Adding onto Simon’s answer about light fades, most pyro+DMX controllers do not implement a ramp function in hardware, so the only way to implement a fade is with a rapid sequence of events.  That can be an issue with the controller’s script rows limit, as Simon points out, but it doesn’t totally rule out the idea.   Here are the steps we are taking to support fades:   1) In the last three or four RGB DMX light fixture implementations we’ve supported (Chauvet EZPar64 and Rockville Battery Par 50 and High End UNO), we’ve been implementing the DMX patch libraries differently in order to lay the groundwork for supporting fades.  Specifically, for effects like “Red Flash (lg)” or “Red Flash (sm)”, instead of using the master dimmer DMX channel to control the intensity of “(lg)” versus “(sm)” we’ve been scaling the RGB channel values themselves and leaving the master dimmer at 100%.  That leaves the master dimmer available for a modifier effect to further adjust the intensity by way of reducing the master dimmer to lower than 100%.  For these recent fixture effect libraries we have added ten new effects to the effect libraries,   “With Master Dimmer at 0%” “With Master Dimmer at 10%” “With Master Dimmer at 20%” etc.   You can add these modifier effects to a fixture in the show and stretch their duration to cover whatever duration you want them to apply over, and they will scale the overall intensity of all the fixture’s effects within that duration according to the chosen %.  These effects provide a rudimentary ability to implement your own fades, by placing these effects back to back, and scaling down the intensity in 10% chunks.   2) We are working on new functions called “Create DMX effect” and “Edit DMX effects” which are similar to “Create effect”  and “Edit effect” except they also provide a simple user interface for you to specify the DMX channel values that implement the effect.  These functions enable you to create/edit your own effects for your own fixtures without needing to edit the DMX Patch field of the effects or go through the programmer-like steps that are currently required to implement your own effects.  This feature will be available in two weeks.   3) We have an eye toward adding a “ramp” checkbox to the user interface DMX channel/value rows in the dialog of (2).  When you check this checkbox, our exporter will automatically implement the ramp in the most efficient manner based on your firing system or DMX controller’s capabilities.  If the controller has hardware ramps, then the exporter will use that capability.  Otherwise, the exporter will automatically create a sequence of events to implement the ramp manually, in steps.  This implementation obviously consumes are large number of event rows in the script, but used sparingly it may still be useful in some designs while keeping within the limits of the controller’s script size.  We expect to implement this feature late this year.

Hello everyone, Oliver here, a newbie and just started exploring the world of Finale 3d starting to enjoy it 🙂

Hello fellow pyros!  My name is Jeff and I have an addiction.   This is my second year using Finale3d (third year attempting a pyromusical) and all I can say is WOW this software is a game changer!  I only shoot 1x per year on the 4th but I am realizing that I should be using Finale3d more than that so I can better learn he program.  The support is fantastic however even in the “11th hour” of need.

Hola, nuestra documentación de Firemaster puede responder a su pregunta, aquí hay un enlace: https://finale3d.com/documentation/firemaster/   Hello, our Firemaster documentation may answer your question, here is a link: https://finale3d.com/documentation/firemaster/  

The Finale Fireworks team is proud to support this call for PEACE, please share this with fellow pyros everywhere. From our friends in Germany:       This is a call to all fireworks communities worldwide. Please share.   CALL TO ACTION   Fireworks are the art of emotions. #fireworks4peace is an artistic action to spark the hope for peace all over the world.   Together, the German fireworks community will enact a collective fireworks art event from the north to the south of Germany on the historical date of May 8th (the End of WW2 in Europe) to articulate peoples’ desire for peace, freedom, and dignity and to stand up for democracy. And we are calling all fireworks communities worldwide to join us! With the expressive power of fireworks, this event shall convey the feelings of millions and evoke a common sensation of unity between all of us, even overcoming national borders. Participants can be entire companies or a single artist or a group of technicians. The contribution can be a single cake box or an orchestrated pyro-musical. In order to let the power inherent in freedom and diversity shine through, all artists shall create and perform their contributions freely and independently.   #fireworks4peace   We are reaching out to all our international friends and fellows and hope you will help us spread the word and join us in lighting up this symbol of hope all together on May 8th around the globe.   We like to thank the Japan Hanabi Association (JHA), the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) and the German Fireworks Associations (VPI and BVKP) for supporting this call. You already made #fireworks4peace a global event!   For more information on participation and announcements visit: fireworks4peace.org. For questions or to get in touch contact us via: info@fireworks4peace.org   Social Media Links: #fireworks4peace on Instagram, #fireworks4peace on Twitter, #fireworks4peace on Facebook. Please use #fireworks4peace for all your posting related to this event on your own social media channels.   We like to thank all supporters throughout the international fireworks community that helped us with the translation of the call! We are absolutely overwhelmed by all this feedback and support!

Hello! My name is Igor Shulga.   We are the PYRO team from Ukraine. Since 2003 we created: 5000+ different fireworks 1000+ pyromusical shows pyro.ua – the website we are proud of pyroua – our bright and unusual instagram you may use browser translator to get more information about our company and team The war stopped our fireworks business in Ukraine But we’re glad to be useful for your company and your clients   WE’D LIKE TO SHARE OUR OPPORTUNITIES WITH YOU 1. We can make visual models of fireworks using Finale 3D – the most realistic fireworks simulator in the world. In addition we’ll create a library of the effects and racks, if you don’t have one. As well your pyrotechnicians will have all shooting reports to prepare every firework properly.   2. We can manage and participate in all processes of pyromusical show creation from idea to realization, using our wireless firing system fireTEK. bit.ly/pyrshow it is our website page for pyromusical shows, here you can watch video of 319 fireworks   bit.ly/movsfir by this link compare 3D model of firework with video of real pyromusical show   3. We can share with you our 19 years experience in selling pyrotechnics and making fireworks. HERE ARE SOME ASPECTS WE HOPE TO BE USEFUL IN   Integrate business processes in selling and making fireworks, team management, clients/partners management and products accounting based on our self-created cloud CRM system since 2008. Development of shooting equipment for different types of fireworks, including pyromusical shows and ground fireworks.     Hope to be helpful for you Best regards, — Igor Shulga CEO PYRO – fireworks and special effects +38(050)462-57-57 (Telegram Viber WhatsApp WeChat) igor.shulga@pyro1.team pyro1.team

Hi PyroWalker, we on it. I’ve reached out to Cobra to discuss. I’ll also send you an email to get some addition info to make sure we run this to ground.

What you are saying makes sense, however, even when selecting version 6.0.x the headers were not pulling into the Excel file, and I had to create a dummy DMX script in Cobra and add those headings to the exported file from Finale. Once I did this, it worked perfectly.

Hi PyroWalker, what you’re saying makes perfect sense, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using the tool that you’re comfortable with to check your script.   At the same time, I think there is some confusion that’s very important to clarify. We have worked directly with Cobra to ensure script files generated by Finale 3D precisely meet the script file and feature specifications for each Cobra version. If your Cobra hardware is running version 6.x, and you select 6.x when exporting your script from Finale 3D, I am extremely confident that the script is formatted correctly and will work properly when loaded into your remote. Not only have we tested this one on one with Cobra, but we also have Cobra gear on hand that we use for testing internally. Additionally, two weeks ago at Cobra-Con, 14 teams that participated in Pyro Boot Camp designed shows in Finale 3D and successfully fired them the same day. The 14 shows were exported directly from Finale 3D to USB flash drives and then loaded into Cobra remotes.   It is paramount to us that the scripts exported from Finale 3D result in successful shows. Any time we become aware of a bug or error in exported script files, we fix it immediately. I think the confusion in this case stems from the comment rows that can (optionally) be added to a Cobra script file. Comments in a Cobra script file are represented by any text starting with #. Comments are optional and they are completely ignored by the remote when you load your script. Below is a screenshot of a V6 script exported from Show Creator, and the exact same show exported as V6 from Finale 3D. No question about it, there are more comments in the script file exported from Show Creator vs. Finale 3D. Meanwhile, the parts of the script used by the Cobra remote are functionally the same. In other words, if you load each of these scripts into your remote, you will get the exact same show. However, if you import the script from Finale 3D into Show Creator, you will run into an issue, and I think that’s what happened to you. I’m not certain, but I think that the CSC import process relies on the (optional) comments being present in the file at import to determine the script version. So, even though the script from Finale 3D will work perfectly if you go directly to your remote, it can’t be imported properly into Show Creator. I can totally see how this could be disconcerting and give you a lack of confidence in the integrity of your script. I will discuss this with my colleagues and with Cobra and see what we can do. Meanwhile, please know that any errors you get when importing your script from Finale 3D into Show Creator are not an indication that your script would not have worked if it were loaded directly into your remote.    

Hello everyone!! I am Hetal from India. Just started to learn on effects. Look forward to learn from all experience guys here.