Re-Firing Cues and Pulse Times in Scripting

Re-firing of cues is when a cue on a module fires multiple times during your script. A variable pulse time is when you control how long that cue is receiving power from the firing module. For example, you may want channel 01 to fire at script time 1m30s for 3 seconds and at 1m52s for 10 seconds, depending on your firing requirements.

Note: Re-firing and variable pulse time functionality is not supported on 18M Hardware A.

Re-firing and variable pulse times are used commonly when controlling devices such as flame projectors, cryo jets, and other SPFX hardware devices. COBRA also supports direct DMX integration for common SPFX applications such as lights, flame, and cryo. See Introduction to COBRA DMX for more information.

Firmware Versions

Re-firing and variable pulse times have varying support across firmware versions. We recommend using firmware 6.0 or higher.

Firmware 6.0+ — COBRA supports re-firing of cues and variable pulse times for unlimited channels and cues within the first (primary) script in the COBRA script file. Any scripts beyond the first do not support variable pulse times; however, they do support re-firing with a maximum of no more than two channels firing within any 0.4 second window. This limitation exists because the 18R2 executes secondary scripts in real time instead of preloading them to modules.

Firmware 7.0+ (Multi-Script Support) — Re-firing is supported in all scripts. Variable pulse time behavior is unchanged from 6.0: it applies within the primary script; secondary scripts remain subject to the ≤2-channels-per-0.4s real-time execution limit.

Firmware 5.1 or lower — Variable pulse times are not supported. Re-firing is only supported on scripts beyond the first (primary) and remains limited to no more than two channels in any 0.4 second window.

How to Re-Fire Cues

To re-fire cues, add another event to your script that uses the same channel/cue combination at the desired time.

How to Set Pulse Times

Set pulse time by using column F in Excel, the Pulse Time column in COBRA Show Creator, or the Duration column in Finale 3D. Acceptable values are 0 to 20.0 seconds in 0.1-second increments (e.g., 10.1).

When creating or exporting scripts, select firmware version 6.0 (or higher) in COBRA Show Creator, Finale 3D, or any compatible software.

Leaving the pulse time blank causes the module to use its e-Match or Talon/Clip-on Igniter mode default.

For example, using COBRA Show Creator, you can set Pulse Time per event. This can also be set within the script format of any .csv file created by Excel or other text editors.

System Limits that Affect Re-Fire

Re-firing is constrained by total events capacity. The system does not track a separate “re-fire count;” each re-fire is just another event. Keep these limits in mind:

• 18R2: Maximum 3,600 events per program. If exceeded, the remote shows Error Code 6 and the program will not load.
• 36M/72M & 18M (Hardware B): < 400 events per channel. Events beyond this per-channel capacity will not execute.
• 18M (Hardware A): 18 total events per module. A hardware does not support variable pulse or re-fire features.