To make cinematic camera motion in a video, set up camera keyframes at different points in the show.  The camera moves smoothly from keyframe to keyframe.   A keyframe is a camera frame of reference (point of view) at a point in time.   Figure 1 – Camera keyframes are the vertical bars that are not cue flags.   In the figure, you can see two vertical bars on the timeline that are not cue flags, representing two keyframes.  To setup a simple camera animation for a video, insert a keyframe at the beginning of the show.  Then add another keyframe with the camera at a different position at the end of the show.  The camera will move smoothly between them during the video.  Follow these steps: Move the playhead on the timeline to 0.0 (the beginning of the show). Orient the view (camera) the way you want it to look at the beginning of the video. Do the menu item, "Camera > Add camera keyframe". Move the playhead on the timeline to the end of the show, or some time in between (example, 00:30.00). Re-orient the view the way you want it to look at this point in time. Do the menu item, "Camera > Add camera keyframe". Play the show and watch the camera move.  You can turn on/off the camera movement with the menu item "Camera > Turn on camera motion".  

If you are importing or modifying a Finale Inventory to use with Finale 3D while maintaining backward compatibility with Finale Business, you will need to give special consideration to three fields: Prefire, Type, and VDL. Prefire.  Finale Business and Finale 3D interpret the term “prefire” for aerial cakes differently, and action is required on your part to change the prefires in your inventory to a value that works for both.  The table below shows the options, but the best solution is: change the prefires of aerial cakes to blank.  The default prefire for cakes in Business is 0.3 seconds.  Unfortunately this value causes aerial cake shells in Finale 3D to break at 0.3 seconds on the way up, looking like a geyser or flowerpot.  Please change the value to blank, or one of the other good values in the table below. Please see Cake and candle duration (and prefire) Type.  Finale 3D and Finale Inventory support all the values of Finale Business, and a few more.  Thus if the Type values in your inventory are from Business, they’ll work fine in 3D.  But if you change them to values other than Cakes, Candles, Shells, Mines, Comets, Other, or Non-Choreographed, then they will no longer work in Business. (Type is called “Choreography Tab” in Inventory, and “Category” in Business.) Please see Why is 'Type' so important?. VDL. Finale 3D and Business both support VDL effect descriptions for simulations, but Business requires a strict form of VDL.  If you type or import VDL into Finale Inventory directly, it most likely will not work for Business because it will not be in the strict form (e.g., case-sensitive).  If you need backward compatible VDL then please copy/paste the VDL field from 3D after creating or editing the simulation via the dialog, which puts it into the strict form. Table 1 shows four possible prefire values for a 3” aerial cake, and indicates whether the result is good or bad in Business and 3D.  You can see that 0.3 is bad, but the three other possibilities -- blank, 0.0, and the lift time of the first aerial shell in the cake -- are all good.  There are slight differences, but the blank value is the best choice because it works exactly the same way as 0.3 in Business, and it also works 3D, and it is simple.   Figure 1 – Aerial cakes from Finale Business with 0.3s prefire look terrible in 3D.   In Figure 1, the cake on the left has 0.3 seconds prefire and normal height, rocketing the shell to its break height in a fraction of the normal lift time of about 3 seconds. The stars from the break have so much upward velocity at that point, they shoot into the sky. Clearly, the 0.3 seconds prefire value is not the right value for 3D. Table 1 – Finale 3D/Business compatibility matrix for prefires of aerial cakes like “10 Shot 5s Red Peony Cake” Prefire Finale Business Finale 3D 0.3 (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 0.3s; break at 2.8s (BAD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 0.3s; break at 0.3s (looks like a geyser) (blank) (GOOD) Same as 0.3 (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 3.02s; break at 3.02s 0.0 (GOOD) Same as 2.8 (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 3.02s; break at 3.02s 2.8 (the default lift time for 3” shell in Finale Business) (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 0.3s; break at 2.8s (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 2.8s; break at 2.8s (a little early)

Finale 3D supports both the traditional RJ Equipamentos firing system and the updated timecode based firing system released in 2019.  The basic steps to create and export a script for both firing systems are the same.  Please follow these steps: Address the show ("Addressing > Address show"). Export the script ("File > Export > Export firing scripts"). Step 2 creates the script file, which is a standard format CSV file with a "CSV" extension.  The file format details are described in this section, and they differ for the traditional and updated timecode based system.   Figure 1 – Traditional RJ Equipamentos module   Additional instructions for the updated timecode based system The updated timecode based system supports special effects with three special pins, in addition to the standard 16 or 32 pins for pyro ignitions.  The steps for designing and exporting a script with pyro and special effects are more complicated than the steps for a pyro-only show: Layout positions. Layout separate positions for the pyro and each special effect unit, as shown in Figure 2.  Each special effect unit position represents a special effect device, like a CO2 jet, or a flame projector, or a stadium shot gun.  The pyro position will us pyro pins on one or more modules.  Each special effect unit position will use a single special effect pin -- F, C, or S -- on one specific module.  After creating the positions, please select the positions, and right-click on them and do "Edit position properties..." from the right-click context menu.  In the position properties dialog shown in Figure 3, select the "Firing system" and "Module type", matching the type of position.  Choose "RJ Timecode 16 Pin" or "RJ Timecode 32 Pin" for the pyro positions, and choose "RJ Timecode Flame Unit" or "RJ Timecode CO2 Unit" or "RJ Timecode Stadium Unit" for the special effect positions. Set the "Start Module".  Right-click on each pyro position and assign it a Start Module number for the module used by that position (or the first module if more than one).  For example, if you have four positions, you might assign the positions' Start Module to 10, 20, 30, 40 in order to give each position a range of 10 modules.  Next, right-click on each special effect unit position, and assign it a unique Start Module number that is 100 + the Start Module of the pyro position that is triggering the special effect if the special effect unit is a flame projector; or 200 + the Start Module if the special effect is a cryo device; and 300 + the Start Module if the special effect is a stadium shot.  Although the script window will show these module numbers as greater than 100, the exported script will record module numbers modulo 100 (subtracting out the 100s).  In other words, in the exported script, a module number 101, or 201, or 301 will all be recorded as just 1.  Using this technique of adding a 100 or 200 or 300 to the special effect position Start Modules, you are able to separate the pyro address assignments from the special effect units while still defining what module number is actually triggering the special effects (a number less than 100). Design the show.  Add pyro effects to the pyro positions; flame effects to the flame positions; cryo effects to the cryo positions, and stadium shot effects to the stadium shot positions.  At the time of this writing, Finale 3D does not have effects for cryo or stadium shots, so you can just use flame effects as placeholders for those effects.  Based on the effect "Type" (see Table 1 of  Why is ‘Type’ so important? What depends on it?), most flame effects in Generic Effects have constant duration.  Effects with Type = "flame" have constant duration defined in the effect window that the script references; effects with Type = "sfx" have variable duration that you can edit directly in the script.  See Flame and special effects with variable duration for instructions. To get started, try inserting the effects GFX1001, GFX1002 if you want constant duration, or insert effects GFX1005, GFX1006, or GFX1007 if you want variable duration that you can edit in the script directly. (optional) Create your own flame or special effects.You can search in the effect window or effect palette for "flame" to find all the flames, or you can search for "sfx" to find those with variable duration. In Finale 3D, flame effects (Type = flame) have a constant duration, so if you want flame effects that have a variety of durations as separate effect buttons to click, please create copies of a flame effect and set the durations of the copies as desired.   Or, if you would prefer to edit the durations directly in the script, you can use the GFX1005, GFX1006, or GFX1007 effects in Generic Effects, or change the type of any of the other flame effects to "sfx", which implies variable duration. To change an effect, select the row in the effect window, copy it (control-C), and paste it into your My Effects (control-V after switching to My Effects from the blue selector in the upper right of the effect window).  Then edit the "Duration" column to any duration you want, or edit the Type column to change its Type from "flame" to "sfx". The durations shown in the script window will be recorded in the RJ Equipamentos script file. Address the show.  Do the menu item, "Addressing > Address show".  Notice that all the special effects in the flame, cryo, and stadium positions will be assigned pin numbers, F, C, and S, instead of numerical pin numbers. Export the script. Do the menu item, "File > Export > Export firing scripts".   Figure 2 – Each special effect unit is its own position.   Figure 3 – The "Module Type" position property specifies whether the position is pyro or a special effect unit.   File format The traditional and updated timecode based systems have the same basic file characteristics shown in Table 1, and different CSV header rows and information, as shown in Table 3 and Table 4.   Table 1 – File format and encoding File format Extension Text encoding Field delimiter End-of-line Text .CSV Code Page 1252 , (comma) CRLF The script contains rows for the firing events, i.e., unique combinations of module, 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 sorted ascending by event time. What rows represent Rows represent firing events, i.e., unique module-pin-ignition-time events.  If multiple effects are triggered on the same cue, the effect names are combined in comment field, but the row is still just one row. Header The file contains a single header row with the column names, in the same format as the CSV data rows themselves. Special characters The characters ‘ and “ and , and ; and and tab and newline will be filtered out of any fields. Minimum separation between cues None required; millisecond resolution supported. Module size options Modules with 8, 16, and 24 pins are available. After the header, each row in the script has a number of fields separated by the vertical bar character.  The names of these fields and their descriptions are the following:   Table 3 – Specifications of script fields -- traditional firing system Field name Description Cue The row number in the script, beginning with 1. Shot Time The event time in milliseconds, padded with zeros to seven digits.  For example, 7.152s is represented as 0007152. Burst The effect time in milliseconds, formatted the same as the Shot Time. Module The module number (integers beginning with 1). Chanel The pin number (integers beginning with 1). Comment Finale 3D writes the effect name in this field, preceded by a count if the row represents more than one device. An example script is shown below.  Notice the last two rows are at the same event time but have different modules and therefore cannot be combined into a single row. Cue,Shot Time,Burst,Module,Chanel,Comment 1,0002760,0005000,1,1,Green Chrysanthemum 2,0002860,0005100,2,1,Green Chrysanthemum 3,0002960,0005200,3,1,Green Chrysanthemum 4,0003060,0005300,4,1,Green Chrysanthemum 5,0003160,0005400,5,1,Green Chrysanthemum 6,0003260,0005500,6,1,Green Chrysanthemum 7,0003360,0005600,7,1,Green Chrysanthemum 8,0003460,0005700,8,1,Green Chrysanthemum 9,0003560,0005800,8,2,Green Chrysanthemum 10,0003560,0005800,9,1,Green Chrysanthemum Figure 4 – Example RJ Equipamentos traditional script     Table 4 – Specifications of script fields -- updated timecode firing system Field name Description CUE The row number in the script, beginning with 1. TIMECODE The event time in 30 fps frames, formatted HH:MM:SS:FF. MODULO The module number (integers beginning with 1). CANAL The pin number (integers beginning with 1); or F, C, or S for the three special effects pins. ABERTURA Blank for pyro channels; the duration in milliseconds for the special effect channels.  The exported duration depends on the "Type" field of the effect.  If the effect's Type is flame, other_effect, or not_an_effect, then the exported duration is the value in the effect's "Duration" field in the script, converted to milliseconds.  If the effect Type is anything else, the exported duration is 500.  If the effect's Type is other_effect or not_an_effect, then you can edit the Duration field directly in the script window.  If the effect's Type is flame, then the Duration field in the script window is a reference to the Duration field of Per-show effects in the effect window (use the blue selector in the upper right to select the Per-show effects).  These differences between effect types are explained here: Why is ‘Type’ so important? What depends on it?. An example script is shown below.  Notice the last two rows are at the same event time but have different modules and therefore cannot be combined into a single row. CUE,TIMECODE,MODULO,CANAL,ABERTURA 1,00:00:10:00,10,1, 2,00:00:10:03,20,1, 3,00:00:10:06,30,1, 4,00:00:15:00,10,F,110 5,00:00:15:00,20,F,110 6,00:00:15:00,30,F,110 7,00:00:20:00,10,C,410 8,00:00:20:00,20,C,410 9,00:00:20:00,30,C,410 10,00:00:25:00,10,S,410 11,00:00:25:02,20,S,410 12,00:00:25:03,30,S,410 13,00:00:30:10,10,F,110 14,00:00:30:10,20,F,110 15,00:00:30:10,30,F,110 16,00:00:35:10,10,C,410 17,00:00:35:10,20,C,410 18,00:00:35:10,30,C,410 19,00:00:40:10,10,S,410 20,00:00:40:11,20,S,410 21,00:00:40:13,30,S,410 Figure 5 – Example RJ Equipamentos updated timecode script   Table 5 – Example files Download link Explanation test_rjequipamentos.csv Example exported file  (CSV) test_rjequipamentos.fin Example show file test_rjtimecode01.csv Exported timecode show with special effects test_rjtimecode01.fin Example timecode show with special effects

Rack layout in Finale 3D Pro is analogous to a CAD tool like Visio for visually laying out the racks in a top-down view, except the racks are logically connected to the effects in the show and the firing system addresses. You begin by creating or customizing racks by defining their numbers of tubes, the arrangement and angles of the tubes, and constraints to control the kinds of effects that go into the racks.   From the set of racks you define, Finale 3D produces an initial rack layout with the minimal number of racks to accommodate the show you’ve designed.  From there, you can drag and drop the racks to organize them into pods or groups. Finale 3D’s addressing functions like “Addressing > Address show...” will assign pins and tubes to the shots in the show, taking into consideration the racks and layout so e-matches don’t need to stretch between groups of racks.  If you want to fine tune the wiring, you can drag and drop individual pin assignments between tubes and modules in the rack layout window.  The final output is a set of reports and diagrams for the crew to follow to setup the show.   The three-step process From start to finish, scripting a show with rack layout is a three step process: Design show Add racks for show Address show Figure 1 – Three step process: 1) design, 2) add racks, 3) address show.   The order of these steps is significant, because it allows you to re-address the show (step 3) after making changes to the design -- without blowing away the rack layout that you may have spent a lot of time arranging just right.  It also allows you to re-use rack layouts from older shows by copying and pasting them between shows or creating a show file template with the positions and racks of a venue that you use repeatedly.   Adding racks for the show Add racks for a show design using the simple menu item, "Racks > Add racks for show..."  or "Racks > Delete and re-add racks for show..."  A dialog like the one shown in Figure 2 will appear with a list of all the types and sizes of effects that the show contains.  For each type and size of effect, you can select what kind of rack applies.   Figure 2 – The "Add racks" dialog gives you choices of what racks to use for every size and type in the show.   When you click the "Add" button, the function will add however many racks are required, at the proper angles for the effects.  The dialog of Figure 2 does give you choices of what racks to use, and also options to ignore specific sizes or types of effects in the show.  For example, if you don't use cake racks you can just click the "ignore" checkbox for the cakes in the dialog (not shown in Figure 2 because this example doesn't have any cakes).  Similarly, you can ignore any particular size effects or effects that have any specific "Rack Type" property (see Using the “Rack Type” field for fan racks).  In the example, the 2.5" single-shot effects are being ignored. The collection filter at the top of the dialog filters your rack choices.  You can customize your own racks with the "Racks > Create rack..." function, or you can use some of the pre-defined racks in the "Generic Effects" collection.  You can also use "Easy Racks" which are available no matter what collection filter you choose.  If you choose Easy Racks, you can specify the number of tubes per rack for each size on the fly, right in the dialog.  Notice that the Easy Rack choice for 3" mortar racks at the top of the Figure 2 dialog has a Tubes/rack field that is editable, whereas the other racks chosen for the single-shot effects have a Tubes/rack field that is not editable, as they are not Easy Racks. The dialog shows on each row how many effects the show contains, and also how many racks are required ("Racks to add") on the basis of your choice of rack.  The number of tubes per rack obviously affects the number of racks required, but so do a number of other factors, like the angles of effects and the optional rack constraints that you can set up if you customize your own racks.  If you have a limited number of racks in your physical inventory, you may choose to use the "Limit" field to impose a limit on the number of added racks for a size or type.  The limit applies to the total number of racks of the specified size or type.  If your show already has some racks and you are adding more racks after making a change, the limit takes into account both the existing racks and the racks to be added. The "Leftover effects" row at the bottom of the dialog indicates if any effects do not fit in rack choices on account of their angles.  Since the "Add racks" function automatically adds racks at the proper angles, leftover effects are rare and usually regarded as an error.   The field can become non-zero if you select a rack that has pre-configured angles or a rack that is defined as non-rotatable.  Ignored rows in the dialog do not contribute to leftovers. Racks that you customize yourself can be made to be compatible with all effect sizes or with size ranges.  If you select a fits-any-size rack for one of the rows in the Figure 2 dialog,  other rows may become disabled on account of the fact that the racks added by your selected fits-any-size choice for one size will also accommodate the effects of another size.  That's why the 1.5" and 2" rack rows in Figure 2 are green.  The 2.5" row is green because it is ignored.   Rack layout view Figure 3 shows the rack layout view after adding racks for a position.  The rack layout view is a feature of the Finale 3D Pro version.  The Finale 3D Hobbyist version also supports racks but does not include the ability to lay them out visually.  From the rack layout view, select the position you want to work on with the selector in the upper right.  The added racks appear in an initial default layout.  The effects in the position without firing system addresses appear as red circles.  Effects with firing system addresses would appear as pin numbers in depictions in of firing system rails in the lower left, but at this moment the example does not yet have addresses assigned.   Figure 3 – Drag and drop the effects (red circles) into racks in the rack layout view (from the Window menu or shift-3).   You can drag and drop effects directly into the racks, and you can also drag and drop to or from the rails at the bottom (see Figure 4).   As you assign addresses by drag and drop or with the "Re-address" link or with the menu item "Addressing > Address show..." the red circles of the unaddressed effects disappear, as they are replaced by pin numbers in the rails and racks. Toggle between the "drag and drop racks" mode versus the "drag and drop pins" mode with the link in the upper left.  The convenient links at the bottom of the view operate solely on the position being edited.  Click "Add racks" to add any additional racks to the position, if needed.  Click "Delete racks" to start over for the position.  The "Add/edit rails" link brings up a dialog to specify pre-assigned rails for the position.  Use this link if you know in advance what firing system hardware you are going to have at the position rather than determining the requirements based on addressing the show.   Figure 4 – After clicking "Re-address" or the "Addressing > Address show..." menu item, the firing system rails and pins appear.   Addressing the show, taking racks into account The “Addressing > Address show...” function assigns addresses for pins and tubes.  If you haven’t added any racks, then the function just assigns addresses for pins, but if you’ve added any racks at all to the show, the function will attempt to assign pins and tubes. The “Address show...” dialog has options for addressing constraints that take into consideration the racks and rack layout.  If you want to restrict each module to a single rack, add “Rack” to the modules line in the constraints section of the addressing dialog, as in Figure 5.  If you want to restrict each rack to a single module, add “Module” to the racks line in the constraints section.  If you add both these constraints, then the modules and racks will be assigned one-to-one, which means exactly one module per rack. Figure 5 – Adding the “Rack” constraint to modules and the “Module” constraint to racks   Restricting modules to racks is just one of the possible constraints.  You can also restrict modules or racks to a single “Part Number” to optimize setup time in large shows, or restrict racks to single “Chain” to prevent multiple chains from sharing a rack, or to single “Chain-Or-Not” to prevent a module or rack from being used for a combination of chains and individual shells.  You can use the dozens of other constraint options in the menus, or use “Custom Part Field” or “Custom Script Field” to create your own logical constraints. The “Rack Cluster” constraint option in the modules line is particularly useful if you layout your racks into groups or pods, which Finale 3D calls “clusters”.  Any racks that are snapped together in the rack layout view are considered part of the same cluster.  Adding the “Rack Cluster” constraint to modules restricts each module to the same cluster of racks, which means that all of the module’s wires will be in the same cluster, avoiding problems of e-matches not stretching far enough to reach the tubes.  Figure 6 shows the result of addressing a show without the “Rack Cluster” constraint.  Notice the wires coming from a single rail extend to multiple rack clusters. Figure 6 – Without the “Rack Cluster” constraint, wires from module 01 serve two clusters.   Figure 7 shows the “Rack Cluster” constraint in the addressing dialog, applied to modules.  If your firing system has slats, you can apply this constraint at the firing system slats level instead of the module level. Figure 7 – Adding the “Rack Cluster” constraint to modules will fix the problem.   Figure 8 shows result of addressing the same show with the “Rack Cluster” constraint.  Notice that unlike Figure 6, each module in Figure 8 serves only one cluster of two racks.  In particular, module 01, which was a problem in Figure 6, serves only the middle cluster in Figure 8. Figure 8 – With the “Rack Cluster” constraint, each module serves a single cluster.   Adding constraints sometimes increases the number of racks required for the show, because some of the tubes in the racks may need to go unused.  When that happens, you will notice the addressing function reports racking errors and automatically selects all the effects that didn't get racks.  At this juncture you can immediately try the menu item, "Racks > Add racks for selected events" to add racks specifically for the effects that need them.   Problem solving The pin numbers in the tubes, as shown in Figure 8 and other figures, are usually blank for empty or a number for a device of that pin number.   The pin numbers are not necessarily unique for each tube.  Chains fill multiple tubes with the same pin number to accommodate their multiple devices.  Items e-matched together on the same pin also fill multiple tubes with the same pin number. The rack and pin numbers of the devices are stored in the Rack and Pin columns in the script.  Thus, if you clear the Rack and Pin columns in the script window, that would clear all the rack and pin assignments, resulting in a stack of red circles on the right, as in Figure 3.   If the Rack and Pin column values contain conflicts or problems, a special symbol may be displayed in the tube.  Table 1 gives an explanation.   Table 1 – Pin number problems Text in Tube Description Digit or letter The pin address of the item that is in the tube.  No problem! Blank The tube is empty. Plus sign (+) Multiple devices with different pin numbers are assigned to the same tube.    Unhide the Rack and Tube columns in the script window.  Click the Rack column header to sort by Rack; then shift-click the Tube column header to set the secondary sort criterion to Tube.  Scroll down and look for two rows assigned to the same rack and tube. Question mark (?) The tube is occupied by a device that doesn't have a pin number.  Unhide the Rack and Tube columns in the script window, in addition to the Pin column.  Find an item that has a rack and tube value but does not have a pin value.    

The idea of pre-wired pins is to pre-define the pin number order of the rack's tube holders in a pattern that matches the firing system and makes it fast for the crew to set up.  Look at the comparison in Figure 1.  How much time would you save setting up the show if all your racks looked like the one on the right?   Figure 1 – Comparison of before/after using pre-wired pins.  The rack has 32 tube holders; the modules have 16 pins.   For some racks like Evolved Pyrotechnics, Monetti iShot and PyroDigiT, pre-wired pins quite literally means the tube holders have built in physical wires that connect tube holders to a firing system slat.   However, the idea of pre-wired pins applies to any rack, whether it actually has built in physical wires or not.  If you define a rack in Finale 3D as having pre-wired pins, you can get a sequential pin number order of your choice, like the one on the right.   Angles Pre-wired pins can be used for racks with fixed angle tube holders, or adjustable angle tube holders, or adjustable angle tube holders with angle range constraints.  The addressing function needs to take into account the angles when assigning pin numbers. Racks with fixed angle tube holders may leave gaps in the sequence of used pins of the module if there are gaps in the angles used in the fan.  If a fan rack of 13 posts is pre-wired to pins 1-13 of a module, then a show that calls for a thinner fan of just 5 posts might use pins 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 of the rack.   The pins in between may remain unused or may be used for other effects outside of the rack, like cakes. Adjustable tube angle racks often have different angle ranges for the interior tube holders and the tube holders on the outside edges.   The outside edge tube holders may rotate 90 degrees to fully horizontal, whereas the interior tube holders can only rotate about 50 degrees before they collide with the bases of their neighbors.  Any effects at 90 degree angles can thus only be assigned to outside edge tube holders, which means they can only be assigned to the pin numbers of those outside edge tube holders.   Figure 2 – For this rack with angle range constraints, only pin numbers 7 and F can be used for extreme angles to the right.   Spillage The example rack of Figure 1 and Figure 2 has exactly twice as many tube holders (32) as the module has pins (16) so the modules' pin numbers fit nicely in the rack.   That's not always the case.  If the rack had 30 tube holders, then there would be 2 pins left over.  If the rack had 25 tube holders, there would be 11 pins left over.  Spillage is what you do with the leftover pins: do you use them for other effects like cakes or candles, or do you leave them fallow?   Figure 3 – The second module of single-shot rack #1940 spills pins 6 through E into the cake rack.   You could decide either way.  If using the leftover pins allows you to reduce the number of required modules, then maybe that is a major factor in your decision.  If the leftover pins don't make a material difference in the number of modules or if you have modules to spare, then you may prioritize the efficiency of setting up the show over the savings of a module. The example of Figure 3 shows leftover pins from single-shot rack #1940 (6 through E) being used for slice cakes in the cake rack #1936.  These nine pins likely save a module for this position, but it does create the requirement that the module or slat serving the single-shot rack #1940 is close enough to the slice cake rack for the e-matches to reach.   How to setup pre-wired pins in Finale 3D To use pre-wired pins, you need to setup two things: Configure rack definitions for pre-wired pins.  If you are using racks from a supplier catalog, choose racks that are already configured for pre-wired pins in a way that matches your firing system module number of pins.  If using your own rack definitions, select one of the “pre-wired pins” options in the definitions that matches your modules.  For example, if a rack has 30 pins and your modules have 32 pins, you would choose a pre-wired pin pattern that runs from 1 to 30 (pins 31 and 32 unused).  If your modules have 16 pins, then you would choose a half-and-half pattern that has two sequences of 1-15, one for each module (pin 16 unused). Choose the right addressing dialog options.  In the addressing dialog or addressing blueprint choose the sorting criteria and constraints that fill the racks and handle leftover pin spillage the way you want.  The choice of sorting criteria and constraints also depends on whether your racks have angle range constraints, and other factors.   See the Table 1 below for guidance.   Configuring rack definitions for pre-wired pins If you do “Racks > Create rack” or right click on a rack in your effects list or rack layout view, the dialog shown in Figure 4 presents two fields related to pre-wired pins.   Figure 4 –Fields in the "Create rack" dialog related to pre-wired pins   The pre-wired pins field presents the options for the pin patterns.  The choices for this field are shown in Figure 5.   Figure 5 –Pre-wired pins options   These options define sequential pin patterns 1, 2, 3, ... that run along the rows or across them as in the Figure 6.  The pin patterns are illustrated in Pre-wired pin options.  The orientation of rows is explained in Rack “row” and standard orientation.  A trick to interpret these options is: Hold your left arm out in front of you, wrist bent, fingers together pointing down.  Your fingers are the rows, pinky finger being row #1.  The option "By rows, left to right" thus starts with the first pin at the base of the pinky finger, progresses down to the finger tip, then continues at the base of the ring finger.  If the rack is rotated 90° counter-clockwise to make the rows horizontal from the audience perspective, that's like rotating your hand 90° counter-clockwise.  In that orientation the first row represented by your pinky finger is closest to the ground, which is equivalent to closest to the audience in the rack layout view. Choose the pin pattern that you like the most and that makes the most sense for your modules.  If it takes two modules to cover all the tube holders, then choose one of the half-and-half options.  If the modules have extra unused pins, such as two 16-pin modules covering a 25 or 30 tube holder rack, the extra pins can be used in other racks, which you can control with the addressing options.  If the modules have fewer pins than the number of tube holders, such as an 18 pin module by itself on a 20 tube holder rack, the tube holders with out-of-range pin numbers will simply remain empty.   Figure 6 –Pin patterns traverse along or across the arrows; half-and-half starts over with pin 1 half way through the traversal.   After setting the pin pattern option, please set the pin loading order field (second red circle in Figure 4) to match it.  Racks with multiple modules list the module numbers in the order that the pin sequences are encountered when traversing the tube holders by the loading order.   Choose the right addressing dialog options Pre-wired pins require specific settings in the addressing dialog to make the addressing algorithm assign pins and racks optimally.   There's not just one definition of optimal that suits everyone, so there's not just one configuration of settings that is right for everyone.  Depending on whether your racks have adjustable tube holders on the ends of the rows that have different angle ranges from the interior tube holders, and depending on whether you want to allow leftover pins from one single-shot rack to be usable in other racks, there are a few configurations to choose from that work:  Four. The four configurations apply to the sort order, module constraints, pin constraints, and re-arrange checkbox of the addressing dialog, identified in Figure 7.   Figure 7 – The addressing dialog options relevant to pre-wired pins are: order, module constraints, pin constraints, and re-arrange.   The four configurations are listed in Table 1.  As written, these configuration apply only to single-shot effects (all of them ending with "-- Single-Shot" or "(If Single-Shot)" meaning they apply only to single-shots), which leaves the remaining empty fields available to you to add additional terms that apply to non-single-shot effects.  For example, if you add "Rack Number" as a sort order option after the filled in fields of Table 1, the Rack Number term would apply to the order of the effects after the single-shot effects, and would also act as a tie breaker for any single-shot effects that have the same sort order priority based on the Table 1 filled in fields.   Table 1 – Addressing dialog option configurations Angle ranges Leftover pins from rack's modules Addressing settings All tubes have fixed angles or the same angle ranges Usable in other non-single-shot racks All tubes have fixed angles or the same angle ranges Not used Interior tubes -50..50; end tubes -90..50 and -50..90 Usable in other non-single-shot racks Interior tubes -50..50; end tubes -90..50 and -50..90 Not used   Regarding column 1 in Table 1, the only racks requiring special configuration terms are those for which adjustable tube holders at the ends of the rows have wider angle ranges than the interior tube holders that would run into their neighbors if tilted too extremely.   The special configuration terms are required because the end tube holders are a limited resource.  It is important to fill them with effects that require them.  If the addressing algorithm wasted them on upright effects, then there may not be enough end tube holders to handle other effects at extreme angles. Regarding column 2 in Table 1, none of the configurations permit pre-wired pins to be shared across multiple single-shot racks.  Leftover pins from a single-shot rack are always either left unused or applied to individual cakes and candles (or sometimes shells) that are physically near the single-shot rack or that are reachable with scab wire.  You can control what racks the leftover pins are shared with by adding "Rack Cluster" to the module constraints list and moving the racks close to each other in the rack layout view, or you can add "Custom Rack Field" to the module constraints list and fill in your own "virtual rack cluster" identifiers in the Custom Rack Field column of the racks. The specific purposes of the sort order and constraint fields in the configurations are explained in Table 2 and Table 3.   Table 2 – Purpose of sort criteria terms Term Explanation Position Name Almost all addressing configurations begin with Position Name to assign addresses one position after another.  Nothing special about this term. Tilt > 50° -- Single-Shot This term is required for racks that have interior tube holder angle ranges of -50..50° and ranges that exceed 50° for tube holders on the ends.  Since the end tube holders are a limited resource it is essential to address the effects that can only go in end tube holders first, so they don't fill up with other effects that don't require them. If your racks have interior tube angle ranges that are approximately 50° but not exactly, then pretend they have a 50° range and use the number 50 in the rack definition and the sort criteria. If the constraints are markedly different from 50° then use the actual angle in the rack definition and use "Most Horizontal Tilt -- Single-Shot" in the sort criteria before the size constraint.  The "Most Horizontal Tilt-- Single-Shot" term will correctly allocate the end tube holders first, but it relegates the size constraint to being a tie breaker for same-angle effects instead of being a tie breaker for the group of effects > 50° and a tie breaker for the group of effects <= 50°.  If positions contain multiple kinds of single-shot racks with different size range capacities, this sort configuration may use up holders in large effect size capacity racks on smaller angled effects that could have fit in small effect size capacity racks. Size >= 50mm -- Single-Shot If positions include multiple kinds of single-shot racks, some capable of holding 50mm+ effects and others only holding smaller effects, then it is essential to address the 50mm+ effects first so the 50mm capable racks don't fill up with smaller effects, leaving the 50mm+ effects nowhere to go.  If your racks have a different size limit, use the 35mm, 40mm, 45mm, or 55mm version of this sort criterion, whichever is closest.  There is no harm in including this term even if your positions don't need it. Most Horizontal Tilt -- Single-Shot Not as high a priority as the other sort terms, but "Most Horizontal Tilt -- Single-Shot" prioritizes the angles first in a balanced way left/right.  Including this term results in racks that have approximately even numbers of left and right effects, which makes the racks more symmetric and aesthetically pleasing.  This term relies heavily on the "Rearrange effects to avoid collisions" function.     Table 3 – Purpose of constraint terms Term Explanation Module restricted to Position Module restrictions begin with Position unless modules are shared across positions, in which case all these Module constraints are usually on the Slat instead. Module restricted to One Single-Shot Rack This term restricts a module to at most one single-shot rack, but allows leftover pins from that rack to serve effects in other kinds of racks, like cakes, candles or even shells. Module restricted to Rack (If Single-Shot) This term restricts a module strictly to one rack if the module serves any single-shot effects.  If any pins are left over, the pins will remain unused. Pin restricted to Event (If Single-Shot) This term restricts pins to a single event, but only for single-shots.  This constraint is similar to the addressing dialog's "Max e-matches per pin" (having the value 1), except that this constraint applies only to single-shots, leaving open the possibility of setting the max e-matches per pin to a larger number that would apply to other types of effects like shells.  One way or another, restricting e-matches per pin to one for single-shots is required for pre-wired pins on single-shot racks.  

Some types of racks that hold variable size tubes are limited by the length of the rack: bigger tubes take up more space than smaller tubes, and there’s only so much space. Single-shot racks with tracks for single-shot tubes to slide into, like the PyroLamas rack below, are an example. Figure 1 – PyroLamas rack with fixed length rows capable of holding variable size tubes   The rack layout function “Racks > Add racks for show” and the addressing functions can take into account a rack length constraint when determining how many racks are required for the effects in the show.  To set up a rack length constraint, do “Racks > Create rack” and configure the rack with, “Max. usable length per row” set to the length of the row “Number of tubes” per row set to the maximum number of tubes per row “Fits any size” set to true The usable length is consumed by the tubes assigned to the row according to their size.  Obviously the outer diameter is the right measure of space taken by the tube, but the size the effect in the tube, which is typically closer to the inner diameter of the tube, is the measure used for the calculation, so you may wish to make the length limit slightly smaller than the actual row length in order to compensate for the difference and any other buffer space you want to allow between the tubes.   Figure 2 – Configuring a rack with a length limit of 250mm per row   The figure below shows an example with two racks, each having two rows of maximum five tubes, with a length limit of 250mm.  The effects assigned to the racks are 60mm effects, so four tubes can fit within the length limitation, but not five. In this example, the first rack illustrates that it doesn’t matter which four tubes are assigned effects, so long as there aren’t more than four.  The second rack illustrates what happens if you manually assign too many effects to a row -- one of the pin numbers will turn red to indicate an error.   Figure 3 – Only four 60mm tubes fit in 250mm; the fifth is red   Rack row length consumption The Physical Specifications column in the effects window holds various parameters for the physical specifications of effects and racks.  For effects going into single-shot racks with row length constraints, the physical specifications may contain a parameter that indicates the row length consumed by the effect, if different from the effect's size.  You can use this parameter to specify the actual footprint of the effect, which may be its outer diameter or may take into account a sliding base or mandatory spacing between effects in the row.   Figure 4 – Set the rack row length consumption of an effect with the context menu item 'Edit physical specifications...'   The easiest way to set the rack row length consumption for an effect is to right click on the effect in the effects window, and select 'Edit physical specifications...' from the context menu.  You can also edit the Physical Specifications column directly.  The syntax for the field in the Physical Specifications column is: {[rackRowLengthConsumption 50]} Where the example number 50 is the length consumed in millimeters.   Slice cakes in single-shot racks Cakes that are sleeved to go into single-shot racks (see Sleeving effects into different size mortars or different kinds of racks) or forced into single-shot racks with Rack Type part numbers are usually slice cakes comprising a single row of tubes.  As a special mechanism, cakes in will require and occupy an entire rack row if the rack has a "Max. usable row length" constraint, rather than consuming just part of the row length -- unless overridden by a rackRowLenghtConsumption specified in the cake's Physical Specifications field. Imagine a slice cake that consists of 10 tubes with 1" diameter.  Its footprint is wide and rectangular, approximately 10 or 11 inches by 1".  If you put that slice cake in a single shot rack, the slice cake slides into the row, aligning length-wise with the row.  It naturally consumes 10 or 11 inches, not 1", so consuming and requiring the entire rack row is the default behavior.  If you want cakes in single-shot racks to share the row with other single-shot effects, use the rackRowLengthConsumption property to specify the cake's consumption, even if it is the same as its size.  

To create and export a script for the RFRemotech firing system, please follow these three steps: Design the show. Address the show ("Addressing > Address show"). Export the script ("File > Export > Export firing scripts"). Step 3 creates the script file, which is a CSV file that you can import into your firing system.   Figure 1 – The RFRemotech firing system   The RFRemotech script is a CSV file.  The terminology in the CSV file is slightly different from Finale 3D, and a simple conversion is required for firing system addresses. The firing system itself is wireless system suitable for large scale displays. The system consists of up to 50 “Master” modules and 50 “Slave” modules per master module. Both the master module numbers and slave module numbers start counting at 1. In the future, the system may support as many as 99 master modules and 999 slave modules per master. Each slave module has 32 “Cues” (pins) named A1, A2, … A8, B1, B2, … B8, C1, C2, ... , C8, D1, D2, … D8. In the future, RFRemotech plans to release an 8-pin module with pins named 1, 2, … 8. The terminology conversion from Finale 3D to RFRemotech terminology is: Module in Finale 3D means “Master” in RFRemotech Slat in Finale 3D means “Slave” or “Firing Module” in RFRemotech Rail in Finale 3D means a two-part address that specifies both the master and the slave, such as “01-10” for master = 1 and slave = 10. In RFRemotech, the corresponding two-part address is formatted as, M01S010, for master = 1, slave = 10. Pin in Finale 3D means “Cue” in RFRemotech. The format for pins in Finale 3D is numerical, starting with 1. Since the format in RFRemotech involves four banks, A, B, C, D, of eight cues each, the formula for converting from pin numbers in Finale 3D to cues in RFRemotech is simply 1 → A1, 9 → B1, 17 → C1, and 25 → D1. The last pin, number 32, is D8. In addition to these terminology conversions, Finale 3D stores the launch position name and the effect description in the “Module Name” and “Master Name” fields, since this information is available from the visual scripting process and is useful.  The “Firing Point Type” field is effect type, such as ‘cake’, ‘comet’, or ‘mine.’   Table 1 – File format and encoding File format Extension Text encoding Field delimiter End-of-line Text .csv UTF8 NO BOM , 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 sorted ascending by time. What rows represent Rows represent firing events, i.e., unique module-slat-pin-ignition-time events.  If multiple effects are triggered on the same cue, the effects are combined in name field, but the row is still just one row. Header The file contains a single header row with the column names, in the same format as the CSV data rows themselves. Special characters The characters “ and , and ; and tab and newline will be filtered out of any fields. Minimum separation between cues None required; millisecond resolution supported. After the header, each row in the script has a number of fields separated by the vertical bar character.  The names of these fields and their descriptions are the following:   Table 3 – Specifications of script fields Field name Description NO. The row number in the script, beginning with 1. Firing Point Type This field contains the type field from Finale 3D, which can be blank or one of these enumerated values: cake, candle, single_shot, shell, ground, rocket, mine, comet, flame, other_effect, not_an_effect, rack. Cue The pin number 1-32, converted to RFRemotech format of A1, A2, … A8, B1, B2, … B8, C1, C2, ... , C8, D1, D2, … D8. Module Name Finale 3D writes the launch position name in this field. Module Logic ID The master module number and slave module number, combined and formatted as in: M01S001 for master module number 1, slave module number 1. Module Type The type of module, e.g., 32Q. Master Name Finale 3D writes the effect name in this field. Master Logic ID The master logic number, formatted as in: M01 for master module number 1. Program Seq. The shot count, beginning with 1.  This count is similar to the row number field (NO.), except that it does not increment for rows that have the same ignition time.  For example, if the script contains four rows, and the second and third row have the same ignition time, then the shot counts of the rows are 1, 2, 2, 3. Locating The ignition time, in the format H:MM:SS.DDD. Remark Finale 3D writes the Script Notes in this field. An example script is shown below.  Notice the second and third data row at position Pos-02 have the same ignition time, so their Program Seq. is the same number (2). NO.,Firing Point Type,Cue,Module Name,Module Logic ID,Module Type,Master Name,Master Logic ID,Program Seq.,Locating,Remark 1,,A1,Pos-01,M01S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M01,1,0:00:02.800, 2,,A1,Pos-02,M02S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M02,2,0:00:02.900, 3,,A2,Pos-02,M02S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M02,2,0:00:02.900, 4,,A1,Pos-03,M03S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M03,3,0:00:03.000, 5,,A1,Pos-04,M04S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M04,4,0:00:03.100, 6,,A1,Pos-05,M05S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M05,5,0:00:03.200, 7,,A1,Pos-06,M06S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M06,6,0:00:03.300, 8,,A1,Pos-07,M07S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M07,7,0:00:03.400, 9,,A1,Pos-08,M08S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M08,8,0:00:03.500, 10,,A1,Pos-09,M09S001,32Q,Red Chrysanthemum,M09,9,0:00:03.600, Figure 1 – Example RFRemotech script   Table 4 – Example files Download link Explanation test_rfremotech.csv Example exported file  (CSV) test_rfremotech.fin Example show file

Finale Generic CSV file format The Finale Generic CSV is an interchange format for fireworks shows that is human readable and editable. A number of fireworks software applications export and import scripts in this format without loss of information, allowing you to export a script from one program in the Finale Generic CSV format, work on it in Excel or some other software application, and re-import it back into the original application. Scripts in this format can be used as the basis for custom reports or translated into a firing script for just about any firing system available. The format contains all the information to generate an inventory report or pick list, loading report, break time report, firing script, chain building report, custom shell labels, etc.   Table 1 – File format and encoding File format Extension Text encoding Field delimiter End-of-line Text .txt or .csv UTF-8 or UTF-16 Tab or comma CRLF or LF or CR The script contains a single header row with row type FIRING_HEADER_ROW, and multiple rows with row type FIRING_DATA_ROW to represent the events in the show.  For readability, multiple rows can be combined into one if all of their fields are identical except the angle field, which can be consolidated in the single row without loss of information as described below.  Although rows can be combined in these circumstances, they are not required to be combined. 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 unsorted.. What rows represent Each FIRING_DATA_ROW contains the field shown in the table below. The fields have no overlapping information, so some common terms like "Effect Time" must be derived from information in other fields. The rows can be sorted in any order without any change to the meaning of the script. Thus you can cut and paste between script files to combine them, and you can re-sort them at will without generating any inconsistencies. If you cut and paste scripts together, you only need to ensure that the chain identifiers and time cue identifiers from the files don't accidentally overlap. Special characters If the file is saved with comma field delimiters, then fields containing a double-quote character (“) or comma will be enclosed in “ on both ends, and any internal “ characters will be doubled up, following the Excel quoting convention.  If the file is saved with tab field delimiters, then no such quoting is required, though programs that read Finale Generic CSV are encouraged to support the Excel quoting convention even in that circumstance. Row Type The CSV file represents a table of information. In Finale Generic CSV, each row begins with a row type identifying what kind of row it is. The first row begins with FIRING_HEADER_ROW; the other fields in this row are the names of the columns. Subsequent rows begin with FIRING_DATA_ROW; the other fields in these rows represent the devices in the script. In the future, the script format can be extended to contain other information like rack layouts or time cue comments. For a firing script, though, the only two types of rows that matter are the FIRING_HEADER_ROW and the FIRING_DATA_ROWs. Time representation Times in Finale Generic CSV are represented as floating point seconds to eliminate ambiguity between different time bases and to avoid problems editing files in Excel. Excel interprets some time formats incorrectly and loses information, but floating point numbers are safe. Each row includes only the Ignition Event Time, Device Delay, and Prefire Delay times. The time of visual impact of an effect, often called the "Effect Time" or "View Time" or "Script Time", can be calculated for each device as, Effect Time = Ignition Event Time + Device Delay + Prefire Delay Usually the Device Delay is zero, so the Effect Time calculation is the familiar equation. The Device Delay term enables representation of delay chains and devices whose ignitions are delayed from the firing system event with a delay fuse or sequencer. In these cases, the full equation involving a Device Delay is necessary to represent the full state of affairs. Representation of chains In the Finale Generic CSV format, each firing row beginning with FIRING_DATA_ROW represents a collection of devices that are identical in every respect except their launch angle. Identical devices with different launch angles can be combined in a single row. Consequently a chain or flight of identical shells could also be represented by a single row, even if the shells were at different angles. However a chain consisting of different kinds of shells would require multiple rows to represent. Rows include a "Chain Identifier" field that enables multiple rows representing parts of the same chain to be brought together to reconstitute a representation of the full chain. Using the chain identifier you can construct a chain building report that details the required assembly of fuse delays for the chains, or an inventory report that counts full chains as items instead of their individual devices. The chain identifier field also enables you to calculate the precise number of e-matches required for the show, since chains require only a single e-match in contrast with flights of shells that are e-matched together. Finale Generic CSV has a single row header of column names, followed by a list of rows representing the firing events.  Each row has the following fields in any order, identified by the column name in the header row:   Table 3 – Specifications of script fields Field name Description (Row Type) All firing rows begin with the first field, FIRING_DATA_ROW. Time Cue Number The number identifying the cue number associated with the ignition, if any. In computer fired shows it is possible for ignitions at different times to be associated with the same cue number since effects with different prefires may have the same cue number. This field is blank if the ignition does not have an associated cue. Ignition Event Time The exact time of the firing system's "ignition event" (application of a voltage to a pin) that ignites one or more e-matches or triggers a sequencer that ultimately leads to the ignition of the devices represented by this row. Format is in seconds with two digits after the decimal point. Number Of Devices The total number of devices represented by the row. A single row may represent multiple independent devices launching at the same time, or multiple devices that are part of the same chain. A single chain, however, may require multiple rows to represent it if the devices in the chain are different effects or have different angles. A device is any pyrotechnic package that cannot trivially be separated into smaller units, such as a shell, candle, cake, or even multi-break peanut shell. Chains are considered to consist of multiple devices connected by fuse. Duration The duration has one of two meanings, depending on the type of effect. For cakes, candles, and chains with multiple shots, the duration represents the time between the first and last shot's launch times. For other effects, the duration represents the lifetime of the perceived visual effect, which is usually interpreted for shells as the time from break to dissipation of the stars. Format is in seconds with two digits after the decimal point. Coordinates Nine floating point numbers: X Y Z HEADING PITCH ROLL PAN TILT SPIN.  X, Y, and Z are the coordinates of the launch position in world coordinates (meters from the show's reference point).   HEADING, PITCH, and ROLL are the heading, pitch, and roll of the position in world coordinates.  PAN, TILT, and SPIN are the angles of the effect relative to the position.  The coordinate systems and conventions for angles are explained in Racks and positions coordinate system: heading, pitch, roll and Effects coordinate system: pan, tilt, spin. Chain Identifier An identifier used to associate the devices of a chain if they are split across multiple rows. Rows that are part of the same chain have the same chain identifier. Rows that are not part of a chain have a blank value in this field. A single row is never part of more than one chain. Lockout Identifier A short string of up to three characters identifying the hazard group that the effects are assigned to, or empty string if they are not assigned to any hazard group. Some firing systems such as the Pyrodigital have a feature to disable ignitions of hazard groups in real time as the display is being fired. This field is left blank to indicate no hazard group. Device Delay The delay from the firing system's ignition event to the ignition of the device or devices represented by this row, in seconds with two digits after the decimal point. Do not confuse the device delay with the prefire delay. The device delay is the delay before the device is ignited. The prefire delay is the delay after the device is ignited, but before its visual effect is perceived. Typically the device delay is zero. It is non-zero for devices involving delay chains, delay fuses, and sequencers. For chains, the device delay is the delay from the ignition of the chain to the ignition of the specific device in the chain. For devices ignited in series with delays or by a sequencer, the device delay is zero for the earliest of the devices, and is the respective cumulative delay for each of the others. Prefire Delay The delay from when the device is ignited to its perceived visual effect, in seconds with two digits after the decimal point. If the row represents devices in a chain, the Prefire Delay refers to the devices themselves. The prefire of the chain is the time from the chain's ignition to the earliest effect time, which is typically but not necessarily the effect time of the first device in the chain. Effect Name The name of the effect. Caliber The device caliber, which also serves as the default internal diameter of the required mortar tube if no explicit Mortar Caliber is provided (see below). The format of the caliber is either a number followed by double-quote for inches or "mm" for millimeters, or the string "NA" for effects for which the caliber term is not applicable. Category One of six pre-defined English named categories of fireworks: Shells, Comets, Mines, Candles, Cakes, or Other. Chains of shells are listed in the Shells category. Lance work and other ground items are listed as Other. Angles An ASCII art representation of the angles of the devices on this shot, made with backslash, vertical line, and forward slash characters, followed by the decimal degree angles of the devices ordered left to right, separated with spaces, with negative angles meaning left aiming and zero meaning up. If the angle or angles are all straight up, the decimal degree representation is elided, for ease of reading. Position Name The name of the launch position from which the device is fired. Animation Description An English language description of the effect. If provided, the animation description is usually just a verbose effect name, something like 49 Shot 20s Time Rain Comet Cake. If the row represents a chain or part of a chain, the Animation Description should indicate a chain of N, where N is the number of devices in the full chain, e.g., Red Peony (Chain Of 10). Module Description The textual description of the module and optionally additional configuration information specific to the firing system. Module Address The module number. The empty string is a valid value, as are numbers in hexadecimal, like $11. Slat Address The slat number or letter, for firing system modules that use slats. In addition to numbers and letters, the empty string is a valid value, as are numbers in hexadecimal, like $11. Pin Address The pin number or letter. In addition to numbers and letters, hexadecimal (e.g., $11) is a valid format. However empty string is not possible as a pin address. Firing Notes The notes for the devices represented by this row, as pertaining to the show. Firing notes do not include the product notes associated with the effect definitions. In other words, a device inserted into the show initially has no firing notes. Product ID A user-assigned text string identifier for the effect type represented by this row, typically the display company's internal part number. The Finale Generic format does not specify whether Product IDs for chains represent the entire chains or the devices comprising the chains (the Number Of Devices field is unambiguous either way). This value can be in any format, and is not guaranteed to be unique. Manufacturer Product ID The manufacturer part number. Animation ID A unique, computer-assigned text string identifier for the animation represented by this row. The Unique ID may be a hash or GUID or URL or other textual representation depending on the software program that generated it.  If the row represents a chain or part of a chain, the referenced animation should represent the complete chain, not just a single device in the chain. Location Primary Name of the storage location from which the item is pulled to be boxed for the show, e.g., Magazine-A7. Location Secondary Additional description of storage location, e.g., Bin-53. Price Per Device The price per device, formatted as a floating point number with four digits after the decimal point, no units. The extra precision in the number allows for per-chain and per-case prices to be re-calculated from device prices to the penny. Mortar Caliber The internal diameter of the required mortar tube, or empty string to indicate the device caliber should be used. Small caliber items and candles are often sleeved in larger diameter mortars. This field, in combination with the Caliber field (above), allow both calibers to be represented. Track Identifier A string identifying the track that the effects are assigned to, or empty string if they are not assigned to any track. Some firing systems, such as the Cobra-18R2, use tracks to identify multiple, triggered sequences contained in a single script, and use the track identifiers to indicate the trigger buttons on the controller. The track identifier can also be used merely as an editing tool or for other custom purposes. The example script below shows an exported script in Finale Generic CSV format, saved with tab field delimiters.. FIRING_HEADER_ROW Time Cue Number Ignition Event Time Number Of Devices Duration Coordinates Chain Identifier Lockout Identifier Device Delay Prefire Delay Effect Name Caliber Category Angles Position Name Animation Description Module Description Module Address Slat Address Pin Address Firing Notes Product ID Manufacturer Product ID Animation ID Location Primary Location Secondary Price Per Device Mortar Caliber Track Identifier FIRING_DATA_ROW 0.2 1 10.0 12.5 0.0 -8.0 2.5 2.3 8 Shot Red Comet Candle 30mm Candles Pos-06 10s 8 Shot Red Comet Candle cobra_18m_100ths 00 01 00380 M00380 2.0 FIRING_DATA_ROW 2.8 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 01 firing1 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 2.9 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 02 firing2 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.0 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 03 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.1 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 04 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.2 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 05 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.3 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 06 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.4 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 07 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.5 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 08 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.6 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 09 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.7 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 10 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.8 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 11 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 3.9 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 12 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 4.0 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 13 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 4.1 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 14 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 4.2 1 1.02 0.0 0.0 -8.0 0.0 2.2 White Chrysanthemum 2" Shells ????? White Chrysanthemum cobra_18m_100ths 01 15 G2SH1001 G2SH1001 1.45 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.0 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.05 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.1 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.15 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.2 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.25 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.3 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 FIRING_DATA_ROW 55.327 1 1.532 12.5 0.0 -8.0 1 0.35 3.02 Red Peony Chain 3" Shells Pos-06 Red Peony Chain 10358 Figure 1 – Example Finale Generic CSV script   Table 4 – Example files Download link Explanation test_finale_generic_32_pin_modules.csv Example exported file  (CSV) test_finale_generic_32_pin_modules.fin Example show file test_finale_generic_32_pin_modules_8_pin_slats2.csv Example exported file  (CSV) test_finale_generic_32_pin_modules_8_pin_slats.fin Example show file

The supplier catalogs in Finale 3D are hosted using independent Finale Inventory (finaleinventory.com) accounts managed by the suppliers themselves. In most cases the best starting point to prepare a catalog is to create a list of products using a spreadsheet application like Excel. The effect list is then imported into Finale 3D to tune and preview simulations and make any remaining adjustments. When ready for publishing the catalog can be uploaded directly from Finale 3D to Finale Inventory. Ongoing catalog maintenance such as updating simulations or effect specifications, adding or removing effects, and changing prices (if the catalog includes prices) can be performed in either Finale 3D or Finale Inventory. Detailed steps to create/import supplier catalog: Prepare the effects file for import. The first step is to create a list of your products using data from your price list, inventory system, or other internal data source. At minimum the list must include columns for the description and unique part number for each item. However, it is best to include additional information such as the category and subtype for each item to allow the catalog to be easily searched and filtered in Finale 3D. Table 1 below contains a full list of columns that can be imported into Finale 3D. Table 2 at the bottom of this page contains a downloadable Excel template. Finale 3D supports importing files in the TXT or CSV formats with comma or tab delimiters, encoded as ASCII, UTF-8, or UTF-16; but the "Unicode Text (*.txt)" option from Excel is the most reliable. Import the effects file. Launch Finale 3D. Do "File > Import > Import effects file… > Create new effects file with imported effects..." Finale 3D will examine the file and present a dialog telling you how many products it contains, and indicating what column headers were mis-labelled. You also will have the option to select the units of measure for duration and prefire explicitly, or leave Finale 3D to guess based on the values (it usually guesses correctly). Click okay to import the file. Save the effects file. Once your effects have are successfully imported, go to "File > Effect files > Save (fdb format)" to save the imported file locally on your computer in Finale 3D’s effect database file format (FDB). In the future, you can open the FDB file from by going to "File > Effect files > Load effects file (fdb)...". There is no need to re-import your original data. Create and tune simulations. Finale 3D will use information in the imported effects file to automatically create simulations. You can preview simulations using your cursor by hovering over the small white bar at the top of an effect icon in the Effects window. You can edit the Visual Descriptive Language (VDL) for an effect by right clicking on the effect row and selecting "Edit this effect simulation". For more information on creating or editing effects see "Effects basic instructions", and "VDL Documentation". Setup Finale Inventory. This step requires a Finale team member. Finale Inventory account is necessary to host your supplier catalog and share it with the world. A Finale Inventory account is a separate account from your Finale 3D account. During the catalog setup process you will receive an email from a member of the Finale team with a link and instructions to setup your Finale Inventory account. Once complete, you can link your Finale Inventory account with Finale 3D by logging in to finale3d.com, then going to "My Account > Connect to Finale Inventory". Here you can input your Finale Inventory credentials under the Finale Inventory Admin Credentials section. On the same page, you can give other team members editing access to your supplier catalog by adding them in the Finale Inventory User Assignments – this should only be used to share with administrators who need to contribute, edit, or modify your catalog. Sync effects with Finale Inventory. This step is typically done by a Finale team member. Launch Finale 3D. Using the blue selector in the Effects window, select your catalog by finding the collection of effects that begins with "catalog" – at this point your catalog is typically empty. To add effects to your catalog use the blue selector to load and display the effects file that you created in Step 4. To copy all effects from your local file to your catalog press Ctrl+A on your keyboard, then press Ctrl+C to copy. Using the blue selector, switch to your effects catalog and press Ctrl+V to paste the effects. Finally, use the blue selector option Sync with network to upload your effects to Finale Inventory. Publish the catalog. This step is done by a Finale team member. When your catalog is ready, reach out to your main contact at Finale to have it published for all Finale 3D users to see. Users can individually subscribe to your catalog by logging into finale3.com and going to "My Account > Supplier Catalogs Settings". By subscribing, a user has full viewing access but cannot make changes to your catalog. Keep the catalog up-to-date. Over time, it may be necessary to make periodic updates and changes to your catalog. Examples include adding new items, removing/hiding discontinued items, refining simulations, or updating pricing. Small-scale updates are best performed in Finale 3D while mass updates may be most efficiently accomplished using Finale Inventory.   Table 1 – Full list of columns that can be imported Finale 3D English name Finale 3D internal column name Finale Inventory name Explanation Part Number partNumber Product ID REQUIRED. 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 and are open to formatting suggestions, 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, and 5) begin with two or three unique characters that identify the company, to avoid conflicts with other companies. If you already have part numbers, though, you should use your existing part numbers as is, to make it easy for users to order from you based on their scripts. Description description Description REQUIRED. The proper name of the effect as it appears in in the printed catalog, like "Galactic Gladiator" or "30mm Red Peony 75m" or "Bomba Roja Con Aro Azul" or "Синяя в красную хризантему".  Since you are importing VDL for the simulation, the description can be anything. Type partType Choreography Tab RECOMMENDED. In Finale 3D, one of these predefined English terms (exactly): shell, comet, mine, cake, candle, other_effect, single_shot, ground, rocket, flame, not_an_effect, rack, sfx, or light.  The Type field is important, because a number of the application functions behave differently depending on the Type. Please see Why is ‘Type’ so important? for an explanation of why this field is so important. Please note that these values are slightly different from the corresponding values in Finale Inventory. When importing, use the terms that correspond to the system you are importing into.  In Finale Inventory, the predefined English terms (exactly): Shells, Comets, Mines, Cakes, Candles, Other, Single Shot, Ground, Rocket, Flame, Not An Effect, Rack, Sfx, and Light. When Finale 3D connects to Finale Inventory, it translates these values to the values you see in 3D. " Size size Caliber RECOMMENDED. 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 Size column is not present in the imported file or if the field is blank, Finale 3D will extract the size from the Description field, if present. Prefire internalDelay Prefire Time RECOMMENDED. The lift time, for shells, or the lift time of the first effect of a cake if it is a shell. As of February 28, 2020, the Prefire time should incorporate the fuse delay.  Prefires < 0.5s will delay the simulation and will not affect the lift time of aerial shells.  Prefires >= 0.5s will not delay the simulation and will determine the lift time of aerial shells.  If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the size and description.  The terms LFT and DLY can be incorporated into the VDL description of an item to override the lift time or delay before first launch implied by the prefire. Duration duration Duration RECOMMENDED. 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.  This field applies to the visual simulation. If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the size and description. Height Meters height Effect Height RECOMMENDED. 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. If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the size and description. 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. VDL vdl VDL Description OPTIONAL. The description of the effect in standard pyrotechnics terminology (Visual Description Language). If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the description.  This field defines the visual simulation of the effect, along with a few other specifications like Size, Height Meters, and Duration. Manufacturer Part Number manufacturerPartNumber Mfg Product Id RECOMMENDED. The manufacturer or supplier part number (i.e., your part number!).  Please copy the Product ID values into this column so the two columns are identical.  End-users may copy/paste parts of your supplier catalog into their own inventories, and assign their own part numbers in the primary part number field. Manufacturer manufacturer Manufacturer RECOMMENDED. This is the name of the manufacturer or supplier. If you are the manufacturer, this is you! Price stdPrice Item Price OPTIONAL. The price of the item. Finale 3D will display the price of a show based on these values. The import operation will import whatever value you provide AS IS. 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, the user can select "File > User settings > Interpret chain prices as per-shell" to make the prices and price summaries display correctly for either meaning. Notes partNotes Notes OPTIONAL. A user-defined field for the user’s convenience.   EX Number exNumber EX Number OPTIONAL. 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. CE Number ceNumber CE Number OPTIONAL. 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. UN Number unNumber Hazardous Material OPTIONAL. 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. Delay Default fuseDelay Fuse Delay DEPRECATED. An extra delay between the firing system ignition and the first launch that is copied by value (hence the the name "Delay Default") into the Delay field of a script row when it is inserted in the script.  As of February 28, 2020, use of this field is deprecated.  Fuse delay should be incorporated into the Prefire time.  Prefires < 0.5s will delay the simulation and will not affect the lift time of aerial shells.  Prefires >= 0.5s will not delay the simulation and will determine the lift time of aerial shells. Devices numDevices Chain Number Of Devices OPTIONAL. The number of devices in the chain, or 1 if the item is not a chain. Subtype subtype Effect Sub Type OPTIONAL. A supplier-defined category, such as 500g Cakes, or Special Shells. DMX Patch dmxPatch DMX Patch OPTIONAL. A program that defines the DMX signals corresponding to the effect. Hazard Default lockoutDefault Hazard Default OPTIONAL. 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. Suppliers should generally leave this field blank. Custom Part Field customPartField Custom Part Field OPTIONAL. A user-defined field for the user’s convenience.   Color color Effect Color OPTIONAL. A single color, which user 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 the user is likely to search for. Tubes numTubes Rack Tubes OPTIONAL. For racks, the number of tubes in the rack. Leave blank for anything other than racks. Rack Type Default rackType Rack Type Default OPTIONAL. A field that the user an employ to set matching conditions between racks and effects. Suppliers should leave this field blank. Used used — Not applicable. Quota quota — Not applicable. On Hand qoh — Not applicable. Available available — Not applicable. Storage Location stdLocation Std Bin ID Not applicable. Category category Category OPTIONAL. A user-defined field for the user’s convenience in searching or filtering the rows in the effect window.  Unlike the Type field, the category can be anything the user wants. This field is has an exact counterpart in Finale Inventory, by the same name, and is used for stock reports and and DSMT reports for stock management.  However, in Finale Inventory the field can only contain specific, pre-defined enumerated values.  As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction.  Cost stdCost Std accounting cost OPTIONAL. A user-defined field for the user’s convenience. Safety Distance Meters safetyDistance Safety Distance OPTIONAL. The safety distance for the item, in meters. Remaining Quota remainingQuota — Not applicable. Remaining On Hand remainingQoh — Not applicable. Remaining Available remainingAvailable — Not applicable. Weight weight Weight per unit OPTIONAL. 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. NEQ neq NEQ per unit OPTIONAL. 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. Table 2 – Template files Download link Explanation import_inventory_to_finale_3d_template.xlsx Template for importing into Finale 3D (Excel) import_inventory_to_finale_inventory_template.xlsx Template for importing into Finale Inventory web interface  (Excel)  

You can import a new inventory file or convert your inventory from our old software Finale Business by doing Option A, B, or C, and then right clicking on the imported items in the effects window and doing "Edit this effect simulation or rack" from the context menu to fix up the simulations one by one.   To see a preview of a simulation, hover the cursor over the white border of the black effect icon Option A) If you want to convert your My Fireworks from Finale Business to Finale 3D, then please create a show in Finale Business containing one of each effect from your My Fireworks, spaced out one at a time with a few seconds in between each effect.  Save the show as an HBS file, launch Finale 3D, and do the menu item, "File > Import > Import Effects from HBS file..." Option B) If you already have a Finale Inventory / Master Inventory account, then you don't need to re-import it.  You can just connect to it with the menu item, “File > Finale Inventory > Configure Finale Inventory connection” or the web page "finale3d.com > My Account > Connect to Finale Inventory". Option C) If you have a list of products from your own inventory or a price list from a supplier in an Excel file or a CSV/TEXT file, or in the inventory file format from other major scripting software (EFX, MDB), you can import the list into Finale 3D to use those products for scripting shows.  Finale 3D will create simulations for the effects automatically from the descriptions and other information in your product list file, even if the descriptions are in a non-English language. For Option A and Option B, that's all there is to it.  You don't need to read any further.  For Option C, there are additional details.  The rest of this article covers these details and provides a technical explanations of what is going on. The detailed steps for Option C are: Prepare the inventory file to import.   You need to convert the file to a format that Finale 3D can import.  If your original file happens to be an EFX file from Show Director or MDB effect database from ScriptMaker, then the file is okay as is; skip to the next step.  Otherwise please import your file into Excel and edit the file so that it has a single header row with only the supported fields and one data row per item.  From Excel, export the file in "Unicode Text (*.txt)" format, which produces the file that can be imported into Finale 3D.  Please refer to the import template Excel file at the bottom of this page for the list of supported fields.   Finale 3D supports importing inventory files in the TXT or CSV formats with comma or tab delimiters, encoded as ASCII, UTF-8, or UTF-16; but the "Unicode Text (*.txt)" option from Excel is the most reliable.  If your Excel file contains any line breaks or tab characters embedded in cell text, you need to remove them before exporting the CSV or TXT file.  The easiest way is to create a second sheet in Excel that references the original sheet with the Excel formula =CLEAN() for each cell, and then copy/paste the clean sheet using "Paste special > Values". Import the file.  Launch Finale 3D.  Do "File > Import > Import effects file..." then choose the location for the effects. The most common locations for importing are "My effects" or an effect database file (FDB file).  Upon import, Finale 3D will examine the file and present a dialog telling you how many products it contains, and indicating if any column headers were mis-labelled.  You also will have the option to select the units of measure for duration and prefire explicitly, or leave Finale 3D to guess based on the values (it usually guesses correctly).  Click okay to import the file. Save the inventory file.  Once you are satisfied with the imported file, you will need to save the imported effects.  The steps to save depend on the location you chose to import your effects.  If you imported into your online "My effects" collection, then save by going to "File > Sync with network" to upload your effects to the cloud.  If you imported your effects into an exiting FDB effects file, or created a new FDB effects file with the imported effects, then save by going to "File > Effects files > Save (fdb format)".  The FDB file is saved locally on your computer, you can copy, email, or transfer to other computers to share it or create backups. Optionally copy to your Finale Inventory account.  If you are using the Finale Inventory web-based inventory management software (www.finaleinventory.com) or if you have a Master Inventory from Finale Business, then you can copy the effects to your account as by simply selecting the rows to copy, then Ctrl+C, then switching to your Finale Inventory account from the blue selector in the upper right of the effect window, then Ctrl+V to paste.  If your Finale Inventory account doesn’t appear in the blue selector’s context menu, then you need to configure Finale 3D for your inventory account by going to “File > Finale Inventory > Configure Finale Inventory connection”. Step (1) mentions “fixing” the format of your product list or inventory file or making the column headers match “what Finale 3D expects”.  The basic idea is that if you make your CSV file match the column headers displayed at the top of the effects window, then those columns of data will be imported from your file into the “matching” columns in the window.  The full explanation is a little more complicated because Finale 3D relies on some columns of data that your imported file may not include, such as the Duration column, the Height Meters column, and the Type column. When you import your file, Finale 3D will calculate default values for these properties of the columns are not in your file or if the cells are blank in of the effects in the file.  Thus, even though these columns are required in the effects window, it is okay if your original imported file does not contain them. So what columns do you actually need, and what columns are optional?  At a minimum, you need these two columns in your imported file: Table 1 – Required columns for imported inventory files Part Number The unique identifier for the effect, like P10001 or 3LD253CK. Description A description of the effect, like “30mm Red Peony” or “Bomba Roja Con Aro Azul” or “Синяя в красную хризантему”. Based on this information alone, Finale 3D can fill in the other columns, like Size (extracted from the Description field if present) and Duration and Height.  Finale 3D uses machine translation algorithms to translate the description from the original language into a standard pyrotechnics terminology called VDL (Visual Description Language), which consists of approximately 300 mostly English words.  After importing your file, the VDL column in the effects window shows the translation. Usually, imported inventory files contain more than just the two columns in Table 1.  It is very common for the inventory file to contain its own Size column or Duration column, for example, as well as other properties like Price or Category.  To import these other columns, just make your column header match the Finale 3D column header in the effect window, exactly. For example, the Finale 3D column header for height is actually “Height Meters” so please make your column header be exactly “Height Meters”, not just “Height”.  You can unhide all the columns in the effects window from the gear menu on the right. By default, most of the columns are hidden. The column headers in Finale 3D may change depending on what language setting you are using.  If you match the column headers that you are looking at, exactly, the import process will work.  But if you want the import process not to depend on the language setting, you can also change the column headers in the file that you are importing the Finale 3D’s Internal Column Name, which is an English word or phrase with no spaces.  The full list of possible columns, along with their Internal Column Names and explanations, is shown in Table 2. Table 2 – Full list of columns that can be imported Column Name Internal Column Name Explanation Part Number partNumber The unique identifier for the effect, like CF10001 or 3LD253CK. This field is called the “Product ID” in Finale Inventory. Description description A description of the effect, like “30mm Red Peony 75m” or “Bomba Roja Con Aro Azul” or “Синяя в красную хризантему”.  The description can be in any language, and can contain the size and height if that information is not in other columns. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Description). Type partType One of these predefined English terms (exactly): cake, candle, single_shot, shell, ground, rocket, mine, comet, flame, other_effect, not_an_effect, rack, sfx, or light.  If the "Type" column is not present in the imported file or if the field is blank, Finale 3D will guess the type based on the description. The counterpart for this field in Finale Inventory is the “Choreography Tab”; and (regrettably) the counterpart in Finale Business and Finale Generic CSV is the “Category” field.  To handle these naming discrepancies, if the Type column is missing in the imported file and a Category or Choreography Tab column is present, the Category or Choreography Tab column will be imported as the Category.  If you are using Finale Inventory, please note: Finale Inventory’s Choreography Tab values are slightly different from Finale 3D’s Type values. When 3D connects to Finale Inventory, it translates between the names automatically. The corresponding names in Finale Inventory are Cakes, Candles, Single Shot, Shells, Ground, Rocket, Mines, Comets, Flame, Other, Not An Effect, Rack, Sfx, and Light. The special value Non-Choreographed in Finale Inventory causes the item not to be downloaded to 3D.  Please see Why is 'Type' so important? for an explanation of why this field is so important. Size size 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 Size column is not present in the imported file or if the field is blank, Finale 3D will extract the size from the Description field, if present.  This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Caliber). Prefire internalDelay 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 applies to the visual simulation.  If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the size and description.  Please see Cake and candle duration (and prefire). It is easiest to leave this field blank or zero for cakes and candles because the automatic default values are good.  This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Prefire Time). Please see the compatibility notes below if you are importing a Finale Inventory and need to maintain compatibility with Finale Business. 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.  This field applies to the visual simulation. If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the size and description.  Please see Cake and candle duration (and prefire). This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Duration). Height Meters 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.  If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the size and description. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Effect Height). Color color A user-defined field for the user’s convenience in searching or filtering the rows in the effect window. If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will extract colors from the description. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Effect Color). Subtype subtype Like Color, Subtype is a user-defined field for the user’s convenience. If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will extract subtypes from the description. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Effect Subtype). VDL vdl The description of the effect in standard pyrotechnics terminology (Visual Description Language). If the column or field is not present in the imported file, Finale 3D will calculate a good default value based on the description.  This field defines the visual simulation of the effect, along with a few other specifications like Size, Height Meters, and Duration. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (VDL Description). Please see the compatibility notes below if you are importing a Finale Inventory and need to maintain compatibility with Finale Business. Manufacturer Part Number manufacturerPartNumber This optional part number is available for your own convenience, and also to facilitate updating the VDL in your own effects files or Finale Inventory account by cross-referencing manufacturer effects lists with up-to-date VDL maintained and approved by the manufacturer. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Mfg Product Id). Manufacturer manufacturer A user-defined field for the user’s convenience in searching or filtering the rows in the effect window. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Manufacturer). Price stdPrice The price per-device of the item.  Finale 3D will display the price of a show based on these values in the lower right of the simulation view, and in the timeline if you select a time range of effects.  This field has an “Item Price” counterpart in Finale Inventory. Storage Location stdLocation An optional fixed stock location for the effect in the picking facility or warehouse, such as a bin number.  This field can be used as a sort criterion in reports and labels. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory: Std Bin ID. Hazard Default lockoutDefault An identifier used by various firing systems and exported in the firing system scripts for those systems, which allows the show operator to disable a section of the show based on real time conditions.  Since the hazard value may depend on an item’s placement in the shoot size, the value in the effect list is the “Default” value that is copied to the script when the item is inserted into the script. The user can subsequently change the value in the script, but since the value was copied and is not a reference, changing the value in the effect window will not affect existing effects in the show. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Hazard Default.   Tubes numTubes This term applies to racks, not effects.  It is the number of tubes in the rack. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Rack Tubes). Category category A user-defined field for the user’s convenience in searching or filtering the rows in the effect window.  Unlike the Type field, the category can be anything the user wants. This field is has an exact counterpart in Finale Inventory, by the same name, and is used for stock reports and and DSMT reports for stock management.  However, in Finale Inventory the field can only contain specific, pre-defined enumerated values.  As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction.  Custom Part Field customPartField A user-defined field for the user’s convenience. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Custom Part Field). Rack Type Default rackType This term applies both to racks and to effects.  It is a user-defined matching criterion between racks and the effects that are compatible with the racks.  For example, if the user has two types of single-shot racks for different caliber ranges, the user could assign LargeSS and SmallSS rack types to the effects and racks to cause them to match correctly.  Like Hazard Default, this field is copied to the script events when they are inserted into the show, not referenced, so you can change values of the items in the script according to circumstance (e.g., putting a fan of effects into a wagonwheel rack specifically even though other racks are also compatible).  Since the value is copied and is not a reference, changing the value in the effect window will not affect existing effects in the show. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Rack Type Default). Notes partNotes A user-defined field for the user’s convenience.  This field is sometimes used in report, but other times the script notes field is used in the reports instead, depending on whether the notes apply intrinsically to the effect or apply contextually to the usage of the effect in the show. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Notes). DMX Patch dmxPatch This field holds a small program or “patch” for controlling the DMX values associated with a special effect like a flame projector or moving stage light. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (DMX Patch). EX Number exNumber A field for the user’s convenience. This field is has an exact counterpart in Finale Inventory (EX Number) and is used in Finale Inventory for shipping documents.  This list can include a single EX number, or a comma separated list. As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction. CE Number ceNumber A field for the user’s convenience. This field is has an exact counterpart in Finale Inventory (CE Number) and is used in Finale Inventory for shipping documents. As of Jan 17, 2020, this field is synchronized from Finale Inventory to Finale 3D but not in the other direction. UN Number unNumber A field for the user’s convenience. This field is has an exact counterpart in Finale Inventory (Hazardous Material) and is used in Finale Inventory for shipping documents. 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. Cost stdCost A field for the user’s convenience.  This field can be used in reports. This field has a “Standard Accounting Cost” counterpart in Finale Inventory. Safety Distance Meters safetyDistance A field for the user’s convenience.  It may also be used by site layout safety report features in Finale 3D available in the future.  This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Safety Distance). Fuse Delay fuseDelay The visco fuse delay between the ignition of the device’s fuse and the first launch.  When an effect is inserted into the show, the fuse delay is copied to the the Delay field in the script.  Since the value is copied, not referenced, subsequent changes to the fuse delay in the effect window will not affect existing effects in the show.  This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Fuse Delay). Devices numDevices The number of devices in the chain, or 1 if the item is not a chain. This field has a counterpart in Finale Inventory (Chain Number Of Devices). Available available The number of devices on hand in the stock facilities at any of the selected locations, minus those reserved for sales orders (shows), plus those on order but not yet received from suppliers.  Use the menu item “File > Finale Inventory > Selected locations” to choose what facility locations apply. Weight weight The weight of one device (shell, cake, etc.). The "Basic Product List" report and other similar reports in Finale 3D will show the total weight for all items in the show. NEQ neq 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. The effects window also displays some special columns that are not intrinsic properties of the products.  These special columns, shown in Table 3, cannot be imported as part of the import inventory process. Table 3 – Quantity columns  that cannot be imported as part of importing inventory Column Name Internal Column Name Explanation Used used A dynamic count of the number of devices used in the show. Quota quota A static count of the number of devices allocated by the designer for use in the show.  The quotas can be imported with the menu item, “File > Import quotas”. Though the quota appears as a column in any collection selected into the effect window (Per-show effects, Generic effects, your Finale Inventory account, etc.), the values are actually stored in the quota column in the Per-show effects, and are therefore associated with and saved along with the show to which they apply. On Hand qoh The number of devices on hand  in the stock facilities at any of the selected locations (use the menu item “File > Finale Inventory > Select locations” to choose what facility locations apply). Remaining Quota remainingQuota The calculated value: Quota - Used.  This field can be used as a filter condition.  Please explore the table layout blueprints available in the effects window from the gear menu. Remaining On Hand remainingQoh The calculated value: OnHand - Used.  This field can be used as a filter condition.  Please explore the table layout blueprints available in the effects window from the gear menu. Remaining Available remainingAvailable The calculated value: Available - Used.  This field can be used as a filter condition.  Please explore the table layout blueprints available in the effects window from the gear menu.   If you are importing or modifying a Finale Inventory to use with Finale 3D while maintaining backward compatibility with Finale Business, you will need to give special consideration to three fields: Prefire, Type, and VDL. Prefire.  Finale Business and Finale 3D interpret the term “prefire” for aerial cakes differently, and action is required on your part to change the prefires in your inventory to a value that works for both.  The table below shows the options, but the best solution is: change the prefires of aerial cakes to blank.  The default prefire for cakes in Business is 0.3 seconds.  Unfortunately this value causes aerial cake shells in Finale 3D to break at 0.3 seconds on the way up, looking like a geyser or flowerpot.  Please change the value to blank, or one of the other good values in the table below. Please see Cake and candle duration (and prefire) Type.  Finale 3D and Finale Inventory support all the values of Finale Business, and a few more.  Thus if the Type values in your inventory are from Business, they’ll work fine in 3D.  But if you change them to values other than Cakes, Candles, Shells, Mines, Comets, Other, or Non-Choreographed, then they will no longer work in Business. (Type is called “Choreography Tab” in Inventory, and “Category” in Business.) Please see Why is 'Type' so important?. VDL. Finale 3D and Business both support VDL effect descriptions for simulations, but Business requires a strict form of VDL.  If you type or import VDL into Finale Inventory directly, it most likely will not work for Business because it will not be in the strict form (e.g., case-sensitive).  If you need backward compatible VDL then please copy/paste the VDL field from 3D after creating or editing the simulation via the dialog, which puts it into the strict form. Table 4 shows four possible prefire values for a 3” aerial cake, and indicates whether the result is good or bad in Business and 3D.  You can see that 0.3 is bad, but the three other possibilities -- blank, 0.0, and the lift time of the first aerial shell in the cake -- are all good.  There are slight differences, but the blank value is the best choice because it works exactly the same way as 0.3 in Business, and it also works 3D, and it is simple. Table 4 – Finale 3D/Business compatibility matrix for prefires of aerial cakes like “10 Shot 5s Red Peony Cake” Prefire Finale Business Finale 3D 0.3 (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 0.3s; break at 2.8s (BAD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 0.3s; break at 0.3s (looks like a geyser) (blank) (GOOD) Same as 0.3 (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 3.02s; break at 3.02s 0.0 (GOOD) Same as 2.8 (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 3.02s; break at 3.02s 2.8 (the default lift time for 3” shell in Finale Business) (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 0.3s; break at 2.8s (GOOD) First launch at 0.0s; timeline blip at 2.8s; break at 2.8s (a little early)   Table 5 – Template files Download link Explanation import_inventory_to_finale_3d_template.xlsx Template for importing into 3D (Excel) import_inventory_to_finale_3d_template.txt Template for importing into 3D (UTF-16 text, saved from Excel)