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Output Triggers — Cues, Auto-Repeat, and Bulk Retiming

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Flair's Output Triggers dialog has two underused tabs — Cues and Auto-Repeat — that make it far quicker to set up complex trigger patterns. This guide covers both tabs plus the RPN calculator trick for bulk-retiming all triggers at once.

Opening the Output Triggers Dialog

Flair Classic: Setups → Output (from the main menu)

Flair 7: The Output Triggers button is in the move editor toolbar, or accessible via Setups → Output.

The dialog has three tabs: the main triggers list, Cues, and Auto-Repeat.

The Cues Tab — Automatic Countdown Beeps

The Cues tab generates a countdown beep pattern before a main trigger cue — the classic "beep-beep-BEEP" that alerts crew that a trigger is about to fire.

Setup

  1. Open Output Triggers.
  2. Click the Cues tab.
  3. Set:
  4. Main cue frame — the frame on which the trigger fires.
  5. Number of pre-cues — how many beeps before the main cue (typically 2–3).
  6. Duration — length of each beep pulse.
  7. Gap — time between beeps.
  8. Click Apply.

Flair automatically places all pre-cue triggers at the correct frames and updates them when you change the main cue frame — no need to adjust each trigger manually.

"Adjust cue frame → all pre-cues update automatically." — Simon Wakley

The Auto-Repeat Tab

The Auto-Repeat tab lets you repeat a trigger at regular intervals throughout the move. Flair generates all the trigger entries automatically.

Setup

  1. Open Output Triggers and click the Auto-Repeat tab.
  2. Set:
  3. Start frame — the first frame at which the trigger fires.
  4. Interval — how many frames between each trigger.
  5. Number of repeats — how many times the trigger fires total.
  6. Click Apply.

Flair calculates all trigger frames from the start frame and interval, and adds them all to the normal triggers list. You can review and edit them there.

Tip

Auto-Repeat is useful for strobe lighting, repeating effects (pyro, air puffs), or any trigger that needs to fire on a regular cadence throughout the move. For irregular spacing, use the Cues tab instead.

Both Cues and Auto-Repeat entries are created in the normal triggers tab, so you can see and fine-tune them there after generation.

Bulk Retime All Triggers with RPN Maths

Flair uses a Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator in numeric fields. You can use this to multiply or offset all trigger times at once:

  • Double all trigger times: type 2* in the first trigger time field — all entries are multiplied by 2.
  • Add 10 frames to all: type 10+.
  • Shift earlier by 5 frames: type 5-.

This is the fastest way to re-sync all triggers after changing move speed or duration.

"Maths in trigger times: type '2*' in first trigger to multiply all by 2 (ripple retiming)." — Simon Wakley

Which Output Does the Cue Beep Use?

The Cues tab generates triggers on a specific output channel — whichever output you assign the beep/bloop to in your trigger setup.

  • The Bloop button in the Test Output Triggers dialog uses the ribbon plug connection on the Flair computer back panel (the built-in speaker/beep output). This is the default bloop output.
  • If you are using a separate trigger box (hardware relay), first check which output number is connected to your audible device (Setups → Output → Test Output Triggers). Then set your Cues tab trigger to that output number.

"Pull up the outputs test (setup menu) and see which output you are using for bloop. Then in outputs you need to activate the relevant one and enter frame etc." — Peter Constan-Tatos

Tutorial Video

Gordon Eschke's Flair 7 Quick Tips video on Output Triggers covers the dialog in full:

▶ Output Triggers — Flair 7 Quick Tips