The cue editor panel.

The information displayed for each cue in the cue list is only a partial listing of the data that can actually be assigned to each cue.  Double clicking on the cue list will display extra detail under the basic cue editing line, as seen below. The detail mode can be toggled by clicking the 'Detail' button on the cue line as well.  The detail editor allows more  flexibility in what can be assigned to each cue.  While most scripting software only allows one type of effect to be specified on each line of the cue list, ShowSim allows any number of different effects to be placed on one cue without using multiple cue entries in the listing. 

Cue information is organized into chains of effects, with each node on the chain referred to as a "bucket." A “bucket” is the field terminology for the paper sleeve that is used as a tie point when bringing seperate shell leaders together at one junction. The simplest chain consists of just a single effect on a single bucket, which would actually not even require a bucket in real life. Complex chains such as finale chains or salute chains can contain any number of buckets, resulting in a rapid fire sequence of effects.

The cue editor with detail panel opened.

The detail editor also supports the use of delay fuses between each bucket. These "timer chains," as they are called in the field, allow a timed sequence of effects to be triggered by a single e-match. This is most often done using time fuse tied into the chain between each bucket node, or using the newer PyroClock timing elements. The bucket editor allows you to specify a delay for each individual bucket, such that you could create a complex chain containing several different delay intervals. A special printed report is available that gives details for assembling each timer chain used in your show. The auto-generated cue names use a special naming convention that also indicates the chain configuration as "(E x B)", where B indicates the number of buckets and E indicates the number of effects on each bucket. The Time Line will display a dotted line for each delayed effect beyond the first one when displaying cue marker lines, making it easier to visually spot timer chains on the time graph.

The complexity of these additional features can be hidden for those users who only need to shoot one effect on each cue, but are still easily accessible when needed. The capabilities of the detail panel are discussed at more length here. If you usually only fire a single effect on each cue shot and never use timer chains, the detail view can be hidden to allow more of the cue list to be seen while working.

Creating New Cues:
When creating a new show, the cue list will be empty at first.  There are several ways to begin adding new cues to your show, depending on what process you prefer to use when designing shows.  Each method has advantages, thus becoming familiar with all the options will allow you to script more efficiently.

The Cue Editor, Time Line and Effect Browser are all designed to work together when scripting a show, so it is difficult to describe one without getting into the features of the others.  Since this section focuses on the Cue Editor, several links to these other areas are provided to quickly access more detail if needed.

Add Button- Using the Add button on the Cue Editor will create a blank cue at the current show position.  The current show position is the time indicated by the center yellow line in the Time Line panel.  This time can be adjusted by right-click scrolling the time line, holding down the Time Line arrow buttons or using the slider control on the bottom of the screen.  More information about using the Time Line can be found here.

Cues created using the Add button will not have any effects assigned to them, so this method requires the extra step of having to specify effects.  This can be done by either using the detail editor or by using the Effect Browser panel.  The Effect Browser method is the easiest way to add effects to an existing cue and is described here, while the detail panel is described here.

Drag-and-Drop- new cues can be created by dragging effects from the Effect Browser and dropping them onto the Cue Edit list.  When no lines are selected in the cue list, this will create a new cue at the current show time and also add the selected effect to that cue all in one operation. If one or more items are selected in the cue list, then dragging effects onto the list will replace the effects used by the selected items rather than creating a new item. All selections can be cleared by clicking the upper left corner button, which has no label.

The Effects tab of the Effect Browser has a size and position field that will control what size and where the new effect will be fired from.   The Inventory tab is similar, except there is no need for the Size indicator since each inventory effect already has a fixed size assigned to it.

In addition to dragging effects onto the cue list, you can drag them onto the bucket or effect lists as well. When an effect is dropped onto the bucket list, a new bucket will be created that contains the new effect. When dropping effects onto the effect list, the effect will replace whatever effects are selected in the list. If no effects are selected, then the dropped effect will be added to the effect list as a new effect.

Effect List Add Button- when the Add button of the effect list is clicked, whatever effect is selected in the Effect Browser will be added as a new effect.

Effect Browser +C, +B and +E Buttons- The button bar menu of the effect browser contains three buttons that can be used to transfer the selected effect into your show. The +C button will add the effect as a new cue at the current show position. The +B button will create a new bucket on the currently selected cue, then add the new effect onto that bucket. The +E button will simply add the effect to the effect list of the currently selected bucket of the active cue. Note that these three buttons perform the same operations as the drag-n-drop operation over the cue, bucket or effect lists and are provided as short-cuts.

Time-Line Double-Click- to use this method for creating new cues, first select the desired effect in ether the Inventory or Effects tab of the Effect Browser.  Make sure the size and location fields are set to the desired values, then double click on the Time Line at the exact time you want the shell to be placed.  If the Time Line is in prefire-time mode, which is indicated by blue cue markers, then double-clicking the cue into place will back-calculate the actual firing time of the shell such that it’s burst time will occur where you clicked.  If the Time Line is in the fire-time mode, as indicated by red cue markers, then you will be double-clicking the actual firing time of the cue.

NOTE: the cue list can display both fire times or shell-burst times in the time column, independent of weather the Time Line is showing fire times or burst times.  If the “use burst times” checkbox is selected, then the time field will represent when the first effect on a given cue will burst.  If the box is left unchecked, then the actual fire time of the cue is displayed.  When showing burst times, keep in mind that the list order may not always match the firing order.  For example, if a shell with a 3 second prefire time is fired on A-1, then a mine is fired on A-2 two seconds later, the list will show A-2 before A-1 when sorted by time if viewing burst times.

Clone Button- this method for creating new cues involves making an exact duplicate of an existing cue.  This will create a new cue with an exact copy of the effects and settings used on whatever cue is selected in the list prior to the Clone operation.  The new cue will be placed at the same position as the cue being cloned.

Copy-Paste Buttons- if you want to clone a specific cue more than one time, with the new cues being placed in several different locations, then the best way is to use the Copy button to place the cue into the clipboard.  Once in the clipboard, the Paste button can be used to create a new cue with the same settings as many times as you want.  The new cue will be placed at the current show position rather than the position of the original cue being copied.  The Clipboard does not need to be visible on screen in order to use this operation, since Paste will always reproduce the last item captured with the Copy button.  However, more than one cue can be copied into the Clipboard and retained for re-use.  For more information about using the Clipboard functionality found in the Effect Browser, read here.

NOTE: Cue items can be copied to the clipboard from one show and then pasted into a different show, providing an easy means of reusing show segments between different shows. When the firing position locations share the same name descriptions between the source and target shows, the pasted cues will re-map to the correct firing positions automatically in the new show.

Recording Session- this method of cue placement is most commonly used when scripting shows to music, but works equally well for non-musicals also.  The cues are actually “dropped” in real time while the designer is listening to the music.  The idea is to quickly lay down blank cues to serve as markers where pyrotechnic events need to occur, then worry about choosing the actual effects later.

Recording sessions are initiated from the Time Line by clicking the button with the red dot.  This will begin playing the music and scrolling the music graph.  Blank cues are dropped by either left-clicking the mouse on the Time Line graph or by hitting the space bar on the keyboard.  Any effects that are already assigned to the show will also play in the simulator while the recording session is running.