At 3studio, we’re always looking for ways to make ADR and voice-over sessions more efficient, comfortable and professional for everyone involved.
Pro Tools remains at the centre of our recording workflow, but ADR sessions often require several additional elements: visual streamers, audible countdown beeps, dialogue prompts and an unmistakable recording tally for the performer.
To bring those elements together, we have developed 3Cue - our own lightweight ADR and VO companion for Pro Tools.
3Cue consists of a compact control interface for the recording engineer and a separate, full-screen talent display. The engineer remains focused on Pro Tools, while the performer receives clear cue, dialogue and recording information on a dedicated studio monitor.
Driven by the Pro Tools timeline
3Cue reads Memory Locations from the open Pro Tools session. The Memory Location name identifies the cue, while its comments contain the dialogue to be recorded.
When the engineer moves the Pro Tools playhead to a cue, 3Cue updates automatically. Because the information remains within the Pro Tools session, there is no separate cue list to maintain and no need to enter the same details into another application.
At the beginning of a recording pass, 3Cue locks onto the intended cue. This prevents another nearby or overlapping Memory Location from unexpectedly changing the dialogue during pre-roll or recording.
New and amended Memory Locations are also detected during the session, which is particularly useful when an additional cue is identified while recording is already underway.
A dedicated display for the performer
The 3Cue application window remains with the recording engineer and is not shown to the performer. It provides session status, cue information and controls for configuring the talent display.
The performer instead sees a separate full-screen overlay on a selected studio monitor. Before a take, the display presents the current cue name and dialogue in a clear, distraction-free layout.
When a recording pass begins, its status changes from IDLE to STANDBY. A three-second visual streamer then runs in synchronisation with the ADR countdown beeps, leading precisely to the cue point.
At the marker, the tally changes to RECORDING, giving the performer an immediate and unambiguous indication that the take is underway.
The engineer can configure:
- Which connected display is used for the talent overlay
- The visual streamer style
- Whether ADR countdown beeps are enabled
- Whether dialogue is shown
- Whether timecode is displayed
The dialogue layout adapts to longer voice-over copy while preserving large, readable text for shorter ADR cues.
This gives the performer the information needed at each stage of the pass without exposing the Pro Tools interface or 3Cue’s operator controls.
Rehearsal without recording
3Cue also includes a dedicated Rehearsal mode.
This gives the performer the same dialogue, beeps and visual streamer as a real take, while making it abundantly clear that Pro Tools is not recording. A prominent REHEARSAL - NOT RECORDING indication remains visible throughout the rehearsal pass.
Arming the Pro Tools transport for Record automatically disables Rehearsal, preventing any ambiguity between practice and a genuine take.
If a pass needs to be abandoned during pre-roll - perhaps because the performer isn’t ready or the director needs to intervene - the talent display, streamer and remaining beeps stop immediately. The cue is then ready for another attempt.
Streamers and ADR beeps in one system
Visual streamers give the performer a continuous indication of when to begin speaking. 3Cue supports several cue styles, including a travelling wipe, target bars and a traditional 3–2–1 countdown.
The accompanying ADR beeps are generated directly by 3Cue and share the same timing source as the streamer. This removes the need to place beep audio on the Pro Tools timeline and repeatedly mute or unmute it during a session.
The beep output can be directed to a chosen audio device, with configurable level, frequency and duration. It can also be disabled immediately from the main control interface if a performer prefers to work without it.
Designed to work alongside Pro Tools
3Cue is a native Apple Silicon macOS application rather than a Pro Tools plug-in.
It is deliberately read-only: 3Cue responds to Pro Tools but does not alter the open session. Session and cue metadata are obtained through the Pro Tools Scripting Library, while MIDI Time Code provides accurate, event-driven timing during playback and recording.
3Cue also responds to changes in the working environment. It detects Pro Tools session changes, recovers if Pro Tools is quit and relaunched, and restores its display, cue-style, audio and MIDI preferences between sessions.
Lightweight by design
Recording reliability is the priority.
When Pro Tools begins playing or recording, routine session polling stops. Streamer timing continues from incoming timecode, the animation is handled by macOS Core Animation, and the ADR beeps are generated directly in memory.
Visible timecode updates are deliberately limited while the internal cue calculations continue at full timing resolution. If timecode is already burnt into the picture, as it normally is in our sessions - the separate talent timecode display can be disabled entirely.
The intention is simple: during the most important part of the session, Pro Tools remains the priority and 3Cue does only the work required to support the performer.
Built around real ADR and VO sessions
3Cue began with a straightforward requirement: make ADR cueing clearer for the performer without making the Pro Tools session more complicated for the engineer.
It has since grown into a focused session companion combining cue information, dialogue, streamers, beeps, rehearsal and recording status.
3Cue is currently an internal production tool developed for use at 3studio. It is not presently available to download or purchase.
We’ll now continue using it in real ADR and voice-over sessions, refining it around the practical needs of performers, directors and engineers.
Sometimes the most useful production tools begin with a very simple question: why does this part of the session need to be harder than it is?
Pro Tools is a trademark of Avid Technology, Inc. 3Cue is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Avid.