George Simmons

Unless LOR has recently made changes, there is no option of setting the Pixie boards to recognize null pixels. You have to do it manually by ignoring or deleting the sequencing for your null pixel(s). Having said that, there's currently a couple threads on FB regarding this very topic. People have stated they've reached as far as 40 - 50' between the controller and first pixel with no performance issues. This is only possible with 12V pixels and you must be using at least 18 ga wire. One individual stated he had problems with full-on white looking pink until he reduced full-on from 100% to 80% intensity. Another spoke of increasing the power supply output to 12.5V. As always, YMMV and you should carefully consider before embarking on outside-the-box remedies.

If it makes you feel any better, you're not alone. The LOR users group(s) on FB have regularly had people reporting the exact same thing from that same vendor. I doubt you did anything wrong. It looks like nothing more than the steep cost of saving a few pennies.

I've used a CZH-05B FM transmitter since 2010. The sound quality is excellent, the range is excellent, and the price is BEYOND excellent! They are so reasonably priced that I got a second one to use as backup. Except to test it after it arrived, it hasn't been out of the box. IMO there's no better value in this entire hobby.

I've done it too with no issues. I'm guessing you'll be fine. If you DO have issues, however, the LOR Verifier is the place to go first.

If it makes you feel any better, it would still be 24 channels, even if you did it in a different color.

I'm happy to hear that you live someplace where the people are reasonable and sane. But it's not just the city that you need to be concerned about. In fact, they're likely to be the least of your worries.

The process will vary, to echo Jim, depending on which colors we're talking about. But to use a simple example, lets say you want to take a red pattern and make it green. Expand both the top RGB channel and the last (bottom) RGB channel in your copy range. Place your cursor in the top red channel line and after selecting the range of time you want, select down to include only as far as, and including, the red channel line in the bottom RGB channel. Copy the data. Then, place your cursor in the GREEN line of the expanded top RGB channel and paste. The original pattern is now green. If you want blue, it works the same, except you paste into the blue channel of the top RGB channel.

Thanks for the kind words. You definitely get a lot deeper in the weeds than I do when it comes to sequencing. I work with the beat to give people visual anchors and then I play around with other things in the song as eye candy however the spirit moves me. As a life-long music moron I wouldn't know what to do with all the song elements you identify. But I do know a few things about sequence structure and there's a lot you can do to make your sequencing life easier if you wish to. Most/all of the musical elements for which you create separate tracks for can be represented in a "channel" in the SE which can be moved around wherever you want it by a single drag and drop with the mouse. You can create a dedicated timing grid for each musical element and then those grids can be swapped in and out according to what you're sequencing. If you want to get any farther into any of that let me know and we can get together on it.

First of all, and not to bash Mr. Storms, I found his convoluted "fast and easy" timing process to be neither fast nor easy. Maybe compared to rocket science, but certainly not compared to the Beat Wizard, which takes almost a full second to do the job. I've used the Beat Wizard exclusively since 2008, along with multiple freeform timing grids based on Beat Wizard variables (beat x 2, beat x 4, etc.) and have never had a case where timing from one track to another varied by more than a centisecond. (Even that amount bugs the snot out of me but is totally undetectable to the human eye.) I therefore conclude that John's method using three distinctly different software programs and then dropping the results into yet a fourth distinctly different software is probably responsible for your issues. (NOTE: Even using the Beat Wizard for the freeform timing grids, there will always be a discrepancy between fixed and freeform grids.) The Skew Track command does exactly that - it allows you to skew the contents of the track that your cursor currently occupies. By "contents" I refer to any/all previously sequenced events, and also whichever timing grid is currently loaded into that track. If you have 9 tracks, you'll likely need to skew each one separately. If you were to create groups in your second track rather than all those multiple tracks, your sequencing life would be quicker and simpler. A lot quicker and a lot simpler actually. I know of no way within the S2/S3/S4 software to skew multiple tracks or timing grids simultaneously. Nor have I ever needed to do that, as the Beat Wizard almost always places the first timing mark exactly wherever the song starts.

If you really want to go radical and don't mind wrestling with something smaller and lighter than a fully-loaded CG1500, put the controller in a CG2000 enclosure (it fits great) and go with a weatherproof power supply for which you don't need an enclosure.

What speed are you running? If you're running 115K that might still be problematic in places where the sequencing is more dynamic, or in spots where there might be heavy use of color morphs. For best (and most reliable) results with 12 CCRs, it should be either 500K (needs high speed adapter) or split off into two 115K networks.

How many networks are you running with those 12 CCRs? What is the network(s) speed?

I tried that with my 12-year old grandson. Turns out I helped poison the well when I got him his first tablet when he was four or five. Today, he doesn't have a clue how an ordinary PC works.

You shouldn't have any issues. But having said that, the cost of a high speed USB RS485 adapter is pretty small compared to the frustration and aggravation that having lag induces. +1 on Mr. P's advice regarding an Advanced license.

Thank you Daniel for displaying the courage and confidence in your manhood to openly address this vampire-on-vampire violence issue. For far too long, it has only been whispered about in far corners of the room when no one else was listening. It's time this crisis receives the attention it truly deserves. Translation: For years now I thought it was just me not having enough strength in my fingers...