4th Spectacular 2023 Full Video

[PyroFL]

The Fire & The Fury

After many years I’ve finally gotten help with doing a video this year that isn’t mostly recording of the lake.

Notes, someone had forgotten to take off 3 shunts so 2 single shot 50 racks with effects and 1 board didn’t go off at all.

The middle of the show has no timing effects or fill. (Note to self only designate 1 person as you have in the past, note 2). But honestly it didn’t turn out bad and no one knew but me during the show.

Unfortunately, the audio and timing was off by 2sec during the show.

Working with Zach to fix this for next year but we both don’t know what the problem is after testing the time code. I believe the 18R2 has a problem with the SMPTE card, I’ll update everyone later.

This means the audio track is way higher than normal so you don’t hear the delay and sadly the fireworks going off.

Thanks to all the pyro talk members for all your feed back the last few years and having great ideas I could borrow … LOL

My shows always start hard and fast out of the gates.

Then it’s a nice mix of fireworks (missing shunted product this year) until the song before the final I do something new every year. This year was 2 gas mines. I got this idea and song pick from Ignite!!!

Then, “The Final of Madness”

Enjoy the show …

Setup
Cobra Firing System, 2 72M, 2 36M, 5 18M, 36 Slats, 2 Gas Mines, 7 Fire Machines, 7 LED PAR lights

Product
1.4 & 1.4PRO
112 Cakes, 320 Single Shots, 180 Roman Candles, 30 Slice, 9 MOAB



https://youtu.be/WPb1nBxz264

[Engineer Cat]

Charles! Your are to hard on yourself. Fantastic job! I didn't really notice the 2 sec off sync. You had enough going on that something was always hitting on a beat, or launching on a beat. Besides for that slight moment of dark sky which I thought was just a pallet cleanser, I wouldn't have knows that those racks and boards you mentioned, that were shunted by mistake, were even needed. Good work, and I see Ed's name in the credits as well. Nice assist Ed!

[PyroFL]

Thanks Gene!!

The audio track I ended up using is what I uploaded to CRC and then brought down the audio from video track so the timing of the video and audio lined up.

Now that am back from your area for a couple of days Zach ask me to video the time delay which I’ll be setting up today and sending. His not to sure what the problem is and I believe it’s the SMPTE card needs to be replaced.

You missed Rick in Tampa, he came out and was our safety guy and triple checked all our work. Both Ed and Rick have been my mentors per-say the last few years answering all my questions and reading over my scripts. It was nice this year to get some insight how Ed thinks when scripting and now I have a lot better idea in the direction I need to go and how to go about doing it.

I’ve meet quite a few pyro talk members as I travel all over the US for work and pick their brains for ideas and inspiration of how to make my show better. I’ve even help a few guys build there shows over the years so I could learn new techniques and give back.

To me it’s all about learning as much as I can and paying it forward to other pyros as others have done for me.

For instance Rick in Tampa the first year I had my cobra system drove a hour and half to my house to help/show our new pyro crew how to poke cakes, setup ideas, safety concerns we should have and help me with answering questions with CRC. I’ve done the same for pyro talk members too.

[Birdman]

The video was still great to watch. Too bad you had the timing issues live. Nobody is going to miss what didn't fire. You had plenty going on throughout. Even though you told us what didn't fire it was hard to notice. Nice selection of music too. Seems like you were one of the only people that didn't have issues with flame machines this year.

Did you do any editing of the soundtrack after scripting? I had an issue once where I decided to try and clean up my soundtrack in Audacity after I had scripted. When I tested my script the timing seemed to be a little off. I decided to go with my original unedited soundtrack that I scripted to and the timing was fine. I assumed that something I did in Audacity changed the timing of the music so it no longer matched the script. Now I just make sure I have my soundtrack as I want it before scripting and don't touch it. I actually didn't use CSC this year. My plan was not to script to music so I was either going to just manually fire each cue or use step scripting. Since I already had a concept video with timestamps for everything I just decided to manually enter each event into the CSV. There we're a few events I needed to adjust timing on for fuse burn or lift times but it was easy enough to adjust the time in the script as needed. Not sure if I'll ever use CSC if I still need to make a concept video or maybe if I start shooting much larger and more complex shows. This year's shows certainly didn't warrant spending money on a license.

I'll second the kudos going out to Ed and Rick. They probably don't understand how much they taught me and others because much of what I learned from them I found searching through the archives. Rick was gracious enough to share with me all of the documentation he had for the one show he did (scripts, layouts etc.). Once I was able to look through all that and compare it to his video, I was off and running.

[PyroFL]

I'll second the kudos going out to Ed and Rick. They probably don't understand how much they taught me and others because much of what I learned from them I found searching through the archives. Rick was gracious enough to share with me all of the documentation he had for the one show he did (scripts, layouts etc.). Once I was able to look through all that and compare it to his video, I was off and running.

100% agree!! After I read how Ed scripts it was like light bulb came on. It was nice to have help on the first song so I could see it myself in person how to up my game.

The plan now is to buy 2-3 more 72M so I can add a lot more fire power to my show next year. Also I need to stop buying so many consumer cakes and need to look at more 1.4PRO cakes that are mostly effects. Although I do like my old school way of layering with consumer products and working different levels with effects like you seen in the middle of the show.

Need to find something in the middle that works and isn’t $650-700 per minute.

…..

No editing at all with the music. I just downloaded off of CSC, cut the time code off and made in mono on both channels.

[Backyard Joe]

Loved the show and your audio. I honestly can’t see any delay in audio. Unless you did some editing, I for sure can’t see 2 seconds. Do you mean 0.2 seconds?

I know we are our own worst critics when it comes to the quality of our show. We’ve spent crazy amounts of time on the script and know in our mind what’s supposed to be happening and when.

It’s funny you mention timing problems as I had similar issues with my show this year. I mainly do musical accompaniment for most of my show but try to heavily time at least one song. This year, the third song in, I had it heavily timed. I had a five position front running off an 18M with slats that consisted of about 90 instant fired single shots. The timing of the cues on that module was off compared to my script as well.

Keep us posted if you determine a cause for your (perceived;) timing issues.

[PyroFL]

Loved the show and your audio. I honestly can’t see any delay in audio. Unless you did some editing, I for sure can’t see 2 seconds. Do you mean 0.2 seconds?

I know we are our own worst critics when it comes to the quality of our show. We’ve spent crazy amounts of time on the script and know in our mind what’s supposed to be happening and when.

It’s funny you mention timing problems as I had similar issues with my show this year. I mainly do musical accompaniment for most of my show but try to heavily time at least one song. This year, the third song in, I had it heavily timed. I had a five position front running off an 18M with slats that consisted of about 90 instant fired single shots. The timing of the cues on that module was off compared to my script as well.

Keep us posted if you determine a cause for your (perceived;) timing issues.

The 2sec delay my editor fixed with the auto file I had sent.

There is some other weird things going on with DMX where by it’s programmed correctly and in one part of my show and even today it doesn’t trigger the PAR lights but in other parts it’s ok.

At one point I was thinking it could be my GoPro but when checking the other GoPro we had setup we see the same problem with a 2 sec delay.

Am not upset about it at all, I deal with stuff like this at work all the time. Am just looking for an answer from cobra what’s going on and how to fix it.

It could be as simple as a corrupted file but I don’t believe so. Am still thinking it’s the SMPTE card in the 18R2.

[esgrillo]

Charles, it was my pleasure. I thought it turned out great. We are our own worst critics. I like your thought process on the cakes... I generally get single effect cakes as it it much easier to manage the "look" of the show when you know the effect will remain the same for your duration. There are a good amount of consumer cakes that are also single effect that you can use.

Well done! Of course I had a smile on my face seeing how the first song turned out.

[chopperthedog]

:drool: .... Great sh!t. Struck a nerve with KISS, oh boy, Stanley and Child, room had to smell like a Sargento factory the day that song was written. One other great band / song that Desmond sprinkled his parmesan all over is (South Gang - Tainted Angel), a song that's occupied my head that would be great for pyro.

I need a pyro sugar daddy to fund all the crap in my head. Impressive rig and show you did.


good day.

[PG2159]

Killer opening segment. So hard to even tell you music was off. Very impressive. Great job!

[PyroFL]

I like your thought process on the cakes... I generally get single effect cakes as it it much easier to manage the "look" of the show when you know the effect will remain the same for your duration. There are a good amount of consumer cakes that are also single effect that you can use.

You had told me this 3 years ago before I had taken Dave’s AP video class so I could purchased 1.4PRO items. Then I totally forgot about it to be honest unit you just post above.

“Oh ya Ed did tell me that”

The big thing I need to do for next year is up my fire power (cues). Still trying to find my way without coping anyone unique style. Yours, Ricks and Ignite mix with the layering I like to do is what am aiming for.

The biggest challenge I have is having enough guys to help build the show and SPACE to set it all up until the 4th. This year we filled up 2 double car garages and 1 single.

I can add as many cues as I like but if you don’t have a team to do it, it goes no where. So I need to find someplace in the middle.

Luckily my guy that does the racks who did 320 single this year ask if we could do more next year, so I’ll be building 3 more 50 racks giving us 470 single shots for next year and I’ve just up my slice racks to hold 70 slices for next year.

Like yourself am already starting on next year and already started searching both consumer and 1.4PRO items I could use and making a list.

[PyroFL]

:drool: .... Great sh!t. Struck a nerve with KISS, oh boy, Stanley and Child, room had to smell like a Sargento factory the day that song was written. One other great band / song that Desmond sprinkled his parmesan all over is (South Gang - Tainted Angel), a song that's occupied my head that would be great for pyro.

I need a pyro sugar daddy to fund all the crap in my head. Impressive rig and show you did.


good day.

I would really like to do a full show of 80’s hair bands!! Would be a lot of fun.

This was my last year picking all the music, it’s the one thing I don’t like doing as what I play for enjoyment for myself, is not what other people listen to at ALL!!!

I will always pick the first song so I can play, the rest of the show moving forward we will draw a music theme that all the pyro families will drop in a hat at our post 4th meeting the first weekend in August.

[PyroFL]

Killer opening segment. So hard to even tell you music was off. Very impressive. Great job!

Wish I could take the credit, but I had help with scripting on the first song so I could learn more and my pyro team is AMAZING deserves a lot of credit too, very hard working for nothing more then the bragging rights and emptying my beer fridge … LOL

Am just the crazy pyro behind the key board :cool:

[Smily0]

That's a great looking show! I wish we lived closer as I have plenty of storage space and would love to help. I am curious, how are apart are your 3 shooting positions?

[PyroFL]

That's a great looking show! I wish we lived closer as I have plenty of storage space and would love to help. I am curious, how are apart are your 3 shooting positions?

Thanks!! And that would help out a lot if we had more room. You could always move to FL we don’t have snow :-) am done with those days

To answer question, the 3 board stations are 46’ 6” on center apart

[PG2159]

46 6 inches….. there’s got to be a back story to that number.

[PyroFL]

46 6 inches….. there’s got to be a back story to that number.

No back story am a Engineer with OCD ... LOL

The DB25 cables are 50' long and my MGJ are 10' long to get the slat away from the boards.

I've messed with bringing them out to 55' and 70' but this is year was a new look I was trying at 46'.

At 46' each brake meets the other one in the middle and wedges cross each other in the middle.

Not sure what I will do next year, but I like this new look a lot better then 70'

[Smily0]

No back story am a Engineer with OCD ... LOL

The DB25 cables are 50' long and my MGJ are 10' long to get the slat away from the boards.

I've messed with bringing them out to 55' and 70' but this is year was a new look I was trying at 46'.

At 46' each brake meets the other one in the middle and wedges cross each other in the middle.

Not sure what I will do next year, but I like this new look a lot better then 70'

Well, I think it looked great, hence me asking. I've been fighting rain the last 4 shows and had to shoot from my 32' trailer. It several limits my positioning, but i basically wait for the rain to stop and drive it out to the field, and shoot immediately after. lol. Any show is better than none at that point. I will really try to get that distance next year.

[PyroFL]

Well, I think it looked great, hence me asking. I've been fighting rain the last 4 shows and had to shoot from my 32' trailer. It several limits my positioning, but i basically wait for the rain to stop and drive it out to the field, and shoot immediately after. lol. Any show is better than none at that point. I will really try to get that distance next year.

How are you shooting your show? Chain fuse? China system? Cobra, ext….?

[PyroFL]

6740
Love this photo from our show this year!!