Group Playlist missing "keep playhead inside group" feature.
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CJ Barnwell
May 11, 2026, 2:10:50 PM (4 days ago) May 11
to QLab
I’ve been playing with the Playlist Group mode in QLab, and honestly, it’s almost perfect for a workflow I run into pretty often.
This weekend I discovered one thing that feels missing: an option to keep the playhead inside the Playlist Group after manually triggering a cue.
Right now, when you fire an individual cue inside a Playlist Group, the playhead jumps out of the group once the cue starts playing. In most situations, that behavior absolutely makes sense, especially for things like preshow music loops or automatically advancing playlists.
But I ran into a situation where I wanted to use Playlist Groups more like a lightweight presentation deck inside a show. I had a series of videos/slides that I wanted to manually advance one at a time, while still taking advantage of the Playlist Group built-in crossfades so I didn't need to build an/out fades for 10 pngs.
The problem is that once anything in the group is triggered, the playhead exits the group, and I lose the ability to simply “GO” to the next item in the playlist.
What I’d love to see is either:
- a “Keep Playhead in Group” checkbox in Playlist Groups, or
- a dedicated “Presentation Mode” behavior for playlists.
That would make Playlist Groups incredibly powerful for manually operated slide/video sequences during live shows without needing extra software or complicated cue structures.
Unless I’m missing an existing workflow for this, it feels like the one missing piece that would make Playlist Groups fully flexible for both automated and operator-driven playback.
This weekend I discovered one thing that feels missing: an option to keep the playhead inside the Playlist Group after manually triggering a cue.
Right now, when you fire an individual cue inside a Playlist Group, the playhead jumps out of the group once the cue starts playing. In most situations, that behavior absolutely makes sense, especially for things like preshow music loops or automatically advancing playlists.
But I ran into a situation where I wanted to use Playlist Groups more like a lightweight presentation deck inside a show. I had a series of videos/slides that I wanted to manually advance one at a time, while still taking advantage of the Playlist Group built-in crossfades so I didn't need to build an/out fades for 10 pngs.
The problem is that once anything in the group is triggered, the playhead exits the group, and I lose the ability to simply “GO” to the next item in the playlist.
What I’d love to see is either:
- a “Keep Playhead in Group” checkbox in Playlist Groups, or
- a dedicated “Presentation Mode” behavior for playlists.
That would make Playlist Groups incredibly powerful for manually operated slide/video sequences during live shows without needing extra software or complicated cue structures.
Unless I’m missing an existing workflow for this, it feels like the one missing piece that would make Playlist Groups fully flexible for both automated and operator-driven playback.
micpool
May 11, 2026, 2:13:34 PM (4 days ago) May 11
to QLab
In the triggers tab you will find an option to fade and stop peers. You can put the video cues you want to access randomly in any sort of group, set their layer to bottom and set the fade time in the trigger tab.
Mic
CJ Barnwell
May 11, 2026, 2:34:25 PM (4 days ago) May 11
to QLab
This is a great work around! There are still limitations to it though.
1. All the content has to be the same size and not have any transparency. Other wise you still see things pop on.
2. There can't be anything else playing in order to use the bottom layer. But if I want something under this, then i'm stuck. Or I have to create another surface.
If QLab added a "Keep Playhead in Group" checkbox for Playlist Groups, it would be a one click solution and still be able to manipulate layers and have different sized items.
micpool
May 11, 2026, 3:15:43 PM (4 days ago) May 11
to QLab
OK
Just use the V key instead of space to trigger a cue in a playlist and the playhead will stay where it is!
micpool
May 11, 2026, 3:40:57 PM (4 days ago) May 11
to QLab
To get the behaviour you want now, instead of your requested checkbox, just type the word KEEP anywhere in the name of a playlist group you want to exhibit the behaviour you describe.
Hijack the spacebar by deselecting it in settings/control/keyboard
Make a script cue containing this script and set its trigger to SPACE and any MIDI triggers you want to use.
Hijack the spacebar by deselecting it in settings/control/keyboard
Make a script cue containing this script and set its trigger to SPACE and any MIDI triggers you want to use.
tell application id "com.figure53.QLab.5" to tell front workspace
set theCue to playhead of front cue list
set theParent to parent of theCue
if the q type of the theParent is "group" then
if the mode of the theParent is playlist then
if the q name of theParent contains "KEEP" then
preview theCue
movePlayheadDown
return
end if
end if
end if
go
end tell
On Monday, May 11, 2026 at 7:34:25 PM UTC+1 c...@cjlights.com wrote:
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