Export to Firing Systems (FWsim Pro)

FWsim Pro can export your show data to a variety of firing systems (see list of supported systems).

Preparing a show for data export

When creating a new show, FWsim Pro asks you which firing system to use. You can change that later in the sidebar.

With most firing systems, FWsim Pro can generate the channel assignment for you.

First, add enough modules in the “Modules” tab in the sidebar. Then drag each module to the appropriate firing position in the 3D window. The module number will be displayed next to the name of the firing position. For example:

In the “export” sidebar, you can also define whether to export a stepper as one firing impulse (with the other shots connected pyrotechnically), or if you want to export one firing impulse per shot:

This setting can also be changed for each stepper individually. In order to do that, click the stepper and go back to the “Export” tab in the sidebar.

Automatic channel assignment

To assign channels, click Export → “Auto-Address”. Channel assignments are not updated automatically when you export.

Channel assignment can be customized through a variety of options:

By using Stepper cues, and the “One Channel” or “Multiple Channel” option (see below).
By chaining cues (see below).
You can also define some channels manually and “lock” them, so that they are not overwritten by FWsim. This allows you to set some channels manually and have others be auto-generated.
In the sidebar under “Export”, FWsim can be configured to assign pins in a certain order. This is useful for better cable management in the field. For example, you may want to have cues sorted by time, by caliber, or alphabetically.
FWsim can also combine cues into one channel if they are fired roughly at the same time. For some firing systems, this is done automatically based on the limitations of the system. To change that behaviour, open the Sidebar, find “Settings for this show”, scroll down, and click the button “Advanced Settings”.

Steppers and Channels

In the sidebar of the main window, under “Export”, you can define the default stepper export setting for this show:

One Channel - only the first channel of a stepper will receive an address
Multiple Channels - every shot of the stepper will receive an address.

How to run a stepper through multiple positions

When creating a stepper, FWsim can automatically put the individual stepper shots on the correct positions. This is important for automatic channel assignment and for exporting plans. In order to make that work, you’ll need to follow a few guidelines:

Make sure that your positions are on one line, with equal distance between them.
In the sidebar (on the right side of the show editor), under “Export”, activate the option “Put Stepper elements on nearby positions”
Your stepper count must match the number of positions. For example, if you have 9 positions next to each other, then your stepper must have count 3, 5 or 9 (so that every element is exactly on one position).

When you follow these guidelines, FWsim will recognize that each individual stepper shot belongs to a specific position. If you have an unusual case in which these instructions do not work, please let us know.

Splitting Rails across Different Positions

When a single module is shared between multiple positions, you may want to control exactly which rails (or pin ranges) are used for each position. This prevents all cues from being assigned to the same rail regardless of their position.

In the Export tab, add a module and set the number of channels and pins per rail.
Drag the module to the first position to connect it. Then drag from the same module again to connect it to a second position.
Click on a position connection (e.g. “Pos. A”). In the window that opens, set the pin from and pin to fields to restrict which rail and pins are used for that position. For example, set “1.1” to “1.16” to use rail 1 only.
Repeat for the other position. For example, set “2.1” to “2.16” for rail 2 and add another line for “3.1” to “3.16” for rail 3.
You can also restrict pin assignment by angle or by effect type if needed.
Run Export > Auto-Assign Channels to apply the settings. The table view will confirm that each position uses only its designated rails.

Chains

You may want to connect some cues pyrotechnically - so that several cues receive only one channel on the firing system.

To do that, you can chain several cues together. By chaining cues, only one firing impulse will be generated in the exported data. The chains will be illustrated in the timeline with arrows.

You can chain cues together in several ways:

Right-click the first cue in the timeline, and select “Chain Cues”. Then click the cue you want to chain it with. (The very first cue in the chain will receive a channel, the next cues will not)
Alternatively, select an entire group of cues in the timeline. Then right-click and click “Chain Cues”.
Instead of right-clicking, you can also use the keyboard shortcut: CTRL+D.

After creating the chain, select Export → “Auto-Address” and the channels will be updated.

Chain types in detail: Flexible, Fixed-Interval and Pre-Fab

FWsim Pro offers powerful features for handling chains. There are three kinds, covered below: flexible chains, created directly on the timeline with arbitrary timing; fixed-interval chains, which enforce a specific timing; and pre-fab chains, where you save the entire assembly (the chain and all the effects attached to it) to your effects library so it can be re-used and inserted into other shows. The end of the section gives guidance on which type to use.

Flexible chains

To create a simple connection on the timeline, select your shots, right-click, choose Connect Cues and select the flexible option. You can also press CTRL+D for quick access to this menu.

When you then run auto-addressing from the Export menu, only the first shot receives a channel on the firing system; the remaining shots in the chain do not.

The spacing between the cues can be changed at any time, which is why they are called flexible chains. Flexible chains can also be created between cues on different positions. This is the only chain type that allows that.

In the PDF export, flexible chains are specially marked (with circle and arrow symbols shown to the left of the entry), and FWsim keeps the chained cues together.

Fixed-interval chains

Fixed-interval chains mirror the real fused chains you can buy from manufacturers, which come at a fixed interval such as 5 × 1 s.

To create one, select several shells that are all on the same position, right-click and choose Connect Cues, then pick one of the fixed-interval options (for example “5 × 1 s”). Shells that were previously spaced irregularly immediately jump to match the interval defined on the chain.

Once a fixed-interval chain is applied:

You cannot move the individual shells earlier or later in time. You can, however, move them up or down to organise them visually.
You can replace individual effects within the chain.
Grab the blue bar to move the entire chain around on the timeline.
Drag the circle in the 3D view to move the entire chain to another position.
You can copy and paste the whole assembly from one position to another. To do this, select only the single blue chain cue (not the shells beneath it); all the shells under it are copied and pasted along with it.

In the PDF export, fixed-interval chains get the same special markings as flexible chains. In addition, a summary of all the fixed-interval chains used in the show is listed at the bottom of the export.

If you use fuses with intervals that are not in the built-in list, you can define your own. See Defining your own chain fuses.

Pre-Fab chains

The chains above are built directly on the timeline. If you instead want a reusable chain, including its specific effects, saved as a single library item, use a pre-fabricated (pre-fab) chain.

Note: We previously recommended to use a Cake in the effects editor to replicate prefab chains. As of 2026, this is no longer the recommended approach - we suggest you create prefab chains instead. If you previously used cakes for this purpose, please find instructions here on how to move over to the new system.

To create one, select several effects on the same position, right-click and make a standard chain, choosing either flexible timing or one of the fixed-interval options. Then select the entire assembly, right-click and choose Save to Library as Pre-Fab Chain. You can now insert this pre-fab into any of your shows.

A pre-fab behaves as one saved product:

You cannot replace its individual shells, because it is a single saved item. To change its contents, edit the pre-fab in the effect editor.
The pre-fab remembers the angles you built into it, but you remain free to change those angles in the show editor.
You can give the entire pre-fab its own price information.

In the PDF export, there are three things to know about pre-fab chains:

The pre-fab chain shows up like other chains in the firing table.
It appears in the “Chains” section of the export, marked as a prefab.
It is priced as a single item and appears as one entry in your used-effects list, with its contents listed below it.

Which chain type should you use?

Flexible chains - when you want the timing to stay changeable, or when the chain may span different positions.
Fixed-interval chains - when you need to guarantee a specific timing and want a chain-building report in the export.
Pre-Fab chains - when you want to save a chain and reuse it across multiple shows as a single library item.

If you previously used cakes to build pre-fab chains…

If you used cakes in the effect editor to simulate pre-fab chains, you will have encountered the following disadvantages:

The angles are fixed in the cake, and cannot be changed in the cake editor
You cannot use the racks editor properly (it cannot give the one cake several shell mortars)

To switch over to the new prefab system, please do this:

Make sure you, and everyone on your team, have upgraded to FWsim Pro v4.4
In FWsim, Open the effect library window by clicking “Add Single Cue”
Find your cakes, one by one
Right-click them and select “Convert to Pre-Fab Chain”
A new copy of your effect will be created that is named identically, but has “(Pre-Fab)” attached to the name.
For any new shows that you create, pick the “(Pre-Fab)” item to insert a prefab. Your chain will now be inserted as multiple items, and you can change the angle of each one in the timeline.
Older shows will not be changed - they still reference the previous cake-based item that you created.

Defining your own chain fuses for fixed-interval chains

When you select several cues and right-click “Chain Cues”, FWsim offers a list of pre-defined chain fuses - for example “5 × 2 s”, which connects five cues with a fixed 2-second delay between each shot. These pre-defined chains correspond to real-world fused chain products (sometimes called “delays” or “retards”), so that the timing in your show matches the product you actually fire.

FWsim ships with a set of standard chain fuses, but you can also define your own - for instance to match the exact products offered by your supplier.

To do that, create a plain text file named chains.txt and place it in your effects folder. This is usually “Documents” - “FW-Sim” but may be different if you changed the locations under “Custom Effect File Storage Locations” in the preferences (see sharing your inventory). Each line in the file describes one chain, using this format:

ID|Description|Intervals

For example:

MY-CHAIN-3x1|3 × 1 s|1 1 1
MY-CHAIN-5x2|5 × 2 s|2 2 2 2 2
U505928|CHAINE 5 RETARDS A 2s|2 2 2 2 2

The three fields are separated by the pipe character (

ID - a unique identifier for the chain. It must not be empty. If your supplier provides article numbers, this is a good place for them, because the ID can be shown on labels and in exports.
Description - the text shown in the “Chain Cues” menu. Keep it short. So that it reads correctly in every language, we recommend avoiding words: “5 × 2 s”, for example, looks right everywhere.
Intervals - the delays in seconds, separated by spaces, with one number per shot in the chain. Use a dot as the decimal separator (for example 1.5). The number of values also determines how many cues the chain connects.

You can optionally append extra data after the intervals, again separated by pipes, as key=value pairs - for example a price or a product reference:

U505928|CHAINE 5 RETARDS A 2s|2 2 2 2 2|Reference=U505928|Price=6.78

A few things to keep in mind:

The file must be named exactly chains.txt and must sit directly inside an effects folder, not in a sub-folder.
If a description or value needs to contain a pipe ( | ), an equals sign ( = ) or a backslash ( \ ), put a backslash in front of it ( \| , \= , \\ ).
Restart FWsim after editing the file for your changes to take effect.

Automatic Cue Combining

When working on large shows, manually chaining every pair of simultaneous cues can be time-consuming. FWsim offers a fully automatic alternative: the Combine Cues feature.

To enable it, go to the sidebar, find “Settings for this show”, scroll down, and click “Advanced Settings”. Here you can enable the “Combine Cues” option and set a timing window — for example, 5 milliseconds.

When you then run Auto-Address, FWsim will automatically combine any cues on the same position that fall within that timing window onto a single channel. This can save dozens or even hundreds of channels on a large-scale pyromusical, without requiring you to create chains by hand.

Use manual chaining when you need precise control over specific cues, and automatic combining when you want to optimize the entire show efficiently.

Manual Channel Assignment

To assign channels manually, click a cue and select the “Export” tab in the sidebar.

For a stepper, this tab will look like this:

For a single shot, you will get the following display:

You can enter the address in several different formats. For example, to enter “Module 2, Pin 5”, you can type “2/5” or “2.5”. As soon as you enter an address manually, a lock will apear. The lock means that this address can no longer be changed by the automatic channel assignment. This is useful when you want to use automatic channel assignment, but set some specific channels manually.

If you don’t want the lock, click it and the channel will be unlocked again. During the next automatic channel assignment, ths channel assignment will be overwritten without confirmation.

Sections (Semi-Automatic Firing)

Some firing systems support “sections”: After each sequence is fired, the system pauses and waits for a button press before continuing. This is also known as “Semiautomatic Firing”. FWsim can currently export sections to the following firing systems:

Cobra, Firelinx, FireOne, Firetek (old format), Firetek New Format (v4 or newer), Firetek USB Transfer (old modules only), Piroshow, Pyromac, Pyroneo, RFRemotech

If your firing system is not listed and you want to export sections, please contact us.

In order to create a sequence:

Position the playback cursor wherever you want your sections to start
Click Export → Start New Section
Enter a name for the section or just press ENTER if you don’t need a name
The section start will show up as a text comment in the timeline, ending with “>>”. For example, if you entered the section name “Cake Sequence”, then there will be a text comment “Cake Sequence >>”.
You can change the section name at any time simply by editing the text comment. Make sure the “>>” at the end of the comment remain in place.

Assigning a Channel to Music

Many firing systems offer a dedicated music player. Usually, this player is its own module and starts the music when firing channel 1.

There are two ways of assigning a channel to music:

Automatic (always on module 50)

Create a module with one channel. The module must have module nr 50.
Click your Music in the timeline, and activate “Assign Channel”.
When you then auto-assign channels, the music will always be put on Module 50, Channel 1.

Manual

Create a module with one channel. It can have any module number.
Click your Music in the timeline, select the “Data Export” tab on the right and activate “Assign Channel”.
In the box below, enter your module and channel number.

SMPTE Timecode Export

Some pyrotechnic firing systems support synchronization with SMPTE timecode. The firing system listens to an incoming timecode signal and plays the show based on that time basis. The timecode is an audio signal containing the current show time in a digitally encoded format.

This provides an elegant way to synchronize your show with music: the SMPTE timecode goes on the left audio channel and is sent to the firing system, while the music goes on the right channel and is sent to the speakers.

FWsim can create this combined audio file for you. Click Export and select “Music and SMPTE”. The resulting file will have the digital time signal on the left channel and your music on the right channel.

Which frame rate does my firing system need?

The export asks you for the frame rate of the timecode. Firing systems differ here: some accept several frame rates, others only ever work with one, and sending the wrong one means your show does not run in sync. The following table lists the systems for which we could verify the requirement in the manufacturer’s own documentation. The last column links to that source, so you can check it yourself.

Firing system	SMPTE frame rate	How the timecode gets in	What the manufacturer says
Cobra	30 FPS (this rate only)	RCA audio port on the 18R2 (SMPTE upgrade kit), music on the left channel and timecode on the right	COBRA’s help center states that COBRA supports the 30 FPS SMPTE format and that the 18R2 takes the timecode feed through an RCA audio port. (Source)
Explo X2	24 / 25 / 30 FPS	Explo Timecode Modem on the TX2 transmitter; one stereo channel can carry the timecode and the other the music	The X2 manual states the frame rate of the SMPTE TC signal can be changed between 24, 25 and 30 fps; the Timecode Modem reads SMPTE and is made for the TX2 transmitters. (Source)
Firelinx	24 / 25 / 29.97 / 30 FPS	audio input, uncompressed WAV - timecode on one stereo channel, music on the other	The Firelinx FAQ: Firelinx supports 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps SMPTE and has to be configured for the rate you send; it also insists on WAV rather than MP3. (Source)
fireTEK	24 / 25 / 30 FPS	RCA connector (timecode in and out)	The FTQ-99Sx specifications give the timecode input format as “24fps, 25fps and 30fps Autodetect”, output as 25 or 30 fps, “In and Out via RCA connector”, for SMPTE LTC. (Source)
Galaxis	25 FPS (this rate only)	SMPTE input socket of the PFC Advanced, fed with the timecode as an audio signal	The PFC Advanced manual titles its timecode chapter “SMPTE-Zündmodus (Timecode SMPTE 25fps)” and even explains why it is 25 fps. (Source)
Pyromac	24 / 25 / 30 FPS	SMPTE-in on the Synchronizer, balanced or unbalanced (XLR3 combo jack)	The Synchronizer’s specifications list “SMPTE at 24, 25, 30 FPS” and a balanced/unbalanced SMPTE input. (Source)
PyroNeo	24 / 25 / 29 / 30 FPS	SMPTE socket of the Commander - the wiki says the recorded timecode has to be fed in as an audio signal	The PyroNeo wiki: the Commander can use SMPTE timecode in 24, 25, 29 and 30 FPS (drop or non-drop) and detects the format automatically. (Source)

If your system is not in this table, that does not mean it cannot use SMPTE timecode - it only means we could not confirm all the details from a manufacturer source. Please check the manual of your firing system for the frame rate it expects.

If you are using a Cobra firing system, set the Timecode option to “timecode1” or “timecode2” when exporting your Cobra script. With timecode1, the system continues firing if the timecode signal is lost. With timecode2, a loss of signal stops the show.

Firing system export

Click Export → “Export to Firing System” to export your show to the previously defined system. We have more specific instructions available for some systems - please check our (list of supported systems).

My firing system is not supported by FWsim

If your system is not supported yet, there are two things you can do:

send us a message and let us know what system you would like to use. We are always interested in supporting more systems.
You could use the CSV export, and try to make it work for your firing system. You could also export via CSV and then shuffle the data around with Microsoft Excel or other software. If you need help, please let us know.