Finale 3D supports using multiple firing system controllers in the same show. After setting up the show for multiple firing systems, you can design a single, complete show. When you export the firing system script(s), the software will export multiple script files, one for each firing system or controller.
Multiple firing systems in the same show
The granularity of control for specifying the firing system is the launch positions. Holding the shift key, click on all the launch positions in the simulation view that you want to use the first firing system, say, firing system A. Then right click on any of the positions you’ve selected, and do “Edit position properties” from the context menu. In the context menu, specify the firing system and module type, as shown in the figure below.
Figure 1 – Specifying the firing system and module type in the “Edit properties” dialog.
Repeat the process for all the positions assigned to the second firing system, say firing system B. If your show has more firing systems, continue in this manner until you’ve assigned firing systems and module types to all the positions. Having specified the firing systems, do the menu item, “Addressing > Address show” to assign firing system addresses to the shots in the show. The firing system selector in this dialog defines the default firing system for positions that do not have a firing system assigned to them. If you’ve specified the firing system for all the positions, the firing system selection in the addressing dialog doesn’t matter.
You may notice after assigning the addresses that the “Rail” and “Pin” columns of the script window may show module, slat and pin numbers in different formats for the rows of one firing system or the other. For example, FireTek firing systems specify the module and slat in their Rail address using two numbers (e.g., 01-01), whereas FireOne firing systems specify only a module, with a single number (e.g., 01). As the “Address show” function assigns firing system addresses for all the events in the show, it also assigns the firing system and module type. If you unhide the “Module Or Slat Type” column in the script window, from the blue gear menu in its upper right (“Hide or unhide column” in the context menu), then you’ll see after addressing the show that the rows in the script have a specific firing system module type defined.
The menu item, “File> Export > Export firing system script(s)” will export as many files as there are different firing system controllers used in the show, one for each.
Multiple firing system controllers of the same type
Dividing the show for multiple firing system controllers of the same type requires a similar setup, except that you split up the show into multiple “Universes” by indicating a different universe for each controller, and specifying it in the positions’ “Edit properties” dialog. The Universe can be a number, or letter, or word. The Universe is just an identifier to partition positions into different firing system controller groups. The addressing space of each Universe is independent of the others. The addresses in each Universe begin with the first module.