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ShowSim is designed to operate independent of any specific firing system hardware, allowing you to script shows for a variety of different firing systems without actually having to purchase scripting software specific to each system. This hardware independence means you only have to train yourself on one scripting application to have the ability to create shows that will run on any hardware system. The data resulting from scripts created in ShowSim can be exported directly into the native file formats required by industry standard hardware such as PyroDigital, FireOne, Pyromate and Q-fire systems.
 



Exporting Show Data
Hardware compatibility is achieved by exporting the show data created in ShowSim into the desired file format that can be loaded by your firing system software. ShowSim does not interface directly with firing hardware to fire your shows, you still need the software sold by your firing system manufacturer which is designed to actually send the data out to the hardware during the show. Some firing systems have embedded computers that fire the show without the use of any software running on a PC, such as PyroDigital, Monetti and some PyroMate systems. In these cases ShowSim can upload the data directly into the show controller without the need for any additional software.

For example, if you are using a FireOne firing system, you would still need the FireOne software that fires the show, but you could use ShowSim to replace the need for ScriptMaker, CueMaker and FireVoice. For PyroMate systems that require a PC to fire the show, you would still need to purchase the SmartShow software in order to actually fire the show. ShowSim is used as the starting point in the show creation process, providing a powerful and feature-rich working environment that can produce both sales presentations and finished script files which can then be transferred to firing software or directly uploaded into some systems.

ShowSim can also be useful for converting shows between different firing systems, such as in the case where someone scripted your show in FireOne and then it turns out you need to fire it on a PyroMate system. The FireOne format can be imported into ShowSim, then exported out to PyroMate format in order to quickly convert the data without having to re-script the show.

Importing 3rd Party Data
While exporting shows from ShowSim into native hardware formats is a critical feature, ShowSim also allows you to import scripts and inventory databases created by other applications. If you have pre-existing scripts created in other applications that you would like to transfer into ShowSim, importing the data directly can save considerable setup time. Following an import, the only tasks left to do are firing position setups and effect assignments.

Importing an existing Inventory database created in another application can likewise save you considerable amounts of time when making the transition to ShowSim. Like show imports, inventory imports will still require the manual assignment of effect types after the import is complete.

Continued Development
The addition of new hardware support as customer needs arise is an ongoing development effort at Passfire Labs. If your hardware is not supported by ShowSim, then our developers will work with you to determine your required data format and add it to the list of supported hardware. New Import and Export plug-ins are generally a simple matter to develop, after which they are made available via online upgrades that can be downloaded free of charge.