Chase Tool Question

[stachows]

I am trying to create a "negative" chase using the chase tool and cannot seem to get it to work... I though I had done this in years past, but I just can't seem to figure it out.

 

What I am trying to do is keep all channels ON for a device, and then use the chase tool to create a chase section of each channel turning OFF briefly in channels 1-whatever.

 

I am trying by turning them all on, and then turning ONLY the first timing section of channel 1 off. Then using the chase tool, I select the OFF channel and drag it through X number of channels down and forward through say 10 seconds.  What I get, is on each channel, only the FIRST timing section gets blacked out.  It does not create a proper "negative" chase...  I have played with the "foreground and background buttons, and these do not change the outcome.

 

 

I am running 3.10.12,

It does not matter whether I test on normal LOR channels, or a CCB group of RGB pixels.

 

I can do the opposite, (Turning each channel ON briefly using the chase tool.)

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Scott

[Don]

See if this gives you ideas.

 

Link to video. (Subject to removal at any time in the future.)

[stachows]

First off...Thanks Don!

That is the Backwards way of doing I guess.

The only issue with doing it that way is that the first channel starts in the on position at the beginning...

Also going to be harder when I add fades and multiple colors to chases on CCB and RGB channels.

 

 

It would be really nice if the chase tool could do a "negative" chase. I thought it used to. Must be loosing my mind.

[Geoff Harvey]

Another way of achieving a -ve chase is to create the +ve chase in the normal manner and then use the 'toggle' tool to invert the whole area.

This will not handle fades etc, but with a -ve chase, you may well find fades are not necessary.

[dgrant]

It seems to me that last year, the toggle feature on a chase sequence, seemed to work better  but not so much on this current version of the LOR software. I use that effect on my megatree and like I said, it worked fine last year, not so much now. I'll have to look at the link Don provided and see if there's an update to the old methods with the newer software.

[Don]

First off...Thanks Don!

That is the Backwards way of doing I guess.

The only issue with doing it that way is that the first channel starts in the on position at the beginning...

Also going to be harder when I add fades and multiple colors to chases on CCB and RGB channels.

 

 

It would be really nice if the chase tool could do a "negative" chase. I thought it used to. Must be loosing my mind.

 

You could always cut/paste the chase to start in the position you want. As was also noted, you could do a toggle chase, which would do the same thing as I did.

If you were to do a fading chase (RampDown->RampUp) then it would be easier. After you made the chase you would then use the background tool to turn on any areas that are completely off. In that case, the fades wouldn't be affected. In the example I posted in the video, using the background tool would have affected the areas in the middle of the chase, thus rendering it null and void.

 

When it comes to CCB and RGB, don't over think it. You could do a reverse chase in RGB just the same as regular channels. Once you set the first channel, chase it across the area you wish to fill.

 

 

It seems to me that last year, the toggle feature on a chase sequence, seemed to work better  but not so much on this current version of the LOR software. I use that effect on my megatree and like I said, it worked fine last year, not so much now. I'll have to look at the link Don provided and see if there's an update to the old methods with the newer software.

I haven't noticed any changes in the toggle function in recent versions. What changes are you seeing?

[dgrant]

When using the chase tool on a set of cells that have a fade up, then fade back down, grabbing them all and running the chase, it works fine. But then selecting the whole "chased" area, toggle it with the "G" key, it doesn't something totally different and chops it up. I'm using 3.10.6 at the moment. Last year, selecting the desired area and toggling it, it did things perfectly, not this version of software. To be fair, maybe I've forgotten some simple method I used last year too. I can copy and paste from other sequences but I didn't have to do that last year as it was all brand new too me. Still learning here though!

[Don]

 To be fair, maybe I've forgotten some simple method I used last year too. 

 

I think you may have. As long as I can recall the toggle function has worked the same as it does now.

[George Simmons]

Another option you may or may not have considered is the Clipboard Flipper software from ItsMeBobo.  I use it all the time and it's a huge timesaver and especially helpful when using RGB channels.

 

Here's the link to his download page:

 

http://itsmebob.com/SD.html

[dgrant]

I just tried the chase tool again using a 3-cell fade up and 3-cell fade down. then selecting the toggle function. The chase tool worked fine with the fades but toggling it did not. What I see is the fades are gone when its toggled. I thought this was the method I used last year but I'm truly not sure now.

[dgrant]

I don't believe the issue is the "chase tool" rather its the "Toggle" function that's having problems. I just downloaded 3.10.12 and it too has the same issue. Maybe the developers removed the capability to toggle special effects functions such as the fades and so on. I didn't try other functions with the toggling.

[Don]

I was referring to the toggle tool. Its functionality has not changed. If you 'toggle' a fade up, it will turn off. Toggling that same space again would turn everything in that space 'on.'

[dgrant]

I just now tried everything I could think of to achieve the toggling of a group of cells that contains fades and nothing worked as Don said it wouldn't. The issue is, last year, earlier software, it did work and I used it a lot! I'm thinking this is something that DevMike needs to investigate if he reads this particular thread. I tried to do this all manually just now on a new sequence that I started this morning and what a pain to accomplish what I think was very simple before.

[Don]

The issue is, last year, earlier software, it did work and I used it a lot! 

 

What version did you run last year? I will install it, and record the toggle function on ramps. 

 

I'm 99.9% sure that toggle has *never* inverted a ramp. 

[dgrant]

I truly don't remember because I always upgrade at every update in the software. Whatever was in use, Christmas 2012, was working for me.

[Don]

I truly don't remember because I always upgrade at every update in the software. Whatever was in use, Christmas 2012, was working for me.

 

Well, you had the 3.8 and 3.9 releases during the season, and 3.5 - 3.7 leading up to that.

 

None of those versions had the ability to 'toggle' a fade. Just didn't have it.

[dgrant]

Thank You Don for the efforts in trying to figure this out. Maybe it was a fluke thing in the software or whatever, I just don't know. I do know that it was or should be a very nice addition to the toggle function. I went back and looked at the toggled patterns that I used and there's just no way I would have done those all manually, then copying and pasting. As I mentioned, yesterday now, I tried doing this manually and it was a nightmare to achieve. Yes, I was able to do it but only with a lot of effort. I'm assuming you speak with DevMike all the time, so maybe we should see if he can incorporate toggling fades and whatever else, into that function. I've written high-level software, so I do have a clue how things work and sometimes, can't work. Thanks again Don for all your efforts AND your expertise. Its appreciated.

[bob]

The way that toggle always has worked was that any range that is completely off toggles to become completely on, and any other range toggles to become completely off.  This is the way it always has been; I am very confident of this.  I think that you must have used some other method in the past; perhaps a combination of toggling followed by foreground effects, or something like that.

 

Here's a copy of the earliest help file we have online (version 2.3.4, from mid-2010).  It describes toggle working the way that it currently works (off -> on, anything else -> off).  And I'm very confident that that's the way it worked in earlier versions as well, all the way back to the very first version.

 

http://www1.lightorama.com/downloads/2.3.4/LORHelp.pdf

[bob]

I went back and looked at the toggled patterns that I used and there's just no way I would have done those all manually, then copying and pasting.

 

Please send me (bob@lightorama.com) an email with one of those old sequences, and tell me the time range and channel range of an example. I'll try to figure out how you might have done it.  In the email, please explicitly reference this thread's URL, which is:

 

http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/28242-chase-tool-question/

 

[dgrant]

Hey Bob, I'll do that right now although they've all been upgraded to the latest versions. Thank You too!