i feel like the influx of companies in recent years that are selling cold spark products are flooding the market with a general misinformation about how cold sparks are "completely safe" for indoor use, and is "odorless and smokeless" and i'm sure we've all seen those videos of someone putting their hand over the sparks to demonstrate how "safe" it is, and some of us may have tried it ourselves.

i work for a (decently sized) mobile entertainment company that has used these machines for about ±7 years at this point and we have recently decided to discontinue the service for a number of reasons, partly because of our vendor since day 1 is becoming defunct because of the competition that has emerged over the years, and also due to the amount of rules that venues started to impose when using these machines. my guess is because the market was left unregulated, and these days anyone can buy cold spark machines off of amazon and operate them without bothering to read the poorly translated english manual that it came with... hot take?

regarding the claims about it being "smokeless" and "odorless", i don't find that to be entirely true. with our machines there was always a slight haze in the air after firing. this haze would normally dissipate over time, but in the minutes after firing, my eyes experience a slight burning sensation from the exposure to the smokey air, and i notice a slight chemical smell too.

on the extreme end of my experience with these machines, i've watched them ignite silk/fake flowers and fortunately one of the guests saw it happenning and immediately jumped into action, putting out the orange glowing embers that began to consume the fake flower petals before any visible flame started....

yes, the vendor that we've used does have a training course on safety and operation, and it is within their recommendations to always have a very large "Class D" fire extinguisher on hand (which is not your typical red home/office fire extinguisher) we have one, but did we always have it on site? no, and i absolutely doubt any of the smaller companies tried carried that big ass thing with them either.

does your company offer cold sparks as a service? what are your experiences with them?

A moving head working fine at home is one thing. Having it survive weddings and gigs every weekend is another.
I work at betopper, and something I think gets overlooked with budget movers is how they're actually treated between shows.
Getting thrown into soft bags, poor ventilation, questionable power at older venues. There's a lot that can go wrong before you even get into the quality of the fixture itself.
I'd also pay attention to warranty support. If something dies right before a Saturday gig, knowing what happens next matters a lot more than a nice review score.
I'm interested in hearing from people who've been running budget movers regularly, not just testing them at home.
What's actually failed on yours? Motors, fans, optics? Or have they been holding up better than expected?

Hi! I developed Amadeus DMX that help’s mobile DJ’s setting up and managing a professional light show. It runs fully automated but looks like a dedicated light jockey is running the show.

I am looking for enthusiasts that want to try out the software on their own (home) rig and see if the solution is working out for your situation. Let me know in this thread (or better on GitHub) if it is working for you and what you would like to see added.

The idea is simple. On your DJ computer install Amadeus. Set up your fixtures, rig and start playing. Amadeus currently support integrations for DJay Pro, VirtualDJ and Mixxx (even with music from Spotify). In the future more can be added.

You can find & download the project on Github: https://github.com/mathijs-b2m/AmadeusDMX/ It is completely free & open source.

BYOK: You can bring your own OpenAI key in order to take full advantage of its capabilities. Highly recommended to do so! 

Thanks!

Mathijs

The list of features and possibilities is already quite long! It would be too much to post it all in here. Feel free to ask if you can't find something.

And yes. This software is “Vibe Coded”. I am however a professional software developer and am planning to actively maintain this project in the future.