Blender Effect Timing???sorta?

[butterspam]

so just a general 3D modeling question. how do most people sorta turn on and off a effect in Blender?

an example is if i wanted to make a muzzle flash loop, but i wanted to have control on its timing on lighting and start time of said effect. how does one usually go for this?

do you use an armature with drivers? or do use custom properties to be attached the mesh i guess?

any video references on how to do this in blender would be much appreciated