AfterGlow allows you to bring photo-realistic simulations of fireworks displays of your own design alive on your computer.   Based on the same technology used by real firework display companies all over the world to design their shows, AfterGlow lets you see what it feels like to be a real pyrotechnic artist-- a job that few people ever have the opportunity to experience in real life. The design process used to create your shows will be identicle to how the pros really do it, since you are basically using the exact same software!  AfterGlow is essentially like a flight simulator for fireworks shows, allowing you to launch thousands of dollars worth of fireworks wherever you want without spending a dime.

The design process begins with choosing from a variety of background horizons, or creating your own, then building your display site within a fully  3D environment using imported models created in other programs.  Once your scene is complete, the next step is to place firing positions at each location where fireworks are to be fired from.  Each position is given a name so that it can be referenced in your script.  Each position marker can be moved anywhere in 3D space, with an adjustable camera position that also allows for a birds-eye view durnig placement.

In most causes you will want to choreograph your show to a music soundtrack of your choosing, which is displayed as a scrolling sound graph to guide you in your cue placement.  Three tools give you a great deal of control over indicating what gets fired and when:  The timeline that shows cue placement relative to time, a bar graph that indicates the duration of each effect and a cue list that allows you to see the details of each cue and quickly make changes to one or more cues at once.

Effects are added to your show using a powerful tool called the Effects Browser, which lets you easily search through the thousands of effects that ship with the software, as well as the custom effect libraries created by yourself or others. Effects can be test-fired prior to placing them in your show so that you can be sure it has the desired look.  At any time during the scripting process your show can be played back in real time to check how it will look.  The entire working area will clear itself of all windows so that you have the full screen to watch when proofing your shows.

Once your show is complete, you can render a video file to share your creations with others. The video output will also produce better quality simulations comapred with real-time playback, since there is no time constraint on rendering each frame.  The video output allows you to specify the size and position of the area to be captured in the video frames, and also allows the placement of a watermark to brand your videos with your name or pyro logo!