FINALE Fireworks User Guide

FINALE FIREWORKS USER GUIDE

Contents 

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 9 

Logging In ............................................................................................................................... 9 

2 User Interface Layout .................................................................................................. 11 

Other Views .......................................................................................................................... 13 

3 Working with Fireworks ............................................................................................... 15 

The Inventory ........................................................................................................................ 15 

Firework Categories ................................................................................................................... 15 

Expanding your Inventory ........................................................................................................... 16 

Adding a Firework to Your Show .............................................................................................. 16 

Click to Add ............................................................................................................................... 17 

Drag and Drop ........................................................................................................................... 18 

Note for the Real-World Designer: Obeying the Caliber .................................................................. 19 

Deleting Fireworks ................................................................................................................. 19 

4 Launch Positions: The Basics ........................................................................................ 20 

Creating a Launch Position ...................................................................................................... 20 

Deleting Fireworks and Launch Positions .................................................................................. 21 

5 Adding Fireworks in Time ............................................................................................ 22 

Adding Fireworks as the Playhead Is Moving ................................................................................. 22 

Modifying a Firework ............................................................................................................. 23 

Making a Selection ..................................................................................................................... 23 

Moving in Space ........................................................................................................................ 24 

Moving in Time .......................................................................................................................... 25 

Using Launch Positions to Select Fireworks ............................................................................... 26 

PAGE 3

Introduction 

FINALE Fireworks User Guide 

6 Working With the Timeline .......................................................................................... 27 

The Playhead ......................................................................................................................... 27 

Time Zoom Buttons ................................................................................................................ 28 

Time Display .......................................................................................................................... 28 

Time Zoom Slider ................................................................................................................... 28 

Changing the Duration of Your Show ....................................................................................... 30 

7 Changing Backgrounds ................................................................................................. 31 

8 Saving, Opening, and Exporting your Show ................................................................... 32 

9 Real-World Show Design .............................................................................................. 33 

Real-World Workflow ............................................................................................................. 33 

Assigning Modules to Launch Positions .................................................................................... 34 

Full Automation ..................................................................................................................... 36 

Multiple Launches-per-Pin ...................................................................................................... 37 

Using Slats ............................................................................................................................ 38 

Splitting Modules Across Launch Positions ............................................................................... 38 

The Firing View ...................................................................................................................... 40 

Positioning the Playhead ............................................................................................................. 41 

Re-assigning Addresses and Pins .................................................................................................. 41 

Conflict Detection .................................................................................................................. 42 

10 Creating Your Own Fireworks ....................................................................................... 44 

Editing a Firework .................................................................................................................. 44 

Saving your Firework .............................................................................................................. 46 

Creating a Cake ...................................................................................................................... 47 

Managing your Personal Inventory .......................................................................................... 49 

11 Common Tabs ............................................................................................................. 50 

Firework ............................................................................................................................... 50 

PAGE 4

Introduction 


Field notes ............................................................................................................................ 52 

12 Peony ......................................................................................................................... 53 

Launch .................................................................................................................................. 54 

Shell tail ................................................................................................................................ 55 

Shell burst ............................................................................................................................. 56 

Shell burst sound ................................................................................................................... 57 

Star ...................................................................................................................................... 58 

Star body .............................................................................................................................. 59 

Star tip .................................................................................................................................. 60 

Star transition ....................................................................................................................... 61 

Transition tip ......................................................................................................................... 62 

Pistil ..................................................................................................................................... 63 

Pistil body ............................................................................................................................. 64 

Pistil tail ................................................................................................................................ 65 

Pistil glitter ............................................................................................................................ 66 

13 Chrysanthemum, Kamuro, Diadem, Brocade, Willow, and Dahlia ................................... 67 

Launch .................................................................................................................................. 68 

Shell tail ................................................................................................................................ 69 

Shell burst ............................................................................................................................. 70 


Star ...................................................................................................................................... 72 

Star body .............................................................................................................................. 73 

Star tip (some diadems, only) .................................................................................................. 74 

Star tail ................................................................................................................................. 75 

Star glitter ........................................................................................................................... s76 



Pistil ..................................................................................................................................... 79 

Pistil body ............................................................................................................................. 80 

PAGE 5

Introduction 


Pistil tip ................................................................................................................................ 81 

14 Palm ........................................................................................................................... 82 

Launch .................................................................................................................................. 83 

Shell tail ................................................................................................................................ 84 

Shell burst ............................................................................................................................. 85 


Star ...................................................................................................................................... 87 

Star body .............................................................................................................................. 88 

Star tip .................................................................................................................................. 89 

Star tail ................................................................................................................................. 90 

Star tail, cont. ........................................................................................................................ 91 

Star sparkle ........................................................................................................................... 92 



Pistil ..................................................................................................................................... 95 

Pistil body ............................................................................................................................. 96 

Pistil tail ................................................................................................................................ 97 

Pistil glitter ............................................................................................................................ 98 

15 Salute ......................................................................................................................... 99 

Launch ................................................................................................................................ 100 

Shell tail .............................................................................................................................. 101 

Flash ................................................................................................................................... 102 

Flash colors ......................................................................................................................... 103 

Salute sound ....................................................................................................................... 105 

16 Comet ....................................................................................................................... 106 

Launch ................................................................................................................................ 107 

Launch sound ...................................................................................................................... 108 

Shell ................................................................................................................................... 109 

PAGE 6

Introduction 


Shell body ........................................................................................................................... 110 

Shell tip .............................................................................................................................. 111 

Shell tail .............................................................................................................................. 112 

Shell sparkle ........................................................................................................................ 113 

17 Mine ......................................................................................................................... 114 

Mine Launch ....................................................................................................................... 115 

Launch sound ...................................................................................................................... 117 

Shell ................................................................................................................................... 118 

Shell body ........................................................................................................................... 119 

Shell tip .............................................................................................................................. 120 

Shell tail .............................................................................................................................. 121 

Shell tail, cont. ..................................................................................................................... 122 

Shell burst ........................................................................................................................... 123 

Shell burst sound ................................................................................................................. 124 

Star .................................................................................................................................... 125 

Star body ............................................................................................................................ 126 

Star tip ................................................................................................................................ 127 

Star tail ............................................................................................................................... 128 

Star tail, cont. ...................................................................................................................... 129 

Report ................................................................................................................................ 130 

Report sound ...................................................................................................................... 131 

18 Fountain ................................................................................................................... 132 

Firework ............................................................................................................................. 133 

Spray .................................................................................................................................. 134 

Spray sound ........................................................................................................................ 136 

Particle ............................................................................................................................... 137 

Particle body ....................................................................................................................... 138 

Particle tail .......................................................................................................................... 139 

Particle tail, cont. ................................................................................................................. 140 

PAGE 7

Introduction 


Report ................................................................................................................................ 141 

Report sound ...................................................................................................................... 142 

Salute, Salute colors, Salute sound ........................................................................................ 143 

19 Candle ...................................................................................................................... 144 

Launch ................................................................................................................................ 145 

Launch sound ...................................................................................................................... 146 

Mine ................................................................................................................................... 147 

Shell ................................................................................................................................... 148 

Shell body ........................................................................................................................... 149 

Shell tip .............................................................................................................................. 150 

Shell tail .............................................................................................................................. 151 

Shell tail, cont. ..................................................................................................................... 152 

Shell burst ........................................................................................................................... 153 

Shell burst sound ................................................................................................................. 154 

Star .................................................................................................................................... 155 

Star body ............................................................................................................................ 156 

Star tip ................................................................................................................................ 157 

Star tail ............................................................................................................................... 158 

Star tail, cont. ...................................................................................................................... 159 

Report ................................................................................................................................ 160 

Report sound ...................................................................................................................... 161 

Cycle .................................................................................................................................. 162 

Multicycle ........................................................................................................................... 164 

20 FINALE CSV Script Format .......................................................................................... 165 

File Layout and Formatting Rules ........................................................................................... 165 

Format Table ....................................................................................................................... 166 

PAGE 8

1 Introduction 

Welcome to FINALE Fireworks, a visual simulation and choreography program that lets you create and 

control a complete fireworks display. The program can be used by fireworks professionals and amateurs who 

are designing real-world fireworks shows, as well as by enthusiasts and artists working in the virtual world. 

FINALE Fireworks provides a simple and intuitive interface that lets you build a performance by draggingand-dropping 

individual shells onto a “Sky Field” canvas. You can add and synchronize music, insert a 

background that depicts an actual shoot site, capture your creation as a “firing script” (indispensible for the 

real-world designer), and even record a video that you can share with your friends. 

The graphical engine that creates the fireworks simulation in FINALE fireworks doesn’t use pre-rendered 

images or simple “wireframe” outlines. All of the shots you’ll see when you play your show are created in realtime, 

based on the physical properties of the mortars, shells, and other components that professionals use 

when designing an event—with just enough natural randomness to make each performance a unique 

experience. 

The first few chapters of this User Guide tells you everything you need to know to create a fireworks show 

with FINALE Fireworks. The final chapters explain how to create your own firework effects. 

Logging In 

The first thing you have to do, of course, is download the FINALE Fireworks software. If you’re reading this, 

you’re probably already running the program, but just in case, you can find the latest version of the program 

at the FINALE Fireworks website: 

http://www.finalefireworks.com/ 

The Website will step you through the process of creating an account and will download the latest version of 

the program. If you’ve accepted the default installation location, you’ll be able to launch FINALE Fireworks 

by double-clicking... 

C:\Program Files\FINALE Fireworks\FINALE Fireworks.bat 

After launching the program, you’ll see the login panel: 

PAGE 9

Introduction 


The only wrinkle, here, is that you must be connected to the Internet so the program can download the latest 

fireworks catalog. If you see the “Network error: communication failure” message when you log in… 

…check your Internet connection. 

PAGE 10

2 User Interface Layout 

In this chapter we’ll look at the general layout of the FINALE Fireworks user interface. Except for a couple 

simple editing windows, everything you need to create a fireworks show is presented in a single workspace. 

The illustration, below, points out the principal components of the workspace: 

Main Menu 

Inventory 

Sky Field 

Zoom slider 

Wind slider 

Playhead 

Playback Controls 

Timeline 

PAGE 11

User Interface Layout 

In subsequent chapters, we’ll take a closer look at most of these components. Briefly, they are: 


• Main Menu. The options in the Main Menu let you open and save shows, switch backgrounds, create 

“Launch Positions”, add music to your show, and so on. For real-world designers, the File submenu lets 

you write your show as a firing report in a number of standard formats. 

• Inventory. The Inventory section lists the fireworks that you can drop into your show. Every time you 

launch program, the application connects to the FINALE Fireworks website and downloads fireworks 

into your Inventory, so your fireworks list will always be up-to-date. 

• Sky Field. This is where your show is displayed. You can drag-and-drop fireworks into the Sky Field, move 

their launch and “target” positions (the target is the firework’s highest point), delete individual or groups 

of fireworks, and so on. 

• Wind Slider. FINALE can add a wind effect to your show. You increase and decrease the wind (and 

change its direction) by moving the Wind Slider up and down. As you move the slider, the speed and 

direction of the wind is displayed above the Wind icon. To remove all wind, move the slider to the 

vertical center of the window. 

• Zoom Slider. When you launch FINALE Fireworks, the Sky Field is set to simulate an area that’s about 900 

feet high and 2000 feet wide. If you resize the window, the resolution changes—your fireworks will 

appear to be closer or farther away—but the dimensions of the simulated area don’t change. To zoom in 

and out of the Sky Field, move the Zoom Slider up and down. The simulated height is displayed above 

the icon as you move the slider. 

• Timeline. The Timeline shows the temporal positions of your fireworks. In the illustration, we see three 

fireworks, represented by the white “blips” along the Timeline. Exactly which part of the firework a blip 

represents depends on the type of firework: For shells, it’s the burst event; for fountains, comets, and 

mines, it’s the launch. If you look closely, you can see a wavy black section superimposed on the Timeline. 

This is the waveform of the music that you’ve added to your show, making it easy to synchronize your 

show to your soundtrack. 

• The Playhead represents the current moment that’s being displayed in the Sky Field, and moves left-toright 

as you play your show. You can drag the Playhead to quickly “scrub” through your show. 

• Playback Controls. The Playback Controls that are displayed onscreen let you start and pause your show, 

and rewind to the beginning. A number of other controls (incremental fast forward and rewind, seek to 

end, and so on) are provided in the File > Timeline submenu. All of the controls, onscreen or not, are 

bound to keyboard keys making it easy to control your show. Most notably, the spacebar toggles between 

Play and Pause, and arrow-left/arrow-right moves a paused show forwards and backwards by a single 

frame. 

PAGE 12


Other Views 


In addition to the default workspace, FINALE presents two other important views: The Firework Editor and 

the Firing View. 

• The Firework Editor presents a set of sliders, menus, and other controls that let you modify the attributes 

of a firework. To display the Firework Editor, you double-click on a firework that you’ve added to your 

show. The editor is presented as a series of tabs across the top of the main window: 

Firework Editor 

The Firework Editor is described in detail starting with the Creating Your Own Fireworks chapter of this User 

Guide. 

PAGE 13



• The Firing View is a list of the fireworks that you’ve added to your show, in chronological order. To bring 

up the Firing View, choose File > Firing View or type CONTROL-F: 

Firing View 

The Firing View is described in the Real-World Show Design chapter in this book. 

PAGE 14

3 Working with Fireworks 

In this chapter, we’ll look at how you choose a firework and add it to your show. We’ll also look at how you 

select, place, modify, and delete fireworks. 

The Inventory 

The Inventory section of the UI contains all the fireworks that you can add to your show. When you log in, 

the program forms a connection to the FINALE Fireworks website and downloads the latest set of fireworks, 

including the fireworks that you’ve designed and those that you’ve selected from other FINALE users. 

Firework Categories 

There are a number of ways you can search for a firework. First, you can search by category. There are six 

firework categories, represented by the six tabs that run across the top of the Inventory: 

Firework Categories 

The Inventory provides a UI that lets you search within a category based on collection, subcategory, color, 

and mortar caliber: 

Firework Subcategories Collection Color Caliber 

• The subcategories provide a further categorization of the fireworks type. Currently, only the Shells and 

Candle types have subcategories. 

• You can choose from three collection options: Standard fireworks is the set that’s provided by FINALE; 

My fireworks are the effects that you’ve created or have selected from other users; All collections is a 

combination of the two. 

PAGE 15

Working with Fireworks 


• The color dropdown menu applies to all fireworks types. It lets you search for a firework that paints a 

particular color, whether in its tail or its burst. Many fireworks have more than one color. 

• The caliber dropdown also applies to all types. The larger the caliber, the bigger (and higher) the firework. 

Expanding your Inventory 

You can add fireworks to your inventory through the Edit > Add new fireworks option. This will bring up the 

Add Fireworks window: 

To add a firework, click the corresponding copy link. The firework will be add to your My fireworks collection. 

To delete a firework from your My fireworks collection, go to Edit > Manage my fireworks. A panel similar to the 

one above will appear that lets you remove individual effects. 

Adding a Firework to Your Show 

After you’ve found the firework that you want, it’s time to add it to the show. There are two ways to add a 

firework: 

• By clicking on its icon in the Inventory. 

• By dragging and dropping the icon into the Sky Field. 

The difference between these two methods is the way in which the firework is placed in the scene, as 

described in the following sections. 

PAGE 16



Click to Add 

When you click an icon, the firework is dropped into the scene with its launch point set just above the launch 

caret that sits on the imaginary launch line, and its height (or target point) is defined by its caliber. Here, we’ve 

clicked on the 5” Red Ext Comet: 

Click here 

Target point 

Launch point above 

the launch caret 

Height determined 

by caliber 

Launch line 

You can drag the launch point after you’ve dropped it, but only horizontally. You can’t drag a launch point up 

into the Sky Field—it always lies on the launch line at the bottom of the Sky Field. When you drag a 

firework’s launch point, the launch caret goes with it. The next firework you click-to-add will drop into 

thisnew location. (Note that you can’t move the launch caret by hand.) 

Notice that the firework’s trajectory is outlined with white dots. The white dots mean that the firework is 

selected. If we add another comet the first object becomes unselected, as indicated by the red dots (you have 

to hover the mouse over the Sky Field to see the unselected outline): 

PAGE 17



Unselected 

Selected 

The second firework is added at the same position as the first, above the launch caret. The angle of the 

trajectory, however, is varied so that the two fireworks don’t lie on top of each other. The amount of 

variation depends on the firework’s definition. 

You can select a firework by clicking anywhere along its trajectory. We’ll talk more about selection when we 

get to the Modifying a Firework section. 

Drag and Drop 

When you drag and drop an icon, you get to control the firework’s launch point and its height (if you’re a 

real-world designer, this probably isn’t what you want—see the Note for the Real-World Designer, below). As you 

drag the icon out of the Inventory, the launch caret follows the mouse. When you drop the icon, the 

firework’s launch point drops to the caret, and its target point is wherever you let go of the mouse. However, 

this is only true for shells and comets; for the other firework types, the height is always controlled by the 

caliber of the mortar (you can adjust it by hand, later). 

The illustrations, below, show the caret as we drag a shell, and the placement of the launch and target points 

when we drop. (Note that the icon itself doesn’t actually appear under the mouse as you drag it.) 

PAGE 18



Drag 

Drop 

Caret moves 

with the drag 

Height and launch point 

are determined by the 

position of the drop 

Note for the Real-World Designer: Obeying the Caliber 

If you’re choreographing a real-world show, you want the physics of the fireworks to obey the caliber of the 

mortar—when you drag-and-drop an object, you don’t want the drop point to define the placement of the 

target point. To place the firework so its target point is placed according to the firework’s caliber, press the 

SHIFT key before you drop. 

Deleting Fireworks 

To delete a firework, you first must select it and then hit the DELETE key (not the BACKSPACE key). You can also 

delete a firework by selecting it and choosing the Edit > Delete option. 

If you want to delete all the fireworks in your show, choose the Edit > Select All option and hit DELETE (or 

choose Edit > Delete). 

PAGE 19

4 Launch Positions: The Basics 

Rather than drop you fireworks randomly along the launch line, you can add them to specific launch positions. 

A launch position is a pre-defined location along the launch line that acts as a “magnetic cradle” for the 

fireworks that you add into the scene. If you reposition the launch position, all of the fireworks that have 

been added to it move as a group. 

If you’re a real-world designer you’ll probably use launch positions exclusively (as opposed to dropping 

fireworks into undefined locations on the launch line). Moreover, you’ll probably define all of your launch 

positions first, before you start adding fireworks. 

This chapter looks at the basic elements of launch positions. A later chapter, Real-World Show Design looks at 

move advanced topics, such as how to use launch positions to assign modules and firing pins. 

Creating a Launch Position 

To create a launch position, select the Edit > Add launch position menu item: 

A launch position marker will appear in the center of the launch line: 

Launch position marker 

If we zoom in on the marker, we see a caret sitting in the “cradle”. This means that the launch position is 

selected. Here’s a selected an unselected launch position: 

PAGE 20

Launch Positions: The Basics 


Selected 

Unselected 

When you click an icon in the firework Inventory, the firework is automatically added to the currentlyselected 

launch position. 

You can also add a firework to a launch position by dragging the firework near the launch position marker. 

As you drag the firework near the marker, the firework’s launch point caret “snaps to” the launch position 

marker (that’s the “magnetic” aspect). When you drop, the firework’s launch point falls into the launch 

position, and its height is determined by the firework’s caliber: 

When you drag a launch position, the fireworks that it cradles move with it. 

Deleting Fireworks and Launch Positions 

To delete a launch position, hover the mouse over it (it will “light up”), hold down the CONTROL key, and 

right-click. Launch positions aren’t affected by the Edit > Delete menu item. 

When you delete a launch position, the fireworks it contains remain on the screen. 

PAGE 21

5 Adding Fireworks in Time 

So far, we’ve only discussed how to add a firework in space along the launch line. A firework’s position in 

time is just as important. The rule for adding a firework in time is simple: It’s placed at the current position of 

the Playhead. However, there’s a wrinkle, here: 

• For shells, the event that’s dropped onto the Playhead (when the shell is added) is the burst. 

• For all other fireworks, it’s the launch. 

In the UI Layout chapter, we mentioned that a firework is represented as a blip on the Timeline. There’s 

actually more to it than that. If we zoom into the Timeline, you’ll see that the blip leaves a trail. When we add 

a shell, the trail looks like this: 

The blip (the burst, for a shell) is aligned with the Playhead. The trail leading up to the blip shows the 

duration of the launch; the trail to the right is the fall off. 

For comets, fountains, and mines, the burst (essentially) coincides with the launch point: 

Adding Fireworks as the Playhead Is Moving 

Our simple rule of adding a firework at the Playhead doesn’t mean that the Playhead has to be sitting still. 

Another nice feature of FINALE Fireworks is that you can start the Playhead moving and add fireworks as it 

travels along the Timeline. 

To add a firework while the Playhead is moving, you use the same methods that were previously described: 

Click a firework icon, or drag-and-drop the icon into the Sky Field. By default, the firework’s “launch 

moment” is added to the scene—when you click or drop, the firework is added and immediately launched. In 

some cases, this might not be what you want. Most notably, if you’re adding fireworks as you play your show 

in order to coordinate bursts with specific moments in your soundtrack, you don’t want the fireworks to be 

PAGE 22

Adding Fireworks in Time 


added at their launch moments, you want a “click-means-burst” effect. To do this, hold down the SHIFT key 

when you click (or drop). The firework will be added at its “burst moment”. 

Modifying a Firework 

You can modify a firework you’ve placed in the scene by… 

• moving its launch point, 

• bending or stretching its target point, 

• and moving it in time. 

All three modifications are performed by grabbing some part of the firework and dragging the mouse. But 

before you do any of this, you have to select the firework. 

Making a Selection 

To select a firework, you simply click anywhere along its trail in the Sky Field or on its blip on the Timeline. 

As you hover over the firework, its outline and blip will glow red. When you click, the glow changes to white. 

Here we see the effect as you approach, hover over, and then click on the firework: 

PAGE 23



You can expand the selection by SHIFT-clicking on other 

fireworks. In the illustration, below, we’ve selected two of the 

three shells in the scene: 

SHIFT-clicking a selected firework will remove it from the selection. 

Moving in Space 

Once you’ve made your selection, you can move the selected fireworks’ launch points or target points. To 

move the launch, mouse down anywhere along the trajectory of a selected firework (this won’t change the 

selection) and drag. All selected fireworks move together. As you drag, a “measuring stick” appears that 

shows you the distance from the center of the screen to the launch point of whichever firework you clicked 

on. Here, we drag our selection to the left: 

To bend or stretch the target points, click within the “target circle” at the top of the firework and drag. You 

can drag in any direction; again, the target points of all selected fireworks move in concert while the launch 

points remain where they are: 

PAGE 24



When you move the target point, a measuring stick (not shown in the illustration) shows you the height and 

angle of the target. By default, you can only move the targets to specific spots in the Sky Field—the targets 

“snap to” and invisible grid. If you want to smoothly adjust the targets, hold down the SHIFT key as you drag. 

Moving in Time 

Moving a firework in time is similar to moving it in space: You make your selection as before, but this time 

you click on one of the Timeline blips and drag. Moving to the left pushes the selected fireworks backwards 

in time; moving to the right is into the future. As you drag, you’ll see your fireworks “perform”. For example, 

here we drag a green mine forward in time (to the right). 

In relation to the Playhead, the mine is getting “younger”, so it appears to run backwards. If you push the 

firework past the Playhead, the connection to the Sky Field disappears, and a message tells you that the object 

is no longer visible. 

PAGE 25


Using Launch Positions to Select Fireworks 


Launch positions aren’t just a convenient way to co-locate multiple fireworks; you can also use them as a 

selection tool. In the illustration, below, we see a group of mines that have been added to a launch position. 

Rather than selecting each firework one-by-one, you can click on the launch position marker; all of its 

fireworks are selected: 

As mentioned earlier, if you drag the launch position marker, all of the fireworks go with it. If you want to 

drag the fireworks out of the launch position, click on the marker (to select the fireworks), and then click and 

drag by the collected launch points: 

PAGE 26

6 Working With the Timeline 

This chapter looks at the tools you use to change the resolution and playback position of the Timeline, and 

the duration of your show. 

The Timeline components are illustrated below: 

Playhead Time Zoom Buttons Time Display 

Time Zoom Slider 

The Playhead 

The Playhead shows you the current temporal position in your show. There are a number of ways to position 

the Playhead: 

• You can drag it. As you drag the Playhead, your fireworks launch and explode accordingly. 

• You can jump to the beginning or end of the show by pressing the HOME and END keys, respectively. 

• You can step the Playhead incrementally forward (toward the end of the show) by pressing PAGE UP (big 

step) or the RIGHT-ARROW key (small step). 

• Similarly, PAGE DOWN and LEFT-ARROW bump the Playhead back toward the beginning of the show. 

• You can start and stop the show by using the Playback Controls (which we saw in the first chapter), or by 

pressing the spacebar. 

You can also move the Playhead by dragging the zoom slider, which we’ll describe later in this chapter. 

PAGE 27

Working With the Timeline 

Time Zoom Buttons 


The Time Zoom Buttons let you expand and contract the Timeline. When you click the button, you 

expand the Timeline. A smaller portion of your show is represented on the Timeline, but the Timeline blips 

“spread out” making it easier to select a specific firework. Here we see the before-and-after effect of zooming 

into the Timeline: 

The 

button contracts time; more of your show is represented, but the blips are closer together. 

You can also zoom in and out with the Time Zoom Slider. Which method you use for zooming is a matter of 

taste. 

Time Display 

The Time Display shows you the current time location of the Playhead (on the left) and the duration of the 

entire show (on the right). Both measurements are in minutes:seconds.hundredths-of-seconds: 

Playhead location 

Show duration 

Time Zoom Slider 

The Time Zoom Slider fulfills a number of functions. It represents the portion of the show that’s displayed 

on the Timeline, it lets you quickly move to a different part of your show, and it lets you zoom in and out. 

The track that the zoom slider sits on represents the duration of your entire show. The zoom slider itself 

maps to the portion that’s currently displayed in the Timeline: 

PAGE 28



You can move the Time Zoom Slider by grabbing anywhere along the middle portion and dragging. This is a 

great way to quickly jump to a different part of your show. Notice that when you drag, the Playhead “sticks” 

to one edge or the other—the Playhead can’t scroll out of view: 

A particularly welcome feature of the Time Zoom Slider is that it’s resizable. Resizing the Slider is a 

convenient way to expand and contract the Timeline. As opposed to the zoom buttons, which zoom in and 

out in discrete steps, the Time Zoom Slider is continuous, letting you quickly zoom into exactly the portion of 

your show that you want to examine. 

For example, let’s say you want to see the eight-second slice of your show that starts at exactly 90 seconds in. 

First, you drag the Time Zoom Slider so the section is in view: 

Next, you drag the Slider’s left thumb to the right until the 1:30 mark is at the left edge of the Timeline. (Note 

that contracting the slider zooms in; expanding it zooms out): 

Now drag the right thumb to the left: 

With just three quick mouse moves, you’ve zoomed into the part of the show that you’re interested in. 

PAGE 29


Changing the Duration of Your Show 


By default, all shows are two minutes long. To change the duration, select the Edit > Set show duration option. 

The Set show duration window will open. Type in the new duration, in seconds, and click Set: 

When you increase the duration, a blank portion is added to the end of the show. If you want to add time to 

the beginning of the show, increase the show’s length, select all of the fireworks, click on a firework blip on 

the Timeline, and drag to the right. 

Be aware that the undo command (Edit > Undo or CONTROL-Z) doesn’t apply to modifications to the show’s 

duration. 

PAGE 30

7 Changing Backgrounds 

You set your show’s background image by selecting an image from the Background menu. If you want to add 

an image of your own, select Background > Add new background and browsing to an image file. The file must 

be in this format: 

• 5x3 ratio, width to height. (The images that are shipped with FINALE Fireworks are 1667 x1000 pixels). 

Your image will be scaled to fit the Sky Field, so it can be as small or as large as you like. 

• JPEG format. 

When you add your own background, the image is copied into the backgrounds/user directory in the 

FINALE Fireworks installation directory, and the name of the image is added to the Background menu. Keep 

in mind that the image that you see in the program is a copy of the file that you added. If you make changes 

to the original file, you have to re-add the image and then restart the program. 

If you want to delete an image from the Background list, remove it from the backgrounds/user directory. 

PAGE 31

8 Saving, Opening, and Exporting 

your Show 

To save your show, go to the File menu and select an option: 

• Save. This will upload your show to the FINALE Fireworks website where it can be viewed by other 

FINALE users. The show will be rendered as a high-resolution movie and added to the website’s Show 

page. It takes about an hour to complete the rendering, so you won’t see it on the Show page immediately. 

When you select Save, you’re asked to give your show a name. 

• Save to disk. This saves your show to your local disk as an “HBS” file. The file contains everything 

FINALE needs to reconstruct your show—firework placements, background image name, soundfile 

name, and so on. The file is text-based; if you’re intrepid, you can modify your show directly by editing 

the file. Note, however, that the HBS format isn’t currently documented, and you can easily corrupt the 

file so that FINALE won’t be able to load it. 

• Save as to disk…. This is the same as the above, but lets you save the show as a new HBS file. 

The File menu’s show-opening options are: 

• Open. When you select Open, FINALE opens a panel that lists the shows that you’ve uploaded to the 

FINALE website. Note that it only lists your own shows—you can’t open shows that were created by 

other FINALE users. 

• Open from disk… lets you browse to and open a previously-saved HBS file. 

The rest of the File items are meant for real-world designers: 

• Print Inventory Report creates a printable list of the fireworks that you’re using in your show. 

• Print Loading Report creates a printable mapping of fireworks-to-launch positions, and the mapping 

between launch positions and modules/pins. 

• Print Firing Report creates a printable version of the firing script. It lists your fireworks in chronological 

order, along with their firing times and launch position information. 

• The Export …Script options create firing scripts in various industry-standard formats. 

PAGE 32

9 Real-World Show Design 

This chapter proposes a workflow for real-world show design and looks at the advanced aspects of FINALE 

that let you (the real-world designer) create and export the reports and scripts that you’ll use in the field. 

We’ve already looked at some of the FINALE tools that can be an aid to real-world design—launch 

positions, in particular. In this chapter, we’ll show you how to assign firing modules (including devices with 

slats) to launch positions, how to use the Firing View to view the module and pin assignments of individual 

fireworks, and how to export the reports that FINALE will generate for you. 

Real-World Workflow 

If you’re a real-world designer, your work in FINALE will probably follow this workflow. 

1 Add launch positions. Define and name a set of launch positions. 

2 Assign modules or slats. Assign one or more firing modules or slats to each of the launch positions. 

3 Add fireworks. Add fireworks to the launch positions. 

4 Assign module addresses and firing pins. Modify the fireworks’ modules and pin assignments by using the 

Firing View. 

5 Export your show. Save your show and export it as a set of reports and a firing script. 

FINALE can automate some of this work for you. Specifically, it can create and assign modules and firing 

pins automatically. Whether you take advantage of this automation depends, primarily, on your resources. If 

the number of modules that you can use isn’t an issue, and if all of the modules are the same type, then you 

can let FINALE automate all (or much) of the process for you. If your resources are limited, if your modules 

are of different types (different numbers of firing pins, specifically), of if you want to split modules across 

launch points, then you may need to create assignments by hand. 

The next few sections will concentrate on the second and fourth steps outlined above. We’ll assume that 

you’ve already added launch positions to your show, a subject that we’ve already discussed. (To review, you 

add a launch position by choosing the Edit > Add launch position menu item.) 

PAGE 33

Real-World Show Design 

Assigning Modules to Launch Positions 


To configure a launch position’s attributes, right-click or double-click on the launch position marker. This will 

bring up the Edit position properties panel: 

The Name is provided as a convenience and is reproduced in some of the reports. 

Distance from audience sets the location of the launch position. As you increase the distance, the launch 

position is pushed away from the audience. In the Sky Field, the launch position will get smaller and “rise up” 

towards the horizon in a simulation of its real-world location. The fireworks that you add to a more distant 

launch position will appear smaller—or farther away—than those that are added to a closer launch position 

The most important control is Add module or slat. You can either add modules/slats to the launch position 

yourself or let FINALE add them for you. When FINALE adds a module, it creates a generic module with 

these characteristics: 

• Module type: “Generic32”. The type is the name of the device, used both as a convenience for the user in 

the printed reports and as information to FINALE so consideration can be made for the specific features 

or constraints of different types of modules. For example, the type “m156” tells FINALE that you’re 

using an ATF m156. In this case, FINALE will adjust its assignment algorithm (and possibly move 

fireworks in time) to accommodate the characteristics of the m156 module. We’ll discuss the details, later; 

the point, here, is that if you’re using an ATF m156, you may want to add a module if only to assign the 

proper type. 

• Address: Starts with 1 and increases monotonically as more modules are needed. 

• First pin #: Starts with 1 and increases until the No. of pins has been reached. 

• No. of pins: 32 

• Launches/pin: 1. This attribute lets you declare the number of e-matches that are assigned to each pin, thus 

letting you economize your pin assignments. If you set the value to be greater than 1, FINALE will 

automatically assign simultaneous fireworks to the same pin until the Launches/pin setting is reached. 

PAGE 34



If these characteristics match your system, then you can let FINALE automate everything for you—you don’t 

need to add a module/slat to the launch position. However, if you need to modify the settings, click the Add 

module or slat link. This will add a new entry to the table in the middle of the panel: 

By adding a single module, you can re-define the default settings that FINALE will use when it creates new 

modules and makes pin assignments. If you’re using different types of modules at the same launch point, add 

and define more modules as needed. If you assign more fireworks to the launch point then are 

accommodated by the modules you’ve added, FINALE will automatically create modules that match the 

characteristics of the last module in the list, and will set the module’s address to the first available address 

value. 

Bear in mind that if you want to be able to assign module addresses and firing pins to specific fireworks, you 

must provide an address in the form, above. 

There are a lot more details to FINALE’s assignment algorithm that you should understand, but first we’ll 

look at some examples that introduces the basic concepts, and also introduce the Firework View. 

PAGE 35


Full Automation 


In this example, we’ll add two launch positions, PositionA and PositionB. Both launch positions use the 

FINALE default module (no slats, 32 pins, one launch per pin, etc). We add 36 fireworks to each position (in 

order to get over the 32 pin limit), but in three groups each, as illustrated below: 

16 at PosA 

16 at PosB 16 more 

at PosA 

16 more 

at PosB 

Final 4 at 

PosA 

Final 4 at 

PosB 

The modules and firing pins assignments are listed in the Firing View. To bring up the view, choose File > Firing 

View (or type CONTROL-F): 

The columns in the view should be reasonably self-explanatory (PFT means “prefire time”). We’ve scrolled 

forward to the point in the show between the first 16 fireworks at PosA and the first of PosB. Notice that the 

module addresses jump from 1 to 3 between the two modules. 

If we scroll much farther forward, to the juncture between “16 more” at PosB and the “Final 4” at PosA, 

we’ll see that address 2 was assigned to the second module in PosA: 

PAGE 36



We should note, here, that of all the values in the table, only the Addr and Pin values are (potentially) 

editable—you can modify the settings that they display in order to manually configure the assignments. 

However, this only applies to modules that have been added manually. If we click on an Addr in the current 

configuration, the only option we see is auto: 

We’ll look at effective manual assignment in a later example. The point, here, is that in order to edit the 

address and pin assignments, you must first add a module manually and assign an address to it in the Edit 

position properties panel. 

Also, be aware that while you can continue to add fireworks and edit launch positions while the Firing View is 

onscreen, the changes that you make aren’t immediately reflected in the Firing View’s table. To refresh the 

view, you must dismiss it and then bring it up again. You can dismiss the Firing View by clicking the X in the 

upper right hand corner, or by (again) typing CONTROL-F. 

Multiple Launches-per-Pin 

In this example, we’ll edit the PosA launch position so that it supports 2 launches-per-pin. We double-click 

the PosA launch position to bring up the Edit position properties panel, add a module/slat, and set launches/pin 

to 2. However, in order to increase the number of launches per pin, we must assign an address. We’ll use 2. 

For the purposes of this example, we’re also going to set the number of pins to 1: 

When we bring up the Firing View and scroll to the top of the list, we see this: 

PAGE 37



Even though the module only has one pin, two fireworks are assigned to each module (and to the same pin), 

as we wanted. Also, notice that while the address of the first module is 2, the address of the next module 

(which is added automatically) is 1. As mentioned earlier, when FINALE assigns module addresses 

automatically, it picks the first available address—and since address 1 wasn’t used, that’s the address it chose. 

Using Slats 

To add a module that contains slats, double-click a launch position to bring up the Edit position properties 

panel, click the Add module or slat link, and construct the address so that it contains a number and a letter. 

(For this example we’ve set the number of pins to 2 and the launches-per-pin to 1): 

When you use the “numberLetter” address format, FINALE knows that you’re using slats. As you exhaust 

the pins on one slat, FINALE creates another for you, incrementing the letter portion of the address: 

FINALE will automatically create 12 slats, with addresses that run from a to l. 

Splitting Modules Across Launch Positions 

So far, we’ve assigned all the launches from a module to a single launch position. But 

let’s say that you want a single module to control two groups of fireworks that are 

assigned to different launch positions. The first group is set of 16 fountains that are 

launched 200 feet from the audience—this is the main launch position. You then run 

scab wire to a second group of three large, important peonies that are launched 100 

feet farther back and to the right. In the field, the setup looks like this: 

To simulate this in FINALE, you create two launch positions (Main and Accent) and add the fireworks: 

PAGE 38



For both launch positions, bring up the Edit position properties panel and add a module with the same address 

(we’ll use 1): 

By assigning the same address, you tell FINALE that the two launch positions are using the same module. 

Bring up the Firing View and scroll to the Accent fireworks: 

PAGE 39



Because the Accent fireworks appear later than the Main 

fireworks, FINALE has automatically assigned pins 17- 

19 to them. But let’s say that you want them to be on 

pins 1-3. To change the assignments, click on the pin 

number and select another value: 

When you’re finished, the assignments look like this: 

Notice that the Accent information is presented in 

bold. This means that the assignments have been 

manually configured. FINALE won’t alter settings 

that have been manually configured. Also notice that 

the pin assignments for Main have been bumped 

up—that’s because pins 1, 2, and 3 are no longer 

available for automatic assignment. 

The Firing View 

We just saw an example of how to use the Firing View to change a pin assignment. In this section, we’ll take a 

closer look at the Firing View UI and functionality. But, first, a general principle: 

• You can move your fireworks and edit launch positions while the Firing View is onscreen. However, the 

changes that you make won’t be immediately reflected in the Firing View list. Whenever you make a change 

to a firework or launch position, you should close the Firing View and then re-open it (by typing CONTROL-F 

twice). 

PAGE 40



Positioning the Playhead 

As mentioned earlier, the Firing View gives you a 

chronological listing of the fireworks in your show. This 

list will, of course, become extremely long. To jump to a 

specific point in the list, move the Playhead near the 

section that you’re interested in before you type CONTROL- 

F. The list will scroll to the chosen point and color the 

row of the next firework that’s scheduled to be launched. 

For example, here we’ve placed the Playhead just before 

the three peonies from our previous example: 

Playhead 

When we bring up the Firing View, it scrolls to our current position and colors the next firework: 

Next firework 

Re-assigning Addresses and Pins 

As you add fireworks to a launch position, FINALE automatically assigns module addresses and firing pins 

(as we demonstrated previously). If you want to re-assign a setting, click on the Addr or Pin value and select a 

value from the dropdown menu that appears. 

The address values that you can select from in the Firing View dropdown menus are restricted to the module 

addresses that have been specifically assigned to that launch position. For example, let’s say we have two 

launch positions, PosA and PosB. We bring up the Edit position properties panel and add two module 

addresses to each launch position, 1/2 for PosA and 3/4 for PosB: 

PAGE 41



Add some fireworks to both launch positions, bring up the Firing View, scroll to a PosB firework, and open 

the Address dropdown menu: 

The only choices you have are 3, 4, and auto. 

Conflict Detection 

The Firing View can help you find and resolve questionable pin conflicts. FINALE lets you assign any number 

of fireworks to the same pin, but warns you if the fireworks aren’t all launched at the same time. If two or 

more non-simultaneous fireworks are assigned to the same pin, the Firing View marks the conflicting fireworks 

in red. 

In the example, below, we’ve created a Zippers launch position that contains a sequence of zipper effects that 

are launched one after another. We’ve edited the launch position to contain a single 32-pin module: 

PAGE 42



We add the zippers, bring up the Firing View, and set the pin number of the first firework to 1. The font 

changes to bold to show that the value has been manually set: 

Now we set the pin for a later firework to 1, as well. Because the two fireworks aren’t launched at the same 

time, FINALE detects a conflict and marks the second assignment in red: 

FINALE doesn’t try to correct this sort of conflict for you, it just points them out. By scanning the Firing 

View, you can easily see (and correct, if necessary) your module’s pin conflicts. 

PAGE 43

10 Creating Your Own Fireworks 

There are two ways to create a new firework in FINALE: By editing a single firework in order to create a new 

effect, by selecting a group of fireworks and saving them as a cake. This chapter looks at both methods of 

firework creation. The following chapters look at the tabs in the Firework Editor. 

Editing a Firework 

To create a new firework effect, you select an existing firework from the Inventory, add it to the scene, and 

then double-click it to bring up the Firework Editor. The Firework Editor contains a set of sliders, menus, and 

other controls that let you modify the attributes of the firework—there’s no programming or file editing 

involved. 

N O T E 

If you’re going to edit a firework, you shouldn’t modify its height or angle by dragging its target 

point in the Sky Field. Any hand-modifications that you make will be ignored when you save your 

new creation. 

To get started, select an 

existing firework that’s 

similar to the one you want 

to create and add it to the 

scene by clicking its icon. 

When you add the firework, 

it will automatically become 

selected.Here, we’ve 

selected the Red Ext Tail 

Comet 6” 

Double-click anywhere 

along the firework’s 

outlined path or click the 

Edit button that will appear 

onscreen to open the 

Firework Editor. 

1. Click to add 

2. Double-click 

the selected 

firework… 

…or click the 

Edit button 

The Firework Editor will appear at the top of the window: 

PAGE 44

Creating Your Own Fireworks 


As long as the Firework Editor is open, the firework will remain selected (although it might not to appear to 

be). You won’t be able modify the firework by hand, nor can you select another firework, but the Timeline 

and Playhead are still “live”. As you’re editing your firework, you’ll be able to play your show 

Add some sparkle 

You use the controls in the Firework Editor tabs to 

modify the firework. (You’ll need to use the slider at 

the bottom of the menu to reach all of the tabs.) The 

changes that you make are immediately applied to the 

selected firework. Here, we’ve increased the size of 

the comet’s shell and added some “sparkle”. We’ve 

also moved the Playhead forward so we can get a 

better view of the changes we’re making: 

To make the changes permanent and dismiss the 

menu, click Apply. If you’re dissatisfied with what 

you’ve done, click Cancel. All of the modifications 

that you made will be forgotten. 

Increase the size 

Adjust the Playhead for 

better viewing 

PAGE 45


Saving your Firework 


After you’re finished with your modifications (and have clicked Apply), you’ll return to the normal view of 

your scene. To save your creation, make sure the firework is still selected and choose 

Edit > Save selected firework from the Main Menu. This will bring up the Save Firework panel: 

• If you’re editing a new firework, you should change the name so it doesn’t overwrite the original object. 

• The Public checkbox lets you share your firework with other FINALE users. Leave it unchecked if you 

want to keep the firework to yourself. 

• The image below the Public checkbox is the icon that will be used to display the firework in the Inventory. 

FINALE makes a best guess at creating the icon, but you may need to use the Snapshot delay and Zoom 

sliders to adjust it. 

PAGE 46



When you’re ready to publish your firework, click SAVE. Your firework will be added to your local Inventory 

and uploaded to the FINALE Website. If the save is successful, you’ll see this message: 

The panel will disappear after a few seconds, or you can dismiss it by clicking the close button. 

If you tried to save a firework without changing its name, you’ll see this: 

This isn’t necessarily an error. You’ll see this message if you’re making iterative changes to your own 

fireworks; in this case, click UPDATE. You’re not allowed to update the standard fireworks or those created by 

other users. 

To find your firework in the Inventory, select My private fireworks from the first pulldown menu (make sure 

you’re in the correct category, and have selected the proper caliber): 

Creating a Cake 

A cake combines any number of other fireworks into a single effect. The individual fireworks that you add to 

a cake can include the fireworks that you’ve edited, and can come from any of the firework categories—you 

can even create a cake by combining other cakes. 

An important difference between editing a firework and creating a cake is that you are allowed to hand-modify 

the heights and angles of the individual fireworks that comprise the cake. The modifications that you’ve made 

will become part of the cake’s definition. 

PAGE 47



To get started, add some number of 

fireworks to the scene. Here, we’ve added a 

mine, two comets, and two fountains. 

We’ve also adjust the angles of the 

fountains and comets so they’re 

symmetrically distributed around the mine. 

Next, shift-click to select all of the 

fireworks, and then choose Edit > Save 

selected fireworks as cake. You’ll see the 

same Save Firework panel that we described 

earlier. Give your cake a name, make it 

public (or not), adjust the snapshot, and 

click SAVE. 

The original fireworks that you used to 

create the cake don’t become a cake, 

themselves—they remain as separate 

fireworks. 

To find the cake you created and add an 

instance of it to the show, go to the Cake 

category of your inventory and look in the 

My private fireworks section. 

As mentioned above, a cake is treated as a single effect. When you modify a cake’s launch position or its 

placement on the timeline, all of the fireworks that make up the cake move together. However, you can’t 

change a cake’s height or its angle. 

You can “break apart” a cake, and thus turn it back into individual fireworks, by selecting the cake and then 

choosing the Edit > Break apart cake menu item. 

PAGE 48


Managing your Personal Inventory 


If you want to delete a firework that you’ve created, go to Edit > Manage personal inventory: 

This will bring up the Personal Inventory panel: 

The panel lists all the fireworks that you’ve saved (both individual fireworks and cakes). To delete a firework, 

click the delete button at the far right. When you’ve finished, click Done. 

PAGE 49

11 Common Tabs 

This chapter lists the tabs that are common (or nearly so) to all fireworks. 

Firework 

The Firework tab sets some basic attributes of your firework. 

Name 

Name 

Attribute 

Text 

The name of the firework as it’s displayed to the user. The name mustn’t contain accented characters or any 

other formatting. The text field only accepts simple ASCII characters; non-ASCII characters are removed 

from the text that you supply. 

Category 

Menu 

The category in which the firework will be listed in the FINALE application. You should rarely need to 

change a firework’s category. The choice you make won’t affect the firework’s appearance; for example, if 

you’re editing a mine, setting the Category to Fountain won’t turn your design into a fountain. The firework 

isn’t placed in the selected category until you publish it through the Edit > Save selected firework. If you 

change the Category setting for an existing firework (and Save), the firework is removed from its current 

category and moved to the new one. 

Caliber 

Menu 

N O T E 

Fountains don’t have a Caliber control. Instead, they have a Duration. This is explained in the 

Fountain chapter. 

The caliber of the launching device. The menu provides options that let you choose from among a dozen 

industry-standard sizes, from 1 inch to 10 inches. 

The caliber affects almost all aspects of a firework—it’s size, velocity, and duration, and so on. It also 

indirectly influences the velocity of the stars that a shell produces. 

PAGE 50

Common Tabs 


Name 

Prefire 

Attribute 

Slider (seconds) 

Prefire is the delay between the time a firework is launched and the time that it “reveals itself”. What this 

means depends on the type of firework: 

Non-shells (mines, comets, fountains, and candles) reveal themselves almost immediately, so their prefire 

durations are extremely short (0.3 seconds by default). For these fireworks, the Prefire setting places the 

“blip” on the Timeline, but it doesn’t affect the firework itself. For example, if you increase the Prefire value, 

the blip will move to the right, but the firework itself won’t look any different. You should rarely need to 

change the Prefire value for a non-shell. 

For a shell, the Prefire setting also sets the Timeline blip; in addition, it sets the amount of time between the 

shell’s launch and its burst. The greater the Prefire value, the farther the shell will travel before it bursts. If 

you set the value to 0.0 (for a shell), FINALE computes the prefire duration for you based on the shell’s 

caliber. 

PAGE 51

Common Tabs 

Field notes 


The Field notes tab lets you add a description, explanation, instruction or any other arbitrary text to your 

firework. Provided primarily for the pro, the notes that you supply will appear in the reports that you 

generate. 

Name 

Notes 

Attribute 

Text 

Arbitrary text that’s added to the firework. The text can be of any length, but may only contain normal 

ASCII characters—it can’t contain accents or other special characters. Non-ASCII characters are removed 

from the text. 

PAGE 52

12 Peony 

A peony is a shell that bursts into a spherical set of stars and pistils. The stars can have two layers of 

pyrotechnic material. After a star burns through its first layer, it transitions into a second effect. 

PAGE 53

Peony 

Launch 


The Launch tab defines the attributes of the shell’s launch. 

Name 

Cone angle 

Attribute 

Slider (degrees) 

A shell’s cone angle is the angle across which successive launches are randomly distributed. The center of the 

angle is straight up. As you increase the cone angle value, the cone widens symmetrically around the center. 

N O T E 

The adjustments that you make to the cone angle won’t affect the firework that you’re currently 

editing. The setting is applied after you’ve saved your firework and added a new instance to the 

scene. 

Cone height 

Slider (scaler; 1.0 = natural height) 

By default, the height (or distance) of a shell’s trajectory is determined by the velocity with which it’s 

launched, and velocity is directly related to the mortar’s caliber (and some other physical properties). 

The Cone height slider lets you adjust the shell’s velocity (and so its height). If you set the slider to 1.0, you 

get the velocity/height that’s determined by the caliber. Values greater than 1.0 produce greater heights, as 

much as twice as high as the natural caliber height. Values less than 1.0 reduce the height. If you set the 

value to 0.0, the firework won’t lift off at all. 

Keep in mind that you’re increasing and decreasing the shell’s velocity. The duration of its trajectory will be 

the same regardless of this slider’s value. Thus, you can adjust the cone height without invalidating the 

shell’s prefire setting. 

Randomness 

Slider (Fraction; only affects new fireworks) 

The velocity with which a shell is launched is set naturally by its caliber. The Randomness slider lets you add 

some randomness to the velocity. As you increase the slider’s value, the range of velocities widens, but 

they’re always less than the natural velocity that’s set by the shell’s caliber. For example, let’s say you’re 

creating firework that launches a shell with an initial velocity of 400 ft/sec. If you set the Randomness to 

0.00, the shells will always emerge with (nearly) the same initial velocity (400 ft/sec). A value of 0.5 means 

shell could emerge with an initial velocity that’s anywhere between 200 and 400 ft/sec. 

PAGE 54

Peony 

Shell tail 


A shell’s tail is the trail of glowing particles that it leaves behind after it’s launched and that lasts until it bursts. 

You make the tail visible by setting the Tail effect, below, to something other than No tail. You can then set the 

tail’s color through the other control. 

Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 

Lets you choose the type of tail you want the shell to display: 

No tail. Use this effect to turn off the tail. 

Thin. The particles are equally-spaced along the trajectory, and are of the same brightness and duration 

(although with some randomness thrown in). The particles stay fairly close to the path of the trajectory. 

Thick. This is the same as Thin but there are more particles, and they trace a wider path. 

Color 

Color picker 

Sets the tail’s color. 

PAGE 55

Peony 

Shell burst 


The Shell burst controls set some basic attributes of the stars that emerge when the shell bursts (or “breaks”). 

Name 

No. of Stars 

Attribute 

Slider (Count) 

Sets the number of stars that each shell contains. When the shell bursts, the stars are thrown in random 

directions away from the shell, creating a peony effect. If you set No. of stars to 0, the shell won’t throw any 

stars. The stars’ attributes (color, weight, sound, and so on) are set through the various Star tabs. 

Burst force 

Slider (Scaler; 1.0 = natural size) 

Sets the power with which the stars break from the shell. 1.0 is the shell’s natural burst power, based on the 

caliber of the shell and other physical properties. Other values are applied as scalers on the natural power: 

0.5 means the stars are thrown half has hard; 2.0 means they’re thrown twice as hard. A setting of 0.0 means 

that there’s virtually no power—the stars fall out of the break with very little outward momentum. 

Note that the Burst force setting affects the sound volume of the report. If you want to create a weak shell 

with a loud report, you have to increase the Report > Loudness setting. 

No. of Pistils 

Pistil burst force 



These two controls are similar to the first two, but are applied to the shell’s pistils. A pistil creates a trail 

effect that’s similar to a star’s tail; however, pistils are independent of stars. When the shell bursts, the pistils 

are thrown in random directions away from the shell, creating the “spokes” in a peony effect. The pistil’s 

other attributes are set in the various Pistil tabs. 

PAGE 56

Peony 

Shell burst sound 


The Shell burst sound controls let you select and modify the sound that’s played when the firework’s shell 

finishes its trajectory (the sound is played even if the shell doesn’t actually burst). 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the shell bursts. The names of the 

sounds that you can choose from are self-descriptive: Whoosh, Pop, Thud shriek, and so on. 

Volume 

Slider (Fraction) 

Sets the amplitude of the sound as a percentage of its unattenuated amplitude. A volume of 1.0 is 

completely unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by the firework’s caliber or 

the Shell burst > Burst force setting; for example, if you increase a firework’s caliber, the shell’s burst sound 

doesn’t get louder. 

Pitch shift 

Slider (-1.0 = one octave lower; 1.0 = one octave higher) 

Shifts the pitch of the sound by as much as an octave lower (-1.0) to an octave higher (1.0). Pitch shifting is 

effected by changing the playback speed of the soundfile. Shifting the sound lower will increase its duration; 

shifting it higher will increase the duration. 

Random pitch shift 


Adds a random amount of pitch shift to the sound of each shell burst. You can declare a random pitch shift 

from an octave lower to an octave higher than the pitch defined by the Pitch shift attribute. For example, if 

you set Pitch shift to -0.5 (half an octave lower than the “natural” pitch of the sound) and set Random pitch 

shift to 0.3, the pitch shift for a specific burst will be somewhere between -0.2 (a fifth of an octave below the 

natural pitch) and -0.5 (a half an octave lower than natural). 

PAGE 57

Peony 

Star 


A star is created when particles of pyrotechnic composition material are ignited and emitted by a bursting 

shell. The Star tab defines the basic attributes of a star, such as its duration and whether it’s accompanied by a 

tip. A star’s force—but not its duration—is affected by the Shell burst > Burst force setting. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 

Slider (Scaler; 1.0 = natural longevity) 

Sets the amount of time between the star’s emergence from the bursting shell and the time that its 

pyrotechnic material is exhausted. The slider value isn’t an amount of time in seconds: It’s a scaler on the 

star’s natural duration, which is determined by its caliber, speed, and other factors. This natural duration is 

represented by a value of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, for example, the duration between the burst and 

the time that the star is exhausted will be half as long as the natural duration. If you want to extend the 

stars’ trajectories, increase the longevity value. 

Abridgment 


Abridgment adds a bit of randomness to the star’s longevity. With a setting of 0.0, there’s no randomness— 

all stars that burst from a shell last (approximately) the same amount of time (as set through the Longevity 

slider). As you increase the Abridgment value, you reduce the duration range. For example, a setting of 0.5 

means that a star may die out any time after half of its longevity has expired. 

The Abrigment setting never increases a star’s duration so that it lasts longer than the Longevity setting—it can 

only decrease it. 

Tip effect 

Menu 

Lets you choose the type of tip you want the star to display: 

No tip. Turns off the tip. 

Constant. All star tips appear together, last for the same amount of time, and burn with the same intensity. 

Strobe. Some randomness is added to the initial appearances, durations, and intensities of the tips, creating a 

strobe effect. 

PAGE 58

Peony 

Star body 


The Star body controls let you fine-tune a star’s mass so that it’s more or less susceptible to air friction, 

gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the stars’ trajectories; they don’t modify the size or appearance 

of the stars. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 

Slider (Scaler; 1.0 = natural weight) 

Sets the star’s weight. A value of 1.0 is the star’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, the star 

becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly. Smaller values make the star lighter and so the 

straight-outward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

Momentum 

Slider (Scaler; 1.0 = natural momentum loss) 

As a star consumes its pyrotechnic material, it loses mass and momentum, and thus slows down and 

becomes increasingly more susceptible to the effects of the wind and air friction. This attribute lets you set 

the scale of the star’s ultimate momentum (the point at which it has exhausted its material) compared to its 

burst momentum. A value of 1.0 produces a “natural” momentum loss. If you increase the value, the star 

maintains more of its momentum over the course of its trajectory. If you decrease the value, the star loses 

momentum more quickly. 

Wind resistance 

Slider (Scaler; 1.0 = natural wind resistance) 

Sets the star’s susceptibility to the wind and air friction. A value of 1.0 produces a slight, natural resistance. 

Decreasing the slider’s value makes the star less affected by the wind, causing its trajectory to straighten and 

elongate. Increasing the value increases the effect of the wind and air friction on the star, shortening its 

trajectory and bending it in the direction of the wind. 

PAGE 59

Peony 

Star tip 


The tip of a star is its leading edge as it burst from a shell. The tip can begin “glowing” as soon as the star 

emerges and can continue through the star’s duration. You make the tip visible by setting the Star > Tip effect 

to something other than No tip. You then set the tip’s other attributes through the controls in this tab. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the tip’s color. 

Second color 

Color picker 

If you set the star’s second color, half of the stars will be painted with the main color (the Color setting) and 

the other half will be painted with the second color. The colors are randomly distributed amongst the stars. 

Not all palms have a Second color control. 

Size 

Slider (Scaler) 

Sets the magnitude of the tip’s glow. Unlike a shell tip, a star tip doesn’t have a “natural” size that’s based 

on the Fireworks > Caliber setting. As you select larger or smaller caliber settings, you’ may want to increase 

or decrease the value of this attribute. 

PAGE 60

Peony 

Star transition 


After a star has exhausted a layer of its pyrotechnic material, it can transition into a second layer of material 

that can create an effect that’s different from the first. This second effect displays tips but not tails. 

Name 

Tip effect 

Attribute 

Menu 

Lets you choose the type of tip you want the transition effect to display: 


Constant. All tips appear together, last for the same amount of time, and burn with the same intensity. 



Delay 

Slider (Seconds) 

Sets the amount of time, in seconds, that the transition effect appears after the original effect has burned 

through its pyrotechnic material. 

Longevity 


Sets the amount of time between the transition effect’s initial appearance and the time that its pyrotechnic 

material is exhausted. The slider value isn’t an amount of time in seconds: It’s a scaler on the effect’s natural 

duration, which is determined by its caliber, speed, and other factors. This natural duration is represented by 

a value of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, for example, the duration will be half as long as the natural 

duration. If you want to extend the trajectories, increase the longevity value. 

PAGE 61

Peony 

Transition tip 


The Transition tip tab sets the color and size of the tips that are displayed by the transition effect. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 


Sets the magnitude of the tip’s glow. The tip doesn’t have a “natural” size that’s based on the Fireworks > 

Caliber setting. As you select larger or smaller caliber settings, you may want to increase or decrease the 

value of this attribute. 

PAGE 62

Peony 

Pistil 


A pistil is a star that’s notable more for its tail than its tip. When a shell bursts, its pistils are thrown in random 

directions away from the shell, creating the “spokes” in a peony effect. The pistil’s other attributes are set in 

the various Pistil tabs. 

You set the number of pistils in the Shell burst tab. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 


Sets the amount of time between the pistil’s emergence from the bursting shell and the time that its 


pistil’s natural duration, which is determined by the firework’s caliber, speed, and other factors. This natural 

duration is represented by a value of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, for example, the duration between the 

burst and the time that the pistil is exhausted will be half as long as the natural duration. If you want to 

extend the pistil’ trajectories, increase the longevity value. 

Abridgment 


Abridgment adds a bit of randomness to the pistil’s longevity. With a setting of 0.0, there’s no randomness— 

all pistils that burst from a shell last (approximately) the same amount of time (as set through the Longevity 


means that a pistil may die out any time after half of its longevity has expired. 

The Abrigment setting never increases a pistil’s duration so that it lasts longer than the Longevity setting—it 

can only decrease it. 

PAGE 63

Peony 

Pistil body 


The Pistil body controls let you fine-tune a pistil’s mass so that it’s more or less susceptible to air friction, 

gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the pistil’ trajectories; they don’t modify the size or appearance 

of the stars. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the weight of a single pistil. A value of 1.0 is the pistil’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, the 

pistil becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly (it appears to droop). Smaller values make 

the pistil lighter and so the straight-outward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

The Pistil tail tab also has a Weight attribute. The two Weight controls affect different aspects of the pistil’s 

trajectory: This attribute affects the weight of the pistil’s star, bending its trajectory. The Weight controls in 

the Pistil tail tab set the weight of the particles along the entire tail. When you increase the weight of this 

attribute, you cause the stars to arc and then droop; when you increase the weight of the pistil’s tail, the 

effect is that of “pulling down” the entire tail from the pistil’s initial burst point. 

Momentum 


As a pistil consumes its pyrotechnic material, it loses mass and momentum, and thus slows down and 


the scale of the pistil’s ultimate momentum (the point at which it has exhausted its material) compared to its 

burst momentum. A value of 1.0 produces a “natural” momentum loss. If you increase the value, the pistil 

maintains more of its momentum over the course of its trajectory. If you decrease the value, the pistil loses 




Sets the pistil’s susceptibility to the wind and air friction. A value of 1.0 produces a slight, natural resistance. 

Decreasing the slider’s value makes the pistil less affected by the wind, causing its trajectory to straighten 

and elongate. Increasing the value increases the effect of the wind and air friction on the pistil, shortening 

its trajectory and bending it in the direction of the wind. 

PAGE 64

Peony 

Pistil tail 


This tab sets the attributes of the pistil’s tail. Additional pistil tail attributes are set through the Pistil glitter tab. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the color of the pistil’s tail. (NOTE: The Bright: slider in the Color picker is ignored. The tail’s brightness 

is set by the Brightness control.) 

Brightness 


Controls the brightness of the tail’s color. Increasing the value of the slider causes the tail to become more 

intense. 

Weight 


Sets the weight the individual particles in the pistil’s tail. A value of 1.0 is a particle’s “natural” weight (which 

is very close to weightless). If you increase the value, the particles become heavier and are pulled back to 

Earth, causing the entire tail to appear to be “pulled down” from its launch point. Smaller values make the 

particles lighter and less affected by gravity. 

The Pistil tab also has a Weight attribute. A discussion of the difference between the two weights is provided 

in the Weight description in the Pistil tab. 

Length 

Slider (Scaler; 1.0 = natural length) 

Sets the longevity of the particles in the pistil’s tail (in other words, the amount of time before they’re 

extinguished). By increasing or decreasing this value, you can cause more or less of the tail to be visible at a 

given time. 

PAGE 65

Peony 

Pistil glitter 


A pistil’s tail can contain glitter. These are particles that have more of a shimmer when compared to the tail’s 

normal particles. 

Name 

Brightness 

Attribute 


Controls the brightness of the tail’s glitter particles. Increasing the value of the slider causes the glitter to 

become more intense. 

Density 

Slider (Fraction; 0.0 = no glitter) 

Adjusts the proportion of glitter compared to the tail’s normal particles. If you set the value to 0.0, you get 

no glitter; if you set it to 1.0, all of the particles will glitter. 

PAGE 66

13 Chrysanthemum, Kamuro, 

Diadem, Brocade, Willow, and 

Dahlia 

The fireworks in this chapter are composed much like peonies: They’re shells that burst into stars (which can 

transition into a second effect) and pistils. 

PAGE 67

Chrysanthemum, Kamuro, Diadem, Brocade, Willow, and Dahlia 

Launch 


The Launch tab defines the attributes of the shell’s launch. . 

Name 

Cone angle 

Attribute 




N O T E 

The adjustments that you make to the cone angle won’t affect on firework that you’re currently 


scene. 

Cone height 









the same regardless of this slider’s value. Thus, you can adjust the cone height without “invalidating” the 


Randomness 

Slider (Fraction; 0.0 = autocompute) 





0.01, the shells will always emerge with (nearly) the same initial velocity (400 ft/sec). If you set the value to 

0.5, a shell could emerge with an initial velocity that’s somewhere between 200 and 400 ft/sec. 

A value of 0.0 tells FINALE to select a physically reasonable—but fairly small—range of velocities. 

PAGE 68


Shell tail 





Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Color 

Color picker 


PAGE 69


Shell burst 



Name 

No. of Stars 

Attribute 





Burst force 



caliber of the shell and other physical properties. Other values are applied as scalers on this natural power: 









These two controls are similar to the first two, but are applied to the shell’s pistils. A pistil creates an effect 

that’s similar to a star’s tail; however, pistils are independent of stars. When the shell bursts, the pistils are 

thrown in random directions away from the shell, creating the “spokes” in a peony effect. The pistil’s other 

attributes are set in the various Pistil tabs. 

PAGE 70





finishes its trajectory (the sound is played even if the shell doesn’t actually “burst”). 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 



Volume 


Sets the amplitude of the sound as a percentage of its “natural” amplitude. A volume of 1.0 is unattenuated; 

a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by the firework’s caliber or the Shell burst > Burst force 

setting; for example, if you increase a firework’s caliber, the shell’s burst sound doesn’t get louder. 

Pitch shift 












PAGE 71


Star 



shell. The Star tab defines the basic attributes of a star. A star’s force—but not its duration—is affected by the 

Shell burst > Burst force setting. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 








Abridgment 








Tip effect 

Menu 






Only some of the diadems have a Tip effect slider. None of the other types in this chapter do. 

PAGE 72


Star body 




of the stars. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 





Momentum 














PAGE 73


Star tip (some diadems, only) 




to something other than No tip. 

Only some of the diadems have Star tip tabs. None of the other types in this chapter do. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Second color 

Color picker 




Size 





PAGE 74


Star tail 


A star’s tail is the trail of glowing particles that it leaves behind after it’s emerged from its shell, and lasting 

until it dies. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the tail’s color. (NOTE: The Bright: slider in the Color picker is ignored. The tail’s brightness is set by the 

Brightness control.) 

Brightness 


Controls the brightness of the tail’s particles. Increasing the value of the slider causes the tail to become 

more intense. 

Weight 


Sets the weight the individual particles in the star’s tail. A value of 1.0 is a particle’s “natural” weight (which 




Length 


Sets the longevity of the particles in the star’s tail (in other words, the amount of time before they’re 


given time. 

PAGE 75


Star glitter 


A star’s tail can contain glitter. These are particles that have more of a shimmer when compared to the tail’s 


Name 

Brightness 

Attribute 




Density 




PAGE 76






Name 

Tip effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Delay 




Longevity 







Size 





PAGE 77





Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 





PAGE 78


Pistil 


A pistil is one of a second set of stars. For the fireworks in this chapter, the pistils don’t have tails; instead, 

they have tips. 


Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 








Abridgment 








Tip effect 

Menu 

Lets you choose the type of tip you want the pistil to display: 




PAGE 79


Pistil body 


The Pistil body controls let you fine-tune the mass of the pistils, such that they’re more or less susceptible to 

air friction, gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the pistils’ trajectories; they don’t modify the size or 

appearance of the stars. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 





Momentum 














PAGE 80


Pistil tip 


Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Second color 

Color picker 

If you set the pistil tip’s second color, half of the tips will be painted with the main color (the Color setting) 

and the other half will be painted with the second color. The colors are randomly distributed amongst the 

pistils. 

Size 


Sets the magnitude of the tip’s glow. Unlike a shell tip, a pistil’s tip doesn’t have a “natural” size that’s based 



Begin 


Determines the point, along the pistil’s trajectory, at which the tip starts glowing. If you set this slider to 0.0, 

the tips will appear immediately after the shell bursts. If you set it to 0.5, they’ll appear halfway through the 

pistil’s duration (as set by the Pistil > Longevity slider). If you set it to 1.0, they won’t appear at all. 

PAGE 81

14 Palm 

A palm is a shell with stars and pistils that typically have a pronounced droop. 

PAGE 82

Palm 

Launch 



Name 

Cone angle 

Attribute 




N O T E 



scene. 

Cone height 











Randomness 









PAGE 83

Palm 

Shell tail 





Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Color 

Color picker 


PAGE 84

Palm 

Shell burst 



Name 

No. of Stars 

Attribute 





Burst force 












These two controls are similar to the first two, but are applied to the shell’s pistils. A pistil creates a trail 

effect that’s similar to a star’s tail; however, pistils are independent of stars. When the shell bursts, the pistils 

are thrown in random directions away from the shell, creating the “spokes” in a peony effect. The pistil’s 

other attributes are set in the various Pistil tabs. 

PAGE 85

Palm 





Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 



Volume 


Sets the amplitude of the sound as a percentage of its “natural” amplitude. A volume of 1.0 is completely 

unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by the firework’s caliber or the Shell 

burst > Burst force setting; for example, if you increase a firework’s caliber, the shell’s burst sound doesn’t get 

louder. 

Pitch shift 












PAGE 86

Palm 

Star 




tip. A star’s force—but not its duration—is affected by the Shell burst > Burst force setting. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 








Abridgment 








Tip effect 

Menu 






PAGE 87

Palm 

Star body 




of the stars. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 





Momentum 














PAGE 88

Palm 

Star tip 




to something other than No tip. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Second color 

Color picker 




Size 





Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the points, along the star’s trajectory, at which the tip starts and stops glowing. 

The default settings mean that the tip starts glowing as soon as the star emerges from the shell, and it 

disappears when the star dies. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 (for example) would start the glow a quarter of the 

way along the trajectory and extinguish it a quarter of the way from the burst. 

The End value must be greater than the Begin value; if it isn’t, the tip won’t appear. 

Not all palms have Begin and End controls. 

PAGE 89

Palm 

Star tail 



until it dies. You make the tail visible by setting the Tail effect, below, to something other than No tail. You can 

then set the tail’s other attributes through the rest of the controls. 

Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Glitter. The glitter tail is like the Thick tail, but with the randomness turned up. The increased variation in 

particle and brightness gives the tail a glittery or twinkling effect. 

Color 

Color picker 


Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the length of the star’s tail measured along the star’s trajectory. Settings of 0.0 

and 1.0, respectively, mean that the tail begins as soon as the star emerges from the shell, and it disappears 

when the star dies. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 (for example) would cause the tail to appear a quarter of the way 

along the trajectory and die out a quarter of the way from the end of the trajectory. 

The End value must be greater than the Begin value; if it isn’t, the tail won’t appear. 

PAGE 90

Palm 

Star tail, cont. 


This tab sets additional attributes of the star’s tail. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 






Length 




given time. 

PAGE 91

Palm 

Star sparkle 


A sparkle is a small series of sparks that are left behind along the star’s trajectory. It’s similar to the star’s tail, 

but is much shorter-lived and more intense. 

Name 

Has sparkle 

Attribute 

Checkbox 

If checked, the star has a sparkle; if not, it doesn’t. 

Color 

Color picker 

Sets the color of a star’s sparkle. 

PAGE 92

Palm 





Name 

Tip effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Delay 




Longevity 







PAGE 93

Palm 




Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 





PAGE 94

Palm 

Pistil 


A pistil is a star that’s notable more for its tail than its tip. When a shell bursts, its pistils are thrown in random 

directions away from the shell, creating the “spokes” in a peony effect. The pistil’s other attributes are set in 

the various Pistil tabs. 


Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 








Abridgment 








PAGE 95

Palm 

Pistil body 


The Pistil body controls let you fine-tune the mass of the pistil’s stars, such that they’re more or less 

susceptible to air friction, gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the pistils’ trajectories; they don’t 

modify the size or appearance of the stars. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 





The Pistil tail tab also has a Weight attribute. The two Weight controls affect different aspects of the pistil’s 

trajectory: This attribute affects the weight of the pistil’s star, bending its trajectory. The Weight controls in 

the Pistil tail tab set the weight of the particles along the entire tail. When you increase the weight of this 

attribute, you cause the stars to arc and then droop; when you increase the weight of the pistil’s tail, the 

effect is that of “pulling down” the entire tail from the pistil’s initial burst point. 

Momentum 














PAGE 96

Palm 

Pistil tail 


This tab sets the attributes of the pistil’s tail. Additional pistil tail attributes are set through the Pistil glitter tab. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the color of the pistil’s tail. (NOTE: The Bright: slider in the Color picker is ignored. The tail’s brightness 

is set by the Brightness control.) 

Brightness 


Controls the brightness of the tail’s color. Increasing the value of the slider causes the tail to become more 

intense. 

Weight 


Sets the weight the individual particles in the pistil’s tail. A value of 1.0 is a particle’s “natural” weight (which 




The Pistil tab also has a Weight attribute. A discussion of the difference between the two weights is provided 

in the Weight description in the Pistil tab. 

Length 


Sets the longevity of the particles in the pistil’s tail (in other words, the amount of time before they’re 


given time. 

PAGE 97

Palm 

Pistil glitter 


A pistil’s tail can contain glitter. These are particles that have more of a shimmer when compared to the tail’s 


Name 

Brightness 

Attribute 




Density 




PAGE 98

15 Salute 

A salute is a shell that produces a report (a bright flash and a loud bang). 

PAGE 99

Salute 

Launch 



Name 

Cone angle 

Attribute 




N O T E 



scene. 

Cone height 











Randomness 









PAGE 100

Salute 

Shell tail 





Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Color 

Color picker 


PAGE 101

Salute 

Flash 


The Flash tab sets the graphical attributes of the salute (aside from color). 

Name 

Shape 

Attribute 

Menu 

Sets the figuration of the salute. There are three shapes: Spoke, Ring, and Star, as shown below. More 

examples are given in the Flash color tab description. 

Spoke Ring Star 

Size 

Slider (Meters) 

The size of the “sweet spot” of the salute, in meters. The size setting isn’t affected by the caliber of the 

firework. 

Sky brightening 


Part of the spectacle of a salute is that it can light up the night sky. The Sky brightening attribute adds an 

extremely brief, non-linear lightening mask on the show’s background image as the salute explodes. Dark 

parts of the image remain dark while the brightness of lighter pixels is increased, creating an effect that 

seems to cast shadows. Sky brightening isn’t affected by the salute’s size or color. 

PAGE 102

Salute 

Flash colors 


The Flash colors tab sets the colors that are used in the salute. All four sliders are color pickers that attribute a 

certain aspect of the graphic. Rather than describe them in a table, we’ll explain them with some examples. 

A salute consists of three discrete parts and a “blur”. 

The discrete parts are the “big spikes”, the “small 

spikes”, and the “ring”. As you can see from the 

example, the color of the big spikes is set through Color 

A. That of the small spikes is Color C, and the ring is 

Color B. The Gradient color is the blur that’s placed on 

top of the entire effect, and that fades out spherically 

from the center. 

Here’s the same effect, but now we’ve desaturated the 

blur (the Gradient color), in order to make the “blur” 

more pronounced. 

Notice that we’re using the Ring shape. The ring is the 

only shape that uses all four colors. So what if we 

choose another shape?... 

PAGE 103

Salute 


Here, we’ve changed to the Star shape without changing 

the color settings. Notice that the ring disappears—the 

star doesn’t use Color B—but we can still see the effects 

of the spike colors and the blur. 

Finally, we shift to Spoke and dim the Gradient color. 

The ring comes back, but the spokes are painted with 

the “small spike” color (Color C) only. The spoke shape 

doesn’t use Color A. 

PAGE 104

Salute 

Salute sound 


The Salute sound controls let you select and modify the sound that’s played when the salute explodes. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the salute explodes. The names of the 


Volume 



completely unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by the salute’s caliber or the 

Flash > size setting. 

Pitch shift 







Adds a random amount of pitch shift to the sound. You can declare a random pitch shift from an octave 

lower to an octave higher than the pitch defined by the Pitch shift attribute. For example, if you set Pitch 

shift to -0.5 (half an octave lower than the “natural” pitch of the sound) and set Random pitch shift to 0.3, the 

pitch shift for a specific salute will be somewhere between -0.2 (a fifth of an octave below the natural pitch) 

and -0.5 (a half an octave lower than natural). 

PAGE 105

16 Comet 

A comet is an effect that launches a single, vivid shell that doesn’t burst. 

PAGE 106

Comet 

Launch 


The Launch tab defines the attributes of the comet’s launch. 

Name 

Cone angle 

Attribute 


A comet’s cone angle is the angle across which successive launches are randomly distributed. The center of 

the angle is straight up. As you increase the cone angle value, the cone widens symmetrically around the 

center. 

Cone height 


By default, the height (or distance) of a comet’s trajectory is determined by the velocity with which it’s 


The Cone height slider lets you adjust the comet’s velocity (and so its height). If you set the slider to 1.0, you 




Keep in mind that you’re increasing and decreasing the comet’s velocity. The duration of its trajectory will be 


comet’s prefire setting. 

Randomness 


The velocity with which a comet shoots its shell is set naturally by the comet’s caliber. The Randomness 

slider lets you add some randomness to the velocity. As you increase the slider’s value, the range of 

velocities widens, but they’re always less than the natural velocity that’s set by the comet’s caliber. For 

example, let’s say you’re creating a comet that shoots its shell with an initial velocity of 400 ft/sec. If you set 

the Randomness to 0.0, the comet’s shell will always emerge with the same initial velocity (400 ft/sec). If you 

set the value to 0.5, the shell could emerge with an initial velocity that’s somewhere between 200 and 400 

ft/sec. A value of 1.0 means that the shell could emerge at anywhere from 0 to 400 ft/sec. 

N O T E 

Unlike for other firework types, a value of 0.0 for a comet is interpreted literally—it means that 

no randomness is applied to the velocity. 

PAGE 107

Comet 

Launch sound 


The Launch sound tab lets you select and modify the sound that’s played when the comet is launched. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the comet is launched. The names of 

the sounds that you can choose from are self-descriptive: Whoosh, Pop, Thud shriek, and so on. 

Volume 


Sets the amplitude of the sound as a percentage of its “natural” amplitude. A volume of 1.0 is completely 

unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by caliber; for example, if you increase a 

firework’s caliber, the launch sound doesn’t get louder. 

Pitch shift 







Adds a random amount of pitch shift to the sound of each launch. You can declare a random pitch shift 


you set Pitch shift to 0.5 (half an octave higher than the “natural” pitch of the sound) and set Random pitch 

shift to -0.3, the pitch shift for a specific launch will be somewhere between 0.2 (a fifth of an octave above 

the natural pitch) and 0.5 (a half an octave higher than natural). 

PAGE 108

Comet 

Shell 


The Shell tab defines the basic attributes of the comet’s shell. Other shell attributes are provided through Shell 

body, Shell tip, and so on. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 


Sets the amount of time between the shell’s emergence and the time that its pyrotechnic material is 

exhausted. The slider value isn’t an amount of time in seconds: It’s a scaler on the shell’s natural duration, 

which is determined by its caliber, speed, and other factors. This natural duration is represented by a value 

of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, for example, the duration between the launch and the time that the shell is 

exhausted will be half as long as the natural duration. If you want to extend the shells’ trajectories, increase 

the longevity value. 

Has tip 

Checkbox 

These two checkboxes determine whether or not the comet has a tip. The tip and report attributes are set in 

the Shell tip tab. 

PAGE 109

Comet 

Shell body 


The Shell body controls let you fine-tune a shell’s mass so that it’s more or less susceptible to air friction, 

gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the shell’s trajectory; they don’t modify the size or appearance 

of the shell. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the weight of the comet’s shell. A value of 1.0 is the shell’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, 

the shell becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly. Smaller values make the shell lighter 

and so the straight-outward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

Momentum 


As a shell consumes its pyrotechnic material, it loses mass and momentum, and thus slows down and 


the scale of the shell’s ultimate momentum (the point at which it has exhausted its material) compared to its 

launch momentum. A value of 1.0 produces a “natural” momentum loss. If you increase the value, the shell 

maintains more of its momentum over the course of its trajectory. If you decrease the value, the shell loses 




Sets the shell’s susceptibility to the wind and air friction. A value of 1.0 produces a slight, natural resistance. 

Decreasing the slider’s value makes the shell less affected by the wind, causing its trajectory to straighten 

and elongate. Increasing the value increases the effect of the wind and air friction on the shell, shortening its 


PAGE 110

Comet 

Shell tip 


The tip of a comet’s shell is its leading edge. You make the tip visible by checking the Shell > Has tip checkbox. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 


Sets the magnitude of the tip’s glow. A value of 1.0 is the natural size, based on the Firework > Caliber setting. 

Other values act as scalers on the natural size: 0.5 makes the tip half as large; 2.0 makes it twice as large. 

PAGE 111

Comet 

Shell tail 


A shell’s tail is the trail of glowing particles that it leaves behind after it’s launched, and lasting until it dies. 

You make the tail visible by setting the Tail effect, below, to something other than No tail. 

Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 








Color 

Color picker 


PAGE 112

Comet 

Shell sparkle 


A sparkle is a small series of sparks that are left behind along the shell’s trajectory. It’s similar to the shell’s tail, 

but is much shorter-lived and more intense. 

Name 

Has sparkle 

Attribute 

Checkbox 

If checked, the shell has a sparkle; if not, it doesn’t. 

Color 

Color picker 

Sets the color of a shell’s sparkle. 

PAGE 113

17 Mine 

A mine is a dense, overpowering effect that sprays a number of shells (or projectiles) that can burst into stars 

that finish with a report. 

PAGE 114

Mine 

Mine Launch 


The Mine launch tab defines the number and distribution of projectiles that are launched at a time. 

Name 

Thickness 

Attribute 

Slider (Scaler; 0.0 = one projectile) 

This slider controls the number of projectiles that are launched during a single launch. If you want a single 

projectile, set the slider to 0.0. Greater values increase the count. The maximum value produces about 200 

projectiles. 

Cone angle 


A mine’s cone angle is the angle across which the projectiles in a single launch are randomly distributed. The 

center of the angle is straight up. As you increase the cone angle value, the cone widens symmetrically 

around the center. 

Cone height 


By default, the height (or distance) of a projectile’s trajectory is determined by the velocity with which it’s 

launched, and velocity is directly related to the mine’s caliber (and some other physical properties). 

The Cone height slider lets you adjust the projectiles’ velocities (and so they’re heights). If you set the slider 

to 1.0, you get the velocity/height that’s determined by the caliber. Values greater than 1.0 produce greater 

heights, as much as twice as high as the natural caliber height. Values less than 1.0 reduce the height. If you 

set the value to 0.0, the projectiles won’t lift off at all. 

Keep in mind that you’re increasing and decreasing the velocity of the projectiles. Their durations will be the 

same regardless of this slider’s value. 

N O T E 

If you’ve modified the mine’s height by dragging the target in the Sky Field, this control will 

have no effect. 

PAGE 115

Mine 


Name 

Attribute 

Randomness 


The velocities of a mine’s projectiles are set naturally by the mine’s caliber. The Randomness slider lets you 

add some randomness to the distribution of velocities. As you increase the slider’s value the range of 

velocities widens, but they’re always less than the natural velocity that’s set by the caliber. For example, let’s 

say you’re creating a 6” mine that produces a stream of projectiles that are shot at an initial default velocity 

of 400 ft/sec. If you set the Randomness to 0.01, all projectiles will emerge with (very nearly) the same initial 

velocity (400 ft/sec). If you set the value to 0.5, each projectile will emerge with an initial velocity that’s 

somewhere between 200 and 400 ft/sec. A value of 1.0 means that a projectile could emerge at anywhere 

from 0 to 400 ft/sec. 


PAGE 116

Mine 

Launch sound 


The Launch sound tab lets you select and modify the sound that’s played when the mine is launched. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the mine is launched. The names of the 


Volume 



completely unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by caliber; for example, if 

you increase a mine’s caliber, the launch sound doesn’t get louder. 

Pitch shift 












PAGE 117

Mine 

Shell 


The Shell tab defines the basic attributes of a mine’s projectiles. More detailed attributes are provided through 

the Shell body, Shell burst, Shell tip, and so on. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 


Sets the amount of time between the shell’s launch and its burst. The slider value isn’t an amount of time in 

seconds: It’s a scaler on the shell’s natural duration, which is determined by its caliber, speed, and other 

factors. The natural duration causes the shell to burst right about the time it has reached its apex. This 

natural duration is represented by a value of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, for example, the duration 

between launch and burst will be half as long as the natural duration. If you want the shell to start to fall 

back to earth before it bursts, increase the longevity value. 

Abridgment 


Abridgment adds a bit of randomness to the shell’s longevity. With a setting of 0.0, there’s no randomness— 

all shells that are fired in a single launch will burst at (approximately) the same time (as set through the 

Longevity slider). As you increase the Abridgment value, you reduce the duration range. For example, a 

setting of 0.1 means that a shell may burst at any time after 9/10ths of the shell’s longevity has expired. 

The Abrigment setting never increases a shell’s duration so that it lasts longer than the Longevity setting—it 


Has tip 

Has report 

Checkbox 

Checkbox 

These two checkboxes determine whether or not the firework has a tip and a report, respectively. The tip and 

report attributes are set in the Shell tip, Report, and Report sound tabs. Note that shells and stars use the same 

Report and Report sound settings. 

PAGE 118

Mine 

Shell body 


The Shell body controls let you fine-tune the shell’s mass, such that the shell is more or less susceptible to air 

friction, gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the shell’s trajectory; they don’t modify the size or 

appearance of the shell. Also, the Shell body values that you set here don’t affect the similar values in the Star 

body tab. If you want to make similar changes to both the shell and its stars, you have to visit both tabs. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the shell’s weight. A value of 1.0 is the shell’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, the shell 

becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly. Smaller values make the shell lighter and so the 

upward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

Momentum 














PAGE 119

Mine 

Shell tip 


The tip of a shell is its leading edge. Depending on the values you set in this tab, the tip can begin “glowing” 

as soon as the shell is launched and can continue through the shell’s duration, ending at the burst point. You 

make the tip visible by checking the Shell > Has tip checkbox. You then set the tip’s attributes through the 

controls in this tab. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 


Sets the size of the tip’s glow. A value of 1.0 is the natural size, based on the Firework > Caliber setting. Other 

values act as scalers on the natural size: 0.5 makes the tip half as large; 2.0 makes it twice as large. 

Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the points, along the shell’s trajectory, at which the tip starts and stops glowing. 

If you set the sliders to 0.0 and 1.0, respectively, the tip will start glowing as soon as the shell is launched, 

and disappears when the shell bursts. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 would start the glow a quarter of the way 

from the launch and extinguish it a quarter of the way from the burst. 


PAGE 120

Mine 

Shell tail 




tail’s color and duration through the other controls. Additional attributes are set through the Shell tail, cont. 

tab. 

Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Glitter. The glitter tail is like the Thick tail, but with the randomness turned up. The increased variation gives 

the tail a glittery or twinkling effect. 

Color 

Color picker 


Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the points, along the shell’s entire trajectory, at which the tail starts and stops. 

If you set the sliders to 0.0 and 1.0, respectively, the tail will be visible from the moment the shell is 

launched until the shell bursts. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 would draw a tail that lasts from a quarter of the 

way from the launch to a quarter of the way from the burst. 


PAGE 121

Mine 

Shell tail, cont. 


This tab sets additional attributes of the shell’s tail. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the weight the individual particles in the shell’s tail. A value of 1.0 is a particle’s “natural” weight (which 




Length 


Sets the longevity of the particles in the shell’s tail (in other words, the amount of time before they’re 


given time. 

Ramp up 


It takes some amount of time after the launch of a shell for the particles in the shell’s tail to reach their 

maximum density. This slider lets you control this “ramp up” time as a fraction of the shell’s duration. If 

you set the slider to 1.0, the tail continues to thicken across its entire duration, reaching its maximum density 

near the end of its trajectory. If you set the slider to 0.0, the tail becomes maximally dense almost 

immediately upon launch. 

PAGE 122

Mine 

Shell burst 



Name 

No. of Stars 

Attribute 





Burst force 








PAGE 123

Mine 



The Shell burst sound controls let you select and modify the sound that’s played when the mine’s shell finishes 

its trajectory (the sound is played even if the shell doesn’t actually “burst”). 

Be aware that if the mine has a report sound, the shell burst sound will not be played. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 



Volume 






Pitch shift 












PAGE 124

Mine 

Star 


A star is created when particles of pyrotechnic material are ignited and emitted by a bursting shell. The Star 

tab defines the basic attributes of a star, such as its duration and whether it’s accompanied by a report. Other 

star attributes are provided through Star body, Star tip, Star tail, and so on. A star’s force—but not its 

duration—is affected by the Shell burst > Burst force setting. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 








Abridgment 








Has tip 

Has report 

Checkbox 

Checkbox 




PAGE 125

Mine 

Star body 




of the stars. 

The Star body values aren’t affected by changes in the Shell body tab. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the weight of a single star. A value of 1.0 is the star’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, the star 



Momentum 














PAGE 126

Mine 

Star tip 



emerges and can continue through the star’s duration. You make the tip visible by checking the Star > Has tip 

checkbox. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 





Begin 

End 








PAGE 127

Mine 

Star tail 




then set the tail’s other attributes through the rest of the controls. Additional attributes are set through the 

Star tail, cont. tab. 

Name 

Effect 

Attribute 

Menu 








Color 

Color picker 


Begin 

End 








PAGE 128

Mine 




Name 

Weight 

Attribute 






Length 




given time. 

PAGE 129

Mine 

Report 


A report is an explosive device that creates a bright flash and a loud bang. This tab defines the report’s 

appearance. A companion tab, Report sound, defines its sound. The report settings are shared by the shell and 

the star. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the color of the report’s flash. 

Size 


Sets the magnitude of the report’s flash. Unlike other objects, a report doesn’t have a “natural” size that’s 

based on the Fireworks > Caliber setting (or any other attributes). As you select larger or smaller caliber 

settings, you may want to increase or decrease the value of this attribute. 

Adjusting the Size setting could automatically adjust the volume of the report’s sound, depending on the 

volume of the Report sound > Volume setting. 

PAGE 130

Mine 

Report sound 


A report is an explosive device that creates a bright flash and a loud bang. This tab defines the report’s sound. 

A companion tab, Report, defines its appearance. 

If you set the mine’s report sound, the Shell burst sound is suppressed. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the report explodes. The names of the 


Volume 

Slider (Scaler; 0.0 = natural volume) 

Sets the amplitude of the report’s sound. If you set the slider to 0.0, the amplitude is automatically adjusted 

to match the Report > Size setting. Any other value sets the amplitude as a percentage of the soundfile’s 

unattenuated amplitude. 

Pitch shift 







Adds a random amount of pitch shift to the sound of each report. You can declare a random pitch shift 



shift to 0.3, the pitch shift for a specific report will be somewhere between -0.2 (a fifth of an octave below 

the natural pitch) and -0.5 (a half an octave lower than natural). 

PAGE 131

18 Fountain 

A fountain is a groundwork that sprays a continuous stream of particles. Some fountains can end with a report, 

others with a salute. 

PAGE 132

Fountain 

Firework 


The Firework tab for a fountain is different from the other firework types: It has a Duration control rather than 

Caliber. 

Name 

Duration 

Attribute 


The duration of the fountain, in seconds. 

For an explanation of the other controls in the Firework tab, see the Common Tabs chapter. 

PAGE 133

Fountain 

Spray 


The Spray tab defines the number and distribution of particles that are launched at a time. 

Name 

Thickness 

Attribute 

Slider (Scaler; 0.0 = one particle at a time) 

This slider controls the frequency with which the particles are sprayed. If you set the slider to 0.0, particles 

are shot one a time—the second particle doesn’t emerge until the first one has finished. Greater values 

decrease the time-between-particles and thus increase the density of the fountain’s spray. 

Cone angle 


A fountain’s cone angle is the angle across which the particles are randomly distributed. The center of the 


Cone height 


The Cone height slider lets you adjust the fountain’s height by modifying the velocity with which the 

particles are sprayed. If you set the slider to 1.0, you get the fountain’s “natural” height. Values greater than 

1.0 produce greater heights, as much as twice as high as the natural height. Values less than 1.0 reduce the 

height. If you set the value to 0.0, the particles won’t lift off at all. 

The cone height doesn’t affect the particles’ durations. At a height of 1.0, a particle will consume its 

pyrotechnic material just after it reaches the apex of the cone. If you decrease the height, the particles will 

droop and fall back to Earth before burning out. If you increase the height to the maximum, the particles 

could burn out before they reach the apex. 

You can counteract (or even compound) this affect by adjusting the particles’ durations through the 

Particle > Longevity control. 

N O T E 

If you’ve modified the fountain’s height by dragging the target in the Sky Field, this control will 

have no effect. 

PAGE 134

Fountain 


Name 

Attribute 

Randomness 


The Randomness slider lets you add some randomness to the heights of individual particles. As you increase 

the slider’s value the range of heights widens, but the maximum will never be greater than the height that’s 

set by the Cone height control. For example, let’s say you’ve set Cone height so that the fountain is 200 feet 

height. If you set Randomness to 0.01, all particles will (very nearly) reach the 200 foot maximum. If you set 

the value to 0.5, each particle will rise somewhere between 100 and 200 feet. Set it to .75 and the range will 

be between 50 and 200 feet, and so on. 

A value of 0.0 tells FINALE to add a natural—but fairly small—amount of randomness. 

PAGE 135

Fountain 

Spray sound 


The Spray sound tab lets you select and modify the sound that’s played while the fountain is spraying particles. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played. The names of the sounds that you can 

choose from are self-descriptive: Whoosh, Pop, Thud shriek, and so on. The sound is layered to match the 

fountain’s density, as set through the Spray > Thickness control. 

Volume 



completely unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. Because the sound is layered, the cumulative amplitude 

will increase as the fountain’s thickness is increased. 

Pitch shift 







Adds a random amount of pitch shift to each instance of the sound. You can declare a random pitch shift 



shift to -0.3, the pitch shift for a specific instance will be somewhere between 0.2 (a fifth of an octave above 


PAGE 136

Fountain 

Particle 


The Particle tab defines the basic attributes of a fountain’s particles. More detailed attributes are provided 

through the Particle body and Particle tail tabs. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 


Sets the amount of time it takes for a particle to consume its pyrotechnic material. The slider value isn’t an 

amount of time in seconds: It’s a scaler on a particle’s natural duration. The natural duration causes a 

particle to burn out just after it’s reached its apex (depending on the Spray > Cone height setting). This 

natural duration is represented by a value of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, the particle will last half as long 

as the natural duration. If you increase the value, the particle will fall back to earth before dying. 

Abridgment 


Abridgment adds a bit of randomness to a particle’s longevity. With a setting of 0.0, there’s no randomness— 

all particles last the same amount of time (as set through the Longevity slider). As you increase the 

Abridgment value, you reduce the duration range. For example, a setting of 0.1 means that a particle will burn 

out any time after 9/10ths of its longevity has expired. 

The Abrigment setting never increases a particle’s duration so that it lasts longer than the Longevity setting—it 


PAGE 137

Fountain 

Particle body 


Particle body lets you fine-tune the particle’s mass so that it’s more or less susceptible to air friction, gravity, 

and wind. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the particle’s weight. A value of 1.0 is a particle’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, the particle 

becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly. Smaller values make the particle lighter and so 

the upward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

Momentum 


As a particle consumes its pyrotechnic material, it loses mass and momentum, and thus slows down and 


the scale of the particle’s ultimate momentum (the point at which it has exhausted its material) compared to 

its launch momentum. A value of 1.0 produces a “natural” momentum loss. If you increase the value, the 

particle maintains more of its momentum over the course of its trajectory. If you decrease the value, the 

particle loses momentum more quickly. 



Sets the particle’s susceptibility to the wind and air friction. A value of 1.0 produces a slight, natural 

resistance. Decreasing the slider’s value makes the particle less affected by the wind, causing its trajectory to 

straighten and elongate. Increasing the value increases the effect of the wind and air friction, shortening the 

particle’s trajectory and bending it in the direction of the wind. 

PAGE 138

Fountain 

Particle tail 


A particle’s tail is the trail of sparks that it leaves behind after it’s launched and that lasts until it has consumed 

its pyrotechnic material. You make the tail visible by setting the Tail effect, below, to something other than No 

tail. You can then set the tail’s color and duration through the other controls. Additional attributes are set 

through the Particle tail, cont. tab. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the color of the sparks in a particle’s tail. 

Brightness 


This is an additional brightness control that’s compounded with the color picker’s Bright: slider. It lets you 

enhance the brightness of the tail so that it becomes more intense. 

Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the points, along the particle’s entire trajectory, at which the tail starts and 

stops. If you set the sliders to 0.0 and 1.0, respectively, the tail will be visible from the moment the particle is 

launched until the particle burns out. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 would draw a tail that lasts from a quarter of 

the way from the launch to a quarter of the way from the end. 

For a fountain, you typically want to leave the End slider set to 1.0 and use the Particle > Longevity control to 

adjust the length of the tail (which is analogous to adjusting the particle’s endpoint). 


PAGE 139

Fountain 

Particle tail, cont. 


This tab sets additional attributes of the particles’ tails. Not all fountains have Weight and Ramp up controls 

Name 

Length 

Attribute 


Sets the length of the tail that a particle produces. By increasing or decreasing this value, you can cause 

more or less of the tail to be visible at a given time. 

Fadeaway 


As a particle nears the end of its trajectory, it emits fewer and fewer sparks. Fadeaway lets you control the 

rate at which the emission of sparks tapers off. A setting of 0.5 is a “natural” decrease; if you set the slider 

to 0.0, there’s no decrease at all: The “spark spigot” remains full on until the very end. As you increase the 

slider’s value, the particle will begin to decrease its spark emission earlier in its trajectory. 

Weight 


Sets the weight of the sparks in the fountain’s tails. A value of 1.0 is a spark’s “natural” weight. If you 

increase the value, the spark becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly. Smaller values make 

the spark lighter and so the upward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

Ramp up 


It takes some amount of time after the launch of a particle for its tail to reach its maximum spark density. 

This slider lets you control this “ramp up” time as a fraction of the tail’s duration. If you set the slider to 1.0, 

the tail continues to thicken across its entire duration, reaching its maximum density near the end of its 

trajectory. If you set the slider to 0.0, the tail becomes maximally dense almost immediately upon launch. 

PAGE 140

Fountain 

Report 


A report is an explosive device that creates a bright flash and a loud bang that occurs at the very end of the 

fountain’s trajectory. This tab sets the graphical attributes of the fountain’s reports. A companion tab, Report 

sound, defines the sound it makes. Not all fountains have reports. 

Name 

Size 

Attribute 

Slider (Meters) 

The size of the “sweet spot” of the report, in meters. 

Sky brightening 


The Sky brightening attribute adds an extremely brief, non-linear lightening mask on the show’s background 

image as the report explodes. Dark parts of the image remain dark while the brightness of lighter pixels is 

increased, creating an effect that seems to cast shadows. Sky brightening isn’t affected by the report’s size. 

PAGE 141

Fountain 

Report sound 


This tab defines the report’s sound. A companion tab, Report, defines its appearance. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the report explodes. The names of the 


Volume 





Pitch shift 












PAGE 142

Fountain 

Salute, Salute colors, Salute sound 


The Salute and Salute colors tabs sets the graphical attributes of the salute. For an explanation of these tabs— 

with examples—see the Flash and Flash colors tabs in the Salute chapter. 

The Salute sound tab sets the salute’s sound. For an explanation of its controls, see the Report sound tab in this 

chapter. 

PAGE 143

19 Candle 

A candle is a single tube device that shoots a sequence of effects such as comets or mines. Individual candles 

are often fused together at different angles to create a pattern of repeated shots that fan or zigzag across the 

sky. 

Instead of manually configuring dozens of individual fireworks at the desired angles and times and then 

saving the construction as a cake, you can edit a single firework in the Candle category to create an entire 

pattern of shots. The Candle editor lets you set the pattern and timing of the firework sequence through its 

Cycle and Multicycle tabs. In contrast with cakes, which can combine any number of different firework types, 

the sequence of shots in a Candle firework are all the same effect. 

PAGE 144

Candle 

Launch 


The Launch tab defines the attributes of the candle’s launch. 

Name 

Cone angle 

Attribute 


A firework’s cone angle is the angle across which the projectiles in a single launch are randomly distributed. If 

you’re not using a cyclical effect (as created through the Cycle tab), the center of the angle is straight up. As 

you increase the cone angle value, the cone widens symmetrically around the center. 

If you are using a cycle, the center of the cone will “swing” as the successive shots are distributed over time 

across the fan angle (again, this is explained in the Cycle description). In this case, you’ll probably want to 

drastically reduce the cone angle so that you don’t spoil the effect of the pattern. 

Cone height 


By default, the height (or distance) of a firework’s trajectory is determined by the velocity with which it’s 

launched, and velocity is directly related to the firework’s caliber (and some other physical properties). 

The Cone height slider lets you adjust the firework’s velocity (and so its height). If you set the slider to 1.0, 

you get the velocity/height that’s determined by the caliber. Values greater than 1.0 produce greater heights, 

as much as twice as high as the natural caliber height. Values less than 1.0 reduce the height. If you set the 


Keep in mind that you’re increasing and decreasing the firework’s velocity. The duration of its trajectory will 

be the same regardless of this slider’s value. Thus, you can adjust the cone height without “invalidating” the 

firework’s prefire setting. 

Randomness 


The velocities of a candle’s shells are set naturally by the candle’s caliber. The Randomness slider lets you 

add some randomness to the distribution of velocities. As you increase the slider’s value the range of 

velocities widens, but they’re always less than the natural velocity that’s set by the caliber. For example, let’s 

say you’re creating a candle that launches shells at an initial default velocity of 400 ft/sec. If you set the 

Randomness to 0.01, all shells will emerge with (very nearly) the same initial velocity (400 ft/sec). If you set 

the value to 0.5, each shell will emerge with an initial velocity that’s somewhere between 200 and 400 ft/sec. 

A value of 1.0 means that a shell could emerge at anywhere from 0 to 400 ft/sec. 


PAGE 145

Candle 

Launch sound 


The Launch sound tab lets you select and modify the sound that’s played when the firework is launched. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 

The Sound menu gives you a choice of sounds that are played when the firework is launched. The names of 

the sounds that you can choose from are self-descriptive: Whoosh, Pop, Thud shriek, and so on. 

Volume 



completely unattenuated; a volume of 0.0 is silent. The amplitude isn’t affected by caliber; for example, if 

you increase a firework’s caliber, the launch sound doesn’t get louder. 

Pitch shift 












PAGE 146

Candle 

Mine 


The Mine tab defines the number of projectiles (shells, sparks, stars) that are launched at a time. 

Name 

Is mine 

Attribute 

Checkbox 

If this checkbox is checked, the firework behaves like a mine in that it can launch more than one projectile. 

The number of projectiles is controlled by the Mine thickness slider. 

If the checkbox is unchecked, the firework will only launch one projectile, regardless of the Mine thickness 

setting. 

Mine thickness 

Slider (Scaler; 0.0 = one projectile) 

If Is mine is checked, this slider controls the number of projectiles that are launched during a single launch. 

If you want a single projectile, set the slider to 0.0. Greater values increase the count. The maximum value 

produces about 200 projectiles per launch. 

If Is mine is unchecked, the Mine thickness slider is ignored and the firework launches a single projectile. 

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Shell 


The Shell tab defines the basic attributes of a firework’s shell (or projectiles). More detailed attributes are 

provided through the Shell body, Shell burst, Shell tip, Shell tail, and Report tabs. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 


Sets the amount of time between the shell’s launch and its burst. The slider value isn’t an amount of time in 

seconds: It’s a scaler on the shell’s natural duration, which is determined by its caliber, speed, and other 

factors. The natural duration causes the shell to burst right about the time it has reached its apex. This 

natural duration is represented by a value of 1.0. If you set the slider to 0.5, for example, the duration 

between launch and burst will be half as long as the natural duration. If you want the shell to start to fall 

back to earth before it bursts, increase the longevity value. 

Abridgment 


Abridgment adds a bit of randomness to the shell’s longevity. With a setting of 0.0, there’s no randomness— 

all shells that are fired in a single launch will burst at (approximately) the same time (as set through the 

Longevity slider). As you increase the Abridgment value, you reduce the duration range. For example, a 

setting of 0.1 means that a shell may burst at any time after 9/10ths of the shell’s longevity has expired. 

The Abrigment setting never increases a shell’s duration so that it lasts longer than the Longevity setting—it 


Has tip 

Has report 

Checkbox 

Checkbox 




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Shell body 


The Shell body controls let you fine-tune the shell’s mass so that it’s more or less susceptible to air friction, 

gravity, and wind. These attributes only affect the shell’s trajectory; they don’t modify the size or appearance 

of the shell. Also, the Shell body values that you set here don’t affect the similar values in the Star body tab. If 

you want to make similar changes to both the shell and its stars, you have to visit both tabs. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the shell’s weight. A value of 1.0 is the shell’s “natural” weight. If you increase the value, the shell 

becomes heavier and is pulled back to Earth more quickly. Smaller values make the shell lighter and so the 

upward portion of its trajectory is less affected by gravity. 

Momentum 














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Shell tip 


The tip of a shell is its leading edge. Depending on the values you set in this tab, the tip can begin “glowing” 

as soon as the shell is launched and can continue through the shell’s duration, ending at the burst point. You 

make the tip visible by checking the Shell > Has tip checkbox. You then set the tip’s attributes through the 

controls in this tab. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 


Sets the size of the tip’s glow. A value of 1.0 is the natural size, based on the Firework > Caliber setting. Other 

values act as scalers on the natural size: 0.5 makes the tip half as large; 2.0 makes it twice as large. 

Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the points, along the shell’s trajectory, at which the tip starts and stops glowing. 

If you set the sliders to 0.0 and 1.0, respectively, the tip will start glowing as soon as the shell is launched, 

and disappears when the shell bursts. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 would start the glow a quarter of the way 

from the launch and extinguish it a quarter of the way from the burst. 


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Shell tail 




tail’s color and duration through the other controls. Additional attributes are set through the Shell tail, cont. 

tab. 

Name 

Tail effect 

Attribute 

Menu 






Glitter. The glitter tail is like the Thick tail, but with the randomness turned up. The increased variation gives 

the tail a glittery or twinkling effect. 

Color 

Color picker 


Begin 

End 



These two sliders determine the points, along the shell’s entire trajectory, at which the tail starts and stops. 

If you set the sliders to 0.0 and 1.0, respectively, the tail will be visible from the moment the shell is 

launched until the shell bursts. Settings of 0.25 and 0.75 would draw a tail that lasts from a quarter of the 

way from the launch to a quarter of the way from the burst. 


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Candle 

Shell tail, cont. 


This tab sets additional attributes of the shell’s tail. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 


Sets the weight the individual particles in the shell’s tail. A value of 1.0 is a particle’s “natural” weight (which 




Length 


Sets the longevity of the particles in the shell’s tail (in other words, the amount of time before they’re 


given time. 

Ramp up 


It takes some amount of time after the launch of a shell for the particles in the shell’s tail to reach their 

maximum density. This slider lets you control this “ramp up” time as a fraction of the shell’s duration. If 

you set the slider to 1.0, the tail continues to thicken across its entire duration, reaching its maximum density 

near the end of its trajectory. If you set the slider to 0.0, the tail becomes maximally dense almost 

immediately upon launch. 

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Shell burst 



Name 

No. of Stars 

Attribute 





Burst force 








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Be aware that if the shell burst has a report, the shell’s burst sound will not be played. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 



Volume 






Pitch shift 












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Candle 

Star 




report. Other star attributes are provided through Star body, Star tip, Star tail, and so on. A star’s force—but 

not its duration—is affected by the Shell burst > Burst force setting. 

Name 

Longevity 

Attribute 








Abridgment 








Has tip 

Has report 

Checkbox 

Checkbox 




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Candle 

Star body 




of the stars. 

The Star body values aren’t affected by changes in the Shell body tab. 

Name 

Weight 

Attribute 





Momentum 














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Star tip 



emerges and can continue through the star’s duration. You make the tip visible by checking the Star > Has tip 

checkbox. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 


Size 





Begin 

End 








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Candle 

Star tail 




then set the tail’s other attributes through the rest of the controls. 

Name 

Effect 

Attribute 

Menu 








Color 

Color picker 


Begin 

End 








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Name 

Weight 

Attribute 






Length 




given time. 

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Candle 

Report 


A report is an explosive device that creates a bright flash and a loud bang. This tab defines the report’s 

appearance. A companion tab, Report sound, defines its sound. The report settings are shared by the shell and 

the star. 

Name 

Color 

Attribute 

Color picker 

Sets the color of the report’s flash. 

Size 


Sets the magnitude of the report’s flash. Unlike other objects, a report doesn’t have a “natural” size that’s 

based on the Fireworks > Caliber setting (or any other attributes). As you select larger or smaller caliber 

settings, you may want to increase or decrease the value of this attribute. 

Adjusting the Size setting could automatically adjust the volume of the report’s sound, depending on the 

volume of the Report sound > Volume setting. 

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Candle 

Report sound 


A report is an explosive device that creates a bright flash and a loud bang. This tab defines the report’s sound. 

A companion tab, Report, defines its appearance. The report settings are shared by the shell and the star. 

If a shell contains a report, the report’s sound is played and the Shell burst sound is suppressed. 

Name 

Sound 

Attribute 

Menu 



Volume 





Pitch shift 












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Candle 

Cycle 


A cycle is a series of events that can be distributed in a pattern in the sky. Each event is a single performance of 

the effect that’s defined by the preceding tabs. The Cycle tab lets you set the number of events in a cycle, the 

amount of time between events, and the pattern that the cycle of events creates. A companion tab, Multicycle, 

lets you create a series of cycles. 

The entire performance, from the first launch until the moment of the last launch (including multicycle 

repetitions), can last no more than 120 seconds. Because of this, the number of events and cycles that you can 

ask for may be less than the maximum values that are proclaimed by the “number of X” sliders. The lingering 

effect of the last event can stretch beyond the 120-second barrier—it just has to be launched within 120 

seconds of the first event’s launch. 

Name 

Events per cycle 

Seconds per event 

Attribute 



These two controls set the number of events in a single cycle, and the amount of time, in seconds, between 

the start times of successive events. By multiplying the seconds-per-event by the events-per-cycle (minus 1), 

you get the duration of a single cycle. 

Pattern 

Fan angle 

Menu 


These two controls work together to create a “fan” effect over time by changing the angle of the launch of 

successive events. The range or “pie wedge” of the fan is set by the Fan angle; the fan effect is defined by 

the Pattern selection. There are nine effects: 

Straight up. This turns off the fan pattern. All events are projected straight up. Note, however, that the Shell 

> Cone angle is still applied; individual projectiles in an event are distributed randomly within the cone angle. 

Fan left to right. In this pattern, the first event is fired at an angle that’s half of the Fan angle to the left of 

center, and successive events move in equal steps to the right, reaching the far right side of the Fan angle at 

the last event (see the illustration, below). Again, the cone angle is applied around each step. If you’re using 

this pattern—or any of the following patterns—you may want to set the Launch > Cone angle value to 0.0 (or 

very close) so that you don’t spoil the effect. 

Fan right to left. This is the same as the above but moves right-to-left. 

Fan left to right to left. The events move twice as fast, from the left edge to the right edge and back again in a 

single cycle. 

Fan right to left to right. This is the same as the above, but from right-to-left and back again. 

Fan open. Pairs of events are fired at the same time, one on the far left edge of the Fan angle, and the other 

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Candle 


Name 

Attribute 

on the far right side. Successive events close the gap, and the final events are fired (nearly) straight up. 

When you use this pattern (and the other fan open/close patterns), you effectively double the Events per 

cycle setting. 

Fan close. The same as the above, but the fan opens from the center to the extremes. 

Fan open and close. Events move twice as fast, opening and then closing the fan. 

Fan close and open. The same as the above, but the fan closes and then opens. 

Keep in mind that in order to see the effect of the pattern, you must have multiple events within a cycle. 

Fan left to right pattern 

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Candle 

Multicycle 


The Multicycle tab lets you declare the number of times you want to repeat the effect defined by the Cycle tab. 

It also lets you impose a time delay between each cycle. 

Name 

No. of cycles 

Attribute 


Sets the number of cycles. Note that the upper limit may be less than 100—it depends on the number and the 

timing of the events that you’ve requested in the Cycle tab, and the time between cycles that you request by 

setting the next attribute. The entire performance must be less than 120 seconds. See the Cycle tab 

specification for more information. 

Seconds between 


The amount of time, in seconds, between the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. 

Seconds before first 


An initial delay that’s imposed before the first cycle. Be aware that this delay does eat into the 120-second limit. 

PAGE 164

20 FINALE CSV Script Format 

The File menu lets you save your show in a number of formats. One of the options in the menu is Export 

Finale Generic CSV Script, FINALE’s own version of a firing script. The script’s format is explained in the table 

below. This information is provided, primarily, for firing system manufacturers who want to support the 

FINALE firing script format. 

File Layout and Formatting Rules 

The first line in the FINALE CSV script lists the names of the script’s columns. The column names, which 

are listed in the format table, are provided as a convenience. If you’re writing a program to read the script, 

you should ignore this first row. The end of the line is marked with a newline character (\r\n). 

Each of the rest of the lines in the file describes a single firework “event” (or shot), where a shot can launch 

more than one firework. The format of a single line follows these rules: 

• Values are comma-separated with no whitespace surrounding the commas. 

• There are 17 columns in the format. Thus, each line will contain 16 commas, even if some of the columns 

don’t contain value. 

• A value contains a string, a single character, an integer, or a floating-point number (a number with a 

fractional part). 

• String values are ASCII characters only. 

• Whitespace in a string value is replaced with an underbar, and double quotes and commas are removed. 

For example, Red Peony 3”, No Tail becomes Red_Peony3NoTail. 

• Although whitespace is replaced with underbars in strings, if a row represents a shot that contains more 

than one launch, some of the columns will contain whitespace. This will be explained in the format table. 

• Unless otherwise noted, floating-point numbers (numbers that have a fractional part) are always given to 

two decimal places: 1.05, 3.40, 6.00. 

• The end of a line is marked with a newline character (\r\n). 

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FINALE CSV Script Format 

Format Table 


The table lists the columns that appear in a single row in the CSV file. The columns are given in the order that 

they appear in the file. 

Name Type Instances 

Shot Number Integer Single 

This is an ordinal number that gives the index of the shot, starting with shot 0 and increasing 

monotonically. 

Shot Time Floating-point Single 

The time of the event, in seconds, from the beginning of the show as it was created in FINALE. This is the 

time at which the pin is activated with an electrical impulse. 

Number Of Launches Integer Single 

The number of fireworks that are assigned to this pin. The value will only be greater than 1 if the module 

that controls the shot was defined, in the Edit position properties panel, to have more than one launch-perpin. 

The rest of the columns that are marked as Multiple will have a list of values that correspond to the 

number of launches that are declared here, with neighboring values separated by a single whitespace. 

Launch Delays Floating-point Multiple 

This is a list of the delays, after the Shot Time, of the launches that are contained in the shot. The delays are 

listed from least to greatest. The first value in the list will always be 0.00. As mentioned above, the list is 

given with a single whitespace between each value. For example: 

0.00 0.15 0.60 1.15 

To create a launch delay, you use the Firing View to manually set the pin numbers for two or more fireworks 

to the same value (the same pin), and then move one or more of the fireworks along the timeline. The 

earliest firework will have a delay of 0.00 (even if it was moved, as well). The second value in the list is the 

amount of time between the first and second launches, the third value is the difference between the first 

and third, and so on. In other words, the delays are computed by comparing a launch to the time of the first 

launch—they’re not the time spans between successive launches. 

Match Types String Multiple 

A list of the devices that ignite the launches. Currently, the ignition device is always ematch. 

Prefire Times Floating-point Multiple 

A list of the fireworks’ prefire times, in seconds. 

Effect Names Strings Multiple 

The names of the fireworks that are contained in the shot. The names are taken from the FINALE 

inventory. 

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FINALE CSV Script Format 


Name Type Instances 

Calibers Integer/Floating-point Multiple 

A list of the fireworks’ calibers, in inches. If the caliber is a whole number, the value is given as an integer, 

otherwise the value contains as many decimal places as are needed. As examples: 3 3.5 5 7.5. Two decimal 

places are possible, but unlikely. 

Angles Floating-point (positive/negative) Multiple 

A list of the fireworks’ angles, in degrees. Positive angles lean to the right from the audience’s perspective. 

Negative angles lean to the left. As examples: -45.00 0.00 45.00. 

Position Names String Multiple 

The names of the launch positions that the fireworks are associated with. The launch position names are 

provided as a convenience. 

Position Distances Floating-point Multiple 

The distance-from-the-audience values that were assigned to the launch positions, in meters. 

Module Type String Single 

The type of firing module that controls this shot, as given in the Edit position properties panel. Multiplelaunch 

shots can’t cross modules, thus this column takes a single value. 

Module Number Integer Single 

Slat Letter Character Single 

Pin Number Integer Single 

The module, slat, and pin that control the shot. All shots have a Module Number and a Pin Number but not 

necessarily a Slat Letter. 

Assignment Method String Single 

The method that was used to assign the module/slat/pin, either auto or manual. 

Notes String Multiple 

A list of the “field notes” that describe the fireworks. Field notes are created through the Field Notes tab in 

the Firework Editor. The field notes are provided as a convenience. 

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FINALE Fireworks User Guide

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