At any point in a production PCStage can perform a smooth crossfade between the current channel state and the next or previous cue in the cue list. This is accomplished using the five large "tape transport" style buttons in the control area.

The central Pause button freezes fading until one of the other buttons is clicked. If a fade button is disabled it appears as a faint white colour, and it cannot be pressed. If no fade is in progress, clicking a Jump button will immediately load the previous or next cue, while clicking Fade Forward will begin fading toward the next cue.

If a fade is in progress, clicking the alternate Fade button will reverse the direction of the fade, while a Jump button will abort the fade by loading the cue appropriate to the button's direction. You should experiment with the fade buttons to understand how they work.

The space bar provides a reliable, easy-to-hit means of fading during a performance; it operates regardless of the current input focus. Pressing the space bar when no fade is in progress initiates a forward fade; pressing it during a fade jumps to the end of the fade to enable you to 'catch up' during a performance.


During a fade the gauge bar directly above the fade buttons shows the fade's progress. While a fade is in progress channel values may not be changed manually, and the preset area is disabled. If a cue or preset is loaded by any means the fade is aborted immediately.

Fade timing

To specify the fade timing when fading to a cue, double-click the cue to open the cue editor and select the Fade tab from the tab sheet it contains.


PCStage shows the fade time in minutes, seconds and tenths of seconds, and supports a resolution of one tenth of a second (100ms). You may enter digits directly into the editing fields with the keyboard or use the up/down buttons provided to increment and decrement the fields.

PCStage offers a number of adjustable times associated with each cue:

Fade time : period over which all channels will move from their initial to their final levels

Wait time : a delay before the channels start to change