Hi Kristine Ernzen, your screenshots show that your computers are running different versions of Finale 3D. The ‘Edit Effect’ dialog in your second screenshot has a middle section titled, ‘Optional inputs’, this represents a recent “BETA” release of Finale 3D. In contrast, your first screenshot shows an older version of the edit effect dialog, and therefore an older release of Finale 3D. You can check which “Build” you’re running on each computer by going to ‘File > View account details’.   Normally, I would expect effects to be identical between different software builds, but in this case the BETA version represents the culmination of a large effect improvement project. The only question is, which version is working correctly? If the height is correct in the old version, then we have bug to fix before we do our next build. On the other hand, if you think the newer, BETA version is better, then the solution is to update the computer running the older version to the latest BETA.

I’m not sure if this is the right place to put this question or not but it is “kinda, sorta” a cake question.  My dad and I are working on our 4th of July show and as we were adding cakes to our script, we noticed that there are some discrepancies with what we were each seeing (on two separate laptops, each running finale.)  We tested this on two different cakes but I’m adding pictures of “Backyard King” to give an example.  Not all the information matches when it’s the same cake – the height output is different.

Hello all,   I have just begun to use Finale 3D this week.  My first exposer was at Cobra Con this year.   I received a shipment from American two weeks ago and finally have time to go through and start making a show for the 4th.  I have cakes that are not in the companies that have catalogs on Finale, which I believe is common.  I am assuming that many users have made a copious amount of cakes and they may have even made the cakes I have bought.   The question:   Does Finale have a data base of the cakes and products that people have made on their individual programs to download for making a show?   Thank you for the input in advance.

Great! Thanks so much!

Announcing the launch of the Raccoon Finale 3D supplier catalog! The catalog contains a selection of Raccoon’s 1.4G consumer cakes. This is just the start; more items will be added gradually over time. Add the catalog to your account in Finale 3D by going to File > ‘Catalogs of effects…’  

Announcing the launch of the Winda Finale 3D supplier catalog! The catalog contains a selection of Winda’s 1.4G consumer cakes. This is just the start; more items will be added gradually over time. Add the catalog to your account in Finale 3D by going to File > ‘Catalogs of effects…’  

Hi Kristin, here’s a video that demonstrates how to add silence to a song (or soundtrack) using Audacity, replace your existing soundtrack in Finale 3D, and then use Script > Time adjustments > Shift times… to re-align your cues/events.  

We have realized mid-script writing that we did not have 5s of silence needed to support the timecode/SMPTE feature as recommended. What is the best process for adding that 5s of “silence” to the beginning of the script we are currently building? I have the “correct” music file in a folder on my computer already – Can we import the correct mp3 file and then just highlight all the effect’s already added and move them by five sec so it resync’s with the music correctly?   Thanks! Kristine

There is no need to start over! In Finale 3D Hobbyist and Pro, you can copy and paste your timeline events and songs to combine them into a single show. Check out the tutorial video below. In the Lite version of Finale 3D, music editing isn’t supported, so the process would be to combine your songs using a 3rd party music editing application like Audacity, then use copy and paste in Finale 3D to bring your timeline events into a single show.

Found a small, but aggravating, bug in the interface.  If you close all open shows while your inventory is set to Per Show, when you open another file, all your column show-hide settings will be lost, turning every column back on.  As long as there is inventory still displaying in the list, such as when on the My Effects category, column settings will be retained with all files closed.