Compressed sequences niot loading

[indi]

First off, I don't know how I could have a compressed sequence. I always save my sequences the same. This is the first time I have seen this in my show editor. As I am running my show, I get two songs that say compressed sequence. This shows up in the status program that I run as the show is playing. What would cause these to all of a sudden show compressed sequence.

[bob]

It's normal and good for it to use compressed sequences during the show.  A compressed sequence is much, much faster to load than a regular sequence, and it looks exactly the same on your lights.

[basis21b]

A compressed sequence is not a bad thing.

 

By default the Sequence Editor settings are configured to save compressed sequences.  Compressed sequences load much faster when playing a show.  A number of people have found that using compressed sequences has removed lags they were seeing during their show when a sequence loaded.

 

Having said that, if you want to change the setting look in the Sequence Editor under:

 

Edit --> Preferences --> Saving Preferences

 

The check mark next to Export Compressed would indicate the Sequence Editor will save a compressed sequence.

 

I personally would recommend you create compressed sequences for all of your sequences.  The fast way to do it is to use the Sequence Compressor Tool.  You can use it o do a single sequence, an individual show or for your entire schedule.

 

 

 

 

[PhilMassey]

If "use compressed sequences" is checked in the LOR Tray menu, (right click), then the show player will look for a compressed sequence. If it fails to find one, it will create one on the fly, which may a few seconds or longer, just the one time.

Next time around it will load the compressed sequence very quickly.

If it detects that you have changed the sequence, it will again rebuild the compressed seq, the first time through.

No reason not to use them and if you want, the show player will handle it for you and you can leave the compressed seq unchecked in the SE menu.

[bob]

If "use compressed sequences" is checked in the LOR Tray menu, (right click), then the show player will look for a compressed sequence. If it fails to find one, it will create one on the fly, which may a few seconds or longer, just the one time.

Next time around it will load the compressed sequence very quickly.

If it detects that you have changed the sequence, it will again rebuild the compressed seq, the first time through.

No reason not to use them and if you want, the show player will handle it for you and you can leave the compressed seq unchecked in the SE menu.

 

You're correct that the Show Player will handle it if necessary, but this is like a "last resort" kind of thing in case nothing has previously handled it; it isn't typically the best way to handle it.  Relying on the Show Player to do it means that it will be done during your show.  This can take time, and cause your show to pause while it's happening.  Especially with large sequences, the pause can be noticeable.

 

Generally speaking, I think the best way is to let the Sequence Editor export compressed sequences, and let the Show Player use compressed sequences. 

 

Pretty much the only reason to turn off "export compressed" in the Sequence Editor is if you have huge sequence files that take a long time to save.  Turning off "export compressed" causes saving to take less time.  But if you do that, I strongly suggest making sure that you create the compressed sequences after you've made all your changes and before your show is supposed to start.  The easiest way to do this is via the LOR Sequence Compressor program, as mentioned by basis21b above.  If you don't do that, then yes, the Show Player will handle it for you, but it will take time during your show.

 

Another option is to set up the show to "load all sequences before any are played" - the Show Player will then compress anything that's not already compressed before playing anything, so the pause won't be as noticeable.  The pause is still there, though - for example if your show is scheduled to start at 8:00, and it takes a minute to load/compress the noncompressed sequences, your show won't actually start (in the sense that lights play) until 8:01.  So it's still better, I think, to make sure the compression is done beforehand (with the Sequence Editor or the Sequence Compressor).

 

Another thing to note: If you have two computers, one to edit your sequences and one to play the show, you should probably run the Sequence Compressor on your show computer after you've copied all of the sequences there (and after you've set up your show/schedule), for basically the same reason: Even if you had the Sequence Editor create compressed sequences, it did so on the other computer, not on the computer you actually want them on.

 

As for the option to "Use Compressed Sequences" in the Control Panel, you pretty much should always have that turned on.  There's basically no reason to turn it off.  We put it there as an option when compressed sequences were a very new thing, just in case people started running into new, unexpected problems with this new feature.  They've been around for a while now and I think they're pretty solid, so I don't think there's any real reason to turn the feature off.  Perhaps at some point we should move the option from its prominent location on the main popup menu to a less obvious place, like some "Advanced Options" screen.