Finale 3D’s keyboard shortcuts are designed to support the “hands-on-keyboard” style of programming and also the “one-hand-on-mouse-one-hand-on-keyboard” style. The keys shown in Table 1 are the hot keys (hotkeys) for inserting and replacing effects. Table 2 includes a selection of the most frequently used keyboard hotkeys for maximizing productivity.
To insert an effect, you can press “C” to invoke the effects window with the filter box focused and any previous filter text selected. From that point you can easily press Delete to delete the text and type in different filter text. Having filtered the effects window down to a reasonable number of rows, you can use the up and down arrow keys to select the next or previous row. When you get to the row you want, press Control-Enter to insert that effect or Control-Shift-Enter to replace with that effect; or you can press Control-. if you change your mind.
Other keys tab between the cues on the timeline, or cycle among the selected positions. You can navigate and insert or replace effects without taking your hands off the keyboard, if that is your style. If you keep your right hand on the mouse, the “W” and “T” keys allow you to insert and replace effects with the left hand on the keyboard. Of course, you can also ignore the keyboard entirely and just use the mouse by itself, but if that is your style you likely aren’t reading this section of documentation.
Table 1 – Keyboard shortcuts for inserting and replacing effects: arrow keys, enter, and tab
| Shortcut | Function in Design Window | Function in Effects Window | Function in Script Window |
| Left/Right Arrow | Tab between cues on timeline | Select next/previous cell in table | — |
| Shift-Left/Right Arrow | Move playhead 1ms | Extend cell selection in table left/right | — |
| Control-Left/Right Arrow | Move playhead one small notch on timeline | — | — |
| Tab and Shift-Tab | Tab between positions in alphabetical order | Select cell or select next/previous cell in table | Same |
| Control-Tab and Control-Shift-Tab | Activate next/previous window in Finale 3D | — | — |
| Alt-Tab and Alt-Shift-Tab | Choose and activate next/previous window (system function) | — | — |
| C | Focus the search box on effect window (and show instructions; same as, “Choose effect…”) | Same | Same |
| Enter | Focus the search box on effect window (and show instructions; same as, “Choose effect…”) | Focus the search box in window | Same |
| W or Control-Enter | Insert effect from effect window (same as, “Insert effect”) | Same | Same |
| Y or Control-Shift-Enter | Replace with effect from effect window (same as, “Replace effect”) | Same | Same |
| Up/Down Arrow | Select next/previous row in effects window | Select next/previous row or cell in table | Same |
| Shift-Up/Down Arrow | Select next/previous row in effects window | Extend next/previous row or cell selection in table | Same |
| Control-Shift-Up/Down Arrow | Select and scroll to top/bottom row in effects window | Select and scroll to top/bottom row in table | Same |
| Home/End | Move to beginning/end of timeline | Select and scroll to top/bottom row in table | Same |
| Page Up/Down | Move playhead one large notch on timeline | Select and scroll to row one page up/down in table | Same |
| Escape | Clear selection of effects | Clear row or cell selection | Same |
| Control-. (Dot) | Close the window (or dialog) | Same | Same |
Some designers prefer to design with the effects window open all the time. Others prefer scripting with a full screen simulation window, popping up the effects window only when needed. The keys in Table 1 support both preferences. If the effects window is already open when you press “C”, then it will stay open when you insert an effect from it. If the effects window is not open when you press “C”, then it will close automatically when when you insert an effect from it, unless you manually reposition the window first, which clears its “auto-close” provenance.
Table 2 – Keyboard shortcuts for common and frequently used functions
| Key | Function in Design Window | Function in Effects Window | Function in Script Window | Function on the Timeline |
| Shift+2 | Window preset 2: design + effects + script | Same | Same | Same |
| Shift+left mouse button drag | Draw a selection box over positions or effects | Select contiguous items | Select contiguous items | Select multiple items |
| Ctrl+left mouse button drag | Orbit in 3D space | Select non-contiguous items | Select non-contiguous items | Drag timeline or duplicate effect(s) |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+C | Copy | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+V | Paste | Same | Same | Same |
| Space | Play or pause show | — | — | Same |
| I | Insert empty cue | Same | Same | Same |
| Y | Replace effect (replaces the selected effect(s) with the item selected in the effects window) | Same | Same | Same |
| F | Make into fan | Same | Same | Same |
| K | Mirror angles | Same | Same | Same |
| S | Make into sequence | Same | Same | Same |
| H | Spread out evenly | Same | Same | Same |
| M | Reverse order | Same | Same | Same |
| Shift+M | Randomize order | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+D | Duplicate | Same | Same | Same |
| D | Duplicate into pairs | Same | Same | Same |
| Shift+F | Duplicate into flights | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+H | Combine as chain | Same | Same | Same |
| G | Combine as group | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+G | Create an effect by typing a description of it | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+P | Create a cake effect by combining selected items | Same | Same | Same |
| Ctrl+L | Add one position | Same | Same | Same |
| Z | Add racks for show | Same | Same | Same |
| P | Address show | Same | Same | |
| L | Lock addresses | Same | Same | Same |