ATPA Lesson 3C: Launch Sparks

DISCLAIMER: The ATPA Lessons are a self-service pyro academy from the days of vPyro. I saved the lessons from the academy back in 2011 before the site went down for good, and feel that they should be accessible again, not just as a historical record of what was, but also for new pyromaniacs to learn the ropes in the same way that many of us did so many years ago. Because of their age, the videos included with the academy are of a lackluster quality, and some of the information in these lessons is outdated. In the name of history, I wish to preserve these lessons as they are, but as a recognition of how out-dated some of the advice can be, I will strikethrough and italicize the text of any information that should be ignored. If you run into questions or issues, leave a reply.

Also, the lessons ask for you to submit a video of your progress. Feel free to reply to the lessons with your submissions! Some of us old vPyro vets would love to see and comment on your progress and creations. 😊

- StickyGum32

3C – Launch Sparks

To finish off the refinement process, we'll go back to an easier lesson. Launch sparks are not necessary, but they can add a nice effect and it doesn't cost too many particles overall. Launch Sparks in the AFE are basically a firework tail that stops before the firework develops - they only last for about a half a second, but they signal that a firework has just been ignited.

Launch sparks begin your effect with a little extra pop.

1. Open your Lesson 3B Pearl Comet and add a child emitter from the parent Outer Glow emitter:

Add 50 particles to the Emitter Rate panel and set the End Time at 0.02 - This indicates that the effect will only happen in the first 2% of the comet's entire life.

2. Open the Emitter Speed panel and set the parent to 0.00. Now experiment with all of the other controls until you have a nice randomized movement. I set position sphere to 1.00, sphere to 1.50 and speed to 7.00 - you can use these or make your own combo.
3. Set the particle life to around a half a second - I used 0.60 with a randomness of 100% (1.00) - With sparks and glitter (which we will get into later) 100% randomness gives a realistic fade out.
4. Open the Particle Basics panel and choose a small particle style - A2, A3, A4 (A4, A5, A6) work well for what we're doing. Don't be afraid to experiment here.

5. Either rename or save over your Pearl Comet. Submit lesson with multiple comets and place the camera so we can see the launch. As a bonus, apply these refinement techniques (die-off emitter, drift smoke, launch sparks) to your Lesson 2 Mine and include them in the video.

This completes Lesson 3 - Pyro Refinement! You are now able to apply all of these techniques to anything you design. From here on out, ProColor, die-off emitters, and drifting smoke are going to be known simply as 'stars'. Save your formulas because you will be using them constantly.

(It isn't required that you use Launch Sparks for future lessons)

Next Lesson: Lesson 4 - Peonies

Edited April 22Apr 22 by StickyGum32