Very specific effect creation

[joelinvan]

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Hello,

 

Two questions about developing specific looks for effects:

 

1. Is there a way to affect the density of stars in a shell? For example; I want to make a brocade, but I only want 27 stars to come out of it. For context, and in case someone has a better idea, I’m working with an individual who has a vision for a show and we’re trying to develop it. He has described the look he is trying to get as ’27 comets exploding like a star in random directions high in the sky’.

 

2. Are there resources to better understand building macros? Specifically, I’m working on a girandola effect right now trying to get it to look the way I want, but this may inform question 1 as well. I see that I can attach different effects to different stages of the girandola, but no matter what effects I attach they continue to look very similar. In my case, we get a bit of a sparkling herb look on the ground, but when it rises it just has a blue glow, then goes gold and burns out. It seems I should be able to build a multi-stage piece where it has a nice fountain coming out of it, then it changes colours, and then maybe even engages another engine that flies it further into the air.

 

Thanks all!

 

[DrewFinale]

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joelinvan wrote:

Hello,

 

Two questions about developing specific looks for effects:

 

1. Is there a way to affect the density of stars in a shell? For example; I want to make a brocade, but I only want 27 stars to come out of it. For context, and in case someone has a better idea, I’m working with an individual who has a vision for a show and we’re trying to develop it. He has described the look he is trying to get as ’27 comets exploding like a star in random directions high in the sky’.

 

Fon context, there are two ways to tune an effect in Finale 3D. The most common is just by typing words (VDL). You can adjust the number of stars in a shell using VDL adjustment terms. For example, if you want few stars you can use “Slightly Sparse”, “Sparse”, or “Very Sparse”. For a complete list of VDL adjustment terms, see: https://finale3d.com/documentation/vdl-effect-adjustment-terms-big-bright-etc

 

You can also adjust the number of stars (and virtually any other characteristic) in a shell using the effect editor. The effect editor is accessible by right clicking on an existing effect in the Effect window and selecting ‘Customize this effect simulation’s parameters’. To adjust the number of stars in the effect editor, select the ‘Break’ node and then adjust the star-count parameter. The benefit of using the effect editor is you can specify the exact number of stars, like 27, which can’t be done using VDL. However, keep in mind that an effect can either be a “VDL effect” (represented by words), or a “Custom effect” that can ONLY be edited in the effect editor, but it can’t be both. This means, once you customize an effect using the effect editor, you always have to come back to the effect editor to adjust it.

 

 

2. Are there resources to better understand building macros? Specifically, I’m working on a girandola effect right now trying to get it to look the way I want, but this may inform question 1 as well. I see that I can attach different effects to different stages of the girandola, but no matter what effects I attach they continue to look very similar. In my case, we get a bit of a sparkling herb look on the ground, but when it rises it just has a blue glow, then goes gold and burns out. It seems I should be able to build a multi-stage piece where it has a nice fountain coming out of it, then it changes colours, and then maybe even engages another engine that flies it further into the air.

 

Thanks all!

 

 

Effect macros documentation: https://finale3d.com/documentation/effect-macros

 

The macro functionality probably won’t help you with the girandola. The best you can probably do is a combination of custom effects and set of options available in ‘Script > Insert moving effect > Insert girandola’. With a multi-stage girandola, you can have one effect per stage. The effect can either be a VDL effect (represented by words), or a custom simulation that you make in the effect editor (represented by a long string of characters in {curly braces}).

 

 

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