Hi Blackbat, the simple show your described that reproduces the issue is fantastic. We call this a Minimal Test Case (MTC) and it’s exactly what we need to help us efficiently fix the problem. Please send your MTC show file to support@finale3d.com along with any step by step instructions needed to reproduce the issue and we’ll take a look at it ASAP.

I recently finished a design with several hundred cues, addressed it for firetek and locked all the addresses. I now find myself wanting to add a couple of additional shell cues and have come up against what I believe to be a bug, which can be replicate in a much simpler example.   If I have a design with just two positions, cakes and shells, with 2 cues on each and each of the two positions is defined in its own section, then address it for firetek using the criteria “each module is restricted to a single section and —” and “each slat is restricted to a single position”, the result is two modules required, one for the cake section and one for the shell position, with one slat on each. So far so good. If I now lock the address of all four cues, and then add an additional shell cue and re-address, I would expect the new cue to be the third cue on the shell module slat. What in fact happens though is that a 2nd slat is assigned to the cake module (module 1) and thus the new shell cue ends up on 1-02-01, rather than 02-01 03 which is where it should be assigned.   I’m thinking this is a bug with sections. If I repeat the exercise using fireone addressing with no slats then the 3rd shell cue again gets added to the cake section.

I am writing to inquire about the commercial use of the 3D Google Maps feature available in the Professional Edition. Specifically, I would like to confirm whether it is permissible to utilize the 3D Google Maps imagery and features in commercial projects or productions. Your guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.  

Thanks Drew, That will make it look nice. Should have tried that.

Seems like it is still deleted  

Hi Pyro_7100000, There is a reason for this behavior, granted, I fully appreciate that the explanation probably won’t make it any less annoying. Here you go:   The angle convention in Finale 3D is designed to handle not only fireworks, but all types of SFX including moving head lights. Doing this requires three angles, Pan, Tilt, and Spin.   Tilt is the angle from vertical, but tilt is not just left and right. In order for tilt to angle an effect left or right, a 90 pan angle has to be introduced. This is the reason cakes swing around when tilted left or right. The same thing is happening when you angle a comet, mine, shell, and every other type of effect, you’re just only noticing with cakes because they’re not rotationally symmetric. That is, a comet looks essentially the same no matter how it’s rotated but a fanned cake or slice does not.   To counter act the undersired side effect of the 90 degree pan, you need to employ the third angle, Spin. The Spin angle is the rotation around the trajectory of the effect. For example, imagine you had a single shot comet in a holder and you rotated the comet so the label was facing a certain direction without changing the trajectory angle – that’s spin. When you angle a cake left or right, a 90 degree pan is added. To fix the orientation of the cake, add a -90 degree spin.   To learn more, check out: https://finale3d.com/video/mastering-angles-pan-tilt-spin/

Is there and reason that slices rotate themselves 90 when you angle them? By angle I mean manually adjusting the tilt, or using the fan command. Having to go in and change the rotation of them is really annoying every time.

Yes, you can have multiple lines in any of the 4 text boxes in the information panel. The user interface doesn’t make this obvious, but it works. All you need to do is go into Diagram side panel text dialog, select a text box, type the text you want on the first line, then press enter on your keyboard, then type what you want on the next line. Each time you press enter, a ¶ paragraph marker is added to indicate that your starting a new line. The text isn’t displayed on multiple lines when editing but it will appear on multiple lines in the PDF site layout.

OK, I understand the difference between the Legend and side panel. I was wondering if we could add sub-information panel data. Ex: Info Panel says “Fallout Distances” and under that, I want to list the shell size and fallout distance for each. (i.e. 3″- 210 feet)

Hi Bryan, site layout diagrams have an Information Panel (on the right side of the page) and a Legend (on the bottom of the page).   I’m not quite sure if you’re trying to edit the information panel or the legend.   The information panel (on the right side of the page) has fixed set of 4 text boxes that can be edits by clicking the Diagram side panel text option in the upper left corner when viewing the site layout in the racks window.   The legend (on the bottom of the page) is created dynamically based on the items you incorporate into the site layout. For example, if you add an audience icon, an audience item will be added to the legend. If you draw a pin, a legend item will be added for the pin, etc. The text that accompanies each legend item can be edited the same way as the information panel text, by clicking the Diagram side panel text option in the upper left corner of the racks window.