Link Conductor to Backstage

Last updated 7 August 2026

Linking Conductor to Backstage runs Conductor shows in sync with Backstage sequencers, and lets Conductor drive Backstage while you edit a show — dragging the locator, pressing play or pause, or anything else that moves the locator position.

How the two modes differ

Conductor can run only one show at a time, and switching between shows is not seamless: depending on the number of output connections it can take some hundreds of milliseconds. Backstage does not wait for that switch, which is why there are two operating modes.

Standard Mode

Conductor syncs the show whose name is exactly the same as the Backstage sequencer. Whenever a sequencer starts in Backstage, Conductor searches its open shows for that name and, finding one, switches to it and syncs progress. Because of the switching time, Conductor produces no output for a moment while Backstage is already playing. Playback time matches the Backstage sequencer, and any show timecode offset set in the Conductor show properties is applied.

Alternative Time Offset Mode

Conductor syncs the show whose name is part of a Backstage sequencer name. Backstage might have SHOW1 Preshow, SHOW1 Mainshow and SHOW1 Walkout while Conductor has a single SHOW1 show; any sequencer with SHOW1 in its name syncs to it.

Each sequencer then needs an Alternative Time Offset set in the Backstage node editor — say one hour for SHOW1 Mainshow and two for SHOW1 Walkout. Conductor plays from 0 for the preshow, from 1 h for the main show and from 2 h for the walkout.

This is the preferred mode where effects must transition seamlessly between Backstage sequencers, because no show file switch happens at all. A show timecode offset in the Conductor show properties still applies.

Set up Backstage

  1. Set Backstage's node sync NIC — the network adapter the multicast communication uses:

  2. Create sequencers as you like. For Alternative Time Offset Mode they must all contain the same word — SHOW1 here:

  3. Set Backstage to advertise the show to the sync NIC network, and set the time offset Conductor should use in Alternative Time Offset Mode. In Standard Mode the offset is ignored:

Set up Conductor

  1. Enable passive mode:

    Local IP must be the adapter on the same network as the Backstage node sync NIC. Tick Use Backstage's alternative time offset for Alternative Time Offset Mode; leaving it clear selects Standard Mode.

    Allowed Backstage Hostname is the computer name of the machine running your Backstage sequences. Left empty, synchronisation messages are not filtered at all — which gets confusing when identical sequencer names exist on several Backstage instances in the same network.

  2. Press Save to apply.

  3. In Alternative Time Offset Mode you have one show file, for SHOW1:

  4. In Standard Mode you have one show file per sequencer you want to run effects for:

  5. From the moment a Backstage sequencer starts, Conductor switches to that show — and can then also control the sequencer in Backstage. The screenshot below also shows the one-hour offset for SHOW1 Mainshow:

  6. Finally, set which show file loads at startup, and press Save:

Multiple Conductor instances

Several Conductor instances can run on one machine, launched with a command line identifier:

Conductor.exe id="Instance Name"

Each instance can be set to passive mode as described above and load a different HFX file, so several Conductor shows can follow different Backstage sequences at once on the same machine.

Art-Net and sACN universes always update from channel 1 to the last channel used, so two instances cannot transmit into the same universe simultaneously.

In depth

Conductor's feedback reaches Backstage through the Sequence:ObserverRegistry node in the SystemGraph. To suppress feedback from Conductor entirely, build a custom SyncGraph without the Sequence:Sequence node:

Common Mistakes

  • Conductor never switches show — in Standard Mode the names must match exactly, character for character. In Alternative Time Offset Mode the show name must appear inside the sequencer name.

  • The wrong Backstage instance is being followed — Allowed Backstage Hostname is empty, so nothing is filtered. Set it whenever more than one Backstage runs on the network.

  • Effects arrive late at the start of a sequencer — that is the show switch, and Backstage does not wait for it. Use Alternative Time Offset Mode where the transition has to be seamless.

  • Offsets are ignored — the offset applies in Alternative Time Offset Mode only, and Use Backstage's alternative time offset has to be ticked in Conductor.

Control Conductor channels through Node Editor — driving Conductor channels live instead of from a timeline

Sequencer — the sequencers Conductor follows

Node Editor Window — where the alternative time offset is set