Hi,   Any ideas how to describe this "Medusa" effect in VDL?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhx0w2nMx3Q&t=10s   Thanks.

Hi Russ,   Sorry for the confusion — yes, this feature is only available in Pro.   Below are screenshots comparing the constraints section of the Address Show dialog between Hobbyist (bottom) and Pro (top). the Pro version includes many options to restrict racks to various things, and it also includes the Re-arrange effects in adjustable angle racks to avoid collisions feature. The rack constraints and rearrange feature are made possible by the fact addressing algorithm in Pro loads the racks as it assigns module and pin numbers.   The addressing algorithm in Hobbyist does not load the racks. In Hobbyist, you can calculate rack counts for your show, but you can't take racks or rack layouts into account when addressing.  

Hello,   When I address my show, I do not see this checkbox option (in pic below, from a training video)? I have the latest "Hobbyist" version of Finale 3D.   Is this selectable addressing function ONLY available for PRO version? Or am I missing something? I have not added nor loaded racks to my show yet, which may be the cause.   Thanks, -Russ    

Okay, I am glad you mentioned the “01”. I knew that position naming. But didn’t realize the part #’s needed the zero too. And great point re: the Row. Thanks!

Glad you got it sorted out!   You can of course use any part numbering scheme you like as long as each part number is unique. The reason I suggested a suffix including "Row" was just in case you wanted to also break the cake into individual shots. If you broke the same cake into rows and into individual shots, you may find it useful for the part numbers to serve as a differentiator. I used "01" instead of "1" in case your cake has more than 10 rows or more than 10 effects. Since part numbers are sorted alphabetically (not numerically), the leading zero is needed to keep the part numbers in order if you have more than 9 sub-items.

Got it. Now I see the difference. The first time I selected the row and tried using Create Effect, it actually populated the correct VDL. Now I just tried doing the second row and the VDL didn't change (populated old VDL as you said).   Anyway, I did use combine as cake, it was obvious that I should... And for naming them, I used original part # and then added a -1 or -2 etc... To represent the row I was using. Maybe I'll Use R1 etc going fwd.   Thanks   brett

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

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

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

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