Which USS Defiant Pulse Phaser effect is better?

Aargh, ever since ‪@DarkRavenProductions‬ posted a comment asking about how to do Defiant style phaser cannons, I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to do it. I’ve scoured the original VFX and I think they used 2D animations layered in 3D space, but I couldn’t quite get the look right so instead I’ve come up with 2 different approaches:

1) 8 instances of CC Particle World to flash and fire the bolts, but you lose a lot of control (what do you do if they hit a target?)

2) Uses Beam and Lens flares (4 of each) and can track a target and play their own sound effect, but is more involved in setting up.

Help me pick and vote on it here.

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