Your First Graph

Last updated 29 July 2026

The Node Editor is where Backstage's show logic lives. This walkthrough builds a practical, working graph from scratch: a sequence that starts automatically when the project loads and loops indefinitely. It spans two windows — you prepare a stepper in the Stepper window, then drive it from the Node Editor. No prior Node Editor experience required.

Before you start

  • You have at least one Sequence set up in the Sequencer window
  • You know how to open the Node Editor and the Stepper window (both are dockable windows like any other)

Steps

1. Create a stepper

Open the Stepper window and click Add Stepper. A stepper is your playlist controller: it holds a grid of steps, and on each step it decides which of your sequences play. A fresh stepper appears in the list, ready to configure.

2. Add your sequence and switch it on for step 1

Click the + button (Add Sequence) and choose the sequence you want to play. It appears as a new row. The numbered columns across the top are steps. Click the cell in column 1 of your row — it highlights to show the sequence is switched on for step 1.

3. Enable looping

In the stepper's inspector, tick the Loop checkbox. This loops the stepper's step cycle, so when it reaches the end it starts over — that is what keeps the show running indefinitely.

Loop controls the stepper's step cycle, not individual sequence playback. To loop a sequence itself, configure that in the Sequencer.

4. Open the Node Editor and add a LoadBang node

Open the Node Editor window — you see an empty canvas, your graph. Right-click on the canvas, navigate to Control → LoadBang, and click to place it.

LoadBang emits a single bang the moment the project finishes loading. It is the standard way to trigger anything automatically at startup.

5. Add a Stepper node and point it at your stepper

Right-click again and navigate to Sequence → Stepper, placing it to the right of the LoadBang. This node is a remote control for the stepper you built — not the editor itself. Open its dropdown (it reads (no stepper)) and select the stepper you created. The node then shows transport buttons and the current step. The Go to stepper button jumps back to the full editor in the Stepper window.

6. Connect the nodes

Click and drag from the output pin on the right of the LoadBang node to the Stepper node's Restart input on its left side. A link appears between them.

When the project loads, the LoadBang fires, the Stepper restarts to step 1 and begins playing — and because Loop is on, it keeps cycling.

7. Test it

Press Play on the Stepper node directly, or save and reload the project. Your sequence starts on step 1 and loops automatically.

Common Mistakes

  • Stepper node reads "(no stepper)" or "Create a stepper in the Stepper window" — you have not selected a stepper in the node's dropdown, or you have not created one yet. Create one in the Stepper window and pick it in the dropdown.

  • Nothing happens on project load — no LoadBang is connected. Add a Control → LoadBang node and wire it to the Stepper node's Restart input.

  • Sequence plays once but does not loop — Loop is not ticked. Enable it in the Stepper window's inspector (it is a stepper setting, not a control on the node).

Tips

  • Use the transport buttons on the node — Play, Pause, Stop, Previous, Next — to drive the show live during a performance.

  • Add more sequences as rows and more steps as columns in the Stepper window to build a full playlist.

  • Trigger step changes from an external control system over the network into the Stepper node's inputs — for example, wire a Network:UDPReceiver to the Next step input.

Build a Multi-Step Show — extend this setup into a complete multi-step show

Trigger Playback via UDP — control sequences from external controllers over UDP

Node Reference — full index of all available nodes