Move-To effects

The “Move-To” effects apply to moving head fixtures, including flames, special effects and lights.  Effects in a show that move continuously from one specified angle to another require two or more events in the show to specify the angles involved.  The first event specifies the “from” angle.  The second event specifies the “to” angle.   Additional events after that can extend the sequence to make a path A –> B –> C –> D, etc.  The angle sweep travels between two event angles over the time duration between the events.  To make a sweep faster, move the events closer together on the timeline.  To make a sweep slower, move the events apart.

For lights, the second event in a sweep is the one that determines the color of the light beam.  The first event only provides the “from” angle; none of its other attributes matter.  Thus if you make an angle sweep with a “Flash Red” effect followed by a “Move-To While Blue” effect, the sweep will be blue.

 

The meaning of Move-In-Black

Finale 3D‘s standard effects used to include a “Move-In-Black” effect to use as the first event in a sweep, but since none of its attributes other than the angle matter it is just as easy to use a “Flash” effect as the first effect.  For flames or sparks, use “Flash Flame” or “Flash Sparks”.  For lights, use “Flash Red” (or any color, it doesn’t matter).

In stage lighting terminology, “Move-In-Black” means moving the angle of a moving head fixture to the desired angle while the light beam or special effect is off, in preparation for turning on the light beam or special effect at the right angle.  All of Finale 3D‘s flash effects automatically perform the necessary move-in-black preparations in advance of turning on the effect, so there’s no need for an explicit “Move-In-Black” effect in Finale 3D.  The only thing you need to worry about is making sure that two flashes at different angles are separated by enough time for the head to travel to the angle of the second flash in the intermission.  The time required depends on your fixture, and is typically 500 ms to 1 second.  If you don’t provide enough time in your design, the fixture will turn on while it is still in motion.  You’ll see this in rehearsal, and you’ll be able to change it before the production.

 

Table 1 – Instructions to create a blue beam sweep effect

On the timeline, the “from” and “to” effects will be connected, as shown in Figure 1.  As you drag them farther apart or closer together on the timeline, the line between them expands or contracts.  The duration of the line is the duration of the effect.  “Move-To” effects generally have zero duration in their definition for clarity, since their effective start time is based on the preceding event yet their effective end time is the end of their own duration.

 

Figure 1 – A “Flash Red” (cue flag 105) and a “Move-To While Yellow” 5s later define a yellow sweep, visualized as a yellow bar.

 

Effect libraries may also contain modifier effects like “With Strobing Fast” or “With Gobo Star”.  Modifier effects appear as dotted lines on the timeline, as you can see in Figure 1.  They do not turn on or off the fixture themselves.  They modify any effects that they overlap.  If you want a yellow, strobing, star gobo effect for a moving head light that sweeps from one angle to another, add a “With Strobing” effect and a “With Gobo Star” effect at the “from” time or just before, and you adjust the durations of these two modifier effects to cover the duration between “from” and “to”, or longer if the strobing or gobo effects are intended to apply to other effects also that you add after the “to” time.