A new Starting playback moves the stacks’ playbacks with the next Import.

When it goes wrong

• Apply to all tracks… is greyed. Number tracks from this is off, or the project has no tracks.
• A track kept its numbers. It is custom. Tick Also put custom tracks back on the scheme, or Back to scheme… in its Lighting Control.
• Tracks come out in the wrong order. Order follows the No. column. Number the tracks on the Project page, then apply again.
• The wrong stack is on fader 1. No stack is named Main: the first visible stack leads. Rename the one that should lead to Main.
• The preview lists collisions. A track has more stacks than the offset, or a custom track sits on another’s numbers. Raise the offset or renumber the custom track.
• The preview lists backups in the way. Raise the backup offset above the last track’s sequences, or set it to 0.
• The import check lists missing names. Run Import Tracks again. Cues sends every track as it is now.
• The import check lists one name on several objects. Rename the extra ones on the desk, or the track in Cues.

Live BPM to the desk

For tracks whose tempo changes. Picking a track on the desk already sets its opening BPM: TRACK_SETUP does that. This sends the changes after it.

1. Settings → Desk import → Live BPM to the desk: turn it on. It is off by default and saved with the project.

2. Check BPM master. Default 3.1, the master TRACK_SETUP sets.

3. Set the tempo changes on the track’s beat grid: the Tempo lane, or Tools → Beat grid. See Beat grid and tempo.

When it sends:

• When a playing track reaches a tempo change. Each joined desk gets one line, the new BPM to one decimal: Master 3.1 At BPM 128.0.
• Live’s player, wherever you are in Cues. Build’s player only while Build is on screen.
• Nothing on track select, seek, play or stop. Only playing across a tempo change sends.
• Once per change. Play back and forth across one change quickly: it goes once.
• Not to a desk with auto-sync paused, and not with Live BPM to the desk off.
• A tempo change that keeps the BPM (a meter change only) sends nothing.
• The master: the one the desk reported at its last Setup Desk since Cues started. None yet: BPM master.
• Cues logs every line it sends, with the desk and the time of the change.

5. Build the show on the desk

1. On the desk: Helm tile → Import Tracks.

2. Wait for the build. The desk first copies the tracks’ sequences to their number + Backup offset (Desk import). No answer from Cues within 8 s: nothing is imported.

3. Read the command line. It ends with the count: Events: N with their Cues command, 0 fell back to Goto.

Per track, Import finds the page and the timecode named after the track and a sequence per visible stack named after it. It creates any that are missing, stores the cues, builds one event per cue and a nav macro. Then the import check lists any name it cannot find, and any name two objects share.

• Import Track… builds one track. The rest of the desk is untouched. Nothing imported yet in this connection: the desk first asks Cues for the track list alone, then shows the picker. Nothing is re-stored for that.
• Push now (Desk card) sends the show to every joined desk without an Import. No desk joined: it goes to onPC on this Mac. Timecodes and events still need Import Tracks on the desk.
• One cue, many firings. A desk cue number used twice in a stack is one cue on the desk with two events.
• Desk cues are numbers. Digits and dots, up to 3 decimals. Anything else is not sent.
• Import rebuilds the track’s Helm timecode group. Desk edits inside it that never reached Cues are lost. Other groups stay.

How stacks, commands and numbers map: grandMA3 plugin → How Cues maps to MA3.

6. Run the show

1. In Cues, turn on a timecode output and Run Timecode for the show. See Timecode.

2. Feed it to the desk’s timecode input. Helm timecodes chase input Slot 1 unless the plugin is set otherwise.

3. On the desk, press the track’s nav macro. TRACK_SETUP opens its page, rewinds its timecode and arms it.

4. In Cues, play the track in Live. The desk fires each event as the timecode passes it.

• Track start = desk offset. The desk timecode’s offset is the track’s start in Cues. Changed it? Run Import Track… for that track.
• Nav macros tell Cues too. Build selects that track. Live loads it while Desk control is on, even over a playing track.

Fader levels

A cue with a Fader (%) moves its stack’s playback fader when its desk cue fires. Set it in Build: Fader levels.

• How it gets there. MA3 timecode has no event that sets a fader on its own. Cues writes the level into the desk cue’s Command, by name: FaderMaster Sequence "01 - Main" At 100 Fade 2. The timecode event fires the cue. The cue runs the command.
• Cues only writes the Command of cues that have a fader level, and clears only the ones it wrote. A Command you typed on any other desk cue stays.
• Levels travel with Import only. A new, changed or removed level marks the track Import needed. Import writes it, or clears the Command Cues wrote.
• One desk cue, one level. Several cues firing one desk cue share the first one’s level.
• With Desk GO drives Cues on, the call back to Cues follows the level in the same Command. Turning the switch off leaves the level.
• The sequence must run cue commands. Sequence setting Cue Command not Force No. Timecode Playback and Record on Manual Events, the MA3 default.
• Fader up from 0 switches the sequence on when its Auto Start is on.
• Fades under a second (Fade 0.5) are not tested on a desk yet. Check them on the bench: After an MA3 update.

7. What syncs live, what needs Import

Two paths to the desk:

• Live: one short line per change, by name. As you edit, a joined desk with auto-sync on gets the change at once: cue times, names, fades, delays and notes, new and deleted cues, renumbered cues and changed commands.
• Import: the rest. Fader levels, Desk GO, stack colours and appearances, renamed stacks and tracks, and the playbacks go with Import Tracks or Import Track… on the desk. Stack appearances named Helm Stack 1, Helm Stack 2, … on the desk are assigned by name, Main first: Stack appearances.
• Cues never pushes to a desk on its own. It never moves a sequence or stores over one.

In Cues	On the desk, live	Import needed
Drag, nudge or move cues, one or a group: Move selection to…, Shift cues…, a beat group laid again, Undo of a move	The events move. A drag moves them about ten times a second; the drop lands them exactly.	No
Drag a Flash block’s end	Its Off event moves	No
Add a cue	The desk cue is stored in its place, named, with its fade and delay, and its event added. A desk cue the sequence already has is not stored again.	Only for its fader level
Delete a cue	Its event goes, both for a Flash. The desk cue goes too when no other cue fires it.	No
Rename a cue	The desk cue is renamed	No
Edit a cue’s notes	The desk cue’s Note is set, line breaks included from plugin 0.16.16. Clearing the notes clears it. Plugin 0.16.13.	No
Add a stack	Its sequence is created by name on the track’s page, its cues stored, and a timecode track added to the track’s Helm group. Its appearance comes with Import. Plugin 0.16.16; an older plugin reads Import needed.	No
Change a cue’s fade or delay	Set on the desk cue. Clearing one leaves the desk’s value.	No
Renumber desk cues…, a typed desk cue, or a stack’s numbering	The desk cue is copied to its new number with its looks, its events follow, the old number goes	Only for a fader level or Desk GO on it
Change a cue’s command (Go, Flash …)	Its event is replaced	No
Move cues to another stack	The event leaves one sequence and is added to the other, with its desk cue	Only for fader levels
Change a fader level or fader fade	Nothing	Yes
Rename a stack, rename a track, change the prefix or the track start	Nothing: the desk holds the old names until its Import, which relabels them	Yes
Recolour a stack	Nothing	Yes
Desk GO drives Cues switched or rescoped	Nothing	Yes
Reorder stacks, rename one to Main, change Executor Start	Nothing	Yes, for the playbacks
New Starting Sequence #, page or timecode pool, or Desk import’s Apply	Nothing: only where the desk creates what it is missing	No

• The chip says it: MA3 · Import needed (2 tracks). The tooltip names the tracks. The first time a track needs it, one toast.
• Edits still go live on a track that needs Import for a fader level or a colour. A renamed stack or track, a new track start, or a miss stops them.
• Only the desk’s Import clears it. Push now sends the data once; the desk builds it with Import Tracks.

Desk → Cues:

On the desk	In Cues
Move a Helm event in the timecode editor	The cue moves. A locked stack ignores it.
HELM play … HELM next	The player of the page on screen: Build’s on Build. Live’s on Live, Monitor and every other page, while Desk control is on.
A track nav macro	Build selects the track. Live loads it while Desk control is on.
HELM TRACK → pick	Build selects it. Live loads it, no play, when Live is on screen and Desk control is on.
GO on a desk cue that calls Cues: Desk GO drives Cues on for its track, or a Command from the plugin’s Cues command…	Live loads the track and plays from that cue, or parks on it. See Desk transport.
HELM AUTOSYNC	Auto-sync for this desk flips

• Desk moves come back whatever the desk’s auto-sync. Cues does not send a desk its own move back.
• Only events from the last Import report back. A cue added live reports back after the next Import. After a desk restart, run Import Tracks once.

When the desk was away

• Edits made with no desk taking them wait in Cues. No session hosted, the desk out of the session, or its auto-sync off: Cues notes where the desk still has each cue. The chip reads MA3 · not joined or MA3 · auto-sync off; the tooltip names the tracks.
• When it joins, the times follow. It joins at its next press or Import on the desk. It gets the same short lines a live edit sends: moved, added and deleted cues. No push, nothing rebuilt.
• Cues was closed while the desk was away? It no longer knows where the desk has those cues. The tracks read Import needed: run Import Track… for each.
• The same happens when its auto-sync comes back on.
• A desk with another copy of the show (an older show file loaded on it, or another Cues sent it one): every track reads Import needed.
• Host this show and each desk joins at its next press or Import. Cues does not call the desks.
• A desk that never imported this show gets nothing on its own. Run Import Tracks on it once.

The desk answers every edit

• Every event Cues moves, adds or deletes, and every desk cue it writes, is answered by the desk: done, or missed. After an Import the desk also reports its cue names; one that differs from Cues marks the track. See Desk report.
• A miss says what the desk holds. From plugin 0.16.5 the log line goes on: how many events that timecode track has, and the first three. Send it to support if a track keeps missing.
• A miss marks the track at once. The desk has that event somewhere Cues does not know: its timecode is older than the show. The track reads Import needed on that desk, with one toast: MA3 10.0.0.20: Opener — Import needed on the desk (it missed cue 3 of "01 - Main"). Every miss is in the log. Nothing is resent. Run Import Track… for it.
• The last 20 answers are in the desk’s Status tooltip in Devices.
• onPC on this Mac sends no answers: they travel over the network only. A miss there shows on the desk’s command line only.

The desk chip

On Build’s transport bar and Live’s header. Click it for Settings → Helm Sessions. The tooltip says what it means and what happens next.

Chip	Means
MA3 · joined	A desk is in the session. Edits reach it as you make them. The tooltip says when Cues last heard from it.
MA3 · not joined	No desk in the session, or no session hosted. Edits wait in Cues. The tooltip lists the tracks whose times follow when it joins, and any that need Import.
MA3 · auto-sync off	Every desk in the session has auto-sync off. Edits wait until it is on again.
MA3 · plugin 0.16.8 needed	A joined desk runs an older plugin. No live edit goes to it. Import the plugin, run Setup Desk, then Import Tracks.
MA3 · Import needed (2 tracks)	A joined desk cannot follow 2 tracks live. The tooltip names them. Run Import Tracks, or Import Track… for each.

No chip: no session hosted and no desk has worked with this show in the last 24 hours.

8. Auto-sync per desk

• On for every desk by default.
• Pause it: Devices → the desk’s ⋯ → Pause auto-sync. Or press HELM AUTOSYNC on the desk. Cues reads Joined · auto-sync off; the desk HELM AUTOSYNC · OFF.
• While off, Cues sends that desk no live edits. Import on the desk still works. Desk moves still come back. Panic still reaches it.
• Resume auto-sync and the times of what changed while it was off follow. Nothing changed: nothing is sent. See When the desk was away.

9. Desk transport

Three switches decide what the desk may do to Live.

Switch	Where	Gates
Desk control	Live page: Desk ON / Desk OFF. Flat look: MA3 · desk on / off. On by default.	Every desk command on Live
Live arm	Live page: ▶ GO LIVE / Arm, or Live → Arm / Disarm	GO on a desk cue that calls Cues, and start, go to, pause, resume and stop from your own desk macros
Follow the desk’s track load	Settings → Helm Sessions → Desk. Off by default.	A track load from your own desk macro

• Desk GO drives Cues (per track, Lighting Control): GO on a desk cue moves Live to that cue. For shows with no timecode; leave it Off when Cues sends timecode. See Live → Desk GO drives Cues.
• Cues command… on the desk builds the same call for one cue you pick, and puts it on any cue you name: play from that cue, or line up on it. See Cues command….
• Playhead macros (HELM play …) follow the page on screen. On Build they drive Build’s player and ignore these switches. Elsewhere they drive Live and need Desk control only, not the arm.
• A start or go-to that names a track loads it, whatever Follow the desk’s track load says. A track load never loads over a playing track.
• Your own desk macros can send these too. See Desk OSC commands.
• Live shows the answer in its header: Desk: …. A refusal reads red and toasts. The desk shows it on its command line.
• The HELM SHOW macros are gone from plugin 0.16.5. Setup Desk or Create Macros → Control deletes them.
• More: Live → Desk transport.

10. A desk driven by a peer

• Drives, in the desk’s Role cell in Devices, picks who runs its commands: This host (default), a Cues in the session, or a Helm Clock.
• A Cues: the desk’s commands go through that Cues. It needs operator or higher, and Desk control on.
• A Clock: the desk’s link follows the clock’s lock. Its commands are dropped.
• The driver leaves: commands are dropped, never run on the host. Status in Devices: Joined · driver gone. The desk is not told.
• Full table: Sessions → Assign a desk.

11. Panic and the desk

• Panic sends Off Sequence "<name>" for every sequence the show’s stacks drive, hidden stacks included, by name: wherever each sits in the pool.
• To every joined desk, auto-sync on or off, whoever drives it. No desk joined: onPC on this Mac.
• Nothing else on the desk is touched. Other sequences and the timecode objects stay as they are.
• Panic disarms Live. GO on a desk cue that calls Cues is refused until you arm again.
• More: Panic.

12. Offline: show.lua

No network between Cues and the desk? Hand over the track list as a file.

1. Desk card → Choose folder…. Pick the MA3 plugins folder, or a USB stick’s gma3_library/datapools/plugins. Default: ~/MALightingTechnology/gma3_library/datapools/plugins.

2. Press Export show.lua. Cues writes HelmShowData/show.lua inside that folder.

3. On the desk: tile → Build from offline file… → Build. Or run Plugin "Helm 0.16.13" "offline".

• It carries track numbers, names and BPM. No stacks, cues or events.
• It builds pages, empty timecodes and a nav macro per track. Nothing comes from Cues and the desk joins no session.
• Only when you ask. Setup Desk, Create Macros and a tile press never read the file. Plugin 0.16.13; older plugins read it when the desk held no data from Cues.
• Import Tracks still asks Cues first and stops without an answer.
• Manual only. Cues never writes the file on its own.

13. After an MA3 update

Do this on a bench before a show. Fifteen minutes.

1. Import the current plugin on the new build. Run Setup Desk.

2. Run Check MA3 connection…. Every step passes.

3. Run Import Tracks. The count reads 0 fell back to Goto and no Flash refused.

4. Play a track from Cues with timecode out. A Go, a Goto and a Flash fire on the desk.

5. Give one cue Fader 0, fade 2 and the next Fader 100, fade 0.5. Import, play. The fader falls over 2 s, then rises in half a second.

6. Type a Command on a third desk cue. Clear the first cue’s level in Cues. Its desk cue’s Command empties. The one you typed stays.

7. Move one Helm event on the desk. It moves in Cues.

Any step fails: stay on the previous MA3 build for the show. Send a support bundle (Diagnostics) to support.

When it goes wrong

• The desk never shows in Devices or Requests. No session hosted, or the Helm OUT row points elsewhere. Press Host this show. On the desk, Connect… with the Mac’s IP in Manual IP. Allow Helm Cues in the macOS firewall. Same subnet, no VLAN.
• HELM CONNECT · PENDING. Approval is on. Allow it in Requests.
• · DENIED. The desk is blocked. Devices → ⋯ → Unblock.
• · NO SESSION. Cues stopped hosting, or the desk names another session. Plugin 0.16.13 forgets that session: Connect… and pick, then Import Tracks. An older plugin rejoins at its next press or Import once Cues hosts again.
• Setup Desk builds no Track Nav. The desk is in no session, or nothing was imported since it joined. Press HELM CONNECT, then Import Tracks.
• · NO ANSWER. The desk heard nothing back. Helm IN: UDP 8000 with Receive Command On. Desk input port in Cues must match it.
• · NO LINK. The last Import got no answer, or stopped mid-push: cable, switch, or Cues quit. Fix it, then Import again or Connect….
• · OFFLINE. Plugin 0.16.11 or older, with this Cues. Import plugin 0.16.16 and run Setup Desk.
• Green on the desk, but Cues has quit. The desk does not poll. It shows the truth at its next Import or press.
• Cues NOT reachable on Import. No answer in 8 s. Same checks as NO ANSWER.
• Two tracks land on one page or timecode. They share a name. Lighting Control names them. Rename one in Cues, then Import. See Names, not numbers.
• The desk didn’t move my cue. Read the MA3 chip.
  • not joined: host the show, then press any Helm tile on the desk. It joins and gets the times.
  • auto-sync off: Devices → the desk’s ⋯ → Resume auto-sync, or press HELM AUTOSYNC on the desk.
  • Import needed: run Import Track… on the desk for the tracks the tooltip names.
  • joined and still wrong: run Import Track… on the desk.
  • plugin 0.16.8 needed: import the current plugin, run Setup Desk, then Import Tracks.
• Events at the wrong time. The track’s start changed in Cues. Run Import Track….
• An event fires Goto instead of its command. This MA3 build refused that command.
• A fader level does nothing. Open the sequence sheet. No FaderMaster line in the cue’s Command: run Import Track…. The line is there: the sequence’s Cue Command is Force No, or the timecode is not on Manual Events. An Off or Kill cue fires no desk cue.
• A Flash never fires. This MA3 build refuses Flash events. The plugin skips them and says so on the command line. Use Go and Off.
• A desk move does nothing in Cues. The stack is locked in Cues, or the last Import did not build that event. Run Import Tracks.
• File bridge only on the Desk card. onPC runs on this Mac. That onPC works. Desks on other machines cannot reach this Cues.
• Desk commands do nothing on Live. Desk control is off. For GO on a desk cue that calls Cues, and for start, pause, resume and stop, Live must be armed too. The header says which.