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How does a person sequence pixels? (PE, Xlights, SS) What's the best and easiest?


wt1924

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Hello!

My display has become a mix of over 100 AC channels and 50 universes of pixel (no universe is full). I have some older LOR AC controllers and even a few D Light controllers. I have 3 AlphaPix, a one universe controller, and a DMX dumb controller. Also I have 2 CMB controllers. A little bit of everything.

I wanted to use my pixels more to their potential this year by using one of the pixel sequencers. Last year I just did basic effects with S4 (I have a house outline and a matrix). I have been trying to figure out Xlights the last week. I did dabble with PE last year but I was scared of it because I have AC controllers that cannot be used with intensity files. I have never used or looked at SS, nor LSP.

Now to the meat of this post. I have already mentioned a huge reason why I am reluctant toward PE. Add in you can't go back and forth with S4 and PE, that lead me to try Xlights. Xlights has been OK but I am not seeing a good, easy way to go between Xlights and S4. Xlights wants you to put all the AC controllers in DMX mode (which I am not looking to do) and I haven't figured a way to export back to an LMS file as I would still use S4 for my player/scheduler. I have heard some say SuperStar is so great, but . . .

In conclusion, I know there will probably be strong opinion of the software you are loyal to, but I just want to figure out the best way. Seems PE should be my route, since I skew toeard LOR, but how do I deal with intensity files, and PE is probably not as polished software as Xlights probably is. There are so many variables, so I would like to hear opinions and arguments toward your software of choice for pixels.

 

Thanks,

William

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I use Super Star have great luck with it give email or pm me will send a sequence so you can see what it can do I am learning pixel editor now will use both of them

Edited by james morris
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I have used SuperStar for five years and love it. There is a learning curve for any of them. SS does allow you to use your older controllers on a non-enhanced network.


Sent from my phone using Tapatalk, so blame any typos on Android!

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I have tried xlights and pe.  Both are similar....Matt used to work on xlights.  Xlights lets you export as an LMS file which then you work with in LOR SE.  These programs allow you to create an effect and put it on your RGB elements.  For me, getting the correct timings is difficult. A lot of guessing.  Learning curve was huge for me.  I could not understand that AC controllers were not controllable.  You also have to create each element using number boxes trying to line them up on a grid.  PE does not allow you to sequence in the device in both SE and PE.  Bottom line is to sequence with either of these I was forced to double sequence....RGB with PE or xlights...AC with SE.

Who has time for that.

Enter superstar.  It sequences everything.  Timings are adjustable live and on the fly.  AC.  DC.  LOR.  DMX.  Everything...with the exception of singing faces.  Don't get me wrong....it could do that but IMHO SE is better for that.  

SuperStar lets you export as legacy or intensity.  I use only legacy because once exported you can still edit in SE.  Your visualizer file is used to import your elements.  Most people already use that and have it set up....so no extra work.

Learning curve depends on how long you have used SE.  It took me 3 songs to get the hang of it.  I had used SE for 2 years.

 

SS is the choice for me because of the ability to sequence my entire display in one run.  Timings are easily adjusted.  Elements easily made.  Sequencing is fast and easy with the ability to add or remove elements to a given effect on the fly.

Disadvantages are cost.  No effects created for you....other than teaching ones put in the clipboard.

Sax

 

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I have use SS, PE and xlights. Each program is unique If your thinking of adding p10 panels to your show then your choice would have be xlights. PE was great & it played nicely with SE but the intercity files are a pain to edit. Sequencing could be done much faster now on props or the whole house, Just by dropping a Butterfly effect on a length of time. Sadly very outdated now.  I had fun sequencing my mega tree and matrix with SS. I hope that S5 will bring all these programs together as 1

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I was sequencing for years with sequence editor then as I got into pixels it wasn't able to keep up because of its antiquated file structure. (It's best suited for AC elements) I played with xlights a little then I tried pixel editor and I had more trouble with pixel editor than xlights as far as learning curve. I ended up jumping around between the programs and now I'm exclusively on xlights and finding that it does everything that I need. You can even run all of your AC controllers from light O Rama. I really didn't like the way light O ramas programs are all broken up and couldn't even talk with each other. There's been rumors that S5 will fix all these issues but I'm a little afraid that even when it comes out it'll still be a little behind the competition. I still use sequence editor from time to time and then convert over. I was going to try Superstar but I just couldn't get past the cost on top of everything else that I spent for their software. With all the options out there now it's kind of a hard choice. The direction I went I was able to use a Raspberry Pi to run my show and it was nice to be able to control my show from my cell phone out in the street with just my Wi-Fi connection. Raspberry Pi has a hundred times more functionality than the Showtime director. Hopefully light O Rama is looking into this with S5 and utilizing the Raspberry Pi. 

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I'm in the minority to say that I find it best so sequence pixels in the SE.  For my opinion there is nothing that can give you the same control.  Superstar is close but I find it more work on the individual level. It can be time consuming at the start but once you get the hang of it its not bad. If you want effects from Xlights just use the clipboard exporter and it works well.

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On 4/10/2017 at 8:59 AM, Ebuechner said:

Raspberry Pi has a hundred times more functionality than the Showtime director. Hopefully light O Rama is looking into this with S5 and utilizing the Raspberry Pi. 

That would roughly be equivalent to comparing a Yugo to almost any modern car.  Compare the Raspberry Pi with a PC and you have a fair competition.  I doubt there is much that the Pi can do that any PC can't.  And with either a small notebook or micro-desktop the Pi does not even have much of a size advantage.  I don't see any reason at all for LOR to pursue another type of control hardware.

And BTW, I also use VNC from either my phone or another PC to remote into my show computer to either control stuff (generally while I'm testing) or monitor what is going on.  Very handy!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello!

Just wanted to thank those that responded to my question/dilemma.

I continued to work with Xlights, and got some advice from some who are familiar with it. I have been able to make some effects with Xlights and export them as a LOR clipboard file and paste them into LOR S4 with no problem. That seems to work pretty good other than it is cumbersome to do a whole house effect, because I have to export and add each prop to S4. I haven't found a way to export the whole house and load clipboard and paste into S4. For now doing each prop works as I will not be using Xlight effects extensively, just with a few songs and such. As I originally stated, I just wanted to use more of the potential of smart pixels with more complex effects than the basic ones I used last year. In 2018 my focus will be to choose some software that is more suited to pixels than S4 (i'm not downing S4 at all, but using it for more than basic effects I have not figured out how to do for pixels - hence why the have "Pixel Editor", - plus my limitation I fore stated). 

Once again, THANKS!

Any other advice or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

William,

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2 hours ago, wt1924 said:

Hello!

Just wanted to thank those that responded to my question/dilemma.

I continued to work with Xlights, and got some advice from some who are familiar with it. I have been able to make some effects with Xlights and export them as a LOR clipboard file and paste them into LOR S4 with no problem. That seems to work pretty good other than it is cumbersome to do a whole house effect, because I have to export and add each prop to S4. I haven't found a way to export the whole house and load clipboard and paste into S4. For now doing each prop works as I will not be using Xlight effects extensively, just with a few songs and such. As I originally stated, I just wanted to use more of the potential of smart pixels with more complex effects than the basic ones I used last year. In 2018 my focus will be to choose some software that is more suited to pixels than S4 (i'm not downing S4 at all, but using it for more than basic effects I have not figured out how to do for pixels - hence why the have "Pixel Editor", - plus my limitation I fore stated). 

Once again, THANKS!

Any other advice or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

William,

You have some great people there in TN. I believe you just missed the TN mini. If you do a search for the TN mini you will find a few of the members within. I'd pm them and see if they could help you out.

Try SuperStar yet?

JR

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10 hours ago, wt1924 said:

Hello!

Just wanted to thank those that responded to my question/dilemma.

I continued to work with Xlights, and got some advice from some who are familiar with it. I have been able to make some effects with Xlights and export them as a LOR clipboard file and paste them into LOR S4 with no problem. That seems to work pretty good other than it is cumbersome to do a whole house effect, because I have to export and add each prop to S4. I haven't found a way to export the whole house and load clipboard and paste into S4. For now doing each prop works as I will not be using Xlight effects extensively, just with a few songs and such. As I originally stated, I just wanted to use more of the potential of smart pixels with more complex effects than the basic ones I used last year. In 2018 my focus will be to choose some software that is more suited to pixels than S4 (i'm not downing S4 at all, but using it for more than basic effects I have not figured out how to do for pixels - hence why the have "Pixel Editor", - plus my limitation I fore stated). 

Once again, THANKS!

Any other advice or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

William,

I'm xlights user if you have any questions. From your response I can tell you that I think you're making things more complicated for yourself than they need to be. You can also find me on the xlights Forum using the same name

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