PYROCREA wrote: I’ve a question about the music frame, my wav file is 9:17 for time but when I’m in the final 3D, I see that there is a lot of blank until 9:59 min and when I open my .FIN file all the time the cursor on music part begin at 0:05 by default (my show need to be start at 00:00 because first comets begin at 00:02). is it a bug? is it a problem for judge? thanks, Nicolas FERET (PYROCREA)   Hi PYROCREA, everything in your show is completely normal and working properly.   — When a show is opened in Finale 3D, the play head on the timeline is always placed at 00:05.000, which is perfectly normal. To move the play head to the beginning of the timeline, simply click the yellow rewind button.   — The PyroJam show design template is pre-configured with a show duration of 10 minutes, adding a soundtrack that is less than 10 minutes does not automatically adjust the length of the timeline. There is nothing wrong with the timeline being longer than your soundtrack. However, if you would like to shorten your timeline, you can go to Show > Set show duration.

Hi,   I've only been using Finale3D a few days...but I ran into this problem that would have been good to find in the forum search. There is some serious vertical learning going on here! To have an "official" answer from someone knowledgeable would be great.   End result: I want to create a 20m high, large, white, random with +/-15deg from vertical, strobing, comet cake that lasts for ~30sec.   Sooo...I created a vertical comet effect using VDL, got the single shot look that I wanted, then copy/paste that 10times, and advanced each with a .2sec offset. So know I have 11 comets that shoot straight up, separated by .2sec. Then I changed the tilt by 3deg on each so now I have my +/-15deg. Then I "chained" that effect for 55x and that gave me about 30". It was exactly the look I wanted.   The problem...I tried to make a cake out of that entire chain...and I kept getting an error box that said something like, you don't have an effect selected, select your effect and try again. But I most certainly had the entire chain selected.   So...I think...You can either create a CHAIN or a CAKE from your effects, but you cannot create a CAKE from a CHAIN?    (BTW...I'm certain I'm not using the scripting commands available to me correctly...like Duplicate/Sequence/Reorder, etc. I'm pretty sure there is "a couple clicks...." way to do what I'm trying to do vs copy/paste 60times!)

  JBlay312 wrote: Tim, When judging the submissions is the “trajectory drift randomness” selected or deselected? If you wouldn’t mind I’d love to see a screen shot of the render settings your judges will be using (if that’s standardized). Thanks!   Yes, for added realism, the 'trajectory drift randomness' and all other randomness settings will be enabled for judging. These settings will also be enabled when videos of the top three shows are rendered. Finale 3D render settings are show specific, which means they are saved in each show file. To see the PyroJam render settings configuration, simply download the Show Design Template and go to File > Render settings.

Hi!  My name is Jason.  I shot my first consumer show with a buddy of mine in 2004.  I remember together we spent $500.  We thought we were big time then!  We continued to do our personal show for several years and it grew to the point we had to move to a friends farm.  I shoot professional shows (mine are on the smaller end for sure) with a local display company.

Tim,   When judging the submissions is the "trajectory drift randomness" selected or deselected?  If you wouldn't mind I'd love to see a screen shot of the render settings your judges will be using (if that's standardized).   Thanks!

Hi Jonathan S., try enabling one of the options Show > Show settings > Show pin counts...   Once enabled, the pin counts will be appended to the position names in the design layout.

Ok noted. I will do that tomorrow. Thanks.

Hi PYROCREA, we'll need to see your show file to troubleshoot the issue. Please send your show (.FIN) file to support@finale3d.com. If the show contains a WAV soundtrack, it is most likely too large to send as an email attachment. In that case, you can send for free using https://wetransfer.com. When you send us an email, please include a screenshot that shows the problem that you're seeing on the timeline. The screenshot will help us identify the issue and get back to you more quickly.   PYROCREA wrote: I’ve a question about the music frame, my wav file is 9:17 for time but when I’m in the final 3D, I see that there is a lot of blank until 9:59 min and when I open my .FIN file all the time the cursor on music part begin at 0:55 by default (my show need to be start at 00:00 because first comets begin at 00:02). is it a bug? is it a problem for judge? thanks, Nicolas FERET (PYROCREA)

Hey Pyro_22430000, in August 2024, we added a new feature to align racks. You can now select a set of racks, right click > Align (Top/Bottom/Left/Right), see screenshot below.    

I'm sorry, currently the timeline has a fixed height.   — You can zoom in and out on the timeline using your mouse wheel, or the zoom function on your computer’s touchpad.   — You can also zoom in and out using the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons in the lower right corner of the timeline.   — You can hide and unhide items in the simulation and on the timeline using the search box and drop-down filter lists in the script window. For example, if you search for “blue” in the script window, the script, simulation and timeline will hide everything that doesn’t include “blue”. Filtering the script can make it easier to work on complex segments of a show.   — You can hide the colorful duration bars on timeline by clicking the button on the right that looks like an x-ray/radioactive symbol.