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I just wanted to give a shout out to LOR for the great work they have done with their software. A lot of people will say that the other software (Xlights) is much better for RGB displays. I don't see it that way. I've used both and have stuck with LOR since 2012. I love the ease of use with LOR and have found it simple to sequence with for the most part. I have also used Superstar since 2012 although most of my sequencing is now done with S6. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to the team at LOR. Keep up the good work! Eric

You can download and run the demo version of the software and check it out before you buy a license. It is fully functional but will not control actual lights until you buy a license. https://store.lightorama.com/pages/download-software

I don't think your thread is going to get cluttered up any more. It's quite some time since I saw any less appreciation toward members trying to help.

Weatherproof heads are expensive. Domes for non weatherproof heads are even higher. I don't know what size or capability you are looking at, but the cheap typical 60W heads will not make a visible beam except in foggy conditions. Even water proof ones will be problematic as the snow will resist movement. Domes would be better but would still get buried. Think 250W or above for the ones you see on YT videos by Tom Betgeorge and others. Also consider thet skybeams might incur the interest of the FAA, particularly if you live near an airport. I have 6 of the 60W variant pointing at the audience and ground, unprotected but tucked up under my soffits to keep them mostly dry. Programming with LOR is painstaking and time consuming but does get easier with practice.

Eric last year i decided to start to downsize my display after many years. I'm 74 years old so put up only half of my display. so after Christmas every time my wife went shopping people would stop to talk to her and ask if I died because the display was so small 'she would reply just old not dead.

Honestly I am not sure you know what you are asking for. Just do a network share of LOR folder on your LOR Server. You can open the sequences from your laptop and edit them no problem. No need to worry about the serial Entec Pro. I would call that active editing, but like others, I assume what you really want is live playback while editing and not just the simple preview. Perhaps trying out changes with a moving head? If that is what you want (which could have been asked much more clearly), there are different ways to accomplish that but they all have cons because it’s serial communication. The easiest is what was already recommended, just plug the serial adapter into your laptop instead. This is honestly the best answer for cost and simplicity. The next easiest would be to use that shared network folder from the server and have the server computer play the file. The file could be added as an override sequence in the S6 show player and triggered via the mobile app, open sound control (OSC), or from the REST API. The con is obviously having to save the file first, trigger it, wait for playback file to regenerate, and then see the whole file play rather than a just portion. The next option I can think of is getting something like Lantronix boxes for the serial data to go over the IP/Ethernet network. You would need two Entec Pros and three boxes (each computer and another for going back to serial out to your DMX devices). There could be conflicting data though if both computers are trying to send that serial data at the same time. https://www.lantronix.com/resources/networking-tutorials/device-servers-tutorial/

I have never had a facecrap account and never will so I will stay in here.

Are the MP3 files CBR? If not, they won't play via any Director if they are VBR. CBR = Constant Bit Rate VBR = Variable Bit Rate Both have to do with how the audio is decoded when played back in specific devices, a computer doesn't care which, however the Director DOES, and will only use the CBR format. All MP3's MUST be in CBR or the Director will ignore them, but if you are getting the MP3 file used is corrupt, that will usually mean the MP3 on your computer may also be corrupted. Have you tried playing the MP3 file(s) on your computer? If not CBR, you'll need an audio editor like Audacity (it's free) to convert them.

You gotta be kidding.

Here's a sampling of this year's show. Merry Christmas all. Time and Motion/Winter Palace, TSO https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zd8nh78d1kna54avqfozt/TSO-Time-and-Motion-Winter-Palace.mp4?rlkey=3ksoztktneq0kuhw6ex134n2v&dl=0 Blue Ocean, Flying Colors https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gdk4zg9dmom0fo1a63hl4/Flying-Colors-Blue-Ocean.mp4?rlkey=ede1eqli9255cenadhwp9yjtq&dl=0 Christmas Eve Sarejevo, TSO. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1pzqy4s27ijv07xclwefn/TSO-Christmas-Eve-Sarejevo.mp4?rlkey=jm8ndoec8oxpe9o50687g5jjs&dl=0 Culling Voices, TOOL. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8b3ade0wkb1ujodw6apeg/Tool-Culling-Voices.mp4?rlkey=c5tue17gmzqnz8w65uqgyxhxz&dl=0

Double check the teeth in the plugs. Sometimes they bend when sliding on the caps and not pierce the wire. I have gotten in the habit of firmly pressing the wire down on the teeth before sliding the caps on.

I'm going to strongly suggest that you re-think your show plan. People will not show up on your schedule - they will show up on their schedule (that usually means when ever they happen to get there). If they arrive to static lights, they will look for a few seconds, drive off and NOT come back. If you're going to run an animated light show, run animated lights - not static lights for a half of the time. And TheDucks beat me to some of what I was going to say. Since he mentioned it, my FM transmitter is inside this brick column right at the sidewalk. The antenna is inside the black PVC pipe visible extending above the back side of the column. If your browser does not imbed the image, there is a link directly to it below. http://www.newburghlights.org/photos/FM-Antenna_1.jpg

Actually it wasn't much soldering (except for the power injection and connectors). I had Ray Wu make me customized pebble pixels. 10 pixels=>1 meter wire=>10 pixels=>1 meter wire (etc) I created the Peace Stakes in groups of ten so I didn't have so many connections (and less changes of my connections getting wet).

I will be 65 next month (so maybe a senior), and have been playing with 2-way radio for over 50 years. Got my ham license 47 years ago, and a FCC 1st class RadioTelephone license 44 years ago. Been working professionally in communications / electronics for 44 years as well. Part of my job also involves electrical work (both 120/240Volt AC and also high current 48V DC). Also worked as a broadcast engineer (the audio side of it, not RF side) So, yea, I might know a thing or two on the subject of electronics. Like many others here, very happy to share my experience.

Importing an S4 .LMS file into S5 or S6 converts it to a new format, .LOREDIT. The original lms file is not changed in any way. In fact the S5 and S6 Show Player will play S4 lms files just fine if you had a sequence you didn't want to upgrade. Of course you should always be backed up anyway.

I know how websites work lol. I'm also on a lot of web forums, most of them not sponsored by an actual company, and which get a lot more traffic, that have no such restrictions on uploading (I'm sure they have some, but not the tiny amount available here) I stand by my original statement: I'm shocked that in 2024 there are really that many worries about web space.

For those of you out there sill using S5 or S4, That's so 2023. 😆 Stop what you're doing. and after reading this make the upgrade NOW, especially if you have added RGB props to your show. This will give you 8 to 10 months to get Familiar with it. The best part for you is we are all here to help with any questions. Don't wait till later in the year to make the upgrade. Do it now. In addition to the help you can get here. Luminous Harmony https://www.youtube.com/@LuminousHarmony has a wonderful library of tutorial videos on S6. Every year This happens where the user finally makes the decision to upgrade at the last minute and then end up in a panic when things get a little overwhelming. S6 is a very powerful software program that makes sequencing and show playing so easy but it does take a bit of time to get a good understanding of it. The LOR Community Zoom room is another place for getting good info and questions answered. up coming help events will be listed here https://forums.lightorama.com/events/. I Hope this helps some of you on the fence about upgrading to come over to S6. You won't regret it. Kenny Jure

Seasons greetings to the LOR team, and to all you lighters out there. It's been a good one.

Except for the MANY people who will under no circumstances have anything to do with facecrap.

I tried to add this request to the Open Beta group but there was no button in that group to do so. Here is what I want to do. I have Many singing props in my show. Each prop has an Outline ME row. Eyes Open and Eyes Closed ME row and 10 Mouth position ME rows. When I create a sequence and the song has no singing I like to use only the Outline of the prop. I want to add only the Outline ME Row to the whole house group for effects across the entire display. S6 does not currently allow a single selected ME row to be added to a Group. You have to add the entire prop to a group. This wont work with the singing tree prop because when added to a group any effect in the group will be displayed on every single pixel in the singing tree prop. That means all the mouth positions will light up. My fix for this was to divide the singing prop into 2 separate props. One prop has the eyes and mouth pixels and the second has the outline. I create a group with these 2 props for the singing tree and now I have the ability to add only the outline of these props to my whole house group. My request is to add a better grouping tool that would allow for single ME rows of specific props to be added to any group. The dividing of a prop should not be necessary and all the ME rows within any prop should be available to all groups. Possibly even have 2 grouping tools one groups by prop and another groups by ME rows. Or inside a group under each prop a sub selection to highlight only the ME row in that prop to be used in that group. This would not only address my issue with singing props but it would open up the ability to allow ME rows for certain portions of stars, pixel trees, spinners Matrix and any prop that uses ME rows for effects to be used in groups. I hope this makes sense to you all. Thank you Kenny Jure

https://store.lightorama.com/products/aurora-core-16-port-controller-assembled-12-volt-system

You are going to get my standard answer for people who want to have a big chunk of non-show. Unless there is a very specific reason that you have to run non-musical for large portions of time - DON'T. If viewers drive by and your musical show is not running, they will just keep on driving and will NOT come back. Just let the musical run... Just my opinion...

I can't tell you to upgrade, you will have to decide that, but I can tell you that most of the changes since 6.1.0 are fixes and improvements. Nothing fundamental has changed and in all likelihood you will not see a problem. There is no change to sequence structure and the Control panel keeps getting improvements. I always update as soon as a release happens and rarely do I find a showstopper or reason to go back to the previous version, but it has happened. The key is to be completely backed up just in case. Backup the ENTIRE light o rama folder and ALL of the subfolders. This will get your sequences, previews, in commondata, audio, imports and exports and more. Update if you wish, then test a sequence or two and run a test show and see how it goes. If you find a problem. Uninstall the new version and reinstall the original. I have NEVER had an upgrade or downgrade affect my files, but you never know. And that's why we preach backup.

Audacity. It’s free and good.

I would suggest a tower computer for the show rather than a laptop. It costs money to squeeze components into a laptop size. If you don't need the compact size, don't pay for it. A tower computer has space for expansion cards, for example to add more USB ports or another e1.31 interface. You can turn the display off to save electricity, and replace the display easily if it goes bad. Likewise, the keyboard and mouse can easy be replaced if they get dirty from "garage junk". If you have your garage door open, a tower is much less likely to get stolen. A tower is typically configured to not go to sleep the way a laptop is. The tower power supply is more robust than the laptop power supply.

Highly recommend C9 bulbs with 12" spacing for roof outlines. One string will cover 50 feet and the roof is so far away from the audience that it still looks good.

I got to agree (again 😛 ) with Jim. Static lights sorta = 'Nothing else to see here folks' Something needs to be happening or they move on

There have been a lot of revisions this season to my Grid and I expect more. There doesn't seem to be a way to know how 'up to date' a sequence is on its grid. Is there any possibility for Sequencer to record the last Imported and Exported .lorchan? It would also be helpful to know if there have been any grid changes to the sequence since the last import or export. A grid change may be something I dont want to wipe but may need to incorporate into others by exporting. My work around is adding a beat channel and changing its name to match the name and version of my .lorchan EDIT: This doesnt work! I presumed it was working. Looks like the beat channels are not in the .lorchan so dont show up. Trying some other things. EDIT 2: Fail again. Changing a View name by adding a V6 looks fine in the source sequence grid but in the target import grid the old name remains and the new view with the next version name is added. But seeing that here would be nice.

Do yourself a favor and simplify the channel names to something like Mini Tree 1 Green Mini Tree 1 White. Also do you realize the way you have it set up now is Unit ID (1 CTB16 Controller) as unit 1 Green and the White is totally a different AC controller called unit 3. Much easier IMO to sequence AC min trees with multiple colors with each color of a mini tree channel on the same controller. For example Mini Tree 1 Unit 1 Channel 1 White, Channel 2 Green, Channel 3 Blue, Channel 4 Red. Therefore you eliminate having to go back and forth to sequence the colors. The channel label would simply say Mini Tree 1 then open up to the different colors 1-16 or colors and another mini tree. If the latter the channel button would say Mini Trees 1-3 for example. That eliminates the "default" channel labels that you have. You can accomplish that by unchecking "use the default channel labels" when setting up the prop and controller JR

Unfortunately, a lot of the people who used to share sequences have stopped doing so because they found that other people would receive a shared sequence, and then turn around and sell it (claiming it was their own work) on ebay and other sites.

Create your Arches and then group them as Vertical stack and add a motion effect row - sequence as if a Matrix... But understand the 2' spacing and the PEX defuser may not play well with Images

Both excellent suggestions.

Also, the ability to right-click a pixel to erase it rather than to click the eraser tool, then click the pixel to erase it would be nice.

Completely agree with theducks. I have an N4-G4 Director that runs my shows (external), not a component built in with a controller like in the package theducks linked too. But you'd be much happier in the long run with the N4-G4, then you don't have to worry about external timers to run the show. N4-G4 Director will run everything from the SD Card. Also puts everything outside, no running cat5 from the computer through windows or under doors. No dongle needed when using the N4-G4 either. However, you still need a dongle when using the Hardware Utility to test lights, set ID and test controllers, as well as update firmware, setting the time directly to the N4-G4 (you can do it from the SD Card, but my experience with this is the time may not line up exactly, as it will use whatever clock time used when the card was written. Depending on how long it takes to write the SD Card, the time between the real time on your computer, and the time on the SD Card can vary by as much as 15+ minutes BEHIND your computer, cell phone or watches current time.) I set my N4-G4 most often with the HU(on S4), not sure if this is still the case with the HU in the newest releases though, if not, I also set my N4-G4 using the buttons directly on the N4-G4. Both work, although sometimes setting it directly results in a few seconds difference from the actual time of my computer or smart watch.

I agree, put out the partial show. Do not re-sequence. If really inspired, put out a sign that says the full show will be back next year.

Last year, I had to take an unexpected trip out of town just as I was about to put up my display. I didn't get back until the beginning of December and had the same thoughts as you do now. With help from a neighbor I put out a smaller show. Now my entire display is small in comparison around here, but it's still the largest in the neighborhood. So I put up the basic things with the most pop...my mega tree, mini trees, leaping arches, and lined the garage and front door, and then a few bushes and spotlights. I usually put out some wire frame deer and a sleigh, but they take a lot of time. I also usually put string up in the trees but only wrapped a coup of trunks. Basically, minimal ladder work (the mega tree and lining the top of the garage and around the front door). We have a pond across the street with a gazebo and usually I put up strings on bushes around it to mimic the min trees, but not last year. Just no time. So I think if you think about the minimal things with the most pop, you'll come up with something you can do.

Man, i have been missing out all this time. I will jump on tonight and check it out.

I would think needing 2 different types of controllers to mix a prop between dumb and smart pixels would be a disadvantage. Personally I would never have a dumb pixel in my show, if for no other reason is due to not needing different types of replacements. You can always make a smart pixel look dumb but never a dumb pixel to act smart. IMO J.R.

When the scheduled time expires, the song currently playing will finish, "gracefully", if Stop After Current Song is selected in the Scheduler options. Checking Stop Immediately should stop abruptly. probably mid song at the set end time. At least that is how it is said to work in the help file. Never tried it. Personally, I let it loop all night. The second show will start as soon as possible after the last song of the first show.

I saw the announcement E-Mail, but had not attended Expo this year. It will be very interesting to see what develops with this controller. Now if we can get LOR to produce a P5 / P10 matrix panel driver (so we aren't forced to use Falcon Player).

You show a Basic license. If you have none, buy a Starter package (with that CTB16, or Pixie), (the starter package includes item discounted from list) The Starter package has a Black (slow speed) adapter (god for the AC and configuring any controller), but the Pixies will need a (formerly Red) HS adapter. AND Bump the license to PRO because you have Pixels on your list (Ralphie (has a Pixie2) and the Pixie4) You will need CAT5 (lengths depend on placement of controllers), many of us build our own.

When I loaded S6 on a older PC, it complained about my DirectX. I had internal video issues for years and had been using USB vid adapters. I went to Microsoft and found DirectX as a download (dxwebsetup.exe), That fixed all my issues (MS update and Dell Diag never said a word). You might want to check your DirectX Win+R (run): dxdiag.exe

The V2 Trees are great. Most know how many singers I have and the V2 have a much smoother transition between words when sequenced properly. Some of the ones out on the market are hideous at best. The LOR trees are well worth the investment if you like your audience to have fun and sing along with them. JR

Before I received my V1 trees about 2 years ago or so. I didn't know they used dumb mode (8 channels for V1), so I had painfully set them up for every single pixel, programming that was a nightmare! ROFL But when jrdibble explained to me how to set them up using dumb mode,then programming them became so much simpler and easier! :)

think of a network as the (street) and the unit ID as the (number) - so same number, different street

Same here, I started in 2012 with version 3. It certainly has come a very long ways since then. I still miss the V4 visualizer though.

I agree with what @TheDucks said, but just chiming in to say, that if the school has an existing DMX dimmer system, it would be far better (and more practical) to use their existing packs. This can be done with either a DMX dongle, or a LOR dongle using a crossover cable, with your standard cat-5 with pins 4-5 on one end and presumably a 3 or 5 pin XLR plug on the other (depending on the system). Would be nice if there were photos to see what the existing system is to gain a better idea. If it is a standard DMX system it would be as simple as unplugging the existing console and plugging your LOR computer with a dongle in it's place for the show.

I do it the way Phil describes. Always start with making your new preview, ESPECIALLY if you are adding new props. I can get through updating my 15 sequences in less than 30 minutes. Now, I must say, adding sequencing for the new props is a whole 'nother issue!

If your sequences are the same name, leave the old preview in place and create your new preview as 2023. Open the old sequence, which will use the old preview, then in sequence menu Assign New Preview. At this point if you have a revised grid view config, import that. Shouldn't take more than a few seconds, but you may have to wait for the rendering to take place. Your license says an older version of S5. I have found S6.2.2 to be noticbly faster at rendering than earlier, but it also depends on the content and complexity of the sequence.

May be a dumb question, but is the wiring diagram supposed to be front facing or rear facing? Make sure - don't assume. I would be surprised if the downloaded prop file was backwards - but that is just an educated guess. Again, my educated guess is that the LOR download is front facing, and maybe the actual prop building instructions shows rear facing because that is the side that pixels are inserted from.