January 7, 2026 (4.2.1.9)

• Stability Improvements
• six new effects by Albert (Creative Edition & Pro)

December 17, 2025 (4.2.1.7)

FWsim Pro:

• Rack Placement Improvements
  • You can now define your own custom rack types for effects
  • When cues are chained, the chain will stay together during auto placement - FWsim will try to put all cues into the same cluster
    • and with a stepper that is set to “Single Channel” export, the same rule applies
  • When cues are chained, and there are “fixed” shell racks available, and the angles match exactly, then FWsim will prefer the fixed shell rack.
    • with a stepper that is set to “Single Channel” export, the same rule applies

December 11, 2025 (4.2.1.6)

• Bugfix to Google Earth Location Downloading - please install this update to keep using the “Real Location” feature
• Google Earth Location Downloading now faster

FWsim Pro:

• Effects Database:
  • You can now configure which columns go into which fields (e.g. Caliber, Rack Type). Use this to import your own Excel sheets of products
  • When you import new products, that are not in the library yet, they will be imported (with empty visualization). You can then go through them and add the visualization manually in the effect editor.

December 5, 2025 (4.2.1.4)

• 600+ new effects from German manufacturer Funke - including product lines Iskra, Argento and Albert.
• Rotation options in the “Edit” menu simplified and renamed
• New menu item and keyboard shortcut to flip around a cake (Creative & Pro)
• Bugfixes and Stability Improvements
• Effect Database: can now import / export more fields (Type, Subtype, Caliber, Rack Type) (Pro)

December 2, 2025 (4.2.1.1)

FWsim Pro:

• Explo GX2 supported - controlled via DMX or via the Explo Firing System
• Bugfixes and Stability Improvements

November 21, 2025 (4.2.1)

Better Plans and Racking

• CraigCo MinCom and Medusa Racks built in
• Explo Single-Shot Racks built in
• Support for fixed-angle shell racks and single shot racks. Use this for rack systems where the angle is predefined and cannot be changed.
• Single Shot Racks:
  • Can now configure specific max angle for the shots on the outside
  • When auto-placing, shots in single shot racks are arranged such that the most extreme angles are always on the outside.
• Rack PDF Export:
  • can now configure to use 2D diagrams or 3D
  • for chained cues, chain information is now displayed alongside the address
• Firing Plan PDF Export:
  • Chains are kept together in the timetable, with an indicator line on the left
• Per-Module Label Export:
  • New option to show effect name instead of pin number

New Effects

• 40 new effects from Jorge (Creative & Pro)
• New manufacturer: Bonfireworks (only in Pro)
• New effects added: the EMP product line from Blackboxx (only in Pro)

November 13, 2025 (4.2.0.3)

• Bugfix for FireOne users: Previously, FireOne export would produce incorrect files if an effect name contained quotes. This is now fixed.

November 6, 2025 (4.2.0.1)

• FWsim Standard Effects Library now better organized
• When certain cues produce errors during export, those cues are now highlighted in flashing red color in the timeline.

October 24, 2025 (4.2)

⭐ NEW: 3D Rack Management in FWsim Pro

This is our #1 most-requested feature from professionals. You can now manage your rack inventory, automatically generate 3D layouts, and export professional PDF reports, all directly inside FWsim. It’s a game-changer for show prep, designed to save you hours of work.

• Create your Rack Inventory
• Automatically produce a complete rack layout
• Auto-Address your Show, taking into account the racking information
• Manually place racks and edit the layout
• Print PDF plans including 3D diagrams

How to get started

• Video 1 - Getting Started with Racking in FWsim
• Video 2 - Advanced Racking Tips

Note for Basic & Creative Edition Users:

There are no new features for the hobbyist editions in this 4.2 update. This update brings your software up to the latest version number but does not change its functionality. Our development focus for this cycle has been entirely on the new racking functionality.

October 9, 2025 (4.1.2.15)

• More effects from Pyroland included - check out their new products!

October 3, 2025 (4.1.2.14)

• Effects Library
  • 187 new effects from German manufacturer Röder now in FWsim Pro & Creative Edition. Watch Video
  • New effects components: Now 563 different components available in FWsim Pro & Creative Edition.
• New shortcut to insert a music beat, directly from the show editor: CTRL+B
• Firing systems improvements in FWsim Pro:
  • Cobra: Can now specify Trigger Button and Trigger Channel
  • Liuyang Happiness Firing System: New version v3.0 now supported.
  • Parente Firemaster Firing System: Export improved

September 17, 2025 (4.1.2.10)

• Massive performance improvement: FWsim is now even faster and using less memory - especially on large shows.

September 10, 2025 (4.1.2.5)

• COBRA DMX export: FWsim no longer uses the “DMX Duration/Pulse Time” column. Each DMX cue now emits two rows: a start event that sets the channel value, and a reset event that returns the channel to 0 at the cue’s end.

September 4, 2025 (4.1.2.3)

This update improves usability and the handling of DMX devices:

• New option: “Reverse Order on Timeline” (CTRL + SHIFT + R). Use this when you make a stepper out of single cues and you want to reverse the order.
• The timeline now looks much better when you zoom out very far. Your show will look cleaner and it’s easier to make edits even at extreme zoom levels.
• DMX Device Bugfix - Fixed devices sometimes displaying on the wrong position when playing back the show in the 3D window.
• DMX addresses are now displayed in a more concise way. For example: “1/3ᴰ” means “Universe 1, Channel 3”.

August 28, 2025 (4.1.2.2)

• FWsim Pro Bugfix: In some cases, intermediate shots of steppers would not land on the proper position.

July 25, 2025 (4.1.2)

• Better thumbnail images
• Caliber is now shown on effect library items
• When multiple cues are selected in the show editor, you can CTRL+click on a circle in the 3D view to remove it from the current selection
• Piroshow system: New DMX format v2, and you can now define sections (read more about sections)

June 30, 2025 (4.1.1)

Significant Improvements to the Show Designer

• New “Favorites” sidebar. Select your favorite effects, then insert them with just a single click.
• Press TAB key to jump forwards to the next beat in the music
• When you move the playback cursor, it snaps to beats in the music and to existing cues on the timeline.
• You might have two cues overlap in the timeline by accident. If that happens, FWsim will make them transparent.
• Effect lines now indicate the actual height of the effect for shells.

FWsim Pro

• Important Change: In previous versions, FWsim would update the channels whenever you exported the show to a firing system. Now this is no longer done automatically, to give you better control over the process. The channels are only updated if you click the export menu and select “auto-assign channels”.
• “Multi Add” feature to insert multiple positions
• “Multi Rename” feature to rename all selected positions

June 9, 2025 (4.1.0.5)

• “Synchronize with Music” improved
• Copy & Paste improved:
  • You can now copy a sequence, and paste it into multiple positions (previously this was only possible with individual shots)
  • Previously, you needed to hover the mouse over the timeline to insert. Now, this is no longer necessary. Leave your mouse cursor out of the timeline area, and FWsim will paste there.
• Bugfixes and small usability improvements

May 22, 2025 (4.1.0.1)

FWsim 4.1 (all editions)

• Real location downloading is more stable and faster.
• Automatic detection of beats
• New star size: XXS

FWsim 4.1 (FWsim Pro)

• More than 2.000 new effects added to FWsim Collection. FWsim Pro now includes 6.382 realistic effects.
• 147 new effects from German manufacturer Pyroland Bothmer
• Effect library window: If you search by text, the search is performed in all data fields of an effects.
• Data Export: custom column “Index” removed, because it was ambigous. Replaced with “Cue Index”, which counts the firing impulses.
• Position adding:
  • New button to add multiple positions in a line or circle
  • New button to rename multiple positions quickly
• Labels Export simplified and improved: (video)
  • Better design
  • Now two formats instead of three: Per Effect, and Per Module
  • “Per Effect”: You can now adjust each data field
  • “Per Module”: Choose between a new 2D layout or the old Table layout
• Cobra: Better handling of modules 36M and 72M with multiple banks
• New DMX Devices:
  • Showven Sparkular BT01/BT02, UFlamer, UFlamer Max, UFlamer Max Plus
• Audio Export with SMPTE

FWsim 4.1 (Creative Edition)

• 147 new effects from German manufacturer Pyroland Bothmer

March 26, 2025 (4.0.1.5)

All editions:

• Fix: FWsim now always uses your high-performance graphics card (instead of onboard graphics)
• Updated Italian, Spanish and French translations. You can contribute to FWsim translations by clicking the Help menu.
• FWsim now displays a correct waveform if you load 24-bit audio files.

FWsim Pro:

• New print design for Labels
• New firing system: Voice Cues - use this if you have a manual firing system (with channels only, no modules) and wish to create an audio track for manual firing.
• New firing system: Parente Firemaster (still in beta - please let us know how this works for you)

March 2, 2025 (4.0.0.29)

• FWsim Pro Drone Show Improvements:
  • Colors are now more accurate
  • When drone LEDs are off, the drones are now completely invisible

February 16, 2025 (4.0.0.24)

Announcing FWsim v4

Watch Announcement Video

Features added to FWsim Pro:

• Table View can now be shown docked, above 3D window
• Select columns for Table View (right-click on the header)
• Graphical Module Configuration, directly in the 3D window
• Coordinate System is now shown at the proper height with Google Earth 3D environments

Features removed from FWsim Pro

We want to make FWsim Pro simple and easy to use. Therefore, we removed some features. This might require you to make changes to existing shows:

• In v3, you could put modules anywhere, and they would be connected with any position. In v4, every module must be associated with a position.
• The option “Put stepper elements on nearby positions” was removed.
• FWsim allows putting cues anywhere in the field, even when there is no position defined. In v4, such shows can no longer be exported to your firing system. Please put all cues on positions before exporting.

Show Editor Improvements (all editions)

• When zooming in on the timeline, FWsim now centers the zoom around the current cursor position.
• Video explaining Show Editor Improvements
• Better display of positions, with 3D cylinders - so you can better see where the positions actually are in 3D space
• Put steppers through multiple positions (this allows you, for example, to run a stepper in a circle)
• New “Fly Around” camera controls - more efficient & intuitive
• Comfortable angle selection in 3D window
• Select position first, then add cues
• Select multiple positions to add multiple cues
• In position setup mode, you can select multiple positions and move them together
• Stepper renamed “Sequence”
• Toolbox made smaller, so you have more space for your timeline
• Now using the CTRL key to select multiple items in the timeline, instead of SHIFT (to match the Windows standard)
• When pasting, cues are pasted onto the position that is selected in the 3D window
• You can copy shots from a single position, and paste them onto multiple other positions

Effects Improvements (all editions)

• More effects available in each edition
• Some old effects, which were of lower quality, are now hidden
• New effect components in FWsim Creative Edition & FWsim Pro
• Adjust gravity for stars
• New types of blinking
• More colors available
• Can now attach ascent effect components to rockets