Mr. P Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 If you are currently using S4 then DO NOT switch to S5 now. It is too late in the year and you will not learn S5 in time for this Holiday season. S5 has a huge learning curve especially if you have been using S4 for any length of time. There are a ton of questions popping up in the Forums from people who are just now switching over and they are confused. Do yourself a favor and wait until January then switch, this will give you a full year to learn S5. Why put the added pressure on yourself now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 (edited) Totally agree with Mr. P on this one. Now is NOT the the time to switch to S5! Yes, it has more bells and whistles, but {to me anyway} it is very complicated and learning it definitely is no easy task. I didn't like it the first time I tried it and went back to S4 because it{S4} was so much easier to use. If you can possibly figure out the Pixel Editor part of S4, S5 might, and I say "might", be an easier switch because there is no SE as you know it from earlier versions of the Light-O-Rama software suite. I still, for the life of me, can't even get the PE to work in S4. I've tried to figure it out, but I can't ever seem to get anything to work in the PE. So I stick with S4 and the standard SE part of it. I figured if I could figure out how the PE works, then maybe a move to S5 would be a little easier. But there is still way too much learning on how to use S5 at this time of year to switch over to it. Personally I would also highly recommend S4 to NEW USERS, as S5 is extremely complex in the way it works {again, my opinion from attempting to use and learn it when it first became available.} I may try my attempt at it again after the Holiday season is over in early January. But for now, I'll stay with S4 and as Mr. P stated, it is too late in the season to try and learn the newer S5 software at this time. Edited October 7, 2019 by Orville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanopie Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Sorry Orville but i disagree with you for the new user part, I highly recommend new user to go with S5, there is absolutely no sense in learning a software and then moving to the next version of the software, learn once, bite the bullet now you won't regret it. I've been using S5 since it came out and love it, I wouldn't go back. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I would agree that if you are running S4 now, DO NOT switch to S5 until after you are completed with this year's show. Furthermore, for a new user with no LOR history, there is ZERO reason to learn S4 and then later need to relearn to migrate to S5. Start from day 1 with S5. Note to new users. Show opening is in a month and a half (give or take a little). If you are at zero now, you are really late to the game to set up a show this year. Plan on your first show in 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichRX7 Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 16 hours ago, k6ccc said: I would agree that if you are running S4 now, DO NOT switch to S5 until after you are completed with this year's show. Furthermore, for a new user with no LOR history, there is ZERO reason to learn S4 and then later need to relearn to migrate to S5. Start from day 1 with S5. Note to new users. Show opening is in a month and a half (give or take a little). If you are at zero now, you are really late to the game to set up a show this year. Plan on your first show in 2020. STOP, YOU ARE GIVING ME NIGHTMARES! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 21 hours ago, lanopie said: Sorry Orville but i disagree with you for the new user part, I highly recommend new user to go with S5, there is absolutely no sense in learning a software and then moving to the next version of the software, learn once, bite the bullet now you won't regret it. I've been using S5 since it came out and love it, I wouldn't go back. Just my opinion. If a new user wants a show for this Christmas, yes, there is still time for that by using shared sequences from the many folks here that do that. But S5 is very complicated and for a new user to start with it right now would be foolhardy, because trying to learn it and set things up in it, even a simple light strand is not that easy. So if they started now with S5, you're right, they WILL NOT get a show off the ground in 2019. But for now, if they go with S4, it's easier to learn, easier to set things up in the SE, just leave the PE part of it alone, it's a bit more complicated to get things to work in it, I can't even get a simple single strand of RGB lights to work in that blasted PE. S4 SE = easy peasy as the saying goes. And with all the S4 shared sequences that many share out here, yes, I do believe a new user could very well set up a show for 2019 if they leave S5 out of it and go with S4 at this time of year. And that is EXACTLY my conveyance of what I was stating in my previous post above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhammer53 Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 FWIW...S5 has a steep learning curve when switching from S4 to S5, if you are currently using S4...stay with it until AFTER this season is over.... IF you are a newbee, It probably would be better to START with S5, less to unlearn/reconfigure and 5.3.8 is stable, has many tools that are almost intuitive and easy to use once you have generated your PREVIEW, defining your props and elements and thought out how your show will play to your audience. Lots of Pros and Cons either way....like I said, For What It's Worth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 I have to bring this back up. Too many people trying to convert now, don't. Save yourself a headache and wait until after the Holidays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CovertRain Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) I am revising my statement. I opened a sequence in S5, it asked me if I wanted to use an existing preview from last year I created. I opened it, saved it as a new version 2019. Then continued to open the sequence. I then re-saved the sequence in a new folder labeled 2019. I was hoping it was that simple. Well, I created a new show file, added that sequence and it played through once then I got playback errors in the log console. YIKES! FYI. I plan on running the show from my laptop using S4. However, I would still like to learn how to properly import (I assume I am doing something wrong) and learn to use the software over the next month or so. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Edited October 23, 2019 by CovertRain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 I was originally thinking: Sure, I can learn S5 fast. It can't be that much different, can it? Then I tried to figure out to do things that I know how to do in S4, and I have to admit that I agree with you guys. There are many questions I want to ask about S5, but now is not the time. I'm going to uninstall it, and reinstall S4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sresener Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 2018 was my first show and I had to teach myself from scratch, I started learning s5 and it was one big headache, and I was getting nowhere with it. I then started s4 and things made a lot more sense and I figured it out fairly quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Christmas Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 I converted to S5 and my shows at Halloween played with no problem. But am trying to add 3 new purchased sequences and cant get the channels to change to mine. Do I have to change each of the 16 CCRs individually for all 150 channels each? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 2 minutes ago, Mr Christmas said: I converted to S5 and my shows at Halloween played with no problem. But am trying to add 3 new purchased sequences and cant get the channels to change to mine. Do I have to change each of the 16 CCRs individually for all 150 channels each? I can't speak for S5 but in S4 you don't change the channels you copy the sequencing. Now whether S5 has changed that or not I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Christmas Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Unfortunately when I switched to S5 I lost my props, so I'm stuck with S5. I new how to reconfigure my channels with s4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Bill's Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 On 10/23/2019 at 7:51 PM, Steven said: I was originally thinking: Sure, I can learn S5 fast. It can't be that much different, can it? Then I tried to figure out to do things that I know how to do in S4, and I have to admit that I agree with you guys. There are many questions I want to ask about S5, but now is not the time. I'm going to uninstall it, and reinstall S4. Steven I did the exact same thing. Now asking myself "Is switching worth the hassle?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince4xmas Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Been using S5 for last 2 years. No issues except for Hub issue working with G3-MP3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 I'm with Vince. Been running my show from S5 since the day it was released in beta. I would also agree that October is NOT the time to make the change. Now IS the time to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kapkirk Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Okay, Christmas is over and all my props and lights are stored away, everyone is going to start updating software and switching to S5, I have one question. Is there a good reason for a S4 user to switch to S5? I never could figure out pixels and I have no plans of adding any, so my thinking is why switch. S4 has been working great for me and I assume LOR is going to continue to support S4 so why switch. If anyone could explain, give examples or educate us I would appreciate it. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 11 minutes ago, Kapkirk said: Okay, Christmas is over and all my props and lights are stored away, everyone is going to start updating software and switching to S5, I have one question. Is there a good reason for a S4 user to switch to S5? I never could figure out pixels and I have no plans of adding any, so my thinking is why switch. S4 has been working great for me and I assume LOR is going to continue to support S4 so why switch. If anyone could explain, give examples or educate us I would appreciate it. Keith Not everyone. I have no reason to switch in the forseeable future. If its not broke don't fix it, is my motto. The pioneering still isn't complete. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 I use S4 I installed S5 last year on a spare computer never made the switch to using it . I feel very comfortable using S4 and very happy with the sequences I get with it I know it very well and its easy to use . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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