Fireworks Projector runs a live fireworks simulation of rockets, bursts, trails, and drifting smoke rather than playing back a video, so no two shows look the same. Choose Projector to throw it onto a wall, window, or garage door on exact black, or Full screen to paint a complete night sky for a TV, monitor, or laptop with no projector at all.
Before you start
- A projector or a second screen you can point at a surface, if you're using Projector. A TV, monitor, or laptop works directly with Full screen instead.
- Projection material for a window. Plain glass is transparent and won't hold an image. You need rear-projection film, a sheer curtain, or frosted film between the projector and the audience.
- A dark room, for Projector mode. This is a light source with no ambient-light compensation, so competing room light or streetlight on the surface washes out the show and turns the black background gray.
Set it up
- Open Fireworks Projector and choose a Display: Projector (black background) or Full screen (night sky).
- On Full screen, pick a Scenery: Harbour at night, City skyline, or Open sky.
- Choose a Theme (Celebration, New Year's Eve, Fourth of July, or Wedding (gold)) and, if you want a different look without changing the shells, a Colours override.
- Set Launch rate and Burst size, then Trail length and Smoke to taste.
- Set Finale to Off, Every few minutes, or Non-stop, and set Finale every if you chose the periodic option.
- Turn on Fireworks sound if you want booms and crackle, and set Volume.
- On Projector, use Scale, Horizontal position, and Vertical position to fit your wall or window, and Mirror horizontally or Flip vertically if your setup needs them (see below).
- Select Play Fullscreen, darken the room if you're projecting, and set Brightness.
You'll know it worked when rockets climb and burst on schedule, matching your Launch rate and Finale choice, with true black (Projector) or the chosen night sky (Full screen) everywhere else.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Projector (black background), Full screen (night sky) | Switches between the two ways of showing the fireworks. |
| Scenery | Harbour at night, City skyline, Open sky | Shown only when Display is Full screen. The backdrop the fireworks burst over. Harbour reflects the bursts and lit windows in the water. |
| Theme | Celebration, New Year's Eve, Fourth of July, Wedding (gold) | The mix of shell types and colours. Wedding leans on gold willows and hearts; New Year's Eve adds more strobes and crackle. |
| Colours | Theme colours, Rainbow, Gold & silver, Red white & blue, Pink & purple, Green & gold | Re-tints whichever theme you picked without changing its shell mix. |
| Launch rate | 4–60/min | Shells launched per minute outside a finale. |
| Burst size | 50–150% | Overall size of each burst. |
| Trail length | 0–100% | Length of the streak each rocket and star leaves behind. |
| Smoke | 0–100% | Drifting smoke left by each burst, lit by its colour for a moment before turning grey. On a projector, smoke greys the black, so keep it low. |
| Rising rockets | on/off | Shows the climbing rocket and its spark trail before the burst. Off shows only the bursts. |
| Finale | Off, Every few minutes, Non-stop | Whether the show periodically builds to a closing salvo, holds finale intensity the whole time, or never does either. |
| Finale every | 30–600s | Shown only when Finale is Every few minutes. Seconds from the start of one show cycle to the next. |
| Fireworks sound | on/off | Launch whooshes, booms, and crackle, synthesized in the browser with no audio files. Off by default. |
| Volume | 0–100% | Shown only when Fireworks sound is on. |
| Scale | 25–200% | Shown only when Display is Projector. Size of the whole show on your wall or window. |
| Horizontal position | -50% to 50% | Shown only when Display is Projector. Shifts the show left or right. |
| Vertical position | -50% to 50% | Shown only when Display is Projector. Shifts the show up or down. |
| Mirror horizontally | on/off | Shown only when Display is Projector. Flips the show left-right, for rear projection. |
| Flip vertically | on/off | Shown only when Display is Projector. Flips the show top-bottom, for a projector mounted upside down that can't flip its own picture. |
| Brightness | 0–100 | Overall output. At 0 the display is solid black. |
Display, Scenery, Theme, Colours, Launch rate, Burst size, Trail length, Smoke, and Rising rockets sit under Effect. Finale and Finale every sit under Finale. Fireworks sound and Volume sit under Sound. Scale, position, and the two flip controls sit under Placement, and only appear for the Projector display. Brightness is the only control under Light — this effect has no colour or colour-temperature control.
How to use this with a projector
Aim the projector at a wall, a window prepared with rear-projection film, a sheer curtain, or frosted film, or a garage door. Plain clear glass won't show anything — the light just passes through it. If you're projecting from inside the house onto the back of window film or a curtain, turn on Mirror horizontally so the picture reads correctly from outside. If the projector is ceiling-mounted and can't flip its own picture, turn on Flip vertically. Darken the room as much as you can — the effect renders true black around the fireworks, so a bright room is the biggest source of a washed-out result, not a setting. Keep Smoke low; it's lit by each burst but settles into grey, which raises the black level on a projector faster than it adds to the show.
No projector? Use Full screen
Set Display to Full screen and connect your laptop to the TV over HDMI. It fills the screen with a complete night sky — pick Harbour, City skyline, or Open sky under Scenery — so there's no black background to fit or darken a room for. Turn on Fireworks sound and play it through the TV's own speakers for a fuller effect.
Common setups
- New Year's Eve on a projector. Theme New Year's Eve, Finale Every few minutes with Finale every around 60–90s, Scale and Position fit to your window, room dark.
- Party on a TV, no projector. Display Full screen, Scenery Harbour, Finale Non-stop, Fireworks sound on with Volume 50–60.
- Quiet ambient backdrop. Launch rate 10–15, Smoke 5–10, Finale Off, sound off. A slow, unobtrusive show that won't dominate a room.
- Wedding reception. Theme Wedding (gold), Colours Theme colours, Finale Every few minutes with Finale every 200–300s so the salvo doesn't interrupt speeches too often.
Troubleshooting
Plain glass shows nothing, or just a faint reflection. Clear glass doesn't hold an image. Hang rear-projection film, a sheer curtain, or frosted film across the window and aim the projector at that instead of the bare glass.
Fireworks sound is on but I hear nothing. Some browsers hold audio until you interact with the page after turning Fireworks sound on. Tap or click anywhere on the page; the show continues silently until you do.
From outside, the picture looks mirror-reversed. You're rear-projecting with Mirror horizontally off. Turn it on so heart-shaped bursts and the show's left-to-right layout match what you set up.
The projected image is upside down. The projector is mounted in a way it can't flip its own picture. Turn on Flip vertically instead of physically remounting it.
The wall or window reads gray instead of true black. The effect renders solid black around the fireworks at any Brightness, so lowering Brightness further won't help. Lower Smoke, darken the room further, and try the projector's eco or low-lamp mode — the gray is the projector's own black level plus ambient light on the surface.
The show feels too sparse or too chaotic. Raise or lower Launch rate and Burst size together. A low rate with a large burst size reads as occasional big shells, while a high rate with a smaller burst size reads as a busier, denser show.
Next steps
For a black-background projector effect built for winter windows instead of fireworks, see Falling Snow Projector. For animated scenes with characters on the same black-background setup, try Christmas Window Scenes.