To create and export a script for the IGNITE firing system, please follow these steps:
- Design the show.
- Address the show (“Addressing > Address show”).
- Export the script (“File > Export > Export firing scripts“). This function creates an Excel XLSX file containing the rows, and it also copies the rows into the system clipboard so you can paste them into a text editor or the IGNITE designer web application.
- Paste the script rows into designer.ignitefiringsystems.com. Select the first row in the table on this web page, then press Ctrl+V.
Figure 1 – The IGNITE firing system module
The exported IGNITE script is a list of rows represented as text with tab separated fields. The method of transferring a show designed in Finale 3D to the IGNITE system is to address and export the show from Finale 3D and then paste (or copy/paste from exported XLSX file) the rows into a blank show in the IGNITE designer web application.
The “Event Time” field in IGNITE corresponds to the “Effect Time” in Finale 3D, i.e., the break of a shell as opposed to the launch of a shell. The “Color” and “Cue” fields in IGNITE correspond to the “Rail” and “Pin” columns in Finale 3D. The six colors in IGNITE, beginning with red, are rail numbers 0-5 in Finale 3D. The pin and cue numbers, and the “Firework Name” and “Duration” fields have the same meaning in IGNITE and Finale 3D. The “Igniter Pre-fire” field in IGNITE corresponds to the “Prefire” field in Finale 3D.
Table 1 – Clipboard format and encoding
| Clipboard format | Extension | Text encoding | Field delimiter | End-of-line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | XLSX | UTF-8 | Tab | CRLF |
The script contains rows for the firing events, i.e., unique combinations of module, channel, 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 first by Event Time. |
| What rows represent | Rows represent firing events, i.e., unique module-channel-ignition-time events. If multiple effects are triggered on the same cue, the effects are combined in name field, but the row is still just one row. |
| Special characters | The script may contain any Unicode characters except the comma character and control characters like tab or carriage return. Finale 3D automatically strips out the comma characters from exported scripts. |
The IGNITE script has no header, just a list of rows corresponding to the firing events. Each row has six fields, defined as follows:
Table 3 – Specifications of script fields
| Field name | Description |
|---|---|
| Event Time | The Effect Time (the break time, not the launch time) in the format MM:SS.D from the beginning of the show (1/10th second resolution) |
| Color | Module number, from 0-5 |
| Cue | Pin number, from 1-18 or 1-36 |
| Firework Name | The effect description (up to 62 Unicode characters, including double quote and characters from other languages but not comma) |
| Duration | Duration in seconds without fractional seconds (integer) |
| Igniter Pre-fire | Prefire as a floating point number with 1/10th second resolution |
The example script below has three cakes, all shot from the same module (0, or red). The first two cakes are long, at 22 and 18 seconds respectively. The third cake is an all-at-once shell cake, and therefore has an Igniter Pre-fire equal to the lift time, represented in the Igniter Pre-fire field even though the delay is in the aerial delay fuse, not the igniter.
00:05.0 0 3 Slingin' Rhymes 22 0.0
00:30.7 0 1 Green Ice 18 0.0
00:53.7 0 2 Say Again? 1 1.7
Figure 2 – Example IGNITE script as text
Figure 3 – Example IGNITE script as shown in the IGNITE designer web application