# How do you create automatic Hot Cues in Traktor? Canonical: https://dj-nimi.web.app/en/blog/traktor-auto-hot-cues/ Language: en DJ Nimi | 2026-09-25 | Updated: 2026-09-30 Prepare Hot Cues with DJ Nimi’s experimental tool: check your beatgrid, choose a template, preview positions and preserve existing cues before saving. Automatic cue preparation can save repetitive work, but it still needs a reliable beatgrid and careful listening. In DJ NIMI Traktor Suite, the Hot Cues tool proposes positions for selected tracks. You choose a template, inspect the proposals and save only after checking them. The default mode preserves existing assignments and fills available slots. Replacement is a separate choice with a much greater effect on your library. A Hot Cue is a stored position that you can recall during a mix. Traktor provides eight directly assigned Hotcue slots, which can also contain saved loops. The total list of stored markers is a different concept from those eight performance buttons. Knowing that distinction helps explain why a track can contain several markers while still showing free Hotcue slots. This guide concerns the Suite's preparation of the assigned slots, not an unlimited automatic marker system. ## What should I check before generating automatic Hot Cues? Save your work in Traktor and quit the application before changing its collection. Make an independent backup of the current collection and important settings. The Suite's own backup is useful, but it cannot protect unrelated edits made after the backup. Work before a performance, not during one. Use a small playlist of familiar tracks for your first attempt so you can recognize a misplaced cue immediately. Each selected track needs readable local audio and a single valid beatgrid. The tool accepts a grid within the track and a tempo between 35 and 300 BPM. Tracks with several grid markers or variable tempo are skipped. The audio reader also rejects unsupported files and unsuitable durations. These are implementation limits, not a judgment about whether the music itself is suitable for DJing. Look at the grid in Traktor before opening the tool. A line should follow the intended beat throughout the section you plan to mix. A grid can be numerically valid and still start on the wrong beat. If the first beat of the musical bar is wrong, a template can repeatedly place cues on a consistent but unhelpful position. Correct the grid in Traktor, save the collection and close Traktor again before preparing new suggestions. ## How do I select the right collection and tracks? Open Create Hot Cues from the Suite start screen. Check the collection selected by the application. If necessary, choose the intended collection.nml rather than an older copy in a previous version folder. A familiar library name is not enough: verify that recently added tracks are present. If the displayed collection is wrong, stop and select the correct file before proceeding. Use the playlist selector to narrow the list, or search by title and artist. Select only the tracks you want to prepare. A playlist filter controls what you see; the selected-track count tells you what the operation will process. Check both before generating proposals. Avoid a first test that combines missing files, uncertain grids and already finished tracks, because several different problems become harder to diagnose together. A useful test set has one track without assigned cues and one with cues you deliberately want to keep. Add a track with a known breakdown or short introduction if you want to compare templates. Make a note of the existing assignments before testing. This lets you verify preservation directly instead of assuming that an unchanged song title means its performance markers were preserved. ## Which cue template should I choose? The 16-bar mixing template proposes entry and later positions using a shorter phrase framework, plus positions before the active end. It can be a practical starting point for quicker transitions. The 32-bar option uses longer intervals and earlier exit preparation. It suits experiments with longer blends, but the number in the template is not proof that a particular track follows that structure. The energy template examines changes in loudness and low-frequency energy. It looks for sustained changes that may correspond to a strong section, a break or a useful exit. Those measurements are estimates of musical structure. A loud percussion fill, a deliberately quiet drop or a long vocal introduction can challenge that interpretation. A cue marked with a tilde, shown as ~, needs an explicit listening check. The experimental DJ Nimi template is inspired by a particular preparation approach associated with Rumble. It proposes roles such as entry, preparation before a strong section, section boundaries, a break or return, and exit preparation. It does not learn your musical taste automatically. Choose it because you want to evaluate that arrangement of roles, not because an artist name can guarantee the correct markers for every genre. All these templates depend on the track's grid. The bar calculations assume four beats per bar. Music in another meter, expressive tempo changes or an ambiguous half-time grid needs special care. For example, 16 bars at a full-time tempo represent a different duration from 16 bars on a half-time analysis. Decide which musical counting system you actually use before trusting a numbered template. ## What happens when there are not eight obvious musical events? The tool first chooses its stronger candidate positions and avoids placing new cues too close to existing positions. It then tries grid-based positions to fill uncovered parts of the track. Very short material can require beat-based fallback positions. A fallback is a technical way to complete the layout; it is not evidence that a new phrase or a meaningful drop exists at that location. Read the proposal notes. The tool aims to finish with eight assigned slots on an eligible track, including the assignments preserved in the default mode. If it cannot find enough distinct valid positions, it skips the change for that track. This is preferable to accepting duplicate or out-of-range markers. A skipped result deserves inspection; it does not mean you should remove compatibility checks or force the file through. ## How can I hear whether a proposed cue is useful? Use the preview before saving. The listening preview covers roughly eight seconds and starts about two seconds before the proposed position where the track allows it. That gives you context around the marker rather than only the first sound after it. Listen for the intended downbeat, the arrival of a bass line, the beginning of a vocal and any pickup notes that should remain audible. For a mixing entry, ask whether another track could join there without fighting a vocal or landing halfway through a phrase. For an exit marker, ask whether enough clean material remains to complete your transition. For a preparation cue, count forward to the event it is meant to anticipate. A marker can be precisely aligned to the grid and still be musically inconvenient. Compare at least one proposal near the beginning, one in the middle and one near the end. Check every estimated or fallback marker in the tracks you intend to use. If the layout is not useful, try a different template or place the markers manually in Traktor. Automation should reduce repeated clicks, not pressure you into accepting a structure that does not fit your set. ## Will automatic preparation delete my existing Hot Cues or loops? By default, the Suite keeps existing assigned cues and fills free slots. A track with all eight slots occupied is left unchanged in this mode. This is the sensible starting point when your library already contains preparation work. It also means that new proposals may occupy different slot numbers on different tracks, because the available slots depend on what you previously stored. Replacement mode is different. It proposes a fresh set and replaces existing assigned Hot Cues, including assigned loops. The tool preserves beatgrid markers and unassigned cues, but this does not preserve an old eight-button performance layout. Read the replacement preview and the exact removal list. Do not enable replacement simply because you would prefer all tracks to look tidy. If you want a consistent layout, first define the role of each button and test it on a few tracks. Your existing loop may be more valuable than an automatically proposed position. Keep the full backup even when a preview looks correct. A visual review cannot tell you whether you will instinctively press the old button during a performance. ## How do I save and verify the result in Traktor? After reviewing the proposals, confirm that Traktor is closed and use the backup-and-save action. The application checks that the source collection has not changed since the proposal was built. If it detects a changed file, create a fresh proposal from the current collection. Do not reuse an old plan against a newly edited library. Reopen Traktor and reload the tested tracks so you are inspecting the saved information rather than an earlier deck state. Check the assigned buttons, cue names and positions. Listen again around important markers. Confirm that any assignments you intended to preserve remain available. Keep a separate note of which tracks passed your review before adding them to a performance playlist. Undo is not a promise to merge arbitrary later edits. The restore checks can reject a file that has changed since the recorded operation. If you continued editing after saving, preserve that newer work before considering an older backup. When unsure, stop and compare copies instead of repeatedly saving and restoring the same library. ## Why was a track skipped, and what should I do next? Typical reasons include a missing or unsuitable grid, multiple grid markers, unreadable audio, a disconnected drive, insufficient distinct positions or eight already occupied slots. Read the track's own result message. Fix the actual prerequisite in the appropriate application, then create a fresh preview. A missing audio file and a full cue layout require different responses. The best outcome is a library whose markers you understand. DJ Nimi's tool provides a repeatable starting point, while your listening decides whether a cue belongs in the final set. Begin with the installation and recovery guide linked below, use the experimental download only after acknowledging the notice, and keep preparation separate from performance. A smaller set of trusted cues is more useful than thousands of automatic positions you have never heard. ## DJ NIMI Traktor Suite Preparing tracks in Traktor for your next set? DJ NIMI Traktor Suite brings together Hot Cue and Stem preparation tools, keyboard mappings and track-title display fixes. Read the installation guide and check compatibility before use. Experimental, unofficial software, provided as is. Back up your collection and settings independently. Use at your own risk; no guarantee of compatibility or recovery. DJ Nimi accepts no responsibility for loss to the extent permitted by law; statutory rights remain unaffected. macOS 14.2+ · Version 1.5.3 · Not notarized by Apple. Prepare before a performance, never during one. [Download for Mac](https://dj-nimi.web.app/en/download/) - [Native Instruments — Working with cue points](https://docs.native-instruments.com/ni-tech-manuals/traktor-pro-manual/en/advanced-usage-tutorials) - [Native Instruments community — Hot cue enhancement discussion](https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/19396/traktor-pro-hot-cue-enhancement) ## Does the default mode overwrite existing Hot Cues? No. The default mode keeps existing assignments and fills free slots. A track with all eight assigned slots occupied is left unchanged. Replacement mode is a separate option. ## Can replacement mode remove my saved loops? Yes. Replacement can remove loops assigned to Hotcue slots as well as assigned cue points. The tool preserves beatgrids and unassigned cues, but you must review the removal list and keep a full backup. ## Why does the tool require one valid beatgrid? The templates calculate positions from the Traktor grid and assume four beats per bar. Multiple grid markers and variable-tempo tracks are skipped. A technically valid grid still needs a musical listening check. ## Does the energy template identify every drop correctly? No. It estimates structure from loudness and low-frequency changes. Estimated and fallback positions require listening. The DJ Nimi template does not automatically learn your musical taste. ## Should I close Traktor before saving automatic cues? Yes. Quit Traktor before changing its collection. Reopen it and reload the tested tracks after saving. If the collection changed after the preview, create a fresh plan. ## Can I undo a cue change after making other library edits? Not necessarily. Restore checks may refuse files changed after the saved operation. Keep independent backups and preserve later work before considering an older collection copy.