Perfect thanks, I already know how to safe the effects and share them in a FDB file, but I was not sure if the fixture was saved also in it or if it was another location for it. Now I know it.  Thank you so much.

Welcome to the Finale 3D forum!   Going to DMX > Create DMX effect... allows you to create DMX effects for existing fixtures or simultaneously define a new fixture and create a corresponding effect. When you create a next DMX fixture, the definition for the fixture is saved as part of the effect, and is saved to the location you choose. For example, if you add the new DMX effect to your My Effects collection, then that is where you will find the effect (which contains the fixture definition).   To get a DMX fixture you have created to another computer or share it with another Finale 3D user, all you need to do is share the effects for the fixture. There are many ways to share effects, here are some examples: — You can share effects by adding them to a show and then sharing the show file. — You can share effects by copying and pasting them into an Excel spreadsheet and then sharing the spreadsheet. — You can add the effects to an FDB effect file and then sharing the FDB file. ▶️ How to Store Your Effects Offline (using fdb effect files)   I recommend the third option, which is creating and FDB effect file.

Just adding my experience with a 2021 M1 Pro, 16GB RAM on Parallels 20 PRO, running Finale3D. I think I read somewhere on Parallels...that the PRO version initially allocates 8GB RAM to the Virtual Machine. This is changeable in Parallels PRO version, but NOT the basic version.   I noticed zero issues with about 10min of music and maybe 30ish effects and about 250 cues. So that matches Dirk's description above.   But now I'm at 18min of music, 65 effects, and about 550 cues, and the rendering is definitely having issues. If I start the show, it'll play fine until it gets to a big "hit" where multiple slices, comets, mortars are going off...and the visualization will just freeze. The music continues to play, but the rendering freezes. Then, after it coughs (.5sec to a couple seconds), the rendering immediately catches the music and works until the next big hit. Pretty unscientific data here...so take with a grain of salt.   BL: an M4 PRO w/ 64GB RAM is on the wish list...but this M1 PRO will get me through this years 4th of July show.

Thanks Drew, this is really helpful and adding the PFT fixed the issue.

Hey PyroExec, you're on the right track with DLY! I suspect the reason the "blip" on the timeline isn't aligning with the first burst is because you haven't quite gotten all the necessary VDL terms working together.   Here's the key: DLY + LFT = PFT   The Finale 3D definition of prefire is “the time from firing system ignition to the effect time that is synchronized to the music.” For shells, prefire = lift time, but if the shell is a consumer shell with a slow burning fuse, then the default doesn't get the job done.   Visual Descriptive Language (VDL) has additional terms to support this scenario. One is DLY, and the other is LFT.   DLY is "Delay", such as a slow burning fuse. LFT is "Lift Time", which is the time from launch to burst.   For example, let’s say you have a 1.75″ Red Peony shell with a 4 second visco safety fuse, and a 2s lift time from launch to burst. The 4 seconds of Visco fuse is a "Delay" (DLY) and the 2s from launch to burst is "Lift Time" (LFT). The total time from firing system ignition to burst is “Delay” DLY + “Lift Time” LFT = “Prefire Time” PFT. To make an accurate simulation of this shell, the full VDL description would be 1.75" 4s DLY 2s LFT 6s PFT Red Peony.   Documentation article on prefire: https://finale3d.com/documentation/prefire/     On a separate but related note, I feel uneasy about the idea of representing racks of reloadable shells as a cakes in Finale 3D because it's not really accurate. If you go the cake route, the product list Finale 3D will provide will tell you to grab a "cake" to set up your show. But in reality, you are shooting a "chain" of 50 shells. It seems like it would be better if your product list said 50 shells, as opposed to saying 1 cake. If you agree, then a better approach would be to create a chain in Finale 3D instead of a cake. See: https://finale3d.com/video/creating-finale-chains-two-different-ways/

When I turned draw smoke off, the simulation stopped lagging, but that doesn't make it feel realistic. Smoke thickness was on Thin before I unchecked draw smoke.

Hey Brett,   Effects > Create effect... creates a new effect with no regard for the items selected on the timeline. Any VDL you see prepopulated in the create effect dialog is simply whatever was entered last time you created an effect.   Effects > Combine as cake effect... specifically combines the items selected on the timeline into a new cake.   To make slices from an existing cake, first do Effects > Break apart cake... This opens a temporary show with cake broken into single shots. Then, select the shots in the first row and go to Effects > Combine as cake effect... To keep things organized, give the row a part number that includes the parent cake part number, plus the suffix "Row01". For example if the parent cake is AB123, use AB123-Row01 as the part number for the cake representing the first row. Repeat the process of selecting shots for each row and combining until you've made cakes representing each how. Be sure to save the single-row cakes in your My Effects or somewhere else you can easily find them, then close the temporary show.

  Curtis B wrote: I’d like to see the ability to dial the smoke particles back either through render settings or the VDL itself. I’ve done some testing of vdl’s lately and it seems that once you get a LOT of smoke particles on screen, they really start to lag your show simulation down. If there is already a request for this or if it already exists, please let me know!   Hi Curtis, did you try the Draw smoke and Smoke thickness settings in File > Render settings?  

Hello, I have created a new DMX light fixture that I want to share to another computer, How can I do it? It´s there any folder where all my own DMX libraries are saved, to export them to another FInale 3D user computer? Thanks a lot

I'd like to see the ability to dial the smoke particles back either through render settings or the VDL itself. I've done some testing of vdl's lately and it seems that once you get a LOT of smoke particles on screen, they really start to lag your show simulation down.   If there is already a request for this or if it already exists, please let me know!