FireShow is a 3D fireworks display design and visualization software developed in C++ and OpenGL. Inspired by professional tools like FWsim and Finale 3D, this project allows designers to create, synchronize, and visualize complex pyrotechnic effects in a real-time 3D environment.
Do you have any idea if either FWsim or Finale 3D were implicated in any of the “all at once” firing errors (some may say enhancement?) that affected e.g. San Diego 2012 or Oban 2011 displays ?
Is there any protection against this kind of problem in FireShow ?
Someone I know in that industry described the San Diego event as being the result of playback scrubbing; by either dragging or accidentally clicking somewhere on the timeline. Obviously heard second hand, but its a close community so I generally trust it - Wikipedia says it was a corrupted file
They describe here [1] that somehow two sets of instructions were generated, but that doesn't really make sense why that would cause zero delays between cues
I spent a couple years doing pyro shows, and found it interesting how the various show leads would plan the timings; proper cadence and shell size choice can really help make a show interesting before the finale
Basically setup and load the tubes with shells; lots of attention is given to safety buffers, and things like orienting the racks so they can't fall facing the audience.
Some states require electronic firing, so everything gets a squib tied into the fuse, other places you can hand-fire with a road flare, which is more reliable, but dangerous. Anything that doesn't launch needs to be re-squibbed or extracted.
Its also wicked exciting, and fireworks from directly below look entirely different. My first show hand firing 6" shells, I distinctly recall knee jerk yelling "what the fuck" over and over, grinning ear to ear; you can really feel the pressure wave from the launch. It also paid $10/hr
There is also an amateur fireworks association as a fyi; people still hand build shells :)
Edit: as for timing, they'd have patterns like, x3 3-inch shells, x2 6-inch, and 1 8-inch; color and pattern were intentional choices. For hand fire, they'd yell out the shell size to fire, one person per size
FireShow is a 3D fireworks display design and visualization software developed in C++ and OpenGL. Inspired by professional tools like FWsim and Finale 3D, this project allows designers to create, synchronize, and visualize complex pyrotechnic effects in a real-time 3D environment.
Looks great! What got you into firework simulation?
Do you have any idea if either FWsim or Finale 3D were implicated in any of the “all at once” firing errors (some may say enhancement?) that affected e.g. San Diego 2012 or Oban 2011 displays ?
Is there any protection against this kind of problem in FireShow ?
Someone I know in that industry described the San Diego event as being the result of playback scrubbing; by either dragging or accidentally clicking somewhere on the timeline. Obviously heard second hand, but its a close community so I generally trust it - Wikipedia says it was a corrupted file
Said Santore the firework producer in delicious bit of Jersey-Italian circumlocution:
> It was a computer error. A set of instructions that were given that we didn’t necessarily create, that was created by the system. [0]
Sounds consistent with a scrubbing error that they’d love to talk about in ways that sounded like it was the computer wot dunnit…
[0] https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/an-oral-histo...
They describe here [1] that somehow two sets of instructions were generated, but that doesn't really make sense why that would cause zero delays between cues
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2012/07/12/july-4-firew...
I spent a couple years doing pyro shows, and found it interesting how the various show leads would plan the timings; proper cadence and shell size choice can really help make a show interesting before the finale
Tell us more! What was your role?
Neck-down hah
Basically setup and load the tubes with shells; lots of attention is given to safety buffers, and things like orienting the racks so they can't fall facing the audience.
Some states require electronic firing, so everything gets a squib tied into the fuse, other places you can hand-fire with a road flare, which is more reliable, but dangerous. Anything that doesn't launch needs to be re-squibbed or extracted.
Its also wicked exciting, and fireworks from directly below look entirely different. My first show hand firing 6" shells, I distinctly recall knee jerk yelling "what the fuck" over and over, grinning ear to ear; you can really feel the pressure wave from the launch. It also paid $10/hr
There is also an amateur fireworks association as a fyi; people still hand build shells :)
Edit: as for timing, they'd have patterns like, x3 3-inch shells, x2 6-inch, and 1 8-inch; color and pattern were intentional choices. For hand fire, they'd yell out the shell size to fire, one person per size