The MagicFX Sparxtar unit (Standard Fixture ID 019) is a vertical, variable height sparks machine that can be controlled by any of the DMX-capable firing systems, such as Piroshow, Pyromac, PyroSure, fireTEK, Cobra, and Mongoose. It generates spark fountains approximately 2-5 meters high, with variable height specified in the DMX signal.
Figure 1 – MagicFX Sparxtar
The Sparxtar has variable height. The MagicFX supplier catalog of effects in Finale 3D contains Sparxtar effects for a range of durations and three heights (small, medium, and large). You can create your own custom duration or height effects as described below.
The Sparxtar has a two-channel DMX personality, plus a separately configurable safety channel address. The first channel in the personality specifies the height. The second channel turns on the effect. A safety channel effect is also required to enable the fixture. Since the safety channel address is configured separately from the two-channel DMX personality for MagicFX Sparxtar fixtures, you need to create a separate safety channel fixture position with the DMX channel base address equal to the safety channel address for which your fixture was configured.
Table 1 – DMX channels
| DMX Channel | Meaning | Effect in Finale 3D that controls channel |
| Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) | Height (0 = about 2m; 255 = about 4.5m) | See supplier catalog. |
| Channel 2 (DMX Channel Base + 1) | ON/OFF (0-63 = OFF; 64-127 = empty heater; 128-255 = ON). | See supplier catalog. |
Table 2 – DMX channels for safety position (DMX Fixture Type of “MagicFX [017] Safety Channel”)
| DMX Channel | Meaning | Effect in Finale 3D that controls channel |
| Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) | Safety channel (0-101 = OFF, 102-163 = ON, 164-255 = OFF) | Part number MAFX9799, “MAGFX [017/0000] Safety Channel” |
Instructions
To design a show for MagicFX Sparxtar units, please follow these steps:
- Set up. (A) Follow the flame set up instructions in the Flame systems basic instructions and Exporting a firing system script for flame systems. Depending on your DMX controller, you may choose to give each Sparxtar its own DMX universe, or give each Sparxtar a channel range in a shared DMX universe. (B) In the real world configure each physical Sparxtar unit’s “Start Address” to be the start of the channel range you allocate for it. (C) In Finale 3D configure the “DMX Channel Base” of the fixture position to match the Start Address exactly. (D) In the real world configure each physical Sparxtar unit’s “Safety Channel Address“; multiple fixtures can share the same safety channel address even if they do not share the same address range for their two-channel DMX personalities. (E) In Finale 3D create one or more safety channel fixture positions, and configure their “DMX Channel Base” to match the Safety Channel Address exactly.
- Add the MagicFX supplier catalog to your Finale 3D account. Login to the finale3d.com website. At the top of the page, go to “My Account > Supplier Catalog Settings” (www.finale3d.com/supplier-catalogs-settings/). Find the MagicFX supplier catalog in the table, and turn the switch to ON. Then launch the Finale 3D application and synch to network. The MagicFX catalog will appear as one of the available collections in the effects window, which you can choose from the selector at the top of the window. This catalog contains effects for all types of MagicFX fixtures currently supported in Finale 3D, together.
- Add spark fountain effects to the show. (A) Right-click on the Sparxtar positions to add compatible effects from the context menu or to filter the effects window to compatible effects. (B) Add a “Safety Channel” effect to the safety channel fixture position and adjust its duration to cover the time range of activity.
Choosing the DMX channel ranges for fixtures
Each Sparxtar fixture requires two channels plus the safety channel, configured separately to an independent address. If you are putting multiple fixtures in the same DMX Universe, you need to set the Start Address on the fixture in the real world and the corresponding DMX Channel Base on the fixture in Finale 3D to a range of channels that doesn’t overlap with others. A DMX universe has channels 1-512. If you want to pack as many fixtures into the 512 channels of a DMX universe as you can, back-to-back ranges are the most efficient. Some DMX firing systems only support 50 or 100 channels, so you may not have all 512 channels to work with.
Table 3 – Example channel ranges for Sparxtar fixtures in a DMX universe
| Fixture | DMX Channel Base | Channels Used |
| Safety | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | 2-3 |
| 2 | 4 | 4-5 |
| 3 | 6 | 6-7 |
| 4 | 8 | 8-9 |
| 5 | 10 | 10-11 |
| 6 | 12 | 12-13 |
| 7 | 14 | 14-15 |
| 8 | 16 | 16-17 |
| 9 | 18 | 18-19 |
| … | ||
| 255 | 510 | 510-511 |
Table 4 – Example files and downloads
| Download link | Explanation |
| MAGICFX_SPARXTAR_MANUAL.pdf | MagicFX Sparxtar user manual |