My 4th Pyro Musical (FireTEK fired)

[bigmike06]

Hey guys, here is my show. Had some crazy cake malfunctions, but even with those the crowd though it was awesome. Most of them thought the malfunctions were part of the show. :D

https://youtu.be/fMi09YpUtjs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMi09YpUtjs

[CozmicRooster]

Great show. Loved it!

[bigmike06]

Great show. Loved it!

Thanks. It was a fun show to script.

[Mattp]

Awesome show dude!! Really like the use of those electric lights.. what were they??? Also.. oh yeah that cake/cakes blew apart alright… but luckily it did look really cool and didn’t cause any major issues or safety hazards

[bigmike06]

Awesome show dude!! Really like the use of those electric lights.. what were they??? Also.. oh yeah that cake/cakes blew apart alright… but luckily it did look really cool and didn’t cause any major issues or safety hazards

They are Par lights from Amazon.

No safety hazards to people, but did catch my dump trailer on fire.

[Engineer Cat]

Sweet show!

[Jay_]

Great show, loved it! What did you use to control your Par lights?

[bigmike06]

Great show, loved it! What did you use to control your Par lights?

One of the FireTEK Modules.

[kharford]

Great show Mike. What kind of flame machine did you use?

[Birdman]

Another great show that almost slipped past me. Great job!

[bigmike06]

Great show Mike. What kind of flame machine did you use?

Just the cheap spray the flame units

[bigmike06]

Another great show that almost slipped past me. Great job!

Thank you, it was a fun one to script

[Scotty Rockets]

Excellent show! Those fireTEK controlled DMX PAR lights really added to the show.

[jtfannin]

Great show. The DMX really adds a lot of value.

[bigmike06]

Excellent show! Those fireTEK controlled DMX PAR lights really added to the show.

Yeah they do. Its also nice that they can be faded on and off. Not just simple on and off like a light switch. Every year I get a little bit more elaborate with the DMX. This year I decided to put all the lights on their own channel. That allowed me to do chases, and strobe them on different colors. If my memory is correct, there was 1530 DMX commands in that show.

[esgrillo]

Great show Mike... like the product, filming, and the DMX. Nice to see someone else crazy enough to incorporate that. Pretty cool that Firetek has had that built it. Cobra just recently added that but I already had a external solution figured already that triggered the DMX script in my Compu Show SDE software.

Curious, I am guessing that the scripting that Firetek uses is best for on/off devices right? A moving head light takes thousands of lines of code to do a curved arc from point A to point B. Thats why I think I have to stay with my external software.

[CozmicRooster]

Yeah they do. Its also nice that they can be faded on and off. Not just simple on and off like a light switch. Every year I get a little bit more elaborate with the DMX. This year I decided to put all the lights on their own channel. That allowed me to do chases, and strobe them on different colors. If my memory is correct, there was 1530 DMX commands in that show.


What did you use to script the DMX? I scripted my show manually in Excel, but 1530 DMX lines is a lot of work. I’m looking to add flame machines next, then lights over the next couple years.

[Jay_]

One of the FireTEK Modules.

Thank you sir, did not know you could even do such a thing. Great info, and again great show!

[bigmike06]

Great show Mike... like the product, filming, and the DMX. Nice to see someone else crazy enough to incorporate that. Pretty cool that Firetek has had that built it. Cobra just recently added that but I already had a external solution figured already that triggered the DMX script in my Compu Show SDE software.

Curious, I am guessing that the scripting that Firetek uses is best for on/off devices right? A moving head light takes thousands of lines of code to do a curved arc from point A to point B. Thats why I think I have to stay with my external software.

Thanks for the complements. I have not ventured into the moving head world, so I'm not familiar with how they work. If I had to guess, if I wanted a head to go from left to right. I'm Assuming I would need say channel 5 to go from 0 to 255? (Again all hypothetical here). I can program the FireTEK to change channel 5 from 0 to 255 over a set amount of time, say 5 seconds. I can have it stay there or return to the previous set value. I know they probably need more then 1 channel to change at the same time to move, just using 1 channel for an example. Most moving heads are more then 10 channels correct? I don't know if I will ever venture down that road. Right now I'm content with my simple flame machines and 5 channel Par lights.

[bigmike06]

What did you use to script the DMX? I scripted my show manually in Excel, but 1530 DMX lines is a lot of work. I?m looking to add flame machines next, then lights over the next couple years.

Yes 1530 DMX lines sounds like a lot. This year I had my lights on different channels, so the DMX commands really added up fast. To strobe all 5 of my lights White this year, I was turning 30 channels on at the same time. So that's 30 DMX lines right there.


I scripted the whole show with Excel. I take the time I want an event to happen from Audacity, and program it in Excel. Easiest way? Probably not, but works for me. I have 2 pages in excel. First page has the Script, 2nd page has DMX short cuts. On the 2nd page I have various events already made.

My Par lights are 5 channel. Channel 1 is Master Brightness. Channel 2 is Red. Channel 3 Green. Channel 4 Blue, and Channel 5 is strobe. So for an example for White, Channels 1-4 has to be set to 255 for brightest White. On the 2nd page I already have all this Pre-programmed. So for FireTEK script I have the module number, Rail number, Channel Number, Sequence number, Position, Safe Zone, Channel Name, and Sequence name already setup. I leave the Time, DMX value, Ramp X, and Duration cells empty. I make Pre-programmed events for All white, ALL Red, ALL Blue, ALL Green, ALL Yellow, and so on.

So say I want all Lights to come on White. I just highlight the cells of the ALL White event I want on the 2nd (DMX) page, and copy it into the Script page. From there I enter time, DMX value, and the type of DMX event I want. Some times I will copy from earlier on in the script and change just the time.

I keep a Master Excel File with all the Pre-programmed info for DMX on the 2nd page, and a Blank script on first. Every year this is what I start off with.


I know it sounds difficult, but once you get comfortable and in your groove it goes pretty quick. I spent about 3 hours a night for about 5 days programing the show. Then spent a few more hours tweaking and changing stuff I didn't like while testing the script. Because of work, and house renovations, and unsure of what 1.3 product I was going to be able to get, I didn't even start Scripting the show till Monday evening of June 21st. Yes I am that person that will procrastinate till the last minute. :cool:

(P.S. I tried attaching the Master file, but it says it is invalid.)

[esgrillo]

Thanks for the complements. I have not ventured into the moving head world, so I'm not familiar with how they work. If I had to guess, if I wanted a head to go from left to right. I'm Assuming I would need say channel 5 to go from 0 to 255? (Again all hypothetical here). I can program the FireTEK to change channel 5 from 0 to 255 over a set amount of time, say 5 seconds. I can have it stay there or return to the previous set value. I know they probably need more then 1 channel to change at the same time to move, just using 1 channel for an example. Most moving heads are more then 10 channels correct? I don't know if I will ever venture down that road. Right now I'm content with my simple flame machines and 5 channel Par lights.

Yeah you can move left and right with one channel 0-255 and front and back the same way. Problem is if you want to move in an arc or circle each movement is an new x-y position and a line of code.... that is where it gets crazy with thousands of coordinates and I use built in functions instead.

There are 20 channels in those moving heads. Knowing what it cost me to do all this externally, I would probably try and use the new internal DMX for Cobra... sounds pretty similar to what firetek has.

[bigmike06]

Yeah you can move left and right with one channel 0-255 and front and back the same way. Problem is if you want to move in an arc or circle each movement is an new x-y position and a line of code.... that is where it gets crazy with thousands of coordinates and I use built in functions instead.

There are 20 channels in those moving heads. Knowing what it cost me to do all this externally, I would probably try and use the new internal DMX for Cobra... sounds pretty similar to what firetek has.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe cobra's DMX can do ramps. Just on and off like a light switch. SO if you do use Cobra's internal, there would be no way to control the speed at which the light moves. It would be full speed left to right, or front to back.

Now you kinda peaked my curiosity. Provided movement is controlled with 2 channels(left and right 1 channel, and front back 1 channel), I could probably program a sweeping arc. I can program both channels to ramp from 0 to 255 at the same rate. Say over the course of 5 seconds. I can also do a ramp from 0 to 255 based on units per second. So it can be programed to move 50 units per second. So every second the DMX value would change by 50. So it would go from 0 to 50 in the first second, 50 to 100 in the second second , and so on till it gets the the value I want.

20 Channels is a lot of stuff going on, that might get pretty daunting. I wouldn't be afraid of giving a cheaper light with say 10 channels a go if they make it. I'm sure out of those 20, you may not need all of them. But then again with my limited experiences with them I may be speaking out of turn.

[CozmicRooster]

I like the way you organized it using the sheets. This was my first show using Firetek (or any firing system) and scripting a pyromusical. I organized my sheets in a similar fashion, although I didn’t have any DMX yet. I used one sheet as a time script with the actual time (audio file edited in WavePad app for iPad), then firing time in milliseconds, accounting for the lift delay, description of what was being fired with rack and tube location, Mod, Rail, Ch, and notes. I had another sheet that was just organizational notes on cake duration and timing of slices (I didn’t have any real ones so I modded some fan cakes), and detailed notes on mortar shell effects for the different types I had. Once I had my script laid out the way I wanted I formatted a sheet for the Firetek script and just copied/pasted the corresponding columns. I also made a sheet that organized everything in columns by Mods, Rails, and Channels. This ended up being essential, and a definite game changer for me. I lost daylight while I was finishing my wiring and I was able to quickly check the Mod display to see which channels had yet to be wired, then reference my last sheet and quickly determine what I needed to plug in and where. Had it not been for the way I organized that last sheet I would have been dead in the water. To an outsider it probably looked pretty chaotic but it was exactly what I needed to get the job done.

I like programming and getting deep into the technical details so scripting using Excel was actually easier in the end for me than using Finale 3D. I tried using the trial that came with the Firetek purchase but was frustrated and impatient with learning a new program, not to mention the fact that I don’t have a laptop so I was unable to use Finale anyway.

[bigmike06]

I like programming and getting deep into the technical details so scripting using Excel was actually easier in the end for me than using Finale 3D. I tried using the trial that came with the Firetek purchase but was frustrated and impatient with learning a new program, not to mention the fact that I don’t have a laptop so I was unable to use Finale anyway.



I tried messing around with Finale 3D also. Like you I was to impatient to learn it. Plus I like making a show in my mind, then seeing it unfold in front of me. For me having a computer generated simulated show takes the fun and mystery out of it for me.

[WithReport]

I tried messing around with Finale 3D also. Like you I was to impatient to learn it. Plus I like making a show in my mind, then seeing it unfold in front of me. For me having a computer generated simulated show takes the fun and mystery out of it for me.

Great show and great discussion. I completely agree with the statement above. All my shows have been done in PIC which is just a linear editor with no visual of the effect. So the whole show is just in my head and it is fun to see how it turns out. With that said, I think I may be going to finale3D this year, simply for the logistics of keeping track of everything. My problem is much of the consumer cakes are not in libraries for finale3d. I have played around with creating some - mostly using the PyroOffice web tool, but it just takes a lot of time.

[WithReport]

As for DMX - fireTEK does ramping. You don't need the thousands of lines for moving heads or dimming. With the new DMX features, there are multiple ramping options in the script, one of which is a continuous ramp change over a stated duration. Another is a continuous ramp change at a stated rate. So if you want to sweep a moving head or dim a light, it is just a couple of lines. Now this will depend on how many functions the moving head has and what you are doing with it. There is dedicated DMX SW out there that may be easier to use than manual scripting or even DMX patches in finale 3D, but it can be done. I have a couple of smaller moving heads I've played around with with success.