Script Complex Cues
Script your cues exactly how they appear in real life, even when different effects of different sizes need to be fired from the same cue. No more confusing scripts resulting from software limitations!

Timer Chain Support
Timer chains are a common way to make bigger shows using less cues. ShowSim provides full support for these delay chains, both during simulation and when printing setup and chain fusing reports.

Data Loss Prevention
ShowSim is driven by a powerful database server that runs outside the main application. This means your data is continually saved as you work, rather than requiring you to periodically click “Save” to make changes permanent. Data loss due to unexpected power outages or system crashes are minimal to none.

Effect Browser with Search and Filter
A powerful effect browser allows you to sort through the thousands of categorized effects within the effect libraries. Filter effects by size, type or manufacturer, or search for effects containing keywords.

Drag and Drop Show Creation
Once you find the effect you are looking for, simply drag it from the effect browser and drop it right into your cue list.

Cue-Drop Record Mode
A special record mode allows you to drop blank cues in real time while listening to music. This is a common choreography technique preferred by many designers.

Multi-Item Clipboard
A special clipboard allows you to copy single effects, single buckets on a given chain or an entire cue into memory. You can copy as many items as you want, then select them from the clipboard list when reusing them elsewhere.

Build From Inventory
The fastest way to script a show is to work from an inventory of pre-defined effects. Prefire times, effect size, effect type and other parameters are automatically set when placing effects from an inventory database.

Running Show Cost
When building shows from inventory, a running total for the cost of the show is displayed on the main menu bar. Keep an eye on cost overruns as you work, or just keep adding shells until the budget limit has been reached.

Visually Test Single Effects & Cues
The advantage to having scripting and simulation integrated into the same development tool is the ability to get instant feedback on the appearance of your show at any time during the creation process. Test fire a single cues or even effects within a cue to see how it looks before moving on.

Auto Cue Numbering
Cue numbers are automatically assigned as you work, but a more powerful tool allows you to reassign all cue numbers at once based on several grouping criteria. Group cue numbers by position or segment to insure that modules are not split across large distances. Cue numbers can also be ordered according to time, shell size or effect type in addition to the grouping requirements.

Auto Cue Descriptions
Even when you are not working from inventory, the descriptions for each cue are automatically generated using a default naming convention. This optional feature can be turned off on a per cue basis, but the amount of work it saves makes it valuable in most cases.

Multiple Time Formats
A variety of standard time formats are supported, including 10ms, 100ms and SMPTE 24, 25 and 30. Formats can be changed at any time while working, and all display times will adjust to reflect the current format.

Metric or English Units
English and metric units are supported throughout the application, depending on your preferences.

View Launch or Burst Times
The time line and cue list can show either burst times or lift times, depending on what you prefer to work with. These modes can be quickly toggled back and forth with the click of a button.

Batch Cue Removal
A utility for specifying groups of cues to be deleted makes removing portions or entire segments of a show fast and easy.

Batch Time Adjustments
A utility for adding or removing time from groups of cues makes it easy to expand a show by adding new segments between existing segments.

Front Wizard Tool
A utility for automatically creating the spacing and angles for fanned effect front configurations makes this task go much faster.

Finale Wizard Tool
A utility for creating large chains containing hundreds of effects makes this otherwise monotonous task go much faster.

Show Merging
Show data that has been exported into a .sho file can be merged into an existing show, allowing several designers to work on portions of a given show and then merge them all together.

Sort by Column Type
The cue list can be easily sorted by one of six column data types, and also supports second and third order sorting to insure your cues are listed in the most readable order.

Unlimited Firing Positions
Use as many firing positions as it takes to get the job done.

Dragable Position Markers
Firing positions are easily positioned by dragging arrow icons around on the display area. You can even relocate positions after cues have already been assigned to them, allowing you to fine tune the appearance of your shows after all the scripting is done.

Adjustable Viewing Distance
Effects are scaled according to a viewing distance that you can specify. Viewing distances can be set for each firing position, allowing some effects to be fired up close, such as cakes and gerbs, while other effects can be set back further from the viewer.

Music in 8-bit or 16-bit WAV Format
For choreography applications, ShowSim can support scripting to music soundtracks recorded in either 8-bit or 16-bit WAV format. Sound data is streamed from your hard drive, so very large music files are not a problem.

Multiple Cue Naming Formats
Three cue naming formats are provided, allowing you to choose the format you are used to working with. These include the alpha-numeric format (example: A-1), the numeric-numeric format (exmaple: 1-1) and the PyroDigital hexadecimal format (example: 0F-1).

Adjustable Module and Cue Limits
Specify the maximum allowed module count and the cues allowed per module, preventing cue numbers from exceeding your hardware limitations.

Inventory Manager
The Inventory Manager panel is a central location where you can manage the way your inventory is organized, view statistics, update stock quantities, do cost analysis and other useful functions having to do with inventory items.

Show Product Removal
Rather than adjust inventory quantities while you build your show, ShowSim allows you to complete your show and then deduct it from inventory all at once when the show is completed and ready to fire. This method of inventory deduction also allows you to subtract the same show stock more than once, which is useful for “canned” shows that you may fire on a regular basis.

Show Product Replacement
ShowSim allows you to add the products consumed by a show back into inventory with a single button click. This feature is useful for replacing stock that was previously removed for a show that was rained out or canceled for some reason.

Inventory Editor
The Inventory Editor is where all items in your inventory groups are created and edited. A scrollable list similar to the Cue Editor is used to manage all information associated with each inventory item. In addition to stock number and effect description, each inventory item is assigned price, manufacturer, stock quantity, size, prefire time, weight and setback distances. These fields are necessary in order to take advantage of other features in ShowSim, such as dynamic cost tracking during show construction, safety reports and inventory stock alerts.

Inventory Alerts
Since the number of inventory items in your database can get very large and distributed into many groups, the task of checking for reorder status or missing data would be unmanageable if you had to do it by browsing items in the Inventory Editor one at a time. The Inventory Alert utility was created to make this task much easier and fully automated, giving you ten different kinds of alerts to choose from. These alerts are broken down into two basic types: inventory quantity checks and incomplete data entry checks.

Product Restock Alerts
Each inventory item is given a restock threshold when the item is added to inventory. When the quantity of an item falls below the restock threshold, a restock alert will be generated for the item.

Missing Data Alerts
Incomplete inventory data can cause false reports when doing cost analysis or even result in improper effect performance during simulation. Missing data alerts give you a way to search for incomplete data in your inventory so you can insure the integrity of your data.

Fast 2D Graphics Allow Complex Shows
ShowSim avoids the unnecessary complexity and speed requirements brought on by 3D simulations by employing simple yet effective 2D graphics. The reduced overhead resulting from 2D graphics means many more shells can be fired at once without bogging down your computer, allowing for more complex and dense segments in your shows.

ShowSim effects still appear to be 3D, as the pictures to the left reveal, even though they are technically 2D images. The shading, motion, velocity and other factors are controlled to give the illusion of depth and space without the computation intensive processing required by true 3D modeling.

Digitally Sampled Sound Effects
Realistic sounds sampled from real fireworks are used for lift, burst, crackle, crosettes, cake shots, salutes, whistles and other effects. Crank up the volume and get psyched for your next show!

Adjustable Sound & Music Volumes
The volume level for both music and sound effects can be adjusted independently, allowing you to lower the effect volume to account for further viewing distances. The sound can also be muted for both effects and music independently.

Video Playback Controls
Simulations are controlled using buttons similar to a standard VCR or DVD player. These include rewind, play, stop and a pause button that will freeze the current animation frame. A slider bar allows you to quickly adjust the play position anywhere you like, and also indicates the current play position of your show relative to the end of the show.

Full Screen Display Mode
During a simulation, clicking on the display area will toggle the view between full screen mode, which removes all the window control frames so that only the fireworks and background images are visible on an otherwise black screen. A special video record mode begins the show in full screen mode with a title screen delay, giving you time to start your recorder if burning a video for a sales presentation.

Start Simulating from Any Cue
Each cue in the cue list has a Test button that allows you to begin a simulation starting from that cue. Individual buckets and effects on each cue also have Test buttons for quickly viewing effects without actually playing the show.

Summary Report
This is a short report that gives some basic statistics for your show, such as location, date, duration, cue count, shell count etc. A Product Summary breaks the shell count down by size, and also includes the number of racks in each size that will be required to setup the show. The rack counts calculated by ShowSim take firing angles and locations into account in order to produce accurate rack counts that won’t leave you short in the field.

Product List
The product report gives a detailed listing of every effect needed to produce the show. The effects are listed by size in order from smallest to largest. The quantity of each effect required is listed, along with the product ID, size, type and description.

Setup List
Setup reports are used to assist crew members in setting up a show. There are three types of setup reports available, which represent how the mortar racks are to be organized: segment, module or position. The report you use will depend on how you organize the layout of your show. This report will give you a separate sub-report for each mortar group, which can then be handed off to the crews assigned to setup each position.

Chain List
Chain reports are used as a blueprint for constructing all the effect chains required by your show. In the case of computer fired shows where each effect is cued as a single shot, then the chain list will not contain any real chains and each effect will just be listed individually. For shows were every shot is e-matched like this, the chain report is not useful. However, for lower budget shows where many timer chains are used in order to lower the cue count, the chain list can be a valuable construction aid.

Firing Script
The Firing Script reports show the sequence of effects that will be fired in the show, listed in order of time. This type of report is more commonly used when manually firing a show using a switch panel. There are two varieties of firing scripts that can be printed: verbose and brief. The verbose report tells you the cue number, fire time, fire position and a description of what will be fired. The verbose reports will also note when the module needs to be changed, giving the operator an indicator for what module to switch to. The brief report only lists the cue number and the fire time, and does not give the module change indicators.