Official PyroJam 2024 Discussion Topic

[DrewFinale]

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The PyroJam 2024 design competition is LIVE! This is your chance to see your show design brought to life in front of thousands of people and compete for $5,000 in prizes. New to PyroJam? Don’t wait to get started, the deadline to submit your show is March 1, 2024. Get all the details at finale3d.com/pyrojam. Have a question? Need some help? Post it here!

 

PyroJam 2024 FAQ:

 

1) When I import my MP3 soundtrack into Finale 3D, I hear audio artifacts like, static, crackling, popping, or clicking, how can I fix this problem?

To resolve this issue, encode or convert your soundtrack to WAV before importing it into Finale 3D. If you need a tool for audio editing, Audacity is a great free option. When creating a WAV file, use a sample rate of 44.1 kHz (44,100 Hz) and bit depth of 16-bit. WAV files with other sample rates and bit depths may not work properly in Finale 3D.

 

2) What kind of single shot racks are used at PyroJam?

The single shot racks used at PyroJam are produced by CraigCo. You can see the racks in the PyroJam behind-the-scenes video.

 

3) Can 360-degree circle racks for single shots be used at PyroJam?

No, circle racks can’t be used in the PyroJam competition because firing positions will be placed on the ground. The only exception is a special selection of single shot effects which can be shot horizontally. For details, see: Firing effects horizontally.

 

4) What firing system will be used at PyroJam?

The StarFire firing system will be used at PyroJam. The system is capable of 1/100th of a second (0.01 second) timing resolution and can fire any number of pins simultaneously. Please keep in mind that you are only responsible for the artistic design. When you submit your show, you do not need to assign firing system modules or pins. If your show is selected to be produced, the firing system addresses will be assigned by the PyroJam organizers. You can see how this is done in the PyroJam behind-the-scenes video.

 

5) Can liquid fuel mines be used in the PyroJam competition?

No, liquid fuel mines cannot be used in the PyroJam competition. When designing your show, please only use effects contained in the PyroJam catalog. This effect has been used at PyroJam, but not in the competition shows. If you saw this in a video, it was from the opening or closing shows which are out of competition.

 

6) Can more firing positions be added to the PyroJam layout?

The PyroJam design template includes 53 predefined firing positions. You may use as many or as few firing positions as you like but modifying the layout by adding positions is not permitted.

 

 

P.S. If you’re new to the forum, don’t forget to head over to your My Profile and customize your Display Name and Profile Picture!

 

 

 

[Tim Jameson]

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Thanks so much for starting this thread Drew.  If anyone has any questions about the competition feel free to post here.  I don’t mind anyone emailing me as well, if I do get one I’ll post it here though so everyone has the benefit of any questions asked.  Good luck to everyone, we can’t wait to see what you all come up with this year 🙂

[ArtiDan]

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Hi Drew and Tim !

 

It’s great to see that PyroJam is back for a third year ! 🙂

 

Is it possible to confirm that this year’s catalog contains 632 effects ?

 

Since it was 805 last year, the big number difference made me doubt that there might be something wrong on my side.

 

Thank you !!

[Sky Fire Forge]

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Drew and Tim, thank you for setting up this year’s competition. I’m sure it is a lot of work to do this. Here are a few questions to get started…..

 

– What is the minimum angle increment? I’m assuming 5 deg. i.e. You can’t have an angle of 22.5 deg.

– In last year’s Pyrojam thread, there was mention of allowing flame pots/fountains/etc. in both the prox AND front rows. However per this years rules, it looks like those items are restricted to only the prox row. Is that correct?

– Like last year, are we able to submit more than one show?

– In the catalog subtypes, the is “Mine”, “SS Mine”, and “SS-Mine” (also “SS Comet” and “SS-Comet”) is there any difference between them?

– I understand we can’t pitch towards the audience for obvious safety reasons, but….. for comets and mines, that are at zero tilt, are we able to pitch away from the audience? if so, is there any angle limitation?

– The description for P/N SE170 says “Green to Blue to Red” but the rendering shows red to blue to white glitter. Not sure which is correct.

 

Thanks,

Tim

[Tim Jameson]

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ArtiDan wrote:

Hi Drew and Tim !

 

It’s great to see that PyroJam is back for a third year ! 🙂

 

Is it possible to confirm that this year’s catalog contains 632 effects ?

 

Since it was 805 last year, the big number difference made me doubt that there might be something wrong on my side.

 

Thank you !!

 

No, the 632 effects is correct.  Last year’s catalog had a lot of small quantities for items which we do not stock anymore or the inventory is so low on them we didn’t feel comfortable leaving them in the catalog.  We also are not carrying one of the vendors we had last year which accounted for over 150 items, all of which were single shot items and cake slices which were easily substituted with our other like items from another vendor who was already in the catalog as well.

[Tim Jameson]

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Sky Fire Forge wrote:

Drew and Tim, thank you for setting up this year’s competition. I’m sure it is a lot of work to do this. Here are a few questions to get started…..

 

– What is the minimum angle increment? I’m assuming 5 deg. i.e. You can’t have an angle of 22.5 deg.

– In last year’s Pyrojam thread, there was mention of allowing flame pots/fountains/etc. in both the prox AND front rows. However per this years rules, it looks like those items are restricted to only the prox row. Is that correct?

– Like last year, are we able to submit more than one show?

– In the catalog subtypes, the is “Mine”, “SS Mine”, and “SS-Mine” (also “SS Comet” and “SS-Comet”) is there any difference between them?

– I understand we can’t pitch towards the audience for obvious safety reasons, but….. for comets and mines, that are at zero tilt, are we able to pitch away from the audience? if so, is there any angle limitation?

– The description for P/N SE170 says “Green to Blue to Red” but the rendering shows red to blue to white glitter. Not sure which is correct.

 

Thanks,

Tim

 

I’ll do my best to catch all your questions, but if I miss one, let me know:

 

– You can set angles as small as 1* increments (11, 17, -21) and we will do our best to make them as exact as possible.  Sometimes when creating auto fans, there will be some odd angles and we try to match them as best we can 🙂

– I would restrict those types of items to the CP positions only mostly because of how things are set up in the field (lots of items in the way) they most likely won’t be seen from anywhere other than the CP positions which we raise so they can be seen.  Remember, the crowd is thousands of people deep and on a flat surface so seeing “depth” won’t be the same as if we were in a stadium type setting.

– Number of entries per contestant….well, honestly, we were going to change this for this year and limit to one entry, but it fell through the cracks so you may enter more than one time.  One thing we do ask is you don’t submit multiple entries of the SAME show if possible as it takes enough time to get through all the entries as it is much less if we end up watching the same show 2, 3, or more times.  While it doesn’t mean anything, I would like to point out that no one who has entered multiple shows has had a show in the top ten to my knowledge.  Keep in mind that these entries are very, very good so I would recommend folks doing the best they can on the best show they can come up with in order to have the best chance to finish in the top three.  Not saying someone couldn’t end up in the top with multiples, just saying the odds are probably against it no matter how good of a choreographer one might be, haha.

– The difference here is if it will fit in our SS racks, it will say SS Mine or SS Comet but if it just says “Mine” it needs a different rack, but it doesn’t mean anything as far as your scripting should be concerned.

– This was another item I meant to add into the rules as some folks have asked in the past, please do not tilt shots either front or back.  We only own a limited number of racks which are capable of firing this way and it wouldn’t be fair if we couldn’t make them available to everyone.  We won’t disqualify anyone for doing it, but we do ask you not to.

– The simulation is correct.  This is one of those items which came in marked one way from China, but was actually a different effect.  We had to keep it the same as it’s marked on the device for inventory purposes, but go by the sim.  There’s only a couple of items that are like this (gotta love China haha), but there are a couple.  Go by the sim in this case.

 

[ArtiDan]

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Thanks for the Answer Tim ! 🙂

[Sky Fire Forge]

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Thanks Tim, that just about covers everything!

 

Tim

[Matthew Loreto]

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Am I allowed to add a pre-roll onto the show? 5 maybe 10 second?

[Tim Jameson]

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Matthew Loreto wrote:

Am I allowed to add a pre-roll onto the show? 5 maybe 10 second?

 

Pre-roll is fine, just please do not put anything in there that would signify who you are individually since we try to keep the entries as anonymous as possible when we hand them off to the judges for scoring.  Hope that answers the question 🙂

[Tim Jameson]

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I received a message from one of our contestants and wanted to post it here along with the answer for everyone’s benefit:

 

“If ve got two questions: The mines and comets for the P-Positions (SS Mine-CP, SS Comet-SP), there are only 2 products in the category. But there are way more comets and mines with also 22mm caliber. Is there a reason for or could that be an mistake. Second question: article numer SE170 and SE171 both cake-slices cost more than $100 each. Is that correct? ”

 

Some of the 22mm devices were accidently put into the inventory with the Subtype “SS-Comet” and “SS-Mine” instead of the proper “SS-Comet-CP” and “SS-Mine-CP”.  They have been updated to show the correct subtype and may be used at the CP positions.

 

The two devices in question, SE170 and SE171, were incorrectly listed as a price for two instead of one.  The prices for these two items has been updated.

 

My apologies for the errors.  We go through great lengths to try and ensure the inventory is correct 100% when we start the competition, but I guess our efforts weren’t perfect.

[Sven]

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Hi,

 

Thanks for this cool event and the FAQ thread 🙂

 

If I may ask a few questions.

 

1) Would it be OK to cut and trim a few songs with a tool like Audacity to create a soundtrack? Or is it better to have complete unedited songs?

 

2) Can I create sequences and groups of effects? For example grouping 10 single shots to create a fan? I read somewhere that we shouldn’t create chains of effects, but I am assuming sequences are OK?

 

Best regards,

Sven

 

 

 

 

[DrewFinale]

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Sven wrote:

Hi,

 

Thanks for this cool event and the FAQ thread 🙂

 

If I may ask a few questions.

 

1) Would it be OK to cut and trim a few songs with a tool like Audacity to create a soundtrack? Or is it better to have complete unedited songs?

Yes, you can absolutely cut, trim, and mix songs. Use your creativity and all the tools at your disposal to make the best possible soundtrack.

 

 

 

2) Can I create sequences and groups of effects? For example grouping 10 single shots to create a fan? I read somewhere that we shouldn’t create chains of effects, but I am assuming sequences are OK?

Yes, you can create “Groups”, but please do not create “Chains” of effects. Groups and Chains are very different. A “Group” is created by selecting a multiple effects then going to ‘Script > Groups > Combine as group’ (or pressing the keyboard shortcut ‘G’). When you create a Group, the selected items are visually consolidated into a single line on the timeline and in the script window. However, grouped items remain as individual effects. That is, each effect still gets a separate firing system address and e-match. By contrast, when you make a “Chain”, you are indicating that you plan to physically run a fuse from one effect to another in the real world. Finale 3D treats chains as a single unit from an addressing and e-match count perspective. That is, each Chain only gets a single firing system addressing and a single e-match. Another way to think about it is that ‘Groups’ are primarily just a convenience feature, they only affect how the timeline and script window appears in Finale 3D. Chains, on the other hand, affect how the show is addressed and how it is physically set up in the real world.

[Sven]

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DrewFinale wrote:

Sven wrote:

Hi, Thanks for this cool event and the FAQ thread 🙂 If I may ask a few questions. 1) Would it be OK to cut and trim a few songs with a tool like Audacity to create a soundtrack? Or is it better to have complete unedited songs?

Yes, you can absolutely cut, trim, and mix songs. Use your creativity and all the tools at your disposal to make the best possible soundtrack.

2) Can I create sequences and groups of effects? For example grouping 10 single shots to create a fan? I read somewhere that we shouldn’t create chains of effects, but I am assuming sequences are OK?

Yes, you can create “Groups”, but please do not create “Chains” of effects. Groups and Chains are very different. A “Group” is created by selecting a multiple effects then going to ‘Script > Groups > Combine as group’ (or pressing the keyboard shortcut ‘G’). When you create a Group, the selected items are visually consolidated into a single line on the timeline and in the script window. However, grouped items remain as individual effects. That is, each effect still gets a separate firing system address and e-match. By contrast, when you make a “Chain”, you are indicating that you plan to physically run a fuse from one effect to another in the real world. Finale 3D treats chains as a single unit from an addressing and e-match count perspective. That is, each Chain only gets a single firing system addressing and a single e-match. Another way to think about it is that ‘Groups’ are primarily just a convenience feature, they only affect how the timeline and script window appears in Finale 3D. Chains, on the other hand, affect how the show is addressed and how it is physically set up in the real world.

Thanks Drew, spot on. So using G for groups  is OK, that answers my questions.

[Ricky]

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Do you require a 5 second delay at the start for the firing system or will this be done at a later time.

I have pick and created my music track but I’m 28 seconds over the 10mins, is this a problem?

 

also is 180 rotation of fans and slices allowed

[Tim Jameson]

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Ricky wrote:

Do you require a 5 second delay at the start for the firing system or will this be done at a later time. I have pick and created my music track but I’m 28 seconds over the 10mins, is this a problem? also is 180 rotation of fans and slices allowed

Hi Ricky, no delay is required at the start, but it is okay if you have it in there, we won’t count that against your allotted time.

180* rotation of fans and slices is allowed.

Show duration is limited to between 9 and 10 minutes.

Hope this helps and thank you for the interest in the competition.

[Ricky]

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Tim Jameson wrote:

Ricky wrote:

Do you require a 5 second delay at the start for the firing system or will this be done at a later time. I have pick and created my music track but I’m 28 seconds over the 10mins, is this a problem? also is 180 rotation of fans and slices allowed

Hi Ricky, no delay is required at the start, but it is okay if you have it in there, we won’t count that against your allotted time.

180* rotation of fans and slices is allowed.

Show duration is limited to between 9 and 10 minutes.

Hope this helps and thank you for the interest in the competition.

Thank you for the info.

back to editing the track then 🤣🤦‍♂️ I’ll squeeze 28 seconds out of somewhere.

 

[RennXII]

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Hello Drew and Tim. I see that Part Number: JY2/5-0085 Silver Crown 2.5 inch is priced at $4.50, The others are $45.00. Is this the price of this 10 shot chain? Thank you

[Tim Jameson]

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Pyro_320390000 wrote:

Hello Drew and Tim. I see that Part Number: JY2/5-0085 Silver Crown 2.5 inch is priced at $4.50, The others are $45.00. Is this the price of this 10 shot chain? Thank you

Hi, this was a typo in the catalog and it has been fixed.  The true price of this 10 shot chain is $45.00.  My apologies for the confusion.

[Engineer Cat]

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Hey guys, this is more a Drew question. I installed the latest version on a new computer I setup just for pyrojam but decided It will be better on my laptop so I can travel with it. If I install it on my laptop and sign in with my account will it just pull my license from the server or do I have to do something further?

 

Thanks!

Gene

[Author]

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