The beamZ BBP60 RGB UV Par Light fixtures, Standard Fixture Id 041, are battery powered, RGB + UV up-lights with standard features. Figure 1 – beamZ BBP60 RGB UV Par Light   The fixtures have a 6-channel and 10-channel DMX personalities.  Finale 3D's effect libraries support only the 10-channel personality.   Table 1 – DMX personality choices DMX personality ("DMX Channel Mode") Supported in Finale 3D 6CH NO 10CH YES   Instructions To design a show for BBP60 fixtures, please follow the steps in DMX basic instructions and Light fixtures basic instructions.  If you don't already have a compatible firing system or controller capable exporting a DMX script, please refer to Supported firing systems and controllers (DMX) for the list of available hardware options.  For further information about the BBP60, please see beamzlighting-bbp60.   Choosing the DMX channel ranges for fixtures Each fixture requires multiple channels, so if you are putting multiple fixtures in the same DMX Universe, you need to set the Start Address on the fixture in the real world and the corresponding DMX Channel Base on the fixture in Finale 3D to a range of channels that doesn't overlap with others.  A DMX universe has channels 1-512.  If you want to pack as many fixtures into the 512 channels of a DMX universe as you can, back-to-back ranges are the most efficient.  Table 2 shows an example for 10-channel fixtures.  Some DMX firing systems and controllers only support 50 or 100 channels, so you may not have all 512 channels to work with.   Table 2 – Example channel ranges for 10-channel fixtures in a DMX universe Fixture DMX Channel Base Channels Used 1 1 1-10 2 11 11-20 3 21 21-30 4 31 31-40 5 41 41-50 6 51 51-60 7 61 61-70 8 71 71-80 9 81 81-90 10 91 91-100 ... 51 501 501-510   Technical details The following tables show the technical specifications of the fixtures, as tested by the Finale support team.   Table 3 – DMX channels for 10CH personality DMX Channel Meaning Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) Dimmer Channel 2 (DMX Channel Base + 1) Red Channel 3 (DMX Channel Base + 2) Green Channel 4 (DMX Channel Base + 3) Blue Channel 5 (DMX Channel Base + 4) White Channel 6 (DMX Channel Base + 5) Amber Channel 7 (DMX Channel Base + 6) UV Channel 8 (DMX Channel Base + 7) Strobe (0-2 = no strobe; 3-255 = slow to fast) Channel 9 (DMX Channel Base + 8) Fading Channel 10 (DMX Channel Base + 9) Macro effects     Table 4 – Example files and downloads Download link Explanation beamz-bbp60-dmx-personality-142x300.jpg beamZ BBP60 RGB UV Par Light User Manual

The Le Maitre Salamander flame unit is a vertical flame projector that can be controlled by any of the DMX-capable firing systems, such as Piroshow, Pyromac, PyroSure, fireTEK, Cobra, Fire Control G2, and Mongoose.   Figure 1 – Le Maitre Salamander     If the flame unit is controlled by two independently configurable DMX channels: Flame, and HSI / Safety Channel.  In Finale 3D's terminology, "Safety Channel" refers to a channel that must be turned on to enable the fixture.  The safety channel may be strictly a logical switch, or it may additionally have some physical meaning, as is the case with the Salamander.  For the Salamander, the safety channel controls the ignition heating element (the "HSI").  In Finale 3D, please consider the HSI and the Safety Channel as one and the same. The Salamander requires the HSI to be enabled in advance of firing by approximately 10 seconds, to give it a chance to warm up.  Thus, in Finale 3D if you include the safety channel in the show design, make sure to place it on the timeline at least 10 seconds prior to the first flame effect.  For further information about the Salamander operation, please see the Salamander Manual 1.3. Since the HSI / Safety Channel is independently configurable, it can be shared across multiple units in the same DMX universe. Instructions To design a show for Le Maitre Salamander units, please follow these steps:  Set up.  (A) Follow the flame set up instructions in the Flame systems basic instructions to create the Salamander fixture positions and one or more safety positions.  Your fixture positions will have a DMX Fixture Type of "Le Maitre [039] Salamander"; your safety positions will have a DMX Fixture Type of "Le Maitre [040] HSI / Safety Channel".  Depending on your DMX controller, you may choose to give each Salamander unit its own DMX universe, or give each Salamander unit a channel in a shared DMX universe (the Salamander units require only a single channel).   (B) In the real world configure each physical Salamander unit's "FLAME Address" to be the DMX channel you allocate for the flame unit.  (C) In Finale 3D configure the "DMX Channel Base" to match the FLAME Address exactly. (D) In the real world, configure each physical Salamander unit's "HSI Address" to be the DMX channel you allocate for the shared HSI / safety channel.  (E)  In Finale 3D configure the "DMX Channel Base" of the safety position to be the HSI Address.  The safety position is separate from the Salamander fixture positions and may be shared by the Salamander fixtures positions if you configure the fixtures with the same HSI Address. Add flame effects to the show.  (A) Right-click on DMX Fixture positions to add compatible effects from the context menu or to filter the effects window to compatible effects. Make your own, or modify existing flame effects.  The Salamander effects come in a few example durations in the Assorted Effects collection, which you can turn on with the menu item, "DMX > Choose catalogs of DMX effects to download..." but you can also create your own variations that have arbitrary durations.  (A) First copy the original effect by selecting the effect row in Assorted Effects, then right-click copy (or control-C).  (B) Then paste into your My Effects or any of your other effects collections.  (C) After copying it to your own inventory, you can modify its parameters.  Simply edit the duration field to change its duration.  The 3D simulation and the DMX Patch will automatically incorporate your change.  You can also adjust the height field to change the height of the flame simulation, though doing so has no bearing on the exported DMX script. Add HSI / safety channel effects.  Add "HSI / Safety Channel" effects to your safety channel position, and adjust their durations to cover the spans of time for which you want to arm the flame unit.  Remember to place the HSI / Safety Channel effects at least 10 seconds prior to the first flame to give the HSI igniter unit enough time to warm up. Since the Salamander FLAME channel and HSI / Safety Channel are configured independently, you need to put the safety channel effects off in their own "safety position" in Finale 3D in order set a DMX Channel Base for the safety channel effects independently of the Salamander fixtures themselves.  The "safety position" doesn't actually represent a position in the real world; it is just a place to put the safety channel effects at an independent DMX Channel Base.     Table 1 – DMX channels for flame position (DMX Fixture Type of "Le Maitre [039] Salamander") DMX Channel Meaning Effect in Finale 3D that controls channel Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) Ignition (0 - 127 = OFF, 128 - 255 = ON) Part numbers LMTR1001 - LMTR1005 representing flame effects of varying durations . Table 2 – DMX channels for safety position (DMX Fixture Type of "Le Maitre [040] HSI / Safety Channel") DMX Channel Meaning Effect in Finale 3D that controls channel Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) Safety channel (0-127 = OFF, 128 - 255 = ON) Part number LMTR1006, “LMTR [040/0000] With HSI / Safety Channel”   Choosing the DMX channel ranges for fixtures Each Salamander fixture requires a firing channel and a safety channel, but the safety channel can be shared among fixtures, so you could allocate your channels as shown in Table 3.  A DMX universe has channels 1-512.  If you want to pack as many fixtures into the 512 channels of a DMX universe as you can, back-to-back ranges are the most efficient.  Some DMX firing systems only support 50 or 100 channels, so you may not have all 512 channels to work with.   Table 3 – Example channel ranges for Salamander fixtures in a DMX universe Fixture DMX Channel Base Channels Used Safety 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 ... 511 512 512   Salamander example The example files in Table 3 include a Salamander show file exported with the Cobra firing system.  The Salamander fixtures are configured for different channels (11-19) in the same, shared DMX universe.  The show has a single safety channel position, with a safety channel address of 1 (i.e., the DMX Base Channel for the position is 1; and the channel offset in the safety channel effect's DMX Patch is 0). If you open the example files and look at the positions window ("Window > Position window" menu item), you can see the configurations of all the positions in one place.   Table 4 – Example files Download link Explanation test-salamander.fin Show file test-salamander.csv Exported CSV file for the Cobra firing system Salamander Manual 1.3.pdf Salamander user manual

The script window in Finale 3D displays the list of event rows in the script, each row representing a single event or a combination of events in the case of chains or groups .  Each event has a set of properties defined by the columns in the table.   Most of the columns are hidden by default to make the information manageable, so to look at all the columns please select "Hide or unhide columns" from the blue gear menu in the upper right of the window.  The meanings of the columns are defined here in Table 1, along with, The English name is shown in the column header in the script window unless you change the language setting to another language, in which case you'll see the translation instead. The Finale 3D internal name is the best name to use for column headers if you are importing data from a CSV file into Finale 3D, to avoid translation problems. The Finale 3D internal representation is the data type of the column values.  If the data type is "string" or "symbol" then the column cannot be summed, whereas if it is "number" or "integer" it probably can. The function to combine rows determines how values are combined when groups of rows are collapsed into single rows in the script window or in reports.  You may need to look up these functions, which are described in Table 2, if you are making custom reports.   Table 1 – Script row attributes Finale 3D English name Finale 3D internal name Finale 3D internal representation Function to combine rows in reports Explanation Address fullAddress string rangifyRowsOptionalStringy A read-only field that displays the full firing system address, combining the Rail and Pin fields. Alternate alternate symbol mixRows Some firing systems, including Cobra, provide a facility to shoot events manually after a scripted show.  The Alternate field designates that the event is one of the manually triggered events.   The meaning of the Alternate field depends on the firing system.  For Cobra, for example, the value 1 or 2 in the Alternate field will designate the event to be triggered by the buttons associated with Alternate 1 or Alternate 2 in the export options; the export options for Cobra also control whether the event is double listed in the script as part of the pyromusical or only added to the end of the script. For firing systems that do not make use of the Alternate field (which is most firing systems), you are free to use the field for your own purposes, similar to the Custom Script Field or the Track field.  Please see the firing system documentation page for your firing system, and search for "Alternate" to determine if the field is used for your firing system. Angles* angleGraphics string angleGraphics A read-only field that displays graphically and numerically the angles of the event or events represented by the row, in the angle format chosen by the user with "Show > Set angle format".  When a row contains multiple events, such as a chain or group, the Angles* field combines all the angles to display them as a single field, as in: |/ -45° 0° 45°. Category category symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Category field of the effect in the effects window, which is a user-defined field for your convenience. CE Number ceNumber symbol mixRows A read-only reference to the effect's CE number. Chain Device VDL chainDeviceVdl symbol mixRows The Chain Device VDL field plays a role in rendering chains that are defined in the effects window and that contain multiple types of shells.  An effect defined by the VDL, "Red Peony + White Peony + Blue Peony Chain of 3" in the effects window expands into three script rows when inserted into the show, one for each device (shell) in the chain.  All three script rows thus have the same part number, but each script row is expected to be a different color shell.  The Chain Device VDL field contains the VDL for each row that results from expanding a chain effect from the effects window, which in this example would be "Red Peony" or "White Peony" or "Blue Peony". The Chain Device Field is not required for chains created dynamically with "Script > Chains > Combine as chain", because those effects have their own part numbers, referring to their own effect definitions in the effects window that define their own VDL. Chain Gap chainGap integer milliseconds fancyChainGaps The delay between event times of this item relative to the previous item in the chain.  When multiple rows are combined, the Chain Gap field combines the delays of the individual rows, separated by asterisks.  The first Chain Gap in the combined sequence is therefore always zero. Chain Reference chainRef integer reference number or undefined mixRows The unique identifier of the chain; all items in the chain have the same Chain Reference.   Chain Row chainRow integer or undefined mixRows For chain items, the Chain Row counts the contiguous runs of same-effect items in the chain, which maps to the row count for each item of a multi-effect chain that is represented by multiple rows in the standard Chain Specifications report.  See Chain Specifications report for more information. Cost stdCost number sumRows A read-only field referencing the Cost field of the effect in the effects window.  For chains, you can decide whether the cost means the cost of the full chain or whether it means the cost per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the prices and price summaries display correctly for either meaning.  Please also see the related field, Quantity. Cue Count cueCount integer mixRows Ignoring duplicates, the Effect Times in a show are the cues.  The Cue Count is the chronological order of the cues, beginning with one. Custom Numeric Field customNumericField number or undefined sumRows A numeric, user-defined field for your convenience.  Unlike text fields, the numeric field will sum if multiple events are combined in the same row, similar to the Devices field. Custom Part Field customPartField symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Custom Part Field of the effect in the effects window, which is a user defined field with a few exceptions (see Effects table columns). Custom Position Field customPositionField symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Custom Position Field of the position identified by the Position field.  The Custom Position Field is useful for sorts in the addressing dialogs and report customization dialogs when you want to define your own priorities based on position.  For example, if you want to sort by position but not exactly alphabetically, you can use the Custom Position Field to store the sortable names. Custom Script Field customScriptField symbol mixRows A user-defined text field that you can use for anything.  The Custom Script Field is an available option for sorts and constraints in the addressing dialogs, so it is useful if you want to implement your own sorts or constraints based on your own criteria.  Delay externalDelay integer milliseconds firstRow The Delay field is the time delta from the Event Time to the time at which a device's internal fuse is ignited.  For pyro, the Delay field is usually zero.  The two exceptions are chains with delays, and delay fuses. For chains with delays between the devices, each device's Delay field is the full time delta from the Event Time to the time at which device's own internal fuse becomes ignited.   For delay fuses ("Fuse Delay") the Delay field plus the prefire comprise the full delay between the Event Time and Effect Time. When an effect is inserted into the show, the effect's Fuse Delay field from the effects window is copied as the initial value of Delay field in the script. Description description symbol firstAndCountOptionalSymbol A read-only field referencing the Description field of the effect in the effects window, which is the proper name of the effect as it should appear in reports and on labels.  Devices numDevices integer sumRows The number of devices represented by the row -- one for a single device like a shell; more than one if the row represents a chain or group of devices; zero if the row represents an effect like a DMX light flash or flame projector shot that is not itself a physical object.  A device is a physical pyrotechnic object that is not easily broken up into smaller units.  Thus a shell is a single device, and so is a single-shot tube, and so is a cake because a cake is not easily broken up into smaller units; but a chain is multiple devices because its shells are easily separated. Duration duration integer milliseconds maxRows Either a read-only field referencing the Duration field of the effect in the effects window, which defines the duration globally for the effect, or an editable field representing the duration of this event's use of the effect, depending on the Type field of the effect.  Please see Why is ‘Type’ so important? What depends on it?.  In general, for pyro the Duration field is a read-only field representing the lifetime of the stars, except for cakes as described in Cake and candle duration (and prefire); and for DMX effects the Duration field is an editable field representing the duration of the effect instance. Effect Data effectData object firstRow The Effect Data field contains motion and color animation data for animated effects like drones, saxons, wheels, and castiles.  The Effect Data field will be filled programmatically by functions like "File > Import > Import drone show", but the field is also readable and editable by humans, which enables users to enter manual motion paths for their own creative purposes, like effects on jetskis scooting across a lake.  Please see: Programmer documentation: Effect Data and Motion Data. Effect Time actionTime integer milliseconds firstRow The Effect Time represents the first visual appearance of the effect.  It is represented on the timeline by the blip on the timeline bar. Event Time eventTime integer milliseconds firstRow The time at which the firing system or controller triggers the event.  For chains, the Event Time is the same for all script rows that are part of the same chain, since a single trigger time initiates the full chain. EX Number exNumber symbol mixRows A read-only reference to the effect's EX number. First Angle* firstAngleGraphics string firstAngleGraphics First Angle* is like the Angle* field, except that it shows only the first angle even if the script row represents multiple events.  In printed reports, the First Angle* field has a consistent width that is sometimes preferable to the variable width of showing multiple angles -- unless you need to see all the angles. Flight Count flightCount integer mixRows A read-only field representing the number of devices with the same Event Time and same position.  Notably, all devices in a chain have the same Event Time, even if the chain has delay fuses between the devices, so the Flight Count for chains is the length of the chain unless multiple chains are fired at the same time from the same position. The Flight Count is useful as an addressing sort criterion if you want to assign addresses starting with the longest chains, for example, to utilize racks most efficiently. Group group array of symbols intersectOptionalSymbolArrayFirstElement The Group field is a list of symbols that define the group to which the event belongs.  Events in the same group are collapsed on the timeline into a single timeline bar and are collapsed by default in the script table into a single row, though the option to show grouped events as individual rows in the script table without collapsing them is available from the blue gear menu. The Group field can also be used as an addressing pin constraint to control what effects are eligible to share e-matches. You can create groups of events from the menu item "Script > Groups > Combine as group" or with the keyboard shortcut "G".  You can also combine groups hierarchically, and you can edit a group or rename it by right-clicking on it on the timeline. Hazard lockout symbol mixRows The hazard class that show operators may use to prevent groups of effects from firing based on real time conditions.  For many firing systems, this field is exported directly to the firing system script, though sometimes it goes by a different name in the firing system nomenclature, such as CGHZ or Lockout. The Hazard field in the script table fills in automatically from the Hazard Default field of the effect definition when the effect is inserted into the show.  After the effect is inserted, the user can edit the Hazard field in the script. Is Chain isChain boolean mixRows True if the item has a valid Chain Reference, and false otherwise.  Manufacturer manufacturer symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Manufacturer field of the effect in the effects window. Module Or Slat Type moduleType symbol mixRows A symbol that identifies the type of firing system module or slat that triggers the event.  The Module Or Slat Type field of script rows is filled in automatically by the addressing functions, based on the Module Or Slat Type field of the positions.  It is not possible to have two different Module Or Slat Types in the same position. NEQ neq number or undefined sumRows A read-only field referencing the NEQ field of the effect in the effects window.  For chains, you can decide whether the NEQ means the NEQ of the full chain or whether it means the NEQ per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the prices and price summaries display correctly for either meaning.  Please also see the related field, Quantity. Next next integer milliseconds mixRowsPermissive A read-only field that displays the time from this event's Effect Time to the next greater Effect Time. Notes scriptNotes symbol unionRowsOptionalSymbol A user-defined field for your convenience.  This is not the Notes field in the effects window (internal name partNotes). Notes 2 scriptNotes2 symbol unionRowsOptionalSymbol Another user-defined field for your convenience. Notes 3 scriptNotes3 symbol unionRowsOptionalSymbol Another user-defined field for your convenience. Pair pair boolean mixRows A read-only boolean field that is true if and only if the Flight Count is two.  The Pair field is useful as an addressing sort or constraint to give special treatment to pairs of effects, such as to cause them to share e-matches or fill into rack clusters arranged as "V" shapes. Pan pan number in degrees or undefined mixRows One of three angles that define the orientation of the effect relative the position: Pan, Tilt, and Spin.  The Pan is a counter-clockwise angle around the Y-axis (up axis), with zero meaning the effect is facing the viewer.  For DMX moving head fixtures, zero means the yolk of the fixture is facing the viewer. Non-symmetrical pyro effects like fan cakes require that Pan is zero for the effect to face the viewer, but symmetrical pyro effects like shells and mines are unaffected by the Pan unless they are also tilted.  If an effect is tilted, then the Pan controls whether the tilting is forward/back or side-to-side.  Cakes typically have a Pan of zero to face the viewer, whereas shells typically have a Pan of 90 so their Tilt is a side-to-side angle. The Pan, Tilt, and Spin fields' angle convention is unaffected by the setting "Show > Set angle format", which applies only to the Angles* and First Angle* and Pitch and Roll fields. Part Number partNumber symbol firstRow The symbol that identifies the effect to which the event refers in the Per-show effects collection of the effects window . Pin pinAddress string rangifyRowsStringy For pyro effects, the Pin identifies the electrical terminal on the firing system module or slat that ignites the e-match.  For DMX effects, the Pin is just the word "dmx".  For some special effects fixtures triggered by some non-DMX firing systems, such as the Explo Wave Flamer triggered by the Explo Ignition System and the Galaxis G-Flame triggered by the Galaxis controller, the Pin field has a specialized meaning defined by the firing system.  In the case of the Explo Wave Flamer, the Pin identifies the macro pattern of flames to be fired. Like the Rail field, the Pin field is formatted according to the standard of the firing system, which may be numbers or letters. Pitch pitch number in degrees or undefined mixRows A read-only field indicating the forward/back angle around the X-axis, relative to the position and displayed according to the user's chosen angle convention in the setting "Show > Set angle format".  The Pitch field is fully determined by the Pan and Tilt field values.  Whereas Tilt may be forward/back or may be side-to-side, depending on the Pan field, the Pitch field is always forward/back. Position position symbol groupifyRowsOptionalSymbol The launch position at which the effect is located of DMX fixture that produces the effect. Position Safety Distance positionSafetyDistance number in meters or undefined minRows A read-only field referencing the position's Safety Distance Meters; useful to compare to Effect Safety Distance. Prefire internalDelay integer milliseconds firstRow A read-only field referencing the Prefire field of the effect in the effects window, which is the time delta between the Event Time and the Effect Time.  On the timeline, the prefire determines the length of the line segment to the left of an effect's timeline blip.  The prefire is typically the lift time for shells and zero for ground effects like comets or mines, but may be enlarged to take into account the tiny firing system and e-match delays as well as the fraction of a second it may take an effect to develop to the point to which you  synchronize the music.  For further explanation see Cake and candle duration (and prefire). Price stdPrice number or undefined sumRows A read-only field referencing the Price field of the effect in the effects window.  Finale 3D will display the price of a show based on these values.  For chains, you can decide whether the price means the price of the full chain or whether it means the price per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the prices and price summaries display correctly for either meaning.  Please also see the related field, Quantity. Quantity quantity number or undefined sumRows A read-only field that is the same as Devices except with special handling for chains if the user setting "Chains count as one in 'used' and 'quantity' columns" is true.  If so, then the quantity is the number of devices in the row divided by the number of shells in the chain's definition in the effects window.  For example, if the row represents a single shell from a chain of 5, then the quantity is 0.2.  The quantities for chains constructed manually with the command "Combine as chain" are just the number of devices, unaffected by the user setting, since the shells do not come from chains defined in the effects window. Rack rack integer reference number or undefined mixRows A numeric reference identifying the rack that holds the device.  The Rack field is filled in by the addressing functions or by the user's dragging and dropping of effects into racks in the rack layout view. Rack Type rackType symbol mixRows An optional text field that gives the user control over what kinds of racks are compatible with the effect, as described in Using “Rack Type” to control what types of racks are used for what effects.  If an effect in the effects window has a Rack Type Default field value, it will be copied into the Rack Type field of the event when inserted into the show.  Thus if you have a particular kind of effect that always goes into a particular kind of rack, like chain of certain length or long tube single-shot effect specialized for sky letters, the Rack Type Default field is a convenient way to enforce the matching condition. Rail railAddress string rangifyRowsStringy The Rail identifies the module or slat that triggers the event.  The rail address may be a single number or letter for a module alone, or it may be a combination of two numbers or letters to identify a module and slat, depending on the requirements of the firing system.  The Rail field in the script table is formatted according to the standard of the firing system. Roll roll number in degrees or undefined mixRows A read-only field indicating a side-to-side angle around the Z-axis (forward axis) prior to the pitch rotation.  If an event is not pitched forward/back, the Roll field is simply the side-to-side angle.  If an event is pitched forward/back, the Roll field is affected by the pitch and is thus harder to interpret.  Like the Pitch field, the Roll field is fully determined by the Pan and Tilt field values.   Effect Safety Distance safetyDistance number in meters or undefined maxRows A read-only field referencing the Safety Distance Meters of the effect in the effects window. Section section symbol mixRows An optional identifier of letters or numbers that divides the show into different parts within the same universe.  The firing system addresses for different sections within the same universe are not independent of each other. The addressing functions have an implicit constraint that prevents modules from being shared across different sections in the show, which makes the Section field useful for partitioning the show into groups of positions that can share modules only within the groups.  Addressing techniques for firing systems with slats often employ the Section field, as described in Using the Section field in position properties and Slats, virtual slats, and splitter boxes. The Section field of script rows is filled in automatically by the addressing functions, based on the Section field of the positions.  It is not possible to have two different sections in the same position.  The site layout diagrams designate sections with bounding boxes around the positions having the same Section field. Size size floating point number representation of typed microns or undefined maxRows A read-only field referencing the Size field of the effect in the effects window, which represents the caliber of the effect, in inches or millimeters, e.g., 3” or 75mm.  This field determines the size of the visual simulation. If the field is blank, the default value of 3" will apply. Sleeve sleeve floating point number representation of typed microns or undefined mixRows If provided, the optional Sleeve field replaces the Size and Type fields for determining what racks are compatible with the effect.  The term "sleeve" refers to the practice of placing a smaller size tube or a candle or single-shot inside a larger size mortar for the purpose of firing the smaller effect.  If an effect has a Sleeve, then it will be compatible with mortar racks of matching size, independent of the effect's Type, as described in Sleeving effects into different size mortars. Spin spin number in degrees or undefined mixRows One of three angles that define the orientation of the effect relative the position: Pan, Tilt, and Spin.  Spin is the counter-clockwise angle around the Y-axis (up axis) after the Y-axis has been rotated first by Pan and then by Tilt.  The Spin is the rotation around the trajectory of a pyro effect or beam of a DMX effect, which in most cases doesn't matter since most effects are symmetric about their trajectory or beam.  Thus the spin is usually zero for both pyro and DMX effects, but it may be non-zero for gobos of DMX light effects or for tilting a pyro fan cake sideways while still facing forward. The Pan, Tilt, and Spin fields' angle convention is unaffected by the setting "Show > Set angle format", which applies only to the Angles* and First Angle* and Pitch and Roll fields. Storage Location stdLocation symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Storage Location field of the effect in the effects window, for simple inventory management of items stored in fixed locations, and for picking instructions.  Item quantities from Finale Inventory are based on Sublocations and Locations, which are not directly visible in Finale 3D.  Storage Location corresponds to Std Bin ID in Finale Inventory. Straight Up straightUp boolean mixRows A read-only boolean field that is true if and only if the effect is aiming straight up.  The Straight Up field is useful as an addressing sort or constraint criterion.  Subtype subtype symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Subtype field of the effect in the effects window. Tilt tilt number in degrees or undefined mixRows One of three angles that define the orientation of the effect relative the position: Pan, Tilt, and Spin.  The Tilt is a counter-clockwise angle around the X-axis (the axis aiming right) after the X-axis has been rotated by Pan.  When Pan is zero, a positive Tilt rotates the effect forward toward the viewer.  When Pan is 90, a positive Tilt rotates the effect to the right. The Pan, Tilt, and Spin fields' angle convention is unaffected by the setting "Show > Set angle format", which applies only to the Angles* and First Angle* and Pitch and Roll fields. Track track symbol mixRows The meaning of the Track field varies depending on the firing system.  For many firing systems, the Track field groups together a sequence of events that the user triggers manually ("Semi-automatic mode").  The Track field may have a specific format to identify a button that triggers the sequence.   For some wireless firing systems like Galaxis, the Track field also provides the user some control over the system's automatic grouping of events for fast firing sequences within a pyromusical ("steppers").  For a number of firing systems, the Track has no meaning at all, in which case you are free to use the field for your own purposes. The setting, "Show > Set cue flag color mapping" makes the color of the cue flags on the timeline a function of the Track field. Tube tube integer or undefined mixRows The tube number in the rack that holds the device, beginning with the first tube in the rack = 0.  Tube assignment order can be controlled by the user as described in Tube loading order. Tubes numTubes integer or undefined sumRows A read only reference to the effect's or rack's Tubes field, counting the number of tubes or shots. This field can be used in reports based on the script window to count the total number of shots in the show, taking into account that cakes and other multi-shot devices may comprise multiple shots.  In Finale 3D's terminology a cake is a single device with multiple shots; thus the Devices column always counts cakes as one.  Please see the Tubes row of Table 1 of Effects table columns for more information. Type partType symbol mixRows A read-only field referencing the Type field of the effect in the effects window.  The value is one of these predefined English terms (exactly): shell, comet, mine, cake, candle, other_effect, single_shot, ground, rocket, flame, not_an_effect, rack.  The Type field is important, because a number of the application functions behave differently depending on the Type, as explained in Why is ‘Type’ so important? What depends on it? UN Number unNumber symbol mixRows A read-only reference to the effect's UN number. Universe universe symbol mixRows An optional identifier of letters or numbers used to divide the show into different parts -- universes -- each universe corresponding to a separate exported firing system script.  The firing system addresses for scripts of different universes are independent of each other.  For more information, see Multiple firing systems in the same show. The Universe field of script rows is filled in automatically by the addressing functions, based on the Universe field of the positions.  It is not possible to have two different universes in the same position. Weight weight number or undefined sumRows A read-only field referencing the Weight field of the effect in the effects window.  For chains, you can decide whether the weight means the weight of the full chain or whether it means the weight per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the prices and price summaries display correctly for either meaning.  Please also see the related field, Quantity.   Columns in printed reports Most printed reports are based on the rows of the script window.  Based on the report template, script rows are partitioned into groups, and each group of rows is combined into a single row that is displayed in the report.   When a group of rows is combined, each column of values in the group is combined into a single summary value using an appropriate "combine" function. Most numerical columns like Devices (the device count) or Weight or Price summarize by adding the numbers together.   If the script window has 1000 rows that the report template combines into a single row, the Devices column in the single row would contain the number "1000" if each of the 1000 individual rows had a Devices count of "1".  Most symbolic columns summarize as the consensus if all the values agree, or blank if there is any disagreement.  Other columns like Address or Angles have special combination functions that combine the addresses or angles together in a special format. If you have need of an extra column in the script window for a data value that isn't one of the predefined columns, you may chose to re-purpose a predefined column that you aren't using.  If you are going to include your re-purposed column n printed reports that combine rows, then you need to make sure that the combine function works for the kind of data you put into the row.  For example, if your data is numbers and if you want them to sum when rows are combined, then you'll need to choose a predefined column that uses the sumRows combine function, like Weight or Cost or NEQ.   Table 2 – Combine functions Function Explanation angleGraphics Combine the angles as a string with ASCII art angles like \|||/// fancyChainGaps Special formatting for chains fancyDelays Special formatting for delays firstAndCountOptionalSymbol Take the first value and add a count to it firstAngleGraphics Take the first angle value and format with ASCII art angle firstRow Take the first value groupifyRowsOptionalSymbol Combine the symbol values as a group of values intersectOptionalBits Combine the integer values with logical AND of the bits intersectOptionalSymbolArrayFirstElement Combine the first elements of array values maxRows Return maximum value minRows Return minimum value mixRows Return consensus if values agree, blank otherwise mixRowsPermissive Return consensus if values agree ignoring blank values, blank otherwise rangifyRowsOptionalStringy Combine numbers into a non-lossy string representation that efficiently encodes ranges of numbers, ignoring blank values rangifyRowsStringy Combine numbers into a non-lossy string representation that efficiently encodes ranges of numbers sumRows Sum the values unionRowsOptionalSymbol Union the symbol values, returning a symbol, ignoring blank values      

The effects window in Finale 3D displays a list of effects for any of the effects collections.  Each effect has a set of properties defined by the columns in the table.   Most of the columns are hidden by default to make the information manageable, so to look at all the columns please select "Hide or unhide columns" from the blue gear menu in the upper right of the window. There are a few special columns in the effect window that are not attributes -- "Line Number", "Icon", "Used", "Quota", "On Hand", and "Available".  The Icon is automatically generated based on the other column values.  The Used, Quota, and other quantity columns are described in Inventory management basic instructions. All the rest of the columns are the attributes that define the effect itself.   Their meanings are defined here in Table 1, together with the relationship to the corresponding Finale Inventory terms, which you don't need to care about unless you are using a Finale Inventory or master inventory collection (Finale Inventory is a separate but compatible inventory management service; see finaleinventory.com).   Table 1 – Effect attributes Finale 3D English name Finale 3D internal name Finale Inventory name Explanation Available available --- The number of devices in your inventory that are available to use, taking into account reservations, (optionally) unreceived purchases and unshipped sales. See paragraph 5 of Account setup for options pertaining to unreceived shipments. This field can be edited in place in the My effects collection and the effect database files, but cannot be edited in place in Finale Inventory collections or Generic effects. Finale Inventory collections provide an up-to-date Available quantity based on your inventory management operations like stock takes and sale or purchase orders. See Inventory management basic instructions for further instructions). Category category Category A user-defined field for your convenience, except in this circumstances: if you are using the Pyrotronix firing system for DMX effects, the Category contains the Device Type (the fixture) of the DMX preset to be triggered (see Pyrotronix). As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction. CE Number ceNumber CE Number A field that is useful to include for European users. As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction. Color color Effect Color A single color, which you can use as a search term. It may contain spaces but not commas. If the effect has multiple colors, this field should contain the most prominent single color that you are likely to search for. Cost stdCost Standard Accounting Cost The cost of the item.  For chains, you can decide whether the cost means the cost of the full chain or whether it means the cost per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the costs and cost summaries display correctly for either meaning. Custom Part Field customPartField Custom Part Field A user-defined field that you can use for anything, except in these circumstances: (1) if you are using the Explo X2 Wave Flamer, Showven Circle Flamer, or Spark Fabrica Moving Head Flamer, then the Custom Part Field contains the program/macro number for the pre-defined programs (see Explo X2 Wave Flamer for details); (2) if you are using the Pyrotronix firing system for DMX effects, the Custom Part Field contains the Preset Number of the DMX preset to be triggered (see Pyrotronix); (3) if you are using any user-defined DMX effects for user-defined DMX fixtures, the Custom Part Field holds the definition of the fixture. Description description Description The proper name of the effect as it should appear in reports and on labels, like “Galactic Gladiator” or “Red Peony 75m” or “Bomba Roja Con Aro Azul” or “Синяя в красную хризантему”.  Since the simulation is specified by the VDL column and other numerical columns like Height Meters and Duration, the description can be anything.  It does not affect the simulation. Devices devices Chain Number Of Devices The number of devices (shells) in the chain; or one if the item is a device not in a chain; or zero if the item represents an effect that is not a device, such as a DMX light flash or a flame projector shot. A device is a physical pyrotechnic object that is not easily broken up into smaller units.  Thus a shell is a single device, and so is a single-shot tube, and so is a cake because a cake is not easily broken up into smaller units; but a chain is multiple devices (shells) because its shells are easily separated. DMX Fixture Definition dmxFixtureDefinition DMX Fixture Definition Reserved for future features. DMX Patch dmxPatch DMX Patch A tiny program that defines the DMX signals corresponding to the effect.  This field only matters when exporting DMX-based scripts. Duration duration Duration The lifetime of the stars, for aerial shells, or the duration of the continuous effect for gerbs or flares, or the duration from first launch to last break for cakes.   For more explanation of cake durations, see Cake and candle duration (and prefire). E-Matches Default ematches E-matches Reserved for future features. EX Number exNumber EX Number A field that is useful to include for US users.  This field can contain single EX numbers or a comma separated list, like 2008040132, 2004110899. As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction. Fuse Delay fuseDelay Fuse Delay The visco fuse delay between the ignition of the device’s fuse and the first launch.  In contrast with other attributes that are referenced by effects the script, when you insert an effect in the show, the Fuse Delay field is copied into (not referenced by) the "Delay" field of the script row, and can be edited directly in the script row. Hazard Default lockoutDefault Hazard Default A default value for the hazard class or caliber group that show operators may use to selectively prevent effects from firing based on real time conditions.  For many firing systems, this field is exported directly to the firing system script, though sometimes it goes by a different name in the firing system nomenclature, such as CGHZ or Lockout. Height Meters height Effect Height The height in meters of the trajectory apex of an aerial shell, or of the spark plume for fountains and gerbs. This field determines the height of the visual simulation. In Finale 3D, this field is always meters.  In Finale Inventory, you can set the Distance Unit Of Measure to feet if you want, which applies to all distances including height and safety distance. Finale 3D will convert between feet and meters automatically, if necessary, when it connects to Finale Inventory, but we recommend you use meters, for simplicity. Manufacturer manufacturer Manufacturer This is the name of the manufacturer or supplier. Manufacturer Part Number manufacturerPartNumber Mfg Product Id The manufacturer or supplier part number.  This field may be useful for your own purposes.  Additionally, the Manufacturer Part Number field enables you to update simulations in your own effect catalog with the current, up-to-date simulation managed by the supplier, by cross-referencing. NEQ neq NEQ per unit The net explosive quantity of one device (shell, cake, etc.).  The "Basic Product List" report and other similar reports in Finale 3D will show the total NEQ for all items in the show.  For chains, you can decide whether the NEQ means the price of the full chain or whether it means the NEQ per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the NEQ and NEQ summaries display correctly for either meaning. Notes partNotes Notes A user-defined field for your convenience.   On Hand qoh --- The number of devices physically present in your inventory, disregarding reservations, unreceived purchases and unshipped sales. This field can be edited in place in the My effects collection and the effect database files, but cannot be edited in place in Finale Inventory collections or Generic effects. Finale Inventory collections provide an up-to-date On Hand quantity based on your inventory management operations like stock takes and received or shipped shipments. See Inventory management basic instructions for further instructions). Part Number partNumber Product ID The unique identifier for the effect, like DOM10001 or LD3CK253. This field is called the “Product ID” in Finale Inventory.  If you are creating new part numbers from scratch, the best practices we recommend are: 1) all upper-case, 2) A-Z letters and digits only, 3) no spaces or special characters other than dash or underscore, 4) not longer than 16 characters. Physical Specifications physicalSpecifications Physical Specifications A field containing optional physical specifications of a rack or effect, such as: {[rackRowLengthConsumption 50]} which specifies that an effect consumes 50mm of a single-shot rack row that has a "Max. usable row length" constraint, overriding the default which is that an effect consumes an amount equal to its effect size. Prefire internalDelay Prefire Time The lift time, for shells, or the lift time of the first effect of a cake if it is a shell. This field is not the visco fuse delay on a cake. This field does apply to the visual simulation.  The value of this field can be zero or blank for cakes and candles, which is generally easiest and safest because the automatic default values are good for both for shell and non-shell components of a cake.   As a reminder and point of emphasis, for shells this is the lift time, so if you have a prefire of 0.1 seconds on a shell, for example, that shell will explode on the way up (see Inventory compatibility with Finale Business (and how to fix cakes)). For further explanation see Cake and candle duration (and prefire). Price stdPrice Item Price The price of the item. Finale 3D will display the price of a show based on these values.  For chains, you can decide whether the price means the price of the full chain or whether it means the price per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the prices and price summaries display correctly for either meaning. Quota quota --- The number of devices that you intend to use in the active show. This field is saved in the show's Per-show effects but "shows through" into any displayed collection of effects, matching by cross-referencing the Part Number. Please edit this field in the Per-show effects collection or import it with "Effects > Import quotas..." or "Effects > Finale Inventory > Import quotas from sale order...". See Inventory management basic instructions for further instructions). Rack Type Default rackType Rack Type Default A field that you can employ to set matching conditions between racks and effects (See Using the “Rack Type” field to make effects go into fan racks). Remaining Available remainingAvailable --- The Available minus the Used of the item in the active show. This non-editable field is used for quantity filters and for reports. Remaining On Hand remainingQoh --- The On Hand minus the Used of the item in the active show. This non-editable field is used for quantity filters and for reports. Remaining Quota remainingQuota --- The Quota minus the Used of the item in the active show. This non-editable field is used for quantity filters and for reports. Safety Distance Meters safetyDistance Safety Distance The safety distance for the item, in meters. In Finale 3D, this field is always meters.  In Finale Inventory, you can set the Distance Unit Of Measure to feet if you want, which applies to all distances including height and safety distance. Finale 3D will convert between feet and meters automatically, if necessary, when it connects to Finale Inventory, but we recommend you use meters, for simplicity. Size size Caliber The caliber of the effect, in inches or millimeters, e.g., 3” or 75mm.  This field determines the size of the visual simulation. If the field is blank, the default value of 3" will apply. Storage Location stdLocation Std Bin ID The standard storage location for the item, for simple inventory management of items stored in fixed locations, and for picking instructions.  Item quantities from Finale Inventory are based on Sublocations and Locations, which are not directly visible in Finale 3D. Subtype subtype Effect Subtype A user defined field, such as "500g Cakes", or "Special Shells".  This field does not affect any application functions, so you can use it for whatever you want. Tubes numTubes Rack Tubes For racks, the number of tubes in the rack.    This field can also be used for effects, to count the number of shots while taking into account multi-shot devices like cakes (in Finale 3D's terminology a cake is a single device with multiple shots; thus counting devices always counts cakes as one). For cake effects, enter the number of tubes in the cake; for roman candles, lie and enter the number of shots even though the roman candle has only one tube; for other effects,  enter the number 1.  If you want to count only aerial shells, then leave non-aerial effects blank or enter the number 0 for them. Type partType Choreography Tab One of these predefined English terms (exactly): shell, comet, mine, cake, candle, other_effect, single_shot, ground, rocket, flame, not_an_effect, rack, macro.  The Type field is important, because a number of the application functions behave differently depending on the Type.  For example, the rack layout functions will allocate mortar rack tubes for effects of type "shell" but not effects of type "cake"; the e-match count functions will not allocate e-matches for effects of type "flame"; effects of type "other_effects" have editable durations in the script window, whereas other effects have constant durations defined by the effect definition; etc.  The full list of differences based on Type is given in Why is ‘Type’ so important? What depends on it?.   Please note that these values are slightly different from the corresponding values in Finale Inventory.   UN Number unNumber Hazardous Material A field that is useful to include for all users.  This number must be in the format: UNXXXX, where XXXX is a four digit number like 0336 or 0337.  Example: UN0337. As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction. Used used --- The number of devices currently used in the active show. This field is not an attribute, so it cannot be edited. See Inventory management basic instructions for further instructions.  Most of the quantity filters in the effect palette and the effect window blueprints compare the Used quantity with other quantities like Quota, On Hand, and Available. VDL vdl VDL Description The description of the effect in standard pyrotechnics terminology (See "finale3d.com > Documentation > VDL documentation").  This field defines the visual simulation of the effect, along with a few other specifications like Size, Height Meters, and Duration.   There are some differences between Finale Business and Finale 3D with respect to VDL, particularly with respect to cake durations.   If you are importing or connecting your Finale 3D inventory from Finale Business cakes, please see Inventory compatibility with Finale Business (and how to fix cakes) for instructions to fix the prefires and durations. Weight weight Weight per unit The weight of one device (shell, cake, etc.). If you are synching to Finale Inventory, whatever units you use in Finale Inventory apply (grams, kilograms, etc.). The "Basic Product List" report and other similar reports in Finale 3D will show the total weight for all items in the show.  For chains, you can decide whether the weight means the weight of the full chain or whether it means the weight per device (i.e., per shell). From within the Finale 3D application, select “File > User settings > Chain price, cost, NEQ, and weight are for entire chain” to make the weights and weight summaries display correctly for either meaning.

Finale 3D supports the StarFire firing system from Ace Pyro.  To create and download a script for the StarFire firing system, please follow these steps: Address the show ("Addressing > Address show"). Export the script ("File > Export > Export firing scripts"). Use the StarFire software to download the script to your controller. Step 2 creates the script file, which is a tab-delimited text file with a "STAR" extension.  It is possible to edit this file in a text editor, but the user must be careful not to make changes that make it incompatible with the StarFire controller software.     Figure 1 – The StarFire firing system controller   Table 1 – File format and encoding File format Extension Text encoding Field delimiter End-of-line Text .star ASCII Tab CRLF   The script contains rows for the firing events, i.e., unique combinations of module, slat, pin, and ignition-time.  Multiple effects can be combined on a single cue.  The special characteristics of the script are shown in the following table.   Table 2 – Special characteristics Special characteristics Description Script modes Finale 3D supports two StarFire script modes: standard pyromusical "Starfire FM", and semi-automatic "Starfire FM (Semi-auto)". Sort order of rows Rows are sorted ascending by event time. What rows represent Each row represents a unique firing event, a module/pin/event-time combination.  For example, a chain of five shells will be one row, not five.  A pair of shells shot together from the same position will be one row, not two, even if the shells are different effects.  A flight of shells shot together from multiple positions with the same module-pin using scab wire is still one row. Header The exported script file contains a header row identifying the column names. For the standard pyromusical mode, the header is: Module <tab> Cue <tab> Fire Time <tab> Display Time <tab> Quantity <tab> Part Number <tab> Description <tab> Type <tab> Size <tab> Disable Type For semi-automatic mode, the header is: Module <tab> Cue <tab> Fire Time <tab> Display Time <tab> Quantity <tab> Part Number <tab> Description <tab> Type <tab> Size <tab> Disable Type <tab> Sequence Event Name <tab> Sequence Event Page <tab> Sequence Event Number Time resolution The StarFire system supports 1/100th second time resolution. Semi-automatic firing (SequenceFire) The semi-automatic firing mode “Starfire FM (Semi-auto)” uses the "Track" field in Finale 3D script rows to indicate the sequence to which the row belongs.  Additionally, in the semi-automatic mode, the "Notes" field in the Finale 3D script will become the name of the sequence displayed onscreen when the script is loaded into the StarFire controller. The StarFire script format designates sequences using two parameters: Sequence Event Page from 1-254, and Sequence Event Number from 1-32.   The Track field in Finale 3D determines both of these parameters, following these rules: In Finale 3D, the Track must be a number from 1 to 25432. If the Track number is greater than or equal to 100, the Sequence Event Page = Track / 100; and the Sequence Event Number = the remainder of Track / 100. If the Track number is greater than or equal to 10 and less than 100, the Sequence Event Page = Track / 10; and the Sequence Event Number = the remainder of Track / 10. If the Track number is less than 10, the Sequence Event Page = Track, and the Sequence Event Number= 1. Track numbers less than 10 are generally not recommended because they result in a script that contains multiple pages with one sequence per page, while it's typically desired to have one page with multiple events. Since the Track Field in Finale 3D can hold arbitrary text, you must be careful to ensure the Track value is valid with respect to these rules.  A Track number of 100 is an example invalid value, as it would indicate a Sequence Event Number of 0, which is out of range. Examples: To create a sequence on Page 1, Event 1 -- enter a Track value of 1 or 11 or 101. To create a sequence on Page 1, Event 2 -- enter a Track value of 12 or 102. To create a sequence on Page 1, Event 27 -- enter a Track value of 127. To create a sequence on Page 3, Event 14 -- enter a Track value of 314. To create a sequence on Page 11, Event 6 -- enter a Track value of 1106.   When you export a firing script for StarFire, Finale 3D presents an "Export Options" dialog with the option to export a Standard Script or Semi-Automatic Script, as shown in Table 3.   Table 3 – Export options Option name Description Script Type Choose one Standard Script or Semi-Automatic Script.   After the header, each row in the script has a number of fields separated by the tab character.  The names of these fields and their descriptions are the following:   Table 4 – Specifications of script fields Field name Description Module The module number, beginning with 1. Cue The pin number, beginning with 1. Fire Time The ignition time in seconds with two digits of precision after the decimal point.   In semi-automatic mode, the time is relative to the first event in the sequence. Display Time The effect time in seconds with two digits of precision after the decimal point.   In semi-automatic mode, the time is relative to the first event in the sequence, based on the event times. Quantity The number of devices represented by this row in the script. Part Number The part number of the effect, or first part number if there are multiple effects firing from the same pin. Description The description of the effect, or first description if there are multiple effects firing from the same pin. Type The type of the effect, or first type if there are multiple effects firing from the same pin. Size The size of the effect, or first size if there are multiple effects firing from the same pin Disable Type The "Hazard" field in Finale 3D, enabling the user to disable a group of effects in the StarFire user interface in real time as the show is progressing. Sequence Event Name (Semi-auto script format only) The event name is taken from the "Notes" field in the Finale 3D script.  All events in the same "Track" in Finale 3D should have the same Notes field, since they will be combined into the same sequence. Sequence Event Page (Semi-auto script format only) Along with the Sequence Event Number, this parameter specifies the sequence on the StarFire user interface corresponding to the Track value in Finale 3D.  See Track explanation in Table 2. Sequence Event Number (Semi-auto script format only) Along with the Sequence Event Page, this parameter specifies the sequence on the StarFire user interface corresponding to the Track value in Finale 3D.  See Track explanation in Table 2.   An example pyromusical script is shown below.   Module Cue Fire Time Display Time Quantity Part Number Description Type Size Disable Type 1 1 2.76 5.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 2 1 3.76 6.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 3 1 4.76 7.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 4 1 5.76 8.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 5 1 6.76 9.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 6 1 7.76 10.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 7 1 8.76 11.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 8 1 9.76 12.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" 9 1 10.76 13.00 1 G2SH1000 Red Chrysanthemum shell 2" Figure 2 – Example StarFire script   Table 5 – Example files Download link Explanation test-starfire01.star Example exported pyromusical script test-starfire01.fin Example pyromusical show file test-starfire-semi-auto01.star Example exported semi-automatic script test-starfire-semi-auto01.fin Example semi-automatic show file

Finale 3D supports the Apex firing system and modules, including the M32, M144 and M156.  Exported scripts are also compatible with the older ATF brand versions of the Apex modules.  To create and download a script for the Apex firing system, please follow these steps: Address the show ("Addressing > Address show"). Export the script ("File > Export > Export firing scripts"). Export the sound track as a WAV file to the same directory ("File > Export > Export soundtrack..."). Use the Apex software to download the script and sound track to your controller. Step 2 creates the script file, which is a text file with a "SHO" extension.  It is possible to edit this file in a text editor, but obviously the user must be careful not to make changes that make it incompatible with the Apex controller software.     Figure 1 – The Apex firing system controller CIM2 controls up to 128 independently addressed modules.   Table 1 – File format and encoding File format Extension Text encoding Field delimiter End-of-line Text .SHO ASCII Comma CRLF   The script contains rows for the firing events, i.e., unique combinations of module, slat, pin, and ignition-time.  Multiple effects can be combined on a single cue.  The special characteristics of the script are shown in the following table.   Table 2 – Special characteristics Special characteristics Description Sort order of rows Rows are sorted ascending by event time. What rows represent Each row represents a unique firing event, a module/pin/event-time combination.  For example, a chain of five shells will be one row, not five.  A pair of shells shot together from the same position will be one row, not two, even if the shells are different effects.  A flight of shells shot together from multiple positions with the same module-pin using scab wire is still one row. Header The exported script file contains a header identifying the sound track and the communications port, in addition to a mapping of position names to an index beginning with 1, and a list of calibers, and a mapping of module numbers to module types. In the example below the rows beginning with "area" contain the names of the positions ("M32-1" and "M32-2" and so on in this example) and an index. The rows beginning with "caliber" enumerate the sizes used in the show.  In this example, "na" stands for "not applicable" and "2" stands for 2 inch. The rows beginning with "module"  comprise a sorted list of module numbers used in the show, and the corresponding module types: "m32" or "m144" or "m156". REM, Script file exported by Finale 3D for ATF and Apex Firing Systems music,C:UserswillDownloadstest-apex01.wav comm,1 area,M32-1,1 area,M32-2,2 area,M32-3,3 area,M32-4,4 area,M32-5,5 area,M32-6,6 area,M32-7,7 area,M32-8,8 area,M32-9,9 area,M156-1,10 area,M156-2,11 caliber,na caliber,2 module,1,m156 module,2,m156 module,3,m32 module,4,m32 module,5,m32 module,6,m32 module,7,m32 module,8,m32 module,9,m32 module,10,m32 module,11,m32 The position names are limited to 6 characters, and must not include space, backslash, double quote, newline, tab, or comma.  Finale 3D will automatically truncate positions names that are too long and if necessary add letters to make them unique, as in changing "ABCDEFGX" and "ABCDEFGY" and "BBCDEFG" to "ABCD~a" and "ABCD~b" and "BBCDEF".  Caliber strings are limited to 40 characters, though that usually isn't an issue. Time resolution The Apex digital systems support 1/30th second time resolution ("frames").  Older ATF hardware has a requirement that events on the same module are separated by at least 1/15th second (2 frames), so if you get a warning message in your ATF software you may need to edit the event times manually to separate them, or separate them manually in the script. Module numbering The M32 32-pin module numbers are integers beginning with 1. The M144 and M156 module numbers are also integers beginning with 1; and their 12-pin slats are enumerated with letters from 'a' to 'l' or 'a' to 'm' respectively. All modules share the same module numbering universe, regardless of their type. Electrical constraints In the export function, Finale 3D automatically adjust times if necessary to accommodate two electrical constraints of Apex and ATF hardware: If multiple pins fire at the same time on the same module, separate them by one frame. If pins on more than 20 modules fire simultaneously, separate those beyond 20 as necessary by one frame.   After the header, each row in the script has a number of fields separated by the comma character.  The names of these fields and their descriptions are the following:   Table 3 – Specifications of script fields Field name Description Position index The index of the position in the positions map in the header (see Table 2, above). Caliber The effect size. Module number The module number from 1 to 128 (see Table 2, above). Slat letter The slat letter "a" to "l" for M144 modules, "a" to "m" for M156 modules, or blank for M32 modules (see Table 2, above). Pin number The pin number 1-32 for M32 modules and 1-12 for slats. Event time The firing ignition time, formatted HH:MM:SS:FF, where FF is a frames count 0-29. Description The effect description, up to 127 characters, and not including space, backslash, double quote, newline, tab, or comma (which Finale 3D will remove when exporting).   An example script is shown below.  The two M156 positions, M156-1 and M156-2, share a common module (01) but do not share slats, which is a common addressing pattern for Apex systems because a module with 144 or 156 total pins can often serve more than one position, yet it is useful to constrain slats to one position each so as not to require long e-matches.  See Slats, virtual slats, and splitter boxes for further explanation of addressing techniques involving slats.   REM, Script file exported by Finale3D for ATF and Apex Firing Systems music,C:UserswillDownloadstest-apex01.wav comm,1 area,M32-1,1 area,M32-2,2 area,M32-3,3 area,M32-4,4 area,M32-5,5 area,M32-6,6 area,M32-7,7 area,M32-8,8 area,M32-9,9 area,M156-1,10 area,M156-2,11 caliber,na caliber,2 module,1,m156 module,2,m156 module,3,m32 module,4,m32 module,5,m32 module,6,m32 module,7,m32 module,8,m32 module,9,m32 module,10,m32 module,11,m32 1,2,3,,1,00:00:02:23,Red Chrysanthemum 2,2,4,,1,00:00:03:23,Red Chrysanthemum 3,2,5,,1,00:00:04:23,Red Chrysanthemum 4,2,6,,1,00:00:05:23,Red Chrysanthemum 5,2,7,,1,00:00:06:23,Red Chrysanthemum 6,2,8,,1,00:00:07:23,Red Chrysanthemum 7,2,9,,1,00:00:08:23,Red Chrysanthemum 8,2,10,,1,00:00:09:23,Red Chrysanthemum 9,2,11,,1,00:00:10:23,Red Chrysanthemum 10,2,1,a,1,00:00:17:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,2,00:00:17:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,3,00:00:18:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,4,00:00:18:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,5,00:00:19:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,6,00:00:19:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,7,00:00:20:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,8,00:00:20:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,9,00:00:21:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,10,00:00:21:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,11,00:00:22:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,a,12,00:00:22:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,1,00:00:23:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,2,00:00:23:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,3,00:00:24:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,4,00:00:24:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,5,00:00:25:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,6,00:00:25:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,7,00:00:26:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,8,00:00:26:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,9,00:00:27:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,10,00:00:27:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,11,00:00:28:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,b,12,00:00:28:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,1,00:00:29:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,2,00:00:29:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,3,00:00:30:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,4,00:00:30:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,5,00:00:31:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,6,00:00:31:26,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,7,00:00:32:11,Red Comet 10,2,1,c,8,00:00:32:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,1,00:00:33:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,2,00:00:33:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,3,00:00:34:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,4,00:00:34:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,5,00:00:35:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,6,00:00:35:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,7,00:00:36:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,8,00:00:36:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,9,00:00:37:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,10,00:00:37:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,11,00:00:38:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,a,12,00:00:38:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,1,00:00:39:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,2,00:00:39:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,3,00:00:40:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,4,00:00:40:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,5,00:00:41:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,6,00:00:41:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,7,00:00:42:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,8,00:00:42:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,9,00:00:43:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,10,00:00:43:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,11,00:00:44:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,b,12,00:00:44:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,1,00:00:45:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,2,00:00:45:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,3,00:00:46:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,4,00:00:46:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,5,00:00:47:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,6,00:00:47:26,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,7,00:00:48:11,Red Comet 11,2,2,c,8,00:00:48:26,Red Comet Figure 2 – Example Apex script   Table 4 – Example files Download link Explanation test-apex01.sho Example exported script test-apex01.fin Example show file

DMX fixtures with gobos or moving heads or color wheels require setting up the wheels or head angles in advance of when the effect begins.  The time between the events that setup these conditions and the events that turn the effect on is called the DMX setup time.  Finale 3D effects automatically add the setup events in the exported script, so users generally do not need to worry about setup events or setup time at all, except if: You are examining the exported script and you want to understand why it contains events whose times don't seem to correspond to the script window in Finale 3D. Your show has separately triggered tracks that begin with an effect that requires setup time, and you want to shorten the setup time to make the track start more responsively when triggered. Regarding the first reason, a full explanation is given in The DMX Patch field.  The DMX Patch of an effect may specify setup events to prepare DMX channels, along with the ideal setup time to ensure the fixture motors accomplish preparing the wheels or angles by the time the effect begins.  If you insert an effect in the show at 10 seconds, and the effect has a 340ms DMX setup time, then the setup events would be inserted at 9.66 seconds -- unless the fixture has other effects ending closer to 10 seconds, in which case the setup events will be inserted with less of a time delta, to avoid overlap. Also, the Prefire column has a special meaning for exported DMX effects: it is the maximum "reach back" time for Move-To effects; and it is ignored for all other effects.  In spite of the fact that the Event Time in the script window takes the Prefire into account for all effects -- including DMX effects -- the DMX events in the exported script are based solely on the Effect Time and the setup time, not the Event Time and not the Prefire.  The reach back time is the time between a Move-To effect and the previous effect that defines the "from" angle. Regarding the second reason, if your show contains separately triggered tracks, the event times in the track are relative to the first event in the track.  If the first effect in the track adds setup events in advance of the visual effect, then the track will be relative to the earliest of those setup events, which creates a delay between when the track is triggered and the appearance of its first visual effect. Setup times in effects are conservatively long, giving the fixture motors enough time in even the worst conditions.  There's no reason for the setup times not to be conservative in a designed show, because it doesn't hurt to be a little early in preparation.  But for the first effect in a separately triggered track, the conservative setup time might introduce more latency than you want, relative to the consequences of possibly being a little late in preparation. The per-show setting called maxInitialDmxSetupDelayMs gives you the ability to shorten the maximum setup time in your show for the specific situation of the first effects in separately triggered tracks.  You can set this setting to any value, including zero, to limit the latency between when a track is triggered and when its first visual effect occurs.   Table 1 – Per-show settings that affect setup time Function name Type Meaning maxInitialDmxSetupDelayMs Integer count of milliseconds Limits setup time of first effect in separately triggered tracks

Finale 3D has the capability of importing show scripts created in other design software in a variety of formats, as well as do-it-yourself style CSV files.  Various script formats have different information.  For example, some have position names, and others don't.  Some have durations or prefires, and others don't.  For all imported script formats, Finale 3D will fill in any missing information with defaults, or will try to infer the missing information from other fields.   For example, if a script format includes effect size but doesn't include prefire or duration, Finale 3D can infer a reasonable default for the prefire and duration based on the effect description and size.   Table 1 – Supporting import formats. Script Being Imported File Type Variations Options When Importing Cobra / Show Creator CSV Standard script, Step script by events, Step script by tracks, Separate scripts for tracks None Do-it-yourself / Excel CSV Any columns matching Finale 3D script window Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Explo / Show Creator SHW --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Finale Business HBS --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Finale Generic CSV CSV Any columns matching Finale 3D script window Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation FireOne FIR --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Galaxis / Pyrotec Composer GS2 --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Pyromate / SmartShow CSV --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Pyrotronix PTX --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation Show Director SCX --- Angle convention, prefire units, duration units, chain interpretation     Many script formats -- especially from non-visual scripting programs -- include information fields that are not defined to have formal semantics, or meaning.  A user who enters information into a "Size" field, for example, may enter the number 12 without specifying whether that means millimeters or inches (or in some cases the number of shots of a cake!).  A user who enters an "Angle" of 0 may mean "straight up" or "horizontal to the left" or "horizontal to the right" depending on whatever angle convention the user follows. Since Finale 3D is a visual scripting program, the meaning of fields like the size or angle obviously matter.  When you import a script, Finale 3D can do a pretty good job guessing the correct meaning of information based on the numbers in the file and the file type and the conventions in the industry, so in many cases importing is a simple, one-click process.  For script formats in which there are significant questions, Finale 3D also gives you the ability to specify your conventions so as not to leave it up to chance.  The options are shown in Figure 1.   Figure 1 – Does “Quantity = 5” mean 5 chains or 5 shells?   Do-it-yourself CSV files A do-it-yourself CSV file is just a text file with comma separated values (that's what CSV means), which has a single header row indicating the field names, followed by one row per script line.  Each script line row contains the fields specified in the header row. If you make the field names match the column names in Finale 3D's script window exactly, then Finale 3D will be able to import the columns in your file.  You obviously don't need to import all the columns of the Finale 3D script window.  Just import the columns you need.  For example, if you import just "Description" and "Event Time", Finale 3D will be able to fill in the details.  If you add a "Position" column, then your effects will be spread out in their specified launch positions.   Importing coordinates and angles Finale 3D provides three options for importing angles: 1) an Angle column that contains side-to-side angles (the angle column may have a different name in some script formats), 2) a Coordinates column that contains position coordinates, 3D position angles, and 3D effect angles, and 3) individual columns named Pan, Tilt, and Spin.  Do-it-yourself CSV and Finale Generic CSV are the only formats that support options (2) and (3).  The other formats support (1) or don't support importing angles at all. The Angle column, option 1, interprets the angle as a side-to-side tilt angle.  If the imported effect is a cake, its imported pan = 0 so the cake faces the audience; if not a cake, its imported pan = 90 so the tilt angle, if present, tilts the effect from side to side instead of toward the audience.  The pan, tilt, and spin angles are explained in Effects coordinate system.  The import dialog shown in Figure 1 provides various options for interpreting the angles, such as whether up is zero or up is 90 degrees.  If the row represents multiple effects in a fan, the angles of all the effects in the fan can be represented in the Angle column as numbers separated by dashes, e.g., 60-90-120, a convention popularized by the Show Director software.  This convention is usually used in combination with the choice of up = 90 degrees to avoid confusion between dashes and minus signs. A Coordinates column, option 2, imports either three numbers separated by spaces or nine numbers separated by spaces.  If three numbers, they are the global coordinates of the positions in meters, as explained in Positions coordinate system: heading, pitch, roll.  If nine numbers, the first three are the global position coordinates; the next three are the global position angles as heading, pitch and roll; the last three are the position-relative effect angles as pan, tilt, and spin.  These coordinates and angles are explained in Positions coordinate system: heading, pitch, roll, and Effects coordinate system: pan, tilt, spin and also in the Coordinates row of Table 3 of Finale Generic CSV (full show export format). The Pan, Tilt, and Spin columns, option 3, directly import the position-relative effect angles. If using this method to import Pan angles, pay special attention to the choices for "Angle convention" in the import options dialog.  Choose an option that does not include "Ignore pan", and do not choose 'Guess based on file type'. Choosing either of these will result in the Pan angles not being imported.     Figure 2 – The Angle convention choice of "Guess" and the next four options all ignore the Pan column for importing.   Default position coordinates If the imported script file does not contain position coordinates, Finale 3D comes up with initial coordinates for the positions based on the maximum effect sizes in the positions, which determines the distance from the audience, and the position names.  Sometimes these initial coordinates look good, but they are just a guess.  

The Fire Control G2 firing system supports DMX for lights or special effects, and a variety of module types for pyro.  To create and export a script for the Fire Control G2 firing system, please follow these steps: Design the show. Choose module type per-position (right-click position and "Edit position properties"; optional). Address the show ("Addressing > Address show"). Export the script ("File > Export > Export firing scripts"). If your show uses a single type of module along with, optionally, DMX, then you can skip Step 2 and choose the module type for the entire show when you address the show in Step 3.  Step 3 creates the script ".fcp" file, which is a JSON file with a length header that you can import into your firing system or look at in a text browser.   Figure 1 – The Fire Control G2 firing system   The various different module types use different formatting for their pin numbers -- letters for Fire Control's own FM modules; hexadecimal numbers beginning with zero for Pyrodigital modules; and decimal numbers beginning with one for FireOne modules.  As you can see in Figure 2, Finale 3D supports all three formatting conventions, and applies the matching formatting convention for the module type in the script window.   Table 1 – File format and encoding File format Extension Text encoding Field delimiter End-of-line JSON fcp UTF-8, no BOM, preceded by 32 bit big-endian integer representing the length of the rest of the file N/A CRLF    The JSON script file for Fire Control G2 controllers is a "project" file that contains an "equipment" section and a "shows" section that together contain the information required to fire the show and to populate the user interface of the controller in a human readable way, including channel label names for any DMX fixtures used in the project. The "shows" section may contain multiple shows, and each show may contain multiple "cues", and each cue may contain multiple "events".  The hierarchical organization of the project as shows and cues is based on the use of the "Track" field of the script in Finale 3D, as explained in Table 2 below (please unhide the "Track" field in the script window to see it).  If the you leave the Track field in Finale 3D blank, the project will contain a single show, which will have a single cue representing the entire show, and the event times in the cue will be relative to the beginning of the show in Finale 3D unless you have explicitly added a show export offset in the "Show > Set show information..." dialog.  In other words, leaving the Track column blank in Finale 3D results in a full show script, as you would use for a pyromusical. If you want to organize parts of the show in Finale 3D as shows and cues on the Fire Control G2 controller, you will use the Track field in Finale 3D as shown in Table 2.   Table 2 – Special characteristics Special characteristics Description Module types For exported Fire Control G2 scripts, Finale 3D supports Pyrodigital, FireOne, and Fire Control FM16 modules, in addition to DMX, in the same show. Pyrodigital (16 pins) and DMX FireOne (32 pins) and DMX Fire Control G2 FM16 (16 pins) and DMX You can set the module type on a per-position based by right-clicking the position in Finale 3D and doing "Edit position properties".  If all modules are in the show are the same type, then you can simply select the module type when addressing the show; and setting the position properties is unnecessary. Tracks (shows and cues) The Fire Control G2 script organizes sections and subsections of the Finale 3D show file as "shows" and "cues", corresponding to values in Finale 3D's "Track" field. If you leave the Track field in Finale 3D empty, then the exported script file will contain a single "show" named "Show #1" with a single cue named "Cue #1", and the times of the events will be relative to the beginning of the show in Finale 3D. If you specify one or more Track values, then the exported script file can contain multiple "shows" or "cues", and the times of the events will be relative to the first event in each cue. To use the Track field to divide the Finale 3D show into "shows" and "cues", set the Track value to : show name : cue name to specify a show and cue for the event (no spaces before or after the colon).  If you set the Track value to a name without a colon, that will define a cue name alone, for a default show name.  Thus if you want a single show and multiple cues, you do not need to concern yourself with entering show names or colon characters.  Likewise, if you want multiple shows each with one default cue for the entire show, then you can set the Track value to the show name, followed by colon, with no cue name. In the Finale 3D script, the track sections can be in any order, but must not contain any interwoven or overlapping events.  Separate tracks in DMX scripts therefore need separate safety channels. Wing (backup cues) The Fire Control G2 user interface supports binding cues to faders on the system wing panel.   The cues available to bind are in a special show called "backups" in the "shows" section of the script file.  If you want to designate some sections of your show as backup cues that can be bound to wing faders, use the "Track" field in Finale 3D to create a show in the show section of the script file named "backups".  See the "Shows section" paragraph below for further details. Structure of G2 script file The Fire Control G2 script is a JSON file with these four key/value pairs: { "id": "1068bbe1-f0f2-4e74-93ba-9cb9fe4d49c3", "name": "test-fire-control01", "equipment": <equipment section>, "shows": <shows section> } The "id" is a GUID created at the time of export, identifying the project.  The "name" is the name of the show in Finale 3D.  The "equipment" and "shows" are explained below.  The term "show" in Fire Control's terminology is different from the definition of a "show" in Finale 3D, which is a separate .fin file. Equipment section Finale 3D writes fields for fm, pd, f1, and dmx in the equipment section if they are used in the show. "equipment": { "fm": [{ "addr": "1", "id": "{c612ca16-8dc1-4714-ba38-0832557e492d}", "pos": ["0", "0"], "hwgen": "G1", "relay": "false", "wless": "false"}], "pd": [{ "addr": "2", "id": "{2bda2bbe-f86b-406c-9d42-1f81cf60eae4}", "pos": ["0", "0"]}], "f1": [{ "addr": "3", "id": "{90da29c8-6d29-45f8-a3c5-694d4a87b2fa}", "pos": ["0", "0"]}], "dmx": [{"addr": "1", "id": "{f74a2dab-52a6-4680-ae23-40db816ff285}", "name": "04DMX","channels": [{ "address": "1", "name": "ON/OFF"}] }, {"addr": "10", "id": "{ebb4a6d1-3d25-4972-ae9f-65e43d6b9a24}", "name": "05DMX", "channels": [{"address": "10", "name": "Angle"}, {"address": "11", "name": "Speed"}, {"address": "12", "name": "Ignition" }, {"address": "13","name": "Open Time"}, {"address": "14","name": "Macro"}, {"address": "15","name": "Safety Channel"}]}]} In the equipment section of the script, all equipment (modules) other than DMX fixtures will contain the following variable properties: "addr": "1" "id": "{c612ca16-8dc1-4714-ba38-0832557e492d}" "pos": ["0", "0"] The "addr" field is the integer module number beginning with "1", a global address for all modules in the project of all types, excluding DMX.   The "id" is a GUID used to identify the piece of equipment, created at time of export.  The "pos" coordinates are zero since they appear to be unsupported in Fire Control G2. The Fire Control G2 FM16 module equipment definitions exported by Finale 3D will also contain the following constant properties with pre-defined values: "hwgen": "G1" "relay": "false" "wless": "false" The DMX fixtures in the equipment section contain properties of the form, "addr": "1" "id": "{f74a2dab-52a6-4680-ae23-40db816ff285}" "name": "04DMX" "channels": [{ "address": "1", "name": "ON/OFF" }] wherein "addr" is the DMX Channel Base from Finale 3D, "name" is the position name, "id" is a GUID created at time of export, and "channels" are an array of absolute channel numbers (as you would see on the fixture itself, not offsets relative to the DMX Channel Base) and their names. Shows section The shows section of the script contains an array of "shows" each with the fields shown below.  The "shows" in an exported Fire Control G2 script are parts of a single show file in Finale 3D. "shows": [{ "project": "1068bbe1-f0f2-4e74-93ba-9cb9fe4d49c3", "id": "6c72fe99-1bba-4dee-9015-018c55507c73", "name": "showx", "timer": "internal", "cues": <cues section> }, { "project": "1068bbe1-f0f2-4e74-93ba-9cb9fe4d49c3", etc... }] The "project" field refers to the GUID of the project file.  The "id" field is a GUID created at time of export identifying the show -- unless the show is named "backups" in which case the "id" field value is "backups" instead of a GUID.   In the Fire Control G2 software, cues in the "backups" show can be bound to faders on the wing. The name of the show is either "Show #1" by default, or a name extracted from the "Track" field in Finale 3D, as explained below.  The "timer" field is always "internal" for shows exported from Finale 3D.  The cue section is defined below. Cues section The cues sections of shows define separately triggerable sections of a show.  Cues and shows in Fire Control G2 terminology are both extracted from the "Track" field in Finale 3D.  If the Track fields are blank in Finale 3D, the single show in the exported script will contain a single cue called "Cue #1" by default.  In this case, the event times will be relative to the beginning of the show in Finale 3D unless you have explicitly added a show export offset in the "Show > Set show information..." dialog. "cues": [{ "note": "B", "state": "NotFired", "events": <events section> }, { "note": "C", etc... }] The "note" field is the name of the cue, which is extracted from the Track field in Finale 3D.  The "state" field is always written as "NotFired" from Finale 3D.  The "events" field is an array explained below. Events section  The events section contains the firing events and DMX events, sorted by time and intermixed.  The events refer to the hardware in the equipment section by GUID.  The key/value pairs in the events have some differences between the module types and additional differences for DMX events. "events": [{ "time": "0", "out": "0", "note": "Red Comet", "type": "pyro", "fm": "{c612ca16-8dc1-4714-ba38-0832557e492d}" }, { "time": "0", "out": "0", "note": "Red Comet", "type": "pd", "pd": "{2bda2bbe-f86b-406c-9d42-1f81cf60eae4}" }, { "time": "0", "out": "0", "note": "Red Comet", "type": "f1", "f1": "{90da29c8-6d29-45f8-a3c5-694d4a87b2fa}" }, { "time": "0", "dmx": "{f74a2dab-52a6-4680-ae23-40db816ff285}", "type": "dmx", "chan": "0", "holdlevel": "255", "holdtime": "300" }] The "time" is an integer in milliseconds, relative to the start of the cue.  The "out" field is the pin number represented as a decimal integer index beginning with zero, independent of the module type.  Pin numbers for Pyrodigital modules are thus 0-15, not 0-F; and for FireOne are 0-31, not 1-32; and for Pyro Control modules are 0-15, not A-P.  The "note" is the effect name.  The "type" is "pyro" for fm modules, and is "pd" or "f1" for pd and f1 modules, respectively; and is "dmx" for dmx events.  The "fm" or "pd" or "f1" or "dmx" field contains a GUID referring to the corresponding module or fixture defined in the equipment section. DMX events contain "chan" which is a 0-based index into the channels of the DMX personality of the fixture defined in the equipment section.  The "holdlevel" is the channel value and "holdtime" is the duration for which the value is held before being reset to zero.  Fire Control G2 controllers support additional DMX controls for fading up and down before and after a hold time, but Finale 3D does not currently use these capabilities. Exported scripts from Finale 3D may contain long "holdtime" values for events that are held indefinitely in the show design, such as an angle of a moving head or a flamer nozzle, for which it may not be desirable to reset the value to zero in between shots.  While these long "holdtime" values may appear awkward when viewed in the Pyro Control G2 interface, they are not errors.   When you address a show containing different module types for the Fire Control G2 controller, the rail and pin addresses in Finale 3D may be in different formats, as shown in Figure 2.   Figure 2 – Script with three positions using three different types of modules -- FM, PD, and F1.   Table 3 – Example files Download link Explanation test-fire-control01.fcp Example exported file  (CSV) test-fire-control01.fin Example show file (FIN)

The Sigma Services FireFly unit is a single or multi-head flame projector that can be controlled by any of the DMX-capable firing systems, such as Piroshow, Pyromac, PyroSure, fireTEK, Cobra, and Mongoose.  The Standard Fixture IDs are 037 for the 4-head version, and 038 for the 8-head version.   Figure 1 – Sigma Services FireFly   Unlike fixed multi-head fixtures, the heads of the FireFly can be positioned independently.  It is thus natural when designing a show visually in Finale 3D to represent each head as an independent fixture position, located and oriented however you want -- while at the same time keeping all the heads as part of the same fixture in the exported DMX script. The DMX personality of the FireFly organizes the channels for each head sequentially for each DMX attribute.  In other words, for each attribute the DMX channel for head #2 is equal to the DMX channel for head #1 + 1; and the DMX channel for head #3 is equal to the DMX channel for head #1 + 2, etc.  Thus,  to keep all the heads of a FireFly as part of the same fixture in the exported DMX script, you simply need to assign the heads' fixture positions to have the same DMX Universe and sequential DMX Channel Base numbers.  The DMX Channel Base of head #1 is the DMX Channel Base for the entire fixture.  The DMX Channel Base of head #2 is that number + 1, etc. Normally, Finale 3D puts up warning dialogs if fixtures have overlapping channel ranges.  The fixture definition for FireFly includes a special parameter "disableOverlappingChannelRangeWarnings" since what Finale 3D would perceive as overlapping channel ranges is actually your way of splitting up the channel range of the fixture into multiple fixture positions representing the heads.   Table 1 – DMX channels for 4CH fixture DMX Channel Meaning Effect in Finale 3D that controls channel Channel 1 (DMX Channel Base + 0) Head #1 ON/OFF (0-127 = OFF; 128-255 = ON) Various part numbers in the range SGMA1000- SGMA1013 Channel 2 (DMX Channel Base + 1) Head #2 ON/OFF (0-127 = OFF; 128-255 = ON) Various part numbers in the range SGMA1000- SGMA1013 Channel 3 (DMX Channel Base + 2) Head #3 ON/OFF (0-127 = OFF; 128-255 = ON) Various part numbers in the range SGMA1000- SGMA1013 Channel 4 (DMX Channel Base + 3) Head #4 ON/OFF (0-127 = OFF; 128-255 = ON) Various part numbers in the range SGMA1000- SGMA1013 Channel 5 (DMX Channel Base + 4) Head #1 arm and pilot light (0-127 = disarmed and pilot light off; 128-255 = armed and pilot light on) SGMA1006 and SGMA1013 Channel 6 (DMX Channel Base + 5) Head #2 arm and pilot light (0-127 = disarmed and pilot light off; 128-255 = armed and pilot light on) SGMA1006 and SGMA1013 Channel 7 (DMX Channel Base + 6) Head #3 arm and pilot light (0-127 = disarmed and pilot light off; 128-255 = armed and pilot light on) SGMA1006 and SGMA1013 Channel 8 (DMX Channel Base + 7) Head #4 arm and pilot light (0-127 = disarmed and pilot light off; 128-255 = armed and pilot light on) SGMA1006 and SGMA1013   Usage guidance from Sigma Services Do not leave the pilot flame on for more than 5 minutes at a time without a cool down to minimize temperature buildup. Try to arrange safety pilot periods of 45 seconds or longer, to avoid turning it on and off too frequently. Turn the pilot flame on 10 seconds before it is needed for an effect sequence. To ensure the gas valve fully opens, set flame durations to a minimum of 1/3 second. The pilot flame is turned on by way of the "With Safety Channel And Pilot Flame" effect in Finale 3D, so in keeping with the manufacturer guidance you should insert safety channel effects for each head in Finale 3D approximately 10 seconds before effect sequences applying to the head; and adjust the durations of the safety channel effects to cover the periods of activity, aiming for periods of 45 seconds or longer with cool down periods in between. On account of guidance item #4, the durations for the Standard Effects in Finale 3D for FireFly fixtures are longer than for other fixtures, beginning at 0.33 seconds instead of 0.1 seconds.   Pilot Light / Safety Channel effects For the Sigma Services FireFly fixtures, Finale 3D treats the pilot light, arming, and safety channel functions as one and the same.  Thus turning on the pilot light is the same thing as turning on the safety channel.  The name of the effect is "FFLY8CH [038/0000] With Pilot Light / Safety Channel". Each head has its own pilot light, and thus each head, represented by its own position in Finale 3D configured as the fixture with the appropriate DMX Channel Base, needs its own "With Pilot Light / Safety Channel" effect to turn on its pilot light for its duration of operation.  Since the fixture requires separate safety channels per head, Finale 3D does not provide a warning dialog for missing safety channel as it does for other simpler fixtures that only need a single safety channel.   Instructions To design a show for Sigma Services FireFly units, please follow these steps:  Set up.  (A) Generally follow the flame set up instructions in the Flame systems basic instructions and Exporting a firing system script for flame systems  except that for FireFly fixture you will create a separate fixture position for each head of the fixture, as described above. Depending on your DMX controller, you may choose to give each fixture its own DMX universe, or give each fixture a channel range in a shared DMX universe.  (B) In the real world configure each physical fixture's "Start Address" to be the start of the channel range you allocate for it. (C) In Finale 3D configure the "DMX Channel Base" of the fixture to match the Start Address exactly. Add the Assorted DMX supplier catalog to your Finale 3D account.  Login to the finale3d.com website.  At the top of the page, go to “My Account > Supplier Catalog Settings” (www.finale3d.com/supplier-catalogs-settings/).  Find the Assorted DMX supplier catalog in the table, and turn the switch to ON.  Then launch the Finale 3D application and synch to network.  The Assorted DMX catalog will appear as one of the available collections in the effects window, which you can choose from the selector at the top of the window.  This catalog contains effects for all types of Assorted fixtures currently supported in Finale 3D, together. Add flame effects to the show.  (A) Right-click on the fixture positions to add compatible effects from the context menu or to filter the effects window to compatible effects.   Choosing the DMX channel ranges for fixtures Each multi-head fixture requires twice the number of DMX channels as it has heads, so if you are putting multiple fixtures in the same DMX Universe, you need to set the Start Address on the fixture in the real world and the corresponding DMX Channel Base on the head #1 position of the fixture in Finale 3D to a range of channels that doesn't overlap with others.  Successive heads for the same fixture, represented by separate fixture positions in Finale 3D, should have the DMX Channel Base of the first head + n, where n is 0 for the first head, 1 for the second head, and so on. A DMX universe has channels 1-512.  If you want to pack as many fixtures into the 512 channels of a DMX universe as you can, back-to-back ranges are the most efficient.  Table 2 shows an example for 4-head fixtures.  Some DMX firing systems only support 50 or 100 channels, so you may not have all 512 channels to work with.   Table 2 – Example channel ranges for 4-head fixture Fixture DMX Channel Base Channels Used 1 1 1-8 (the four positions representing the four heads having DMX Channel Base of 1, 2, 3, and 4) 2 9 9-16 (the four positions representing the four heads having DMX Channel Base of 9, 10, 11, and 12) 3 17 17-24 4 25 25-32 5 33 33-40 6 41 41-48 7 49 49-56 8 57 57-64 9 65 65-72 10 73 73-81 ... 64 505 505-512     Taking a closer look at the 4-head fixture channel range example of Table 2, consider a possible plan that uses two fixtures in the first two ranges, from channel 1-17.  Both fixtures have four heads, each represented as a fixture position in Finale 3D.  The DMX Channel Bases of those eight heads are shown in Table 3.   Table 3 – Example DMX Channel Base for heads of two 4-head fixtures, back-to-back Head DMX Channel Base Specific Channels Used Fixture 1, Head #1 1 1, 5 Fixture 1, Head #2 2 2, 6 Fixture 1, Head #3 3 3, 7 Fixture 1, Head #4 4 4, 8 Fixture 2, Head #1 9 9, 13 Fixture 2, Head #2 10 10, 14 Fixture 2, Head #3 11 11, 15 Fixture 2, Head #4 12 12, 16     Table 4 – Example files and downloads Download link Explanation Firefly Manual with Four Channel Control_Revision 00_05_16_2017.pdf Sigma Services FireFly user manual test-show-3-x-4-channel-sigma-fixtures.fin Example show