Best Scripting Practices for Making Changes in the future?

[TheFlyingPyro]

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Hello…

 

Just wondering if there are any best practices to utilize when scripting a show such that it makes it easier to make changes in the future?

 

Here is the scenario: I’ve scripted my entire show with three songs. A month a later I find a song that I think would better than one of the songs I already used and want to remove it and replace it with the new song but not have to re-script the entire show. (I would think this is easiest to do if it’s the last song, but not the first or middle?)

 

For example, would it be better to to import each song individually instead of creating one mp3 file with all the songs in the same file?

 

Or can I create individual shows and then merge them into one show, giving me the ultimate flexibility? Is it even possible to merge multiple scripted shows into one show? If this is possible are there any disadvantages to doing it this way?

 

What other best practices should I be adhering to when scripting a show?

 

Thanks

Brett

[DrewFinale]

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Hi Brett, welcome to the Finale 3D community forum and thanks for posting!

 

Broadly speaking, I would say it really comes down to personal preference. There really aren’t too many best practices to better facilitate easy future changes because Finale 3D provides features to promote efficiency in various workflows. Here are some examples:

 

— If your audio editing needs are basic, then you may decide importing individual songs into Finale 3D is the way to go. The exception would be Finale 3D Lite, which doesn’t support audio editing. In Finale 3D Hobbyist and Pro, you can import multiple songs into the same show. You can also make separate shows with individual songs or segments and easily combine them using copy and paste. Video tutorial: Combining pyromusical shows using Copy and Paste.

 

— If your audio editing needs are more advance or you simply prefer creating your soundtrack outside of Finale 3D, there are still easy ways to make adjustments. You can add remove a song anywhere in your soundtrack using a 3rd party application, import your new soundtrack into Finale 3D, then easily re-align existing show segments using one of these scripting features:

— Click + Drag (to move any number of selected events on the timeline simultaneously)

— Script > Time adjustments > Set time… (to specify exact time for the first event in a set of selected events)

— Script Time adjustments > Shift times… (to shift the times of all selected events by a specific amount)

[TheFlyingPyro]

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Thanks Drew for your input, it’s very helpful.

 

I edit all my music outside of Finale 3D.

 

Using Cobra show creator,  I would combine all the music files together and then import them. But given Finale 3D can import individual songs, that’s what got me thinking. If you want to make changes to the entire show, it seems a best practice would be to import each individually. If you create one sound file for all the songs, then how would you only remove the middle song? Maybe not, I don’t know. Can you cut just a section of song within Finale 3D?

 

1. I would think a best practice for having flexibility in your show to make changes would be to always import songs and scripts independently and not utilize one large multi song music file (Unless you are certain on the song choices etc, but even then why not maintain flexibility, but that’s a personal preference).  What are your thoughts?

 

2. Always create a Site Show Template first. Then utilize the template when scripting each song. This will allow for easier copy and paste. Thoughts?

 

What about importing songs, is it best to stick with stereo initially? I’ve used SMPTE in the the past. So if you want to preserve the flexibility, does that mean I need to retain the stereo format? (multi channel track).  But what If I decide I want to utilize mono? Does it matter what version of the song I initially import Mono or stereo? Let’s say I go to a shoot and all of sudden the idea of using SMPTE is not going to work, meaning I have to use the audio box or vice versa.

 

Just trying to avoid traps that limit my flexibility to adapt to as many situations as I can.

 

Work flow for a three song show>

 

Step 1. – Edit all the songs as required for the main show and then create a separate MP3 file for each (starting with WAV format then back to MP3 to get rid of the artifacts –every time I import a song, there are artifacts)

 

Step 2. Create a site layout template (Any insights on best practices here would be useful)

 

Step 3. Open site layout and create script for first song and save as .fin file, rinse repeat for the other two songs.

 

Step 4. Open site layout template and then import all three songs via cut and paste

 

Thanks.

Brett

[DrewFinale]

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Hi Brett, replies to your questions in bold.

 

If you want to make changes to the entire show, it seems a best practice would be to import each individually. If you create one sound file for all the songs, then how would you only remove the middle song? Maybe not, I don’t know. Can you cut just a section of song within Finale 3D?

Although it’s a bit cumbersome, you can remove a song from the middle of a pre-edited, multi-song soundtrack in Finale 3D. However, if your soundtrack was created outside Finale 3D, a better approach is to simply remove the song outside of Finale 3D. If you edit your music non-destructively, and save a project file in your audio editing software, then you can easily go back to the multi-song project and add, remove, edit, and shift songs as needed. Then, you can simply import the updated soundtrack into Finale 3D and shift any timeline events that don’t align.

 

1. I would think a best practice for having flexibility in your show to make changes would be to always import songs and scripts independently and not utilize one large multi song music file (Unless you are certain on the song choices etc, but even then why not maintain flexibility, but that’s a personal preference).  What are your thoughts?

To your point, I think it really comes to down to personal preference. If you like the flexibility Finale 3D (Hobbyist and Pro) provide for working with multiple songs/audio files in the same show, then that’s great, and that’s exactly why Finale 3D supports this workflow.

 

2. Always create a Site Show Template first. Then utilize the template when scripting each song. This will allow for easier copy and paste. Thoughts?

Yes, while it’s possible to use copy/paste to combine shows with different position layouts, it’s much easier when all the shows being combined have the exact same position names and layout.

 

What about importing songs, is it best to stick with stereo initially? I’ve used SMPTE in the the past. So if you want to preserve the flexibility, does that mean I need to retain the stereo format? (multi channel track).  But what If I decide I want to utilize mono? Does it matter what version of the song I initially import Mono or stereo? Let’s say I go to a shoot and all of sudden the idea of using SMPTE is not going to work, meaning I have to use the audio box or vice versa.

You can add SMPTE or FSK timecode to your soundtrack in Finale 3D (Hobbyist and Pro) regardless of whether your audio files were imported as stereo or mono.

 

Just trying to avoid traps that limit my flexibility to adapt to as many situations as I can.

 

Work flow for a three song show>

 

Step 1. – Edit all the songs as required for the main show and then create a separate MP3 file for each (starting with WAV format then back to MP3 to get rid of the artifacts –every time I import a song, there are artifacts)

For best quality, stick with WAV through the entire design process and only convert your final soundtrack to MP3 if absolutely necessary. If you’re shooting your show using timecode, you don’t need an MP3. WAV files are lossless. No matter how many times an audio file is encoded and re-encoded as WAV, the quality is preserved. By contrast, MP3 is a compressed, lossy format. If you encode individual songs as WAV, then MP3, you’re losing quality. If you then import the songs into Finale 3D, then export your complete/final soundtrack, you’ll have a WAV file (because Finale 3D only exports WAV at this time). Then, if you need MP3, you’ll have to convert to MP3 again. At this point you’ve re-compressed your audio to MP3 twice. No good! If you stick to WAV through your entire design process and only convert to MP3 at then very end, you’ll limit the number of compression passes and preserve quality.

 

Step 2. Create a site layout template (Any insights on best practices here would be useful)

This is largely personal preference and a function of your preferred show production workflow.

 

Step 3. Open site layout and create script for first song and save as .fin file, rinse repeat for the other two songs.

This works, but keep in mind, if you script each song separately, you won’t get a complete view of product utilization until you combine all songs into one show. If you have limited inventory, or you just value being able to see the total “Used” quantities for the entire show mid-design, then designing the entire show as a single file from the outset offers that advantage.

 

Step 4. Open site layout template and then import all three songs via cut and paste

Yes, just make sure that you don’t have common part numbers in different show files that represent different effects. For example, if part number 10020 is a 30mm Red Comet in show A, and the same part number is a 45mm Blue Mine in show B, this will create a conflict when the shows are combined. Make sure that all unique effects have unique part numbers across all shows before combining.

[AviatorRuss]

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FlyingPyro,

 

This was an AWESOME question…because I had the same one. almost verbatim. Thanks!

 

I’m brand new to Finale3D, Hobby user, on a rocket ship learning curve with a short timeframe to “master” it. Anyway, I started by making a show template with positions etc., and built individual scripts each with their own songs. Then I copy/pasted and shifted the times around as Drew said using the Shift tools mentioned above. HOWEVER…what I discovered is…my used/avail inventory accounting become confusing across individual design files, without a tedious 3rd party spreadsheet application. Also, since I use the “per-show effects” to place-hold all my custom effects**, they weren’t being shared in my blank, template file, or across the individual created scripts. Thus…after 3 individual script files of my 6 song show, I just started building song 4,5,6 in the combined song1,2,3 file. What I did was save the file as I completed each new song…then…if i want to change a middle song, I can go back to the file where that is the “last” song, change it, resave it, then copy/paste the rest of the show after that from the “final” version.

 

**Because my wholesaler does not have a Finale3D database (yet…???), I have to steal each effect from a different retailer, ungroup it/explode it/resave it/make specific effect to add to it/change it/resave it to get what I want it to look like, more importantly the DURATIONS. Therefore, my “my-effects” window is over-loaded with hundreds of effects and makes it difficult for me to use as a working database. I’m sure there’s a better way to do what I’m doing but my self-taught crash course found this way the easiest.

[TheFlyingPyro]

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Hi Russ,

 

Glad I could help! I am also a newb to F3D and have been trying to climb the ladder fast.

 

Yup, I also started saving multiple version of my shows should I could go backwards more easily. Wish F3D had a built in time line of the edits like photo shop or something similar to 3D parametric modeling.

 

As for my effects etc. I created an .fdb database in Finale called “Created Effects” so I could keep any cakes I broke apart or any effects I created separated from the “My Effects”  catalog. I then used the original part #  for the cake I broke apart and added a “- 1” or a “-2” etc. to identify what row of the cake I was using (assuming I was using an entire row). This way I could look up the effect by the part #, but also get all the variants I created.

 

Bummer you need to create so many effects. At first I was avoiding any non-modeled effects, but now I am realizing the importance of being able to model certain cakes/break them apart etc. It really helps when you can’t find a pro 1.4 effect or if I have to shorten the duration of the effect.

 

Thanks for the feed back man! Cheers Brett

 

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