Creating an Effect Question

[PyroExec]

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I’m trying to create a 50 shot rack effect that will be fused, which has a 6 second delay from igniting the fuse until the first lift starts and then a 2.5 lift time before effect. Total duration is 12 seconds. This is for 1.75″ consumer shells that go about 45 meters high. When I use the below VDL the effect ends up happening on the ground?

 

1.75″ 45.0m 12.00s 6.00 PFT 50 Shot 40 Degrees Brocade Fast Cake Fan (10 Rows) https://app.screencast.com/wLDBYJnY5XwaC

 

6 second prefire

2.5 lift time

12 second total duration

 

Any help would be appreciate.

 

 

[PyroExec]

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I found the answer to my question. DLY adds the fuse time. But for some reason the effect dot on the timeline is not when the first effect goes off its well before it.

 

Any ideas why?

 

 

 

[DrewFinale]

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Hey PyroExec, you’re on the right track with DLY! I suspect the reason the “blip” on the timeline isn’t aligning with the first burst is because you haven’t quite gotten all the necessary VDL terms working together.

 

Here’s the key: DLY + LFT = PFT

 

The Finale 3D definition of prefire is “the time from firing system ignition to the effect time that is synchronized to the music.” For shells, prefire = lift time, but if the shell is a consumer shell with a slow burning fuse, then the default doesn’t get the job done.

 

Visual Descriptive Language (VDL) has additional terms to support this scenario. One is DLY, and the other is LFT.

 

DLY is “Delay”, such as a slow burning fuse.

LFT is “Lift Time”, which is the time from launch to burst.

 

For example, let’s say you have a 1.75″ Red Peony shell with a 4 second visco safety fuse, and a 2s lift time from launch to burst. The 4 seconds of Visco fuse is a “Delay” (DLY) and the 2s from launch to burst is “Lift Time” (LFT). The total time from firing system ignition to burst is “Delay” DLY + “Lift Time” LFT = “Prefire Time” PFT. To make an accurate simulation of this shell, the full VDL description would be 1.75″ 4s DLY 2s LFT 6s PFT Red Peony.

 

Documentation article on prefire: https://finale3d.com/documentation/prefire/

 

 

On a separate but related note, I feel uneasy about the idea of representing racks of reloadable shells as a cakes in Finale 3D because it’s not really accurate. If you go the cake route, the product list Finale 3D will provide will tell you to grab a “cake” to set up your show. But in reality, you are shooting a “chain” of 50 shells. It seems like it would be better if your product list said 50 shells, as opposed to saying 1 cake. If you agree, then a better approach would be to create a chain in Finale 3D instead of a cake. See: https://finale3d.com/video/creating-finale-chains-two-different-ways/

[PyroExec]

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Thanks Drew, this is really helpful and adding the PFT fixed the issue.

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