To create and export a script for the Firemaster firing system, please follow these steps:
- Address the show (“Addressing > Address show”) and select “Firemaster6” as the module type. Firemaster6 is the most up-to-date script format and is backward compatible, so you should try this format first no matter how old your firing system is. If it doesn’t work and you have old hardware, you can try the Firemaster5 and Firemaster3 module types.
- Export the script (“File > Export > Export firing scripts“).
- If you use a beep track for synchronization, export a voice cues track using the “Firemaster beep” as the vocalization (“File > Export > Export voice cues track”).
Step 2 creates the script file, which has the “TXT” extension. The file format details are described in this section.
Figure 1 – Firemaster firing system
Table 1 – File format and encoding
| File format | Extension | Text encoding | Field delimiter | End-of-line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | .TXT | ASCII | semicolon | CRLF |
The script contains rows for the firing events, i.e., unique combinations of module, pin, and ignition-time. Multiple effects can be combined on a single cue. The special characteristics of the script are shown in the following table:
Table 2 – Special characteristics
| Special characteristics | Description |
|---|---|
| Sort order of rows | Rows sorted ascending by event time. |
| What rows represent | Each row represents a unique firing event, a module/pin/event-time combination. For example, a chain of five shells will be one row, not five. A pair of shells shot together from the same position will be one row, not two, even if the shells are different effects. A flight of shells shot together from multiple positions with the same module-pin using scab wire is still one row. |
| Header | The first line of the file indicates the file format, Firemaster6. The next three rows are for the name, date, and time. Finale 3D fills in the show name and date fields from the show information that you set with the menu item, “Show > Set show information…” Finale 3D fills the time with 12:00:00. Parente Firemaster has strict requirements for the format of the date: DD/MM/YYYY. If the date format in show information doesn’t match, Finale 3D fills in a default date, 01/01/2000.
The next row is column header row, which specifies the fields of the following data rows: |
| Time resolution | The Firemaster system supports 1/100th second resolution. To accommodate fast paced events, the file format includes named sequences that require a single trigger for the entire sequence, rather than a trigger for each event in the sequence, thereby limiting the network bandwidth and precision required to control the script reliably in real time.
By default, the Finale 3D exporter will automatically combine events that are closer together than 1.0 second into a sequence, and will give the sequence a name (an integer) that does not conflict with any sequences manually defined by the user in Finale 3D using the “Track” field. Optionally, a user can change the minimum Separation Time from 1.0 seconds to other choices in the script export options (See Table 3). Aside from accommodating fast paced sequences of events, the sequences in the script can be used to combine effects together into a group with a single trigger for semi-automatic or manual fire (see below). |
| Semi-automatic fire and manual fire | The Firemaster script format supports semi-automatic and manual fire with sequences. The script contains cue numbers (Cue) and sequences names (Seq) as described in Table 4. The cue number is the progressive count of sequences, in chronological order starting with 1. The sequence name is the unique name (an integer) of a sequence of effects with same start time and various delay times relative to the start.
Sequence names may be the same as the cue numbers, or they may be different. The user can define and name sequences using the Track field in Finale 3D, by simply selecting range of effects on the timeline, and assigning them the same Track number, which is taken to be the sequence name. In this case, the sequence names can be any number > 0 and do not need to be the same as the cue numbers. Sequences that are automatically generated by the Finale 3D exporter to accommodate fast paced events will have automatically generated sequence numbers beginning at 1 + the largest Track number, or just 1 if there are no Track numbers specified in the show. Pyromusicals and other full shows that are not fired with semi-automatic firing or a beep track generally do not have any user-defined Track numbers, because there is no reason for them. Tracks are required for beep tracks (see next paragraph). Optionally, a user can add an offset to the automatic sequence numbers by specifying a Sequence Number Offset in the export options (See Table 3). This offset will be added to automatically generated sequence numbers, not to the sequence numbers defined by Tracks. |
| Beep tracks | If you use a beep track for synchronization, export a voice cues track using the “Firemaster beep” as the vocalization (“File > Export > Export voice cues track”).
Since Firemaster needs only one beep trigger per sequence, you must turn ON the checkbox, “One voice cue per track” on the voice cues dialog, and you must explicitly make any fast paced sequence of events a track using the Track field in the script window. Although the Finale 3D exporter for Firemaster will automatically create implicit sequences for fast paced sequences of events that need them, the “One voice cue per track” setting is based only on the explicit tracks in the Script window’s Track column. |
When you export a firing script for Firemaster, Finale 3D presents an “Export Options” dialog with the choices shown in Table 3.
Table 3 – Export options
| Option name | Description |
|---|---|
| Version | Choose version V3, V5, or V6. |
| Separation Time | Choose the minimum separation time between shots, as described in the “Time resolution” row of Table 2. The default value is 1 secoond. |
| Sequence Number Offset | If you want the automatic sequence numbers to begin at an offset, specify the offset with the option. The default value is zero. |
Each row in the script has a number of fields separated by the semicolon character. The names of the fields and their descriptions are in following table. The old Firemaster 3 format contains a subset of the Firemaster 5 fields and in a different order, but the Firemaster 5 format is backward compatible so there is no reason to use the old format. The header in Table 2 indicates what columns are present in each format, and in what order.
Table 4 – Specifications of script Firemaster 5 fields
| Field name | Description |
|---|---|
| Cue | The cue number is the progressive count of sequences or individual events, in chronological order of their earliest event time, starting with 1. Rows of the same sequence have the same cue number. Rows are sorted by cue number, then event time, then delay (for rows in a sequence). Rows of all sequences are thus listed contiguously in the exported script, even if sequences have overlapping time ranges. |
| Seq | The sequence name is the unique name (an integer) of a sequence of events with same start time and various delay times relative to the starting event time. An individual event is considered to be a sequence of one event, and thus all rows in the script must have defined sequence names. Sequence names may be the same as the cue numbers, or they may be different, but all rows of the same sequence have the same sequence names and the same cue numbers. |
| Rif | An auxiliary identifier for the effect. Finale 3D leaves this field blank. |
| Start | The start time of the sequence, in the format HH.MM.SS,XX. |
| Delay | The delay from the start time of the row in its sequence, in the format HH.MM.SS,XX. |
| Address | The combined Unit and Term address, as an integer: (Unit – 1 ) * 24 + Term. Unit is the module number starting with 1; Term is the pin number starting with 1. |
| Group | The hazard lockout number, from 0-9. The default value is 0. The values 1-9 indicate groups that can be disabled on the fly by the Firemaster system. The group number comes from the “Hazard” field in Finale 3D. |
| Note | The name of the effect. |
The example script shown in Figure 1 includes both automatically defined sequences and sequences defined by the user with the Track field. The rows with cue numbers 3 and 4 represent two sequences named 101 and 102. The sequence names were defined in the Finale 3D show using the Track field. The rows with cue numbers 1 and 2 do not have any Track number in the Finale 3D show, but they represent two fast paced sequences of events with just 0.1 seconds separating the events.
To accommodate the face paced events, Finale 3D automatically combines the events into sequences and gives them names. Ordinarily, if there were no user-defined Tracks, the sequence names would begin at 1, just like the cue numbers, and would advance in the script along with the cue numbers, identically, each row having the same value for its first two fields. This show contains Track values 101 and 102, so the automatically generated sequence names begin at 1 + the largest Track value, which is 103.
Firemaster6 Finale3D
Name testshow
Date 05/08/2021
Time 12:00:00
Cue;Seq;Rif;Start;Delay;Address;Group;Note
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.00,00;1;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.00,57;25;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.01,14;49;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.01,70;73;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.02,27;97;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.02,84;121;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.03,41;145;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.03,98;169;0;Red Chrysanthemum
1;1;;00.00.02,76;00.00.04,54;193;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.00,00;2;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.00,57;26;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.01,14;50;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.01,71;74;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.02,28;98;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.02,84;122;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.03,41;146;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.03,98;170;0;Red Chrysanthemum
2;2;;00.00.10,32;00.00.04,55;194;0;Red Chrysanthemum
Figure 2 – Example Firemaster 6 script
Table 5 – Downloads
| Download link | Explanation |
| test_firemaster.fin | Example show file |
| test_firemaster.txt | Example exported file (TXT) |
| MANUAL_FIR5-ENG_v201120.pdf | Firemaster manual |
| Firemaster beep track |