Test fire
Test fire lets you send a trigger's message at any time, independent of playback position. It is the primary way to verify that a trigger is correctly wired to the target device before the show begins.
How to use test fire
Open the TRIGGERS tab for the active song. Each trigger row has a small ▶ button at its left, between the on/off switch and the timecode (tooltip: Test fire). Click it to send that trigger's message immediately. There is no flash or sound to confirm the click: what tells you it worked is the target device responding, and the entry in the Show Log.
Test fire works at any time — while the song is stopped, during playback, or while chasing an external LTC source — and also on a trigger whose on/off switch is off. It does not affect the playhead position, the transport state, or any other trigger.
What test fire checks
When you click test fire, LTCast sends the same message that would go out during playback. If the target device responds, the trigger is correctly configured. If nothing happens, one of the following is likely:
- For a MIDI trigger, no port is chosen in Settings → Outputs → Trigger MIDI port. In that case the ▶ button is greyed out and cannot be clicked
- For an OSC trigger, OSC output is switched off in Settings → Outputs, or none of the OSC targets is enabled, or the address does not start with
/. Nothing is sent and nothing is reported. An OSC test fire does not need a MIDI port - The MIDI cable or virtual MIDI port is not connected to the target device
- The trigger type, channel, or note/CC number does not match the device's MIDI map
- The target device's MIDI input is disabled or set to a different channel
During soundcheck, load each song, open its TRIGGERS tab, and click test fire on every trigger while watching the target device. This catches wiring and parameter errors before the show starts, when there is still time to fix them.
Test fire during playback
Test fire is safe during playback. Clicking it mid-song sends the message once, immediately, without advancing or interrupting the timeline. Use this to re-send a trigger that a device missed, or to manually cue something ahead of its scheduled timecode during rehearsal.
A test fire is recorded in the Show Log, marked with [test] at the start of the entry (for example [test] note-on ch1 #36 "Resolume clip 4"), so it can be told apart from the triggers that fired automatically at their timecode.