Yes, Finale 3D Hobbyist and Pro can generate and add all common frame rates of SMPTE timecode to soundtracks.   For an overview of producing a show using Cobra and SMPTE, check out this post:   https://finale3d.com/groups/english/forum/topic/finale-and-cobra-smpte-combo/#post-1647994

Thank you Drew!  Great info. When you say timecode, I assume you also mean SMPTE? Trying to wrap my head around using SMPTE in combination with the audiobox if all of this is avoidable using timecode/smpte. When I was using Cobra Show Creator, I used smpte. But now I have the audio box.   I went through the manual and couldn't find the info re: sound/music/exporting details, is it in there anywhere?  I do see the timecode info in the manual.   Thanks again!

Hi Brett, I'm sorry to hear about the timing issue with your last show. The good news is that there are some simple steps you can take to ensure it doesn't happen again.   For audio files that do not contain timecode, there are only two ways to move them on the timeline. The first is by turning off the Lock songs in place setting and dragging on the timeline. The second is by entering a non-zero start time in the songs window.   The Songs drag along events when moved option only works in the way the name implies. It keeps events aligned with the song when the song is moved. It does not cause a song to be moved when events are moved.   To know definitively if the soundtrack for your last show was moved, go to Window > Songs window and check the value in the Start Time field. Anything values of anything other than 00:00.000 indicates the song/soundtrack was moved.   By default, the Lock songs in place Finale 3D setting is enabled. If you are importing a completed soundtrack and have no need to make modifications in Finale 3D, then best practice is to leave this setting enabled at all times. There is no need to disable the setting in order to import music.   Finale 3D exports uncompressed, lossless WAV files matching exactly to the audio on the timeline. When exporting a soundtrack, Finale 3D also allows you to add timecode for every major firing system in the world. Exporting a soundtrack with timecode is the most common way to prepare audio for a pyromusical. The Cobra Audio Box is a unique exception in that it allows you to synchronize the firing of a show and music without using timecode. The Audio Box, and therefore Cobra, is also one of the only (maybe the only) firing system(s) of the 45 systems that Finale 3D supports that requires MP3. MP3 files are great for minimizing file size, but the major downside is that they are highly compressed and lossy, resulting in much lower quality compared to WAV files. That said, for the convenience of Cobra/Audio Box users, I would like to add MP3 export to Finale 3D at some point.   There are currently two known issues with MP3s in Finale 3D:   1) When an MP3 song/soundtrack is imported into Finale 3D, audio artifacts are sometimes introduced. This is a bug that we plan to fix. For more details, see: MP3 audio issues (static, crackling, popping, clicking) when importing songs into Finale 3D   2) When an MP3 song/soundtrack is imported into Finale 3D, the audio is shifted 0.05 seconds (5/100ths of a second) forward in time. This means that every event added to beats in the music is 0.05s late relative to the original audio file. This may seem like a lot, and I agree that it's unacceptable and needs to be fixed. At the same time, it only impacts shows that are not shot using a soundtrack exported from Finale 3D. Also, 0.05s isn't actually much in context — firing time propagation delay in firing systems, variance from one firing system to another, and variance from one e-match/igniter to another is often greater than 0.05s.   The solution to both issues is to import your soundtrack as a WAV file into Finale 3D. This workflow has multiple benefits:   1) Ensures no audio artifacts are added to the music. 2) Ensures perfect timing. 3) Reduces the number of times the music is compressed, thus preserving quality. For example, if you create your soundtrack as an MP3, then import it into Finale 3D, then export to WAV then convert to MP3 again, you are compressing the soundtrack twice. Each time audio is compressed, more quality is lost. By contrast, if you work in WAV right up to the point you need an MP3 for the Audio Box, you are only compressing the soundtrack once.   How can I double check the file once I convert it back to mp3? Import the WAV and MP3 versions of your soundtrack into Audacity. Listen and compare their waveforms side by side at a few points.   When I exported the wav file to compare the two files, the amplitude (db) was significantly lower than the file I originally loaded into F3D? How do you set db levels in F3D? The audio level for an exported soundtrack is based on the per-song Volume field in the songs window and global Song audio volume setting in File > Render settings.

Hi Drew-   My show last week, the timing was off by ~.50sec.  When I realigned the music in Adobe premiere, the .50s shift aligned everything perfectly.   I sent the F3D file to anther experienced designer and he agreed that my scripting should have NOT caused the timing to be off.   Long and short, the audio file I used for the show wasn't exported from F3D. I imported the MP3 file, locked it which I must have moved before locking?   When I exported the audio file last night from F3D and then compared the file I used in the audiobox, there was an ~.50s difference.   What could have caused the shift if I locked the music file?   F3D is not an audio tool, so I was skeptical to export it. But going fwd, I want to export it from F3D to be 100% sure it's correct. But I still have to convert the wav back to mp3 which could introduce an error again.   -How good is the underlying audio processor in F3D for export? -How can I double check the file once I convert it back to mp3? (Probabkly just laod both into a DAW and compare the wav form. Other thoughts? -When I exported the wav file to compare the two files, the amplitude (db) was significantly lower than the file I originally loaded into F3D? How do you set db levels in F3D? -Will F3D ever be able to export in mp3 format?   -Top (see below) is what I loaded into the Audiobox -Bottom (see below) is exported from F3D — you can see time and amplitude difference - timing difference is .475s    

Hi George,   I just realized that in my test, the position names did not come out unique as they should have. Just like you, I got: POS-~a POS-~b POS-~a     <--- Duplicate POS-~b     <--- Duplicate   The correctly truncated and unique position names would be: POS-~a POS-~b POS-~c POS-~d   I edited my previous post as a correction. We'll investigate and try to fix the issue.

I am getting the same POS-~a, POS-~b, POS-~a, and POS-~b. on Apex.  When I load the show file to Apex it tells me the show is not valid because I have two positions/groups that are the same ( POS-~a and POS-~a) and (POS-~b and POS-~b).  Then all the lines in the show file that have those positions are listed with an error.  Since the show has errors it is invalid and Apex does not allow you to shoot an invalid show.  I grabbed some screen shots and sent  it over to the support email address.  Again I was able to resolve the issue by renaming the seven character positions to a six character positions.  I also just renamed the positions as follows below and I got a valid show.  So it seems the first 6 characters just have to be unique   Pos-13 POS-133 Pos-15 POS-153   George

Hi George,   Having positions with the following names should NOT cause any errors: POS-13 POS-15 POS-133 POS-153   I just did a quick test and confirmed the Finale 3D truncates position names and makes them unique, as described in the Apex documentation.   I started by creating a simple show with just four positions and four events. For the position names, I used POS-13, POS-15, POS-133, and POS-153. Then I addressed the show for Apex and exported the script. In the exported script (.sho) file, the position names are listed as POS-~a, POS-~b, POS-~a, and POS-~b. If you're using these exact same position names, then you should be getting the exact same (good) result. If not, there must be something more to the equation. Feel free to send your show file over if you'd like us to take a look.   Edit: Getting position names POS-~a, POS-~b and then POS-~a, POS-~b repeated again in the header of the script (.sho) file is NOT good. Finale 3D should be truncating the position names to 6 characters and making the unique, and it's not doing that in this case.  Your solution of changing the position names is a good short-term workaround. As a long-term solution, we will investigate fixing the issue so that Finale 3D always provides unique, 6-character position names in the exported script file.