Export to Firelinx

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Firelinx is a manufacturer of firing systems based in Orlando, Florida. The Firelinx system was originally developed for stunt shows in 1993.

Firelinx Generation 3 offers a wide range of features including:

To export a show to the Firelinx system, please follow these steps:

  1. Create a new show or open an existing one.
  2. Under the “Export” tab on the right, select the Firelinx system.
  3. Under the “Modules” tab, create enough modules for all cues. Per default, cues are connected to the nearest module. However, you can also associate modules with specific firing positions.
  4. Click Export -> “Export for Firing System” and select a filename. FWsim will generate module and pin numbers automatically and create a Firelinx .csv file. If there are any problems (e.g. too few modules), FWsim will alert you.
  5. Copy the CSV file to a USB drive, and attach the USB drive to the Firelinx Command Module.
  6. On your Firelinx Command Module, load the show as explained in this Firelinx Tutorial Video

How to Synchronize Music with your Firelinx show

The Firelinx system accepts SMPTE timecode input. If you want to play stereo music and synchronize it to your display, you can use a multi-channel audio player. This allows you to play the SMPTE timecode on one channel, and simultaneously send a stereo signal to the PA system.

Here’s a more in-depth explanation provided by the team at Firelinx:

“Firelinx can either fire based on user-initiated firing (press the FIRE button), or based on SMPTE time being streamed into the Command Module (CM), (still requires the user to press FIRE to initiate, but the firing time is based on the SMPTE time). Generally speaking, if someone is firing a show with an audio track for Firelinx, they have an audio SMPTE track playing with the audio as well to synchronize the two. A few versions of that is playing the audio on the LEFT track of the audio file, SMPTE on the right – one line goes to the audio guys, the other line plugs into the CM. There are also 4-track audio players (such as the Roland R-44E that a lot of our customers use) to allow them to play stereo audio and the SMPTE at the same time. All that matter is what ‘time’ the shot is being fired at. If you say the first shot is at 10 seconds, and you user-initiate the firing (known as RTC – Real Time Clock – firing) then the shell will go off 10 seconds after you press it. If the choreography is based on SMPTE, then when the audio signal says ‘10’ is when the firing will occur, regardless of when you pressed the firing button. RTC firing works for most users, though they are not choreographing exactly to the music. If they want to shell to break at the exact right time in the audio, they use the SMPTE method to ensure the audio the guests hear and the timing of the shot are in sync.”