Effect browser, cue editor and time line panels.

The title of your show will appear at the very top of the window next to the ShowSim logo, and you will also notice some additional buttons now appear on the button bar.  There are three ways to start playing an active show: pressing the play button on the show control bar at the bottom of the screen, pressing the play button on the Time Line window or selecting a cue in the Cue Editor and clicking the Test button.  The play buttons will begin playing from whatever the current show position is, whereas the Test button will begin playing from the selected cue time.  The yellow line at the center of the Time Line graph represents the current play position.  Everything to the left of this line represents past events, while everything to the right shows future events.

NOTE: when a show is started, effects that were fired prior to the start time will not appear, even if their break times appear after the start time.  The best way to insure that the show starts with the effect you are interested in is to use the Test button in the Cue Editor.

Effect browser and cue editor hidden during playback.

When a show is played, all windows except for the Time Line window will hide themselves so that you can view the show.  The Time Line window will stay open so that you can view the scrolling music and cue markers.  The time line window can be moved around or resized during live play, or you can close it to free up the entire visible display area.

The slider bar on the show control bar will slowly move forward as the show progresses, showing you the current position relative to the entire show duration.  You can grab the slider knob at any time and drag it left or right to reposition the show forward or backward, even while the show is playing.

NOTE: when repositioning a show that is playing, cakes or timer chains that have already been fired will continue to fire until they run their course, thus overlapping effects at the new position.  It is better to start your show from the desired position rather than scrolling to it during live play.

Custom arrangement of editor panels.

A show will continue to play until both the end of the music soundtrack and the last cue in the show has been fired.  For shows without a soundtrack, the show will stop after the last effect on the last cue is fired.  Once the show is stopped, the Cue Editor and Effect Browser windows will automatically reappear if they were open at the time the show was played.

Note that all the windows used in ShowSim can be resized and repositioned into any configuration that works best for you.  The size, location and settings of most windows will be saved so that the next time you open the window it will appear the same way you left it.

The customizable windows in ShowSim allow you to create a variety of working layouts in addition to the default layout.  For example, the layout shown above can be used if you like a full screen width Time Line at the expense of a shorter Effect Browser listing.  The example below shows a narrower full-width Time Line that is located at the bottom of the screen instead of at the top.  While this may be more natural for those used to working with other choreography programs that locate their time lines at the bottom, it has the disadvantage of covering up the low level portions of your shows when playing them.

Using a thinner, full length time line at bottom location.