5.3.10 animated gifs and/or SS effects not playing

[Brad Stucky]

I have been using 2 different computers for many years now and it seems that in order for a show to play properly now, your best bet is to finish the final editing on the show computer.   On one of my sequences, that relies heavily on an animated gif that worked last year would simply not work for me this year until I discovered the the file reference to the image used in the sequence is invalid when the .loredit file is moved to your show computer.  (I have no idea why it worked for me last year when I created the playback files on another computer.)  You will have to reload the sequence in your show computer.  It usually will report that the image file location is lost and that you will need to fix that in the file references for each sequence that uses an image within the motion effects editor.   Images entered into the motion effects program use the full pathway to the location of the image file.   When you move the .loredit to another computer and create your playback files on the show computer, the full pathway is no longer valid.  Hope this helps someone else.

UPDATE:

I just found out you will need to move over the Superstar AVI files from the main sequences directory also.  I had done this for the most part just as a precaution, but never verified anything related to their usage for a show.  I figured they were just for the sequence editing.    When a sequence was missing playback on one of my props, I checked the file references for that sequence and found that an AVI file for that prop was missing.   As soon as I copied it over from the edit computer,  I re-saved the sequence on the show computer so that it would be reprocessed by the show program.   The AVI file was then added to the playback file.  What is really happening here?  Is a video file being converted to a data file for Superstar effects to be added to the playback file?  

There are several different files that need to be considered if you use different computers to edit and show your sequences.   I guess in order to prevent any more unexpected problems, I may simply place my EDIT computer online for the show.  The other choice is to go into every sequence on the show computer and check for missing file references.   Moving my edit computer to play the show will make editing difficult in my case.   Also, if you have a show computer crash, rebuilding the sequences might be fun.  Could there be a Utility program perhaps in the HUB that would take care of all these file transfers, even if it means dumping to a flash drive and then uploading to a show computer?

 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Brad Stucky
remove false info and clarify, spelling

[default]

Brad,
I run my shows during the spring/summer/fall months. Been there, done all this. I went thru all of this last summer when S5 got updated from 5.2.4 to 5.30 etc... 5.2.4 gave the users the ability to create thier playback files from there editing pc, then transer those file to thier show pc and everything worked fine. Then with 5.3.0 that all changed when it was decided that the playback files would now be created "on the fly" when the sequences were run the first time with Show on Demand on the show pc.

There is very little documentation on all this, from what I understand you are supposed to move ALL files (SS .avi, gif, pictures, movies, etc) to the editing machine. In doing this, you have seen the issues that are raised with this procedure, not only do you have to move a large number of files, but you must also look at File References once you think you have moved everything and then point the files in File References to the new location and make sure ALL the files got moved. This now creates two seperate files, one set is on the editing pc in which the File References are completely different than those now on the show pc that had to be changed to get things to work. This all begs the question, what is the purpose of having a editing pc and a show pc? if I have to rebuild the files on 2 seperate pc's. Seems kind of redunant just to make some lights go blinky blinky.

One very important thing that happens during the playback file creation is that ALL files (SS .avi, gif, pictures, movies, etc) that are listed in the File References are compiled and put into the .play.lms.pe.lid file. This means that no matter where the files are located on your editing pc, they will all be added to the .play.lms.pe.lid file so that Show Demand can play them. Since they have been added to the .play.lms.pe.lid file it is no longer important where they are located. That info has been noted and the .play.lms.pe.lid file now contains all the info that Show on Demand needs to play the file.

The reason your sequences worked last year was because you were not using ver 5.3.0 or later, that update did not come out untill after the Christmas lighting season. Therefore you created the playback files on your editing pc, transered them to your show pc and everything played fine. When the playback files were created on your editing pc, it gathered up all the info about filenames, locations and put that info into the .play.lms.pe.lid file and thier was no fuss, no muss.

This not a new issue and has been discussed before. During the summer, I tried moving all the files (as recommended) to the show pc and the show was a total nightmare, from trying gather up all the files, redefning the File References issues. I never want to do that again. After that fiasco I made a tutorial video about how I created the playback on my editing pc, then transfered then to the show pc. It is a little different from what you might have been used to pre Ver. 5.2.4. The good news is that it works, I ran all my shows throughout the summer/fall season with no problems.

See the thread below and watch the video to see if it makes sense to you. The video walks thru and explains the steps needed to do this. As always just to err on the side of caution, create backups of all you sequences.

Hope this helps.

Alan...

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by default

[Brad Stucky]

22 hours ago, default said:

Brad,
I run my shows during the spring/summer/fall months. Been there, done all this. I went thru all of this last summer when S5 got updated from 5.2.4 to 5.30 etc... 5.2.4 gave the users the ability to create thier playback files from there editing pc, then transer those file to thier show pc and everything worked fine. Then with 5.3.0 that all changed when it was decided that the playback files would now be created "on the fly" when the sequences were run the first time with Show on Demand on the show pc.

There is very little documentation on all this, from what I understand you are supposed to move ALL files (SS .avi, gif, pictures, movies, etc) to the editing machine. In doing this, you have seen the issues that are raised with this procedure, not only do you have to move a large number of files, but you must also look at File References once you think you have moved everything and then point the files in File References to the new location and make sure ALL the files got moved. This now creates two seperate files, one set is on the editing pc in which the File References are completely different than those now on the show pc that had to be changed to get things to work. This all begs the question, what is the purpose of having a editing pc and a show pc? if I have to rebuild the files on 2 seperate pc's. Seems kind of redunant just to make some lights go blinky blinky.

One very important thing that happens during the playback file creation is that ALL files (SS .avi, gif, pictures, movies, etc) that are listed in the File References are compiled and put into the .play.lms.pe.lid file. This means that no matter where the files are located on your editing pc, they will all be added to the .play.lms.pe.lid file so that Show Demand can play them. Since they have been added to the .play.lms.pe.lid file it is no longer important where they are located. That info has been noted and the .play.lms.pe.lid file now contains all the info that Show on Demand needs to play the file.

The reason your sequences worked last year was because you were not using ver 5.3.0 or later, that update did not come out untill after the Christmas lighting season. Therefore you created the playback files on your editing pc, transered them to your show pc and everything played fine. When the playback files were created on your editing pc, it gathered up all the info about filenames, locations and put that info into the .play.lms.pe.lid file and thier was no fuss, no muss.

This not a new issue and has been discussed before. During the summer, I tried moving all the files (as recommended) to the show pc and the show was a total nightmare, from trying gather up all the files, redefning the File References issues. I never want to do that again. After that fiasco I made a tutorial video about how I created the playback on my editing pc, then transfered then to the show pc. It is a little different from what you might have been used to pre Ver. 5.2.4. The good news is that it works, I ran all my shows throughout the summer/fall season with no problems.

See the thread below and watch the video to see if it makes sense to you. The video walks thru and explains the steps needed to do this. As always just to err on the side of caution, create backups of all you sequences.

Hope this helps.

Alan...

 

Thanks, Alan. 

I followed the link, watched the video and posted back there.  Excellent video and lots of good hints, pointers and stuff.