How Gigbuddy works, task by task. Pick a topic on the left, or scroll.
Getting started
A project is one show. Overview holds the brief, and Sound, Lighting and Crew are modules you add when you need them. Start with New Project on your dashboard, then fill in the date, venue and times. Every change saves as you make it, and everyone on the project sees it within a moment.
Under Start with, tick the modules you need now: Sound, Lighting or Crew. You can add the rest later.
Choose where to land: Open Overview, Sound from scratch or Paste a channel list. The project is created then; closing the dialog before that creates nothing.
Good to know
With a rider's channel list in hand, Paste a channel list takes you straight to Paste in Sound. Sound from scratch opens Sound's Setup; both need Sound ticked.
To add or remove a module later, use the project rail. A module the project does not have shows as a dimmed icon with +.
A project opens on Overview, with the show details, the day's times and cards for notes, files and contacts.
The rail on the left moves you around the project: Overview, Sound, Lighting, Crew and Plot. On a phone it is the bar at the bottom.
The rail shows only what you have access to. The production team also sees a dimmed icon with + for a module the project does not have.
Plot is the project's 3D stage, shared by Sound and Lighting. Inside Sound it is the Stageplot tab, inside Lighting the Plot tab.
People, Chat, Feedback, Help and your account sit at the bottom of the rail; People shows only for the production team. On a phone they are under More.
The project name at the top of the rail takes you back to your projects.
The lists work like a spreadsheet, the plot like a 3D drawing program, and the Crew grid fills days with clicks and drags. In a list, the plot or the Crew grid, press ? to see the keyboard shortcuts for that page. Wherever this help says Ctrl, use Cmd on a Mac.
The first time you open the dashboard, Overview, Sound, Lighting, Crew or Settings, a short tour points out the main parts. Next and Back step through it; Skip or Escape ends it.
A finished or skipped tour does not start again by itself, on any computer. Show the tour for this page, in the Help menu, replays it.
In Sound's or Lighting's lists, the plot or the Crew grid, press ? to see the keyboard shortcuts for that page. Keyboard shortcuts, in the Help menu, opens the same list.
While a cell is selected, a ? goes into the cell. Click outside the list first, or use the Help menu.
In the plot, the ? button in the bottom right corner lists the keys too.
These work with Lighting's tools in the plot: Truss, Fixtures, Distro, Cable feed, Link and Aim. The line under the plot always says what the next click does.
Hold R and drag
Turns a free fixture, distro, node or truss. A fixture on a truss pans instead.
Shift-drag
Selects the fixtures in a box. In Top, or with Box select (B), a plain drag on the empty floor does it too.
Shift-click a fixture
Adds it to the selection, or takes it out.
Shift while drawing
Turns the truss in 45° steps.
Ctrl while drawing
Places the point freely, without snapping.
A
In a truss path, makes the next piece an arc.
F while drawing a path
Flips the arc the other way.
Alt-click with Truss
Gives that truss a new position, with no joining.
Enter
Finishes the truss path, or ends a cable feed without a truss.
Backspace
Takes the last point or waypoint back.
Alt-click a link
With Link (K) on, breaks the link. The rest of the chain becomes a branch on the same feed.
Escape
Drops what you were drawing, then puts the tool away.
Ctrl+L
In Units, links the selected fixtures in the order they hang.
Yes. The lists work like a spreadsheet, the plot has undo, duplicate and arrow-key nudging, and the Crew grid fills days with a drag. In a list, the plot or the Crew grid, press ? to see the keyboard shortcuts for that page.
Yes. Where this help says Ctrl, use Cmd. Ctrl+click works as a right-click.
Projects and Overview
Overview is the home of a show: the summary card with dates, venue and times, and below it a canvas of cards for notes, files, contacts and live views. Each card has its own label for who sees it, so booked crew and clients see only what you share with them.
Click the label next to the card title. It reads Internal, Everyone, Crew, Client, Public link, or a number of people.
Tick Everyone on the project, Crew, Client or Public link, or pick names under Specific people. You can combine them.
Untick everything to make the card Internal again.
Good to know
Internal cards are for the production team only.
Everyone does not include the public link. Nothing is public until you tick Public link.
View as at the top of Overview shows what Production, Crew, Client, the public link or one person sees. Editing is off until you click Back to Production.
Client links and the public link show the same canvas, read-only, with only their cards.
Only what you share with them. Invite them under Client in People, or send a client link if they have no account. Use View as Client on Overview to check what they see.
Sound holds one show's input and output lists, stageboxes and patch, trunks, the stageplot with its cable feeds, and the picking list. Most people paste the band's channel list first, then set up stageboxes and patch. If the project has no Sound yet, the production team adds it from the dimmed Sound icon in the project rail.
Open Inputs, type how many channels you want next to Add Input, and click it. Outputs work the same way with Add Output.
Fill in the cells: Person, Position and an output's Destination offer the values the project already uses; a pick fills a selected range. Mic/DI, Stand and cables suggest your presets as you type.
When a channel name matches an AutoFill rule, the empty cells in the row show a suggestion. Tab takes it.
To count up names, select the first cell, like Vox 1, choose Ripple in the row menu and enter how many rows below get a value.
Templates in the Sound bar saves channels as a template, and loads one into another show.
Good to know
Insert, in the row menu, adds a row above, and the channel numbers below follow.
Ripple counts up the number at the end: Vox 1, Vox 2, Vox 3. A value without a number is copied as it is.
AutoFill fills only empty cells. Its rules are in Settings → Sound → AutoFill, where you can also turn it off.
Make stereo pair pairs a row with the one below it. Edits on the first row carry over, and Split pair undoes it.
On outputs, the Type (wedge, IEM, sidefill, PA) is what the picking list counts. Signal only is for an output that needs no gear, like a recorder feed.
Drag a row to move it, and the channel numbers follow. Drag the edge of a column header to change its width.
Click a cell to select it. Shift-click another cell, or hold Shift and use the arrow keys, to select a range.
Start typing to replace what is in the cell. Double-click or press Enter to edit the text that is there.
Select a range of cells and type once, or pick from the list, to fill them all, like the same stand for eight drum mics. A stagebox socket picked over a range takes the next sockets down the rows.
Enter saves and moves down, Tab saves and moves right, Escape drops what you just typed. Enter on the last row adds a row.
Delete or Backspace empties every selected cell.
Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V copy and paste ranges, also to and from a spreadsheet. A paste stops at the last row and never adds rows.
Open the Stageplot tab. It shows the project's plot with Sound's tools.
Click an item in the Library, then click in the plot to place it. Shift-click to place another, press R to turn it before you place it, and Esc to put the tool away.
Drag an object to move it. Hold R and drag to rotate it.
Select an object and click Assign channel… in the Inspector's Sound section. Type a number, name or mic and pick the channel.
To assign many at once, open Assign, click Assign in order and click the objects in turn. S skips a channel, and Escape or Done stops.
Click Top for a flat view to line things up, and 3D to go back.
Good to know
Load default plot, in the ⋯ menu above the plot, sets up a drum riser, amps, vocal positions with wedges, a backdrop and the PA. It asks first if the plot is not empty.
Add missing trunks, in the same menu, places the trunks your channels use.
Objects land on what is under them. Drag a riser and what stands on it comes along.
New input and New output in Assign make a channel named after the object and assign it.
Adding an object never adds a channel.
View → Labels, bottom right, decides what the plot writes next to objects: channel numbers and names, cable lengths or object names.
A feed is a route, and the cables are what runs along it. A tail is the cable from a mic or DI to its box.
Open Sound's Stageplot tab and pick Cable feed in the tool rail, or press C.
At the top of the left panel, choose Multicore or Speaker, the cable type and how many.
Click where the feed starts: a stagebox, a trunk box or FOH for a multicore, an amp rack or stagebox for a speaker feed.
Click waypoints if you need them, then click the object the feed ends at.
Without a trunk box at the end, click the last waypoint again and pick Add trunk here.
Good to know
Sound's feeds are drawn and shown only in Sound's Stageplot tab, and read-only in the viewer. The Cables layer can be visible, wireframe or hidden.
A feed is split into sections of standard lengths, no piece over 25 m, like 25 + 20 m. Length left says what is over or short.
Drag a split along the feed, or type a section length in the Inspector. What you set is locked until Back to automatic.
Select a feed to see its waypoints. Drag one to move it, or press Delete to remove it.
Feeds on one route are a loom, drawn thicker and labelled Loom · 3.
Moving a box or speaker updates the sections of its feeds, and a message names what changed. Undo keeps the old sections.
A multicore to a trunk gives that trunk its length. A feed that does not match the patch is flagged in the plot and on Cables.
Suggest feeds…, in the ⋯ menu above the plot, draws a multicore from each ticked stagebox to each trunk its channels use. Feeds already drawn are kept.
Tails are measured on the plot with 1 m added, in standard XLR lengths. The XLR tail column follows when you move things.
A tail length you type is locked. Back to automatic in the row menu lets it follow the plot again.
The standard lengths come from Settings → Sound → Cable lengths, so the suggestions match the cables you carry. Nothing is counted as owned.
Ctrl+G groups the selected channels, Shift+Ctrl+G ungroups them.
Click a column header in Inputs or Outputs to sort inside each group; click again to reverse, a third time to switch it off. The sort is only for you and never changes the channel numbers.
Typing in a cell has no undo, but Escape throws away what you typed until you leave the cell.
With Trunk auto assign off, an empty trunk channel shows the next free number in grey. Tab takes it.
Right-click a Trunk cell and choose Trunk A colour… to recolour that trunk on every row.
Patch → Stagebox shows when two channels share a preamp.
Print & export has stick-on labels for trunks and stageboxes, under Labels.
The plot is the project's 3D stage: risers and people, Sound's gear and the lighting rig in one editor. It belongs to the project, not to a module. Open it from Sound's Stageplot tab, Lighting's Plot tab or Plot in the project rail. Editing needs a computer; a phone or tablet shows it read-only.
The plot shows the tools of where you opened it. From Overview you get everything you can edit.
From the Stageplot tab the tool rail has Sound's Cable feed. From Lighting's Plot tab it has Truss, Fixtures, Distro, Cable feed, Link and Aim.
The picked tool lights up, its settings open at the top of the left panel, and a line under the plot says what the next click does.
In Layers, the eye on a layer or group cycles Visible, See-through, Wireframe and Hidden, only for you and kept per project. Layers from an MVR file start See-through, unless mostly library objects like chairs.
The lock next to the eye locks a layer for you. It is still drawn, but clicks go through it to what is behind, like a truss inside the hall.
Click a layer to select and frame what is on it. Double-click or F2 renames it.
Deleting a layer moves its objects to General. Undo is in the message.
The top of the Inspector shows the object's name and what owns it, like Sound, with Frame, Duplicate, Comment and Delete.
With nothing selected, the Inspector lists what still needs doing, like unassigned inputs or address conflicts, with a link to each.
View → Labels picks what the plot names. Each place you open the plot keeps its own choice.
With festival mode on, a Festival · Base chip leads the toolbar. Pick a band to change its layout; the chip turns yellow.
If the 3D view stops, Reload view appears over it and restarts the view without leaving the page.
It is the project's Plot, one editor for the stage, Sound and Lighting. Open it from Sound's Stageplot tab, Lighting's Plot tab, or Plot in the project rail.
Lighting holds the rig: positions and truss, fixtures and patch, power, data and cables, an onsite checklist and the paperwork. It shares the 3D plot with Sound. Start on Lighting's Overview: it tells you what to do next and takes you there.
Lighting is in beta. You can plan a rig with it today, but screens and names may still change. If something is missing or wrong, tell us through Feedback.
In Units, click Add fixtures… and pick a fixture type, a mode, a position and how many.
The type picker searches your catalog and the fixture library of about 2,400 fixtures. A library fixture is added to the project's catalog.
Unit numbers start at 101 and continue the type's numbers. A new type starts the next hundred, 201; addresses keep each position in one universe.
Select fixtures and use Patch or Renumber; with nothing selected they do every fixture. Renumber skips numbers in use or shifts those fixtures up, and Renumber this type… is in the right-click menu.
The views above the list, All, Patch, Data, Status and Types, show only the columns for that job. Units only, next to By position, lists every fixture by unit number.
Type or paste a position into a fixture's Position cell and it hangs on that position's truss. The fixtures there are spread so none overlap, with Undo.
To place fixtures along their truss, select them and choose Spread… in the row menu or the … menu, or Spread LX1's fixtures… on the header. It works before the truss is drawn when it has a length.
Good to know
Units works like Sound's input list. Select a range of cells and type once to fill them all, or copy and paste to and from a spreadsheet.
Univ.Addr reads universe.address, like 1.101. A unit or address you type is locked until you click the lock.
A power value you type, like 650 or 1.2 kW, is saved to the fixture type. Every fixture of that type follows.
Power in → thru and Data in → thru show the type's connectors, like True1 → True1. Set them in the Types view; your catalog changes with them.
Fixtures are listed in the order they hang, left to right along each truss as seen from the audience. Patch and Link in order (Ctrl+L) follow that order.
A warning sign marks a fixture that needs something: no patch, an overlapping address, a type without connectors, or not in the plot.
Click Import MVR… in the Units toolbar's … menu, or on Lighting's Overview while the rig is empty, and choose the file.
Check the preview. The numbers under the file name say what the import does; click one to jump to its list.
In Positions in the drawing, each colour is one position. Join makes two or more one; Split gives each truss its own again.
Click a position name to rename it.
If the drawing does not line up with the plot, open Place on the stage to turn and move it.
In Layers under Draw scene objects, leave out layers like arrows and pick Draw as: Matched (library objects), Model (the file's 3D models) or Boxes. Untick what else you do not want, then import.
For a new version of the drawing, Update from MVR… shows the same preview with only the differences.
Good to know
Import is verified with Capture. Files from Vectorworks, MA and other programs are experimental; if one fails, send it through Feedback.
Fields you locked, notes, onsite status and the names you gave positions and trusses are kept when you import again.
New fixture types come from the GDTF in the file or the fixture library; fixtures without a place or address come in unplaced or unpatched.
Scenery comes in one plot layer per file layer: risers, drapes, tables, chairs and people as library objects (speakers and drums with Sound edit), the rest as the file's 3D models or simple shapes. Shapes you drew stay.
Real models are capped at 2 MB and 150 000 triangles a project, 50 000 a model; the preview says what fits, the rest are boxes. Delete real models (the plot's … menu) leaves the objects as boxes.
Layers with arrows, dimensions or notes start unticked, and your choice is kept. Scenery imported before this update stays faint until you import the file again.
Open the Plot tab. The plot opens with Lighting's tools and the rig in it.
Pick Fixtures in the tool rail, or press L. Choose the type, mode, how many and how to spread them.
Choose hang or stand, where they point, and whether to patch them. Then click a truss.
Fixtures you added in Units before drawing their truss wait in front of the stage. Once the truss is drawn, choose Hang LX1's 8 fixtures on it, which spreads them with any already there.
Right-click selected fixtures and choose Spread… to place them again, evenly, from the ends or with a fixed spacing. With several types pick an order like A B B A; fixtures you dragged move too.
Right-click a fixture and choose Select all MAC Aura XB, or …on LX1, to select every fixture of that type. Fixtures on hidden layers are left out.
Click a fixture to edit unit, address, type and mode in the Inspector. Drag it to slide it along its truss.
Good to know
Shift-drag a box to select many fixtures. In Top, or with Box select (B), a plain drag on the empty floor does it.
Drag one selected fixture and the others move with it, along their truss or onto another.
Aim (A) points the selected fixtures at a spot you click. Height sets how far above the floor.
To alternate two types, add a type B in the Fixtures tool and write an order like A B B.
Colour by, in the View menu bottom right, paints the rig by type, position or universe.
Delete on a truss, position or fixture asks first. Ctrl+Z puts it back.
A power feed is one power cable from a PDU to a position, like LX1.2. A circuit is a fuse on one phase of it, written LX1.2 L3.
In Power & data, list your distros under PDU. Type outputs as count × connector, like 6x 16A3, 2x Socapex.
Open Power feeds and use Autofill to hang fixtures without a circuit on their position's feeds.
Check the preview: what changes, what stays, and the amps on L1, L2 and L3 before and after. Then click Apply.
Use Balance phases to spread single-phase feeds over the three phases.
Under Network, list the data nodes with IP address and a universe per port. Autofill universes fills free ports.
Good to know
Power feeds are named after their position in the order they land, LX1.1, LX1.2. Type a name to use your own.
Out lists the PDU's free outlets. Each outlet takes one feed, or one feed per tail of a breakout: a 16A3 → 3× Schuko gives three Schuko feeds, one on each phase.
When the feeds are full, autofill plugs a new feed into a free outlet with the same connector, nearest PDU first.
When the outlets run out, the preview asks: add wall-mounted feeds, or pick another PDU under New feeds from.
Fixtures without power count as 0 W, so autofill fills circuits by count and says so. Set power first.
A phase, feed or circuit you set yourself is locked, and autofill leaves it alone.
A feed whose cable differs from its outlet is marked with what the catalog has for it: an adapter, like 16A3 → Socapex, or a breakout to put it on.
Hook-up is the sheet as it prints: per PDU, each feed with the fixtures on each circuit and the load per phase.
Anything over its amps turns red. Each distro shows L1, L2 and L3 against its limit, amber when close.
Place says where a node stands: a position like LX1, or off the rig like FOH rack.
A node off the rig gives each position its own data feed. Type its length in Cables, or draw it in the plot.
Right-click a power feed for Lock, Unlock and Delete, or a node for Unlock ports and Delete.
Open Cables in Lighting's tabs, after Power & data.
Feeds lists every feed under its position, with where it runs from and to, its length and its cables.
Click a feed's name, or press Enter on it, to open its details at the side.
Totals lists every cable the rig needs, fixture leads included, with the adapters, splitters and terminators.
Good to know
You can add a feed without the plot, with Add… on a position's row or + Feed to… above the list. Type its length, like 18.
A route drawn in the plot replaces the typed length. Ends, in a feed's details or the plot's inspector, says how it ends on the truss: an on-truss cable, a breakout at the landing, or straight into the first fixture.
Edit the list like a spreadsheet: arrow keys, F2 or typing, copy and paste. Press ? for every key.
Only what differs from the usual is spelled out, like via 16A3→Socapex. A feed that needs fixing has a warning, with a few words in To fix.
Right-click feeds here or in Power feeds for Move into loom…, Take out of loom or Loom together; details and the plot have them too. Feeds share a route when they land within 2 m on one truss, from sources together.
Back to automatic, in each part of Totals, resets everything set by hand there in one step. It asks first, and Undo is in the message.
A link is a cable between two fixtures. A chain is fixtures in a row from the chain start (power) or from where the data cable lands.
Open Cables → Links and pick a position. The picture shows its fixtures as they hang, power links above and data links below.
Drag from a fixture's thru, the right dot, onto another fixture. That one is now fed from it.
Or click a fixture for Link to…, then pick Power, Data or Combo and the fixture. Where no combi fits, Combo says why.
Right-click a fixture and choose Start chain here, for power or data, to make it the first of its chain. On no circuit or universe yet, pick a feed's circuit or universe at its position; it heads any chain there.
Use separate cables or Use combi cables, above the picture, switches the position's links, or the picked chain's. For one link, click it and pick Combi or Separate (off, with the reason, where none fits).
Click a link for its cable and length, Break here to start a branch, or Back to automatic.
In the plot, pick Link (K), choose Power or Data, then click a fixture and the fixture it feeds.
Good to know
A link is suggested as the distance plus 20 cm at each fixture, rounded up to a standard length up to 25 m.
Anything you change is locked and stays when the rig changes. Back to automatic releases it.
A fixture from another chain moves with the link: its circuit, or its universe and address, change.
A combi cable is power and DMX taped as one, like True1 + DMX5 combi 5 m (standard: 1.5, 3, 5, 10 m). Where power and data link the same two fixtures and a combi fits, it is one combi, one purple link, counted once.
Ctrl + scroll zooms the picture. Fit shows the whole position.
View → Links in the plot draws power links, data links, both or none. With both, a combi is one purple cable; click it for Combi or Separate.
Onsite is the build checklist for a phone. Every fixture and position goes Planned, Rigged, Powered, Tested, Focused.
Open Onsite and tap My position to see only your position.
Tap the green button to move a fixture one step on. On a position header, it moves the whole position.
If a fixture fails, choose Mark faulty… in the row's … menu and say what is wrong and which spare replaces it.
Good to know
If you tap the green button by mistake, Undo is in the message. The … menu sets any step directly.
Note and history… shows every change, who made it and when.
A position's tape colour shows next to its name, so you can find it by tape on the stage.
Focus opens one position full screen, measured, each fixture with unit, address and circuit; tap another position to focus it. Fixtures shows the gaps between fixtures in the plot, Cabling the cables and links.
Comment on a row opens a thread for that object, with up to four photos per message. Objects with messages get a yellow pin in the plot.
Checking off needs Edit on Lighting. With View you see the list and the progress.
Settings → Lighting holds your fixture types and your power, data and motor cables. Projects can use any fixture from the built-in library without adding it here first.
Open Settings → Lighting → Fixture types.
Add from library adds a type with its modes, power, weight and beam angle. Upload GDTF takes your own files, up to 30 MB each.
Open Settings → Lighting → Cables for the cable list. Hide what you never use and add your own.
In a project, Lighting → Cables → Cable catalog shows the list its lengths and adapters are picked from.
Good to know
A type in use cannot be deleted. Hide it instead.
If a change would move DMX addresses in active projects, you are shown which projects before anything changes.
Fill in connectors from library gives types without connectors the ones the library knows.
For a breakout, adapter or lead, tick it in the cable's details; one tail of another connector is an adapter, from 1 m a fixture lead. Tails of different lengths take tail lengths, like 1, 2, 3.
The standard list has fixture power leads (True1 – Schuko, powerCON – Schuko) and Schuko power strips.
An organisation project uses the organisation's catalog, a personal project its owner's.
Crew staffs the show: a grid of roles, people and days, booking requests by mail, and who has answered. Your roster and roles live in Settings → Crew, so you set them up once for every show. The people you book answer from the mail and need no account.
You do not need a Gigbuddy account to say yes or no.
In the mail, click Yes or No.
Confirm your answer on the page that opens. The second click means a mail preview can never answer for you.
Add a note for the booker if you want.
Good to know
More info opens My booking: the show details, the times for your days and the booker's message. Sign in or sign up with the address the request went to.
On My booking you can change your answer later with Change to yes or Change to no.
Who else is coming lists confirmed crew by name and role, never their contact details.
With an account you can also answer from For you on your dashboard. Each booking on a show is answered on its own.
Every project has a list of people in three groups: Production, Crew and Client. Each person has None, View or Edit on each part of the project: Brief (what Overview shares), Sound, Crew, Stage and Lighting. Only the production team sees People.
What is the difference between a client invite and a client link?
An invite is for someone with an account, who signs in and sees what Client may see. A client link needs no account and shows the shared cards read-only.
Your account holds your profile and email address, and Settings keeps your presets, roster and catalogs for every project. An organisation is optional: it gives projects a shared roster, logo and colours, and everything works without one.
Send Feedback from the sidebar, or from the project rail inside a project. It goes straight to the team, with the page you were on.
Still stuck?
Send Feedback from the sidebar, or from the project rail inside a project, or write to us. Both reach the people who build Gigbuddy, and a problem before a show goes to the front of the queue.