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Computer Recommendation for ShowTime?


LaughsBrightly

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Howdy.

My LOR1602W shows up tomorrow. I'm wondering what you all recommend for running ShowTime?. Dedicated machine or shared? Lots of ram? Big processor? Something really portable?

I'm running 16 channels this year, expanding to 64 in the next few years. I'll be buying sequences from the LOR store for a while.

I have pretty much every kind of PC available - Core I3 &  I5 laptops, Core 2, I3, I5, and I7 PCs, etc. Was originally thinking a dedicated laptop, but now I'm thinking I may not need another PC running and I'd just load ShowTime on my main I7 rig with a fairly decent discrete graphics card. Doesn't really matter, just want to start right off utilizing the experience of you Pros. 

Thanks for your help!

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Any Windows based computer will do.  I use an ancient Dell Tower case, probably around 15-20 years or so old.  2 GB Ram, but tons of HD space, have 3 internal HD's and one external 1TB HD, the internals are anywhere from Drive C = 229GB, Drive D = 3.30GB {What I use to download new songs/music and edit before moving to the main LOR Audio Directory where I keep completed/edited songs/music}, and Drive E = 111GB, and this one mainly used for use as a data disk, where all the temp files are stored from all the other drives.  The 1TB HD is where I keep the backups of everything from my main LOR Directory from Drive C.  And I have a monitor set to 1600x900 resolution.  And I'm running 4 older V2 CTB16PC Controlelrs and 5 CCB-100D original CCB Controllers from it and Powered Speakers.   And it works just fine.

So any computer you use should work as long as it has enough memory {and LOR Doesn't require too much}, good graphics, a good sound card and Hd space to run everything.

Good Luck.

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Thanks Orville.

I've been reading tons of posts on these forums and I see a lot of people using laptops and many with separate show and sequencing PCs so I was wondering if there were some "pro tips" to save me some aggravation down the line. You mentioned you run at 1600x900. Is that important/helpful for the software? Lower cost laptops are 1366x766.

 

 

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6 minutes ago, LaughsBrightly said:

Thanks Orville.

I've been reading tons of posts on these forums and I see a lot of people using laptops and many with separate show and sequencing PCs so I was wondering if there were some "pro tips" to save me some aggravation down the line. You mentioned you run at 1600x900. Is that important/helpful for the software? Lower cost laptops are 1366x766.

 

 

I was given an older graphics card for this machine, but prior to that, I ran the LOR Software suite starting with S2 and S3 at 1024 x 768 for years.  Got the graphics card from a neighbor and so been running S4 at 1600x900, but the software will work in lower resolutions, even at 640x480.  But if using visualizer higher resolution would be preferred, but I use the old animator myself and that will still work at 640x480 and up. LOL

But the higher the resolution, the more you can see on your screen when sequencing.  So lower resolutions will work, so anything your comfortable with would be fine, but I'd try and stay at a minimum of 1024x768, if you can go to higher resolutions, then use the highest resolution available, that would be my suggestion for best use of the screen when sequencing and testing.

 

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With the size of your setup, almost anything that can manage to boot windows should work.  Running a show takes very little horsepower.  Sequencing (especially large numbers of pixels) take far more.  For that reason, many of us run a separate computer for the show player.  I have a high end gaming computer (mainly for the video) as my main family room computer that I use for almost all my sequencing, and a far more pedestrian i5 based computer as the show player.  That computer gets run for a little under 3 months of the year and is then powered off.  My year round landscape lighting show is run from my file server.

 

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Thanks for the help.

I went with a Windows 10 Core i5 3.30 GHz PC with 8 GM ram. It has a serial port so I have options with my RS485 connector. Intel integrated graphics with VGA plugged into the second port of my 25" main display and use my 15.6" laptop and Teamviewer to control it.  Lots of options for that day when I start building my own. (have to say I was shocked to see Windows 95 install instructions for ShowTime.)

 

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Along a similar line, I don't currently own a personal computer, and I'm looking to get one (laptop or desktop) that would work when I start needing to sequence my own songs, or at least combine purchased sequenced songs. I just bought the LOR TSO package for this year, which includes the miniDirector and the Pro Level license for ShowTime Designer. I've got the show up and running, and it looks great. I've got 48 channels currently. I would love to add a lot more in the future, including some pixels. 

What type of computer would be best to look into? I'm having trouble spending to much $ on a computer just for this, as I wouldn't use it for anything else at home. In the near term I basically just need something I can combine the sequenced songs onto to play with the director. Would it make sense to get a cheap laptop for now, and buy a better machine in a few years as the need arises?  

Secondly, in terms of combining the songs, I'm not exactly sure of the process yet, but I'll do more searching on here over the next few months for next year's show. I'm assuming the miniDirector will be enough for now, and only once I start adding pixels will I need to probably upgrade to running off a computer? 

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