The Spark Fabrica SF-X2 Spark Spin fixture is a sparks fixture with two nozzles on a rotating platform that can be controlled by any of the DMX-capable firing systems, such as Piroshow, Pyromac, PyroSure, fireTEK, Cobra, Fire Control G2, and Mongoose.
Figure 1 – Spark Fabrica SF-X2 Spark Spin
Capabilities
The Spark Spin fixture has two channel configuration options, with 2 and 4 channels. Finale 3D only supports the 4 channel option. The four channel option provides independent control over the two spark nozzles and over the spinning platform.
Table 1 – DMX channel configuration options
| DMX Channel Mode | Supported in Finale 3D |
| 2CH | NO |
| 4CH | YES |
Adding spark effects and controlling the spinning platform
To add a sparks effect to your show, simply insert one of the sparks effects from the supplier catalog, such as “SF-X8 [202/0417] One Sec Sparks (md)”. Since the two nozzles are typically used together, the effects in the supplier catalog trigger both nozzles together.
To make the platform spin, insert the “SF-X2 [201/0537] With Clockwise Spinning” effect, or the counter-clockwise option, and extend its duration on the timeline to cover the period over which the platform is spinning. The spinning of the platform and the triggering of the nozzles are independent actions.
The animation capabilities in Finale 3D are not currently capable of animating the effects for this fixture in a manner that remains consistent if you change the duration of the effect, and in a manner that is determined by the combination of the spinning effects and the triggering effects. Thus, as of June 2024 the animations of the non-macro effects for this fixture are simply a single spark jet that does not spin.
Finale 3D provides some macro effects, however, that include animation of the two nozzles and the spinning together. The macros have pre-defined, non-adjustable duration, and the macros combine the spinning and the triggering together, thereby working around the animation limitations. If the macro options have duration and spinning characteristics that are acceptable for your show design, use them instead of the non-macro effects to take advantage of their animation. The macros produce the same DMX firing system script export data; the only difference is the macro effects have predefined durations.
If none of the provided macros have the duration or spinning speed that you are looking for, you can create your own macros using the Effect macros features, by combining the non-macro effects for your desired duration and by adding spinning animation in the Effect Data field of the events.
Table 2 – DMX channels
| DMX Channel | Meaning |
| Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) | Nozzle 1 height (0 – 15 = off, 16 -90 = low height; 91 – 170 = medium height; 171 – 255 = high height) |
| Channel 2 (DMX Channel Base + 2) | Pre-heat (0 – 239 = OFF: 240 – 255 = ON) |
| Channel 3 (DMX Channel Base + 4) | Nozzle 2 height (0-15 = off, 16-90 = low height; 91-170 = medium height; 171-255 = high height) |
| Channel 4 (DMX Channel Base + 5) | Spin rate (0 – 15 = OFF; 16 – 135 = clockwise spinning; 136 – 255 = counter-clockwise spinning) |
Instructions
To design a show for Spark Fabrica SF-X2 Spark Spin units, please follow these steps:
- Set up. (A) Follow the set up instructions in DMX basic instructions. Depending on your DMX controller, you may choose to give each each fixture its own DMX universe, or give each fixture a channel range in a shared DMX universe. (B) In the real world configure each physical fixture 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 to match the Start Address exactly.
- Add the Spark Fabrica 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 Spark Fabrica supplier catalog in the table, and turn the switch to ON. Then launch the Finale 3D application and synch to network. The Spark Fabrica 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 Spark Fabrica fixtures currently supported in Finale 3D, together.
- Add effects to the show. In the 3D view, click on a Spark Spin position to filter the effects window to compatible effects.
Choosing the DMX channel ranges for fixtures
Each Spark Spin fixture requires multiple channels, so 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. Table 3 shows an example for Spark Spin fixtures. 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 4CH Spark Spin fixtures
| Fixture | DMX Channel Base | Channels Used |
| 1 | 1 | 1-4 |
| 2 | 5 | 5-8 |
| 3 | 9 | 9-12 |
| 4 | 13 | 13-16 |
| 5 | 17 | 17-20 |
| … | ||
| 85 | 509 | 509-512 |
Table 4 – Example files and downloads
| Download link | Explanation |
| SF-X2 SPARK SPIN USER MANUAL.pdf | Spark Fabrica SF-X2 Spark Spin user manual |