[HN Gopher] Pyrotechnic Display Design Software
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Pyrotechnic Display Design Software
Author : Giuseppe_Coco
Score : 31 points
Date : 2025-11-17 18:41 UTC (6 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| Giuseppe_Coco wrote:
| 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.
| danw1979 wrote:
| 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 ?
| petee wrote:
| 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
| alwa wrote:
| 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...
| petee wrote:
| 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-fi
| rew...
| petee wrote:
| Looks great! What got you into firework simulation?
| fudged71 wrote:
| What's the license? Might be cool to port to the web with WASM
| (looks like it would be pretty easy actually)
| petee wrote:
| 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
| wonger_ wrote:
| Tell us more! What was your role?
| petee wrote:
| 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
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