In some Show Files you may come across colored boxes in the scrolling score. These colored boxes are either grey or green and they are there to help you with your performance of the media.
SAFTIES. The grey boxes are called safeties. They indicate spots in the film where it is safe to hit PAUSE. Normally Safties appear just before important cue points. Many Muséik operators will allow the media to push ahead of the live performance just a bit coming into a Safety. Then, as the far right edge of the Safety reaches the red "Now Bar", the operator will hit PAUSE. Now he or she simply needs to wait for the conductor to catch up. When that next downbeat arrives simply press PLAY and your cued entrance will be perfectly syncd. This method is much easier than trying to anticipate the exact placement of the downbeat, especially if there is a ritard or grand pause involved.
NOTE: Using PAUSE is only advisable when the media is static. Pausing a video or audio file while it is "in motion" will cause a huge distraction for your audience.
NOTE 2: In very rare cases a Show File may provide a Safety for the video file, but an audio file may be "in motion" at the same time. This happens when the audio file is optional. If your performance is
using the optional audio file you cannot use that Safety or the audio playback will pause as well.
GREEN COUTDOWN BARS. Sometimes the digital file needs to play when there is no score to follow. This happens when we bundle two or more scores into a single Show File or in sections where the video or audio play without a syncd live event. To help the Muséik operator know where they are in the file we add a green box that slowly shrinks to nothing. Countdown Bars are vertical green boxes that slowly shrink over time. They are intended as countdown indicators. When the green box gets to zero the next cue will take place.
GREEN PACER BARS. Sometimes you may see horizontal green bars in place of the Map or score. We use these when the syncd live event uses text (as in a theater show) or the sync hit points are not precise. Usually a green Pacer Bar equals one phrase of music. The operator simply needs to arrive at the end of the Pacer Bar as the phrase comes to an end