Understanding Firing Resolution and Timing Limits

Whether you’re manually firing in Free-Shoot or running a fully automated Show, knowing how IGNITE handles timing between cues is key to smooth, consistent performance. This guide explains how firing resolution, timing gaps, and power limits affect your results.

In this article

What Is Firing Resolution (Firing Speed)?
How Does This Impact My Show?
Free-Shoot: Manual Firing Limitations
Shows: Automated Show Limitations

What Is Firing Resolution (Firing Speed)?

Firing resolution refers to how quickly the IGNITE system can launch one cue after another. From one module to the next, IGNITE can fire cues as fast as 1/10th of a second. When firing multiple cues in a row from the same module, however, a short pause is needed to keep everything safe and reliable.

IGNITE modules have two firing modes: 2.0-second and 0.1-second resolution. For this article, we’ll focus on the 2.0-second mode, which works with the clip-on igniters sold by IGNITE.

For more information on these different modes, see Can I Control the Duration of My Module’s Firing Pulse?

How Does This Impact My Show?

In 2.0-second firing resolution, each cue sends a 2-second burst of power to the clip-on igniter. This gives the igniter enough energy and time to reliably light your firework’s fuse. This process burns away the small wire inside your clip-on igniter.

If you fire another cue during the same 2-second window, both igniters briefly share the same power path. Since the wire in the first igniter is now gone, electricity takes the easier route back to the module instead of flowing through the next igniter.

Simply put: if you fire a second cue too quickly, the first igniter can steal the power, meaning the next one may not light.

You can avoid this by leaving at least a 2-second gap between cues fired from the same module. This ensures each igniter gets a full, clean burst of power and keeps your show firing reliably.

Maximum firing capacity also plays a role. Even with perfect timing, a low battery or too many igniters on one module can cause misfires. Make sure your batteries are fully charged, and refer to What Is the Maximum Firing Capacity with IGNITE Firing System Breakout Boards? for detailed guidance.

Tip:

If you notice misfires during big sequences, check how your cues are distributed across modules before changing timing. Power limits are often the cause.

Free-Shoot: Manual Firing Limitations

When firing a cue from the Free-Shoot screen, you’ll see the “Firing cue # (waiting 15 seconds)” message pop up.

This message stays on your screen until the module reports back that the cue was successfully fired. Once the message disappears, you can select and fire your next cue.

Don’t worry—it won’t actually take 15 seconds. That’s just how long the app waits for the module to confirm the cue fired. If the module doesn’t respond in that time, the app lets you try again or move on to the next cue.

This short delay is normal, but if you want to fire multiple modules at the exact same time with no wait, use the Free-Shoot: Fire Multiple Modules screen via the red button in the bottom right.

For step-by-step instructions, see How to Fire Multiple Modules at the Same Time with IGNITE Firing Systems.

Warning:

The 2-second firing gap between cues on the same module still applies, even if the waiting message disappears before 2 seconds are up.

Shows: Automated Show Limitations

When creating a show in IGNITE Show Designer, your modules follow the same 2-second delay between cue firings from the same module.

By default, IGNITE Show Designer will provide a warning when two cues on the same module are set to fire within the same 2.0-second pulse by highlighting both events in red, as shown below. Hovering your cursor over the highlighted events displays the warning message in the top-right corner.

If you want to fire cues in a tightly timed sequence, you can fire as quickly as 1/10th of a second—but only across multiple modules.

In this example, events 1–6 all happen within 0.1 seconds of each other. The warning appears when event 7 is set to 0.6 seconds, because it’s less than 2 seconds after cue 1 fired on the same module.

By contrast, event 8 is set to 2.6 seconds, so no warning appears. There’s a full 2-second gap between this event and the previous cue on the same module.

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