Hey AviatorRuss, thanks for the detailed and well-organized post, I appreciate your methodical approach!   Here are some preliminary answers to your questions:   #1. In Finale 3D Hobbyist and Pro, you can right click on a position, select Edit position properties, and use the Pre-Assigned Rails field to allocate specific rails (i.e. modules, channels) to the position. If a position includes pre-assigned rails, only those specific rails (an no others) will be used when you address your show. For more details and an example using a 72M, check out The Start Module, and Pre-Assigned Rails fields on positions documentation in the Finale 3D Help Center.   #1A. Same as above, simply add the channel numbers to the Pre-Assigned Rails field in position properties.   #1B. The order in which pins are assigned at each position is determined by the sort criteria you select in the second section of the Address Show dialog. The addressing algorithm will start with the lowest module number available each position and count up from there.  In Hobbyist and Pro, there are many individual sort criteria and millions and millions of ways to combine them to get the desired result. Sorting typically begins with Position Name. This means the addressing algorithm will go through positions in alphabetical order by position name.  Then, to determine the order within each position, subsequent criteria like Part Number, Description, Size, Cakes First, and Event Time are often used. In some situations, when intrinsic properties of the script events (e.g. Size, Type, Description, etc.) don't get the job done, a custom field can be used used. For example, you can enter any values you like in the Custom Script Field in the script window, then use the Custom Script Field as a sort order criterion when addressing the show. The key is selecting the right sort criteria and stacking them in right order to achieve the desired result. In rare cases, when a specific item needs to be on specific address, you can fall back to hand-typing addresses into the script window. Re-firing the same pin multiple times in a show also requires hand-typing the address (or using copy and paste for efficiency). To prevent hand-keyed addresses from changing, you can use Addressing > Lock addresses to prevent those addresses from changing while you address the remainder of the show using the automated addressing tools.

Is it possible to remove the header on every report that says your show name, date, location? It's information I really don't need and it often forces cue heavy modules onto a second page, I'd rather just remove it or reduce the size of it but I can't seem to find a way to do that in the documentation or any of the videos.

I think this will be a thread with many sub questions in it, depending on the answers that flow. I'm running into issues with addressing, and I'm running out of time to learn/self-teach and starting to feel some pressure.   Cobra "Channel" = F3D "Rail" Cobra "Cue" = F3D "Pin"   I have physical constraints (multiple positions, separated by WATER, ie barges). I need specific modules addressed to specific positions, and SOME of those pins on those specific modules addressed to specific effects. I have LOTS of single pin/multiple effect, plus I have 9 "sequencers" in both step (requires same Rail/Pin firing, over and over, for 13x) and auto-step (requires only one Rail/Pin firing once, which sets off an autonomous, 13shot timed sequence). I have not tackled "racking" yet...I'm currently overwhelmed with addressing. I'm about to say screw-everything-auto-addressing-everything, print out the 37page un-addressed script, handwrite my addressing, retype into script window, lock it, and export to cobra.   COBRA user. Finale3D Hobbyist. 39 COBRA modules, a mixture of 72Ms, 36Ms, 18Ms. Some are quickplug at the module, some have slats. 18Ms have both QP and cat5e slats. I've already "addressed" my cobra modules to my 18R2 remote, which means I already have Channels programmed to specific modules.   Question #1. How do I assign (Channel 0,1,2,3) of 72M#1 to position#1, then (Channel 4,5,6,7) of 72M#2 to position#2, then (Channel 8,9,10,11) of 72M#3 to position #3 etc?   Question #1A: subsequently, how do I assign (Channel 12,13) of 36M#1 to position#1, then (Channel 14,15) of 36M#2 to position #2, then (Channel 16,17) of 36M#3 to position #3 etc?   Question #1B: subsequently, how do I assign (Ch 12, cue 01) of 36M#1 to effect XYZ (gerb/strobe/candle), then (Ch14, cue 01) of 36m#2 to effect XYZ (gerb/strobe/candle) with same effect time of (Ch 12, cue 01), then (Ch 16, cue 01) of 36M#3 to effect XYZ (gerb/strobe/candle) with same effect time of (Ch 12, cue 01)?   Once these 1,1A,1B, are completed, I don't care what rail/pin combos are, OTHER than keeping the modules (ie...the specific channels) tied to specific positions. I'm not having any luck automating this addressing for these issues.   I fear...I'm limited by HOBBYIST version.   Thanks, -Russ    

Awesome to hear!!! Thanks Drew

Hey Pyro_345290000,   Well said! Not only do we agree, but we have been actively working on a major project that will allow users to more easily find and seamlessly share effects. I can't give too many details yet, but I can assure you that one of the highest priorities of the project is effect sharing, in addition to a suite of related features to address the exact pain point you described.

Hey AviatorRuss, thanks for jumping in — addressing blueprints are only available in Pro.   I'm really confident we can get dylan.paiva to a good place as soon as we get a bit more detail on where things aren't working as desired.

Dylan,   Have you tried looking at this Addressing the show using blueprints   I don't use this method of addressing, so I'm not sure if it is PRO level only, or can be done with HOBBYIST.   -Russ

From your description, the sort order (i.e., order of assignment) that you've  chosen for addressing the show is Position Name > Cakes First > Event Time. With this configuration, the addressing process will go through the positions in alphabetical order. C-01 is your first position alphabetically, so this position will get module 1. Within each position, the addressing process will put cakes first, but if you have some positions that are all cakes and other positions that are all shells, then 'Cakes First' won't do anything. It's not hurting, and it's not helping, because your positions don't contain a selection of cakes and other types of items. Finally, after putting the cakes first (for positions that have cakes and other items), the addressing process assign addresses chronologically by event time.   You mentioned that you would like to address your cakes first. Since your cake positions come before your other positions alphabetically, this should be exactly what's happening. Are you not getting module 1 at position C-01 when you address your show? If that's not the issue,  can you give us a bit more detail on where are you running into trouble? What's the first sign of something being different than what you would like?

I came on the forum looking for an answer to this question and appreciate the response from Drew.   I think the issue is there are so many fireworks out there and with new fireworks coming out every year, I don't think it is humanly possible for the Finale Team to create the simulations in a timely manner. Currently I would estimate 99.9% of the fireworks are not available in Finale 3D and this constitutes the current biggest flaw in the product.   Meanwhile, many users of Finale are forced to learn how to build cakes in the program themselves, which is a time consuming process, and it is frustrating to imagine all the other users spending hours duplicating this work to create the same cakes just because there is not a repository for user generated VDLs.  The user generated VDLs/simulations may not be perfect, but they are being used anyways by the users because they do not have any alternative and "the show must go on!". I can understand if there is hesitation about having possibly imperfect user created simulations available, however the time saving aspect of this process would far outweigh any issues with accuracy in terms of benefit for the customer.  These simulations/VDLs could also clearly be labeled as user generated content (use at your own risk!) and perhaps even rated for accuracy by the community, which over time would lead to a perfection of the simulations on a scale the Finale 3D team could not possibly accomplish.   Overall, I appreciate the response given to the original poster, but in my humble opinion there is a major opportunity being missed here. I believe the Finale 3D team is underestimating what crowd-sourcing can accomplish.  This solution is so obvious and would work so well that I would be interested in hearing the most detailed explanation possible on why it hasn't been done and/or why it isn't feasible to do going forward.      

Hello, sorry for the delay, I have been running circles here recently.   1. Finale3D Hobbyist 2. The first line of positions is a cake line labeled C-01 to C-03, The back line is all artillery labeled P-01-09. 3. As of right now, I am using the following 1. Starfire 2. Position Name>Cake First>Event Time 3. Rack (Constraint)   Thank you in advance!