UDBapp Best Practices

Getting Set Up

• Staff and students should sign up before the first day of drill learning. This will ensure they have a stable internet connection and a few extra minutes to troubleshoot if needed. Share the appropriate credentials with each person and share this video with them.
• Share this tutorial with your students and share this tutorial with your directors and staff.
  
• If you are renewing your account or have members (staff or students) who have been part of another ensemble since 2020, they may now use the same account to access multiple ensembles. Watch the tutorial.

Learning Drill

• Change symbols to dots to make performers easier to see. Watch the tutorial.
• Have staff and section leaders create custom views that highlight just their section. Watch the tutorial.
• Have your drill writer customize your grid terminology in Pyware’s Grid Designer to match the terminology that you use in rehearsal.
• In the event of an internet or server outage, you may upload a .3DUDB file from your drill writer as local song. Watch the tutorial.

Calendar & Attendance (UDBapp Pro)

• Backup your calendar data weekly by exporting a full report of your ensemble’s attendance data. Watch the tutorial.
• You must create your own calendar that is different from your Google Calendar’s default offering. We recommend titling this something like “UDB Attendance.” Watch the tutorial.
• We recommend that all calendar events be input via UDBapp Pro rather than through the Google Calendar web interface. However, if you want to import your calendar events from an existing calendar, they need to exist in the newly created Google Calendar that you created for UDBapp Pro, not your default Google calendar. 
• Make your geofence larger than you think is necessary. Not all devices will have access to the same level of signal or GPS data and increasing the size of the check-in geofence will ensure that all users can check-in.
• Have all members turn on precise location on iOS or Android.

Tips for Drill Writers

• Put your .3DUDB file in a shared folder with your ensemble director. This will allow them to access the new drill in the event of any internet or server interruption. Watch the tutorial on exporting a .3DUDB file to your computer.
• If you are adding or removing performers from a particular song, you must upload rather than update the exising file. UDBapp’s cast list is based off the first file that you upload for that particular song.
• Updating (overwriting) is available when using Pyware 10 or later. When updating a file, any user generated notes or sheet music for the original file will not be overwritten. Watch the tutorial.
• Lock all label positions to be beneath the symbols for the duration of the file and set the distance to two clicks away from the closest option.
• Separate moves and holds by creating a set or subset tab for the holds.
• Sync your audio using .ogg files by converting them from .wav using the free software Audacity. This will make your Pyware and the subsequent UDBapp files significantly smaller.
• Customize your grid terminology in Pyware’s Grid Designer to match the terminology that your ensemble uses in rehearsal.
• Use the production sheet columns for Measures and Notes. Set Title does not currently transfer to UDBapp.