animation

[steve salazar]

I'm new at this , so I did one with one animation and saved it , now I want to do my second song and I wanted to use the same animation that I had on my first song , how can I do that , or do I have to make another animation? thanks everyone

[George Simmons]

Open your original sequence and go to EDIT > IMPORT / EXPORT CHANNEL CONFIGURATION and name and then export your channel configuration. Then create the second sequence and go back to the same command and IMPORT the configuration you had saved.

[steve salazar]

thanks I'm gonna try that.

[steve salazar]

Thank you again it worked, Yessss.

[Brian Mitchell]

I think this has become the NUMBER ONE MOST ASKED question from almost every new user of LOR.

It is asked almost weekly on this forum.

Dan and Bob. Can't you put something in the sequence creation dialog that makes it obvious that the animation and channel config can be carried over into a new sequence?


Possibly it could be a popup with one of those "Do not ask me again" boxes.

[Ed P]

How about a Light O Rama tip of the day that pops up every time you open the Sequence Editor (optional of course).

First TIP the Import / Export Channel configuration tip.

It would be great for newbies (myself included, always a newbie at heart).

[jimswinder]

How about when a new sequence is created you have a pop up window that asks a few questions..

Like:

"Would you like to Import an existing channel Configuration/Animation?"

[4hoogies]

Oh knowlegable ones - maybe you can help then...

Maybe this is the problem all of us newbies are having or at least it is my problem.

I get the whole animation/import & export configuration/etc. However, that isn't where we are having the problem.

What I see is:

I have opened/created a sequence.

Gone under View/Animation - it will ask if I want to add an image now. But this is where I can't find the animation to add to a new sequence.

However, I have opened one specific sequence, pulled in the image of my house & selected DRAW to place lights on the animation for each of the coordinating Channels. But, no where on this screen does it ask me to save it. It will save when I select SAVE for this specific Sequence. But I can only open it back up in this sequence. I am unable to find it to load to any other sequence. I've done a search on my laptop and can't find it.

I've looked through all of the forums to try and find out what to do but the only responses I keep seeing are similar to the one below. But this is not helpful information.

{Once the channels and animator are to your liking, click edit, Export Channel Configuration. Give it a name and save. }

I keep reading to save the animation somewhere you can access it. i would love to do that but since I don't know where it is I can't do that.

Secondly, once I figure out how to save and where it is saved , and can finally import the configuration - Do I save it as a general name (ex. house animation.lms) and then does each sequence you open the animation into save as an individual song sequence (ex. acarolofthebells.lms) "a" standing for it being an animation and then the name of the sequence.



I hope all of this makes sense because this is where I feel stuck trying to do any sequencing because I don't want to have to remake my animation for every song. So although I realize you guys keep hearing the same thing over and over again, if there is any way to clarify the above, it could possibly help a lot of others to.

Thank you kindly & sorry for being so wordy.

[basis21b]

It sounds like you are looking for import/export animation functionality in the Animation Window. It is not there.

To get to the Export/Import Animation click on Edit --> Export/Import Channel Configuration -- (and select import or export depending on what you want to do)

The animation and the channel configuration are exported/imported together.

[bob]

4hoogies, I know you said that the following information that you quoted is not useful:

{Once the channels and animator are to your liking, click edit, Export Channel Configuration. Give it a name and save. }

... so, I'm sorry for saying something very similar to it, but it is the answer.

There is nothing on the Animation screen that lets you save the animation. There is not supposed to be anything on the Animation screen that lets you save the animation.

Instead, look on the main menu bar of the Sequence Editor itself. One of the menus is "Edit". Click on that.

When you do so, the Edit menu will open up. One of its submenus is "Export/Import Channel Configuration". Click on that.

When you do so, that submenu will open up. One of its menu items is "Export Channel Configuration". Click on that.

When you do so, a file saving dialog will open up, and prompt you to select a name to save your channel configuration to. Give it some appropriate name, and click the "Save" button (or maybe the "OK" button - I forget which one is on that dialog).

Now you've got a channel configuration file. That means that you've got a file that defines a set of channels, and things like their names, unit IDs, and circuit numbers, and an animation that goes with them. It's kind of like a sequence, but it doesn't have things like timings or lighting effects. It's just a snapshot of things like unit IDs and circuit IDs, plus the animation.

You can later use that channel configuration file to set the channels and animations in other sequences to those same things. You do so in the following way:

Later, when you have another sequence open and you want to import that channel configuration file into it (which includes importing the animation), then with that other sequence active, click on "Edit" again, then "Export/Import Channel Configuration" again, and then "Import Channel Configuration".

When you do so, a file browsing dialog will open up, prompting you to select the channel configuration file you want to use. Select the one that you created in the steps above.

After it imports, look at your animation for that sequence. It should be the same as the animation for the original sequence that you exported from.

As for your question about what to name the channel configuration file, that's really up to you, but I would think that it would probably make more sense to name it something like "2010 Main House Setup" than it would to name it something like "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

Hope this helps. Please let me know if it does not.

[jimswinder]

The animation is saved WITH your Channel Configuration...so if/when you create a new sequence, the animation will be imported WITH the Channel Configuration you import.

If you desire to make/create a DIFFERENT animation, then you would EXPORT it as a different name when you EXPORT the Channel Configuration.

Hopefully you would use the SAME Channel Configuration in each of your sequences, right? But not neceesarily the same Animation.

Some people have single elements in each saved Channel Configuration...so they can make it larger and just see that element (IE Mega Tree, Mini Tree, or arches), but I think most people put all of their elements within the animation so they can see it all at once.

Make sense?

EDIT:

LOL...too slow...now you have THREE explanations!!! LOL

[4hoogies]

BY GEORGE I'VE FINALLY, FINALLY GOT IT. IT HAS ONLY TAKEN MORE HOURS OF READING FORUMS TO FINALLY BREAK DOWN AND ASK THE ONE QUESTION YOU GUYS ARE SO TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT. BUT THANK YOU. i CAN NOW CONTINUE WITH MUCH MORE EASE.

Thank you all. It was breaking it down into - exporting the configuration I had in my current sequence first, and saving it. Now I have it to pull from to import to my other sequences. That was not registering.

So sorry if I have seemed dense. But the import/export was not specific enough for me.

[jimswinder]

4hoogies wrote:

BY GEORGE I'VE FINALLY, FINALLY GOT IT. IT HAS ONLY TAKEN MORE HOURS OF READING FORUMS TO FINALLY BREAK DOWN AND ASK THE ONE QUESTION YOU GUYS ARE SO TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT. BUT THANK YOU. i CAN NOW CONTINUE WITH MUCH MORE EASE.

I know the feeling ALL to well!!!

[George Simmons]

No post needed - you figured it out while I was typing. Good Job!

[jimswinder]

George Simmons wrote:

No post needed - you figured it out while I was typing. Good Job!

Figured when she said "BY GEORGE I'VE FINALLY, FINALLY GOT IT", that you had sent her a PM!! lol

[George Simmons]

jimswinder wrote:

Figured when she said "BY GEORGE I'VE FINALLY, FINALLY GOT IT", that you had sent her a PM!! lol

Thank you Jim. I'm truly honored that you would notice something that noble and then publicly thank me. It's touching that someone I've never even met would take the time to go out of his way to say something nice to a fellow trooper in the war on Holiday darkness. It kind of gets me... right here... (sob, sob...)

Sad to say, I think the "By George" was but a figure of speech in this case. (Even though I've told women for years that they could do worse than swearing by me.) Truthfully, I hadn't thought of sending a PM. But I WAS in the process of typing a more specific explanation when my office phone rang and then during the time I spent with a customer a bunch of people jumped in and got the job done, if that counts for anything.

[jimswinder]

George Simmons wrote:

jimswinder wrote:

Figured when she said "BY GEORGE I'VE FINALLY, FINALLY GOT IT", that you had sent her a PM!! lol

Thank you Jim. I'm truly honored that you would notice something that noble and then publicly thank me. It's touching that someone I've never even met would take the time to go out of his way to say something nice to a fellow trooper in the war on Holiday darkness. It kind of gets me... right here... (sob, sob...)

I'm just trying to get on your good side...I've seen what happens to people on the "other side"!!!!

[Max-Paul]

jimswinder wrote:

George Simmons wrote:

jimswinder wrote:

Figured when she said "BY GEORGE I'VE FINALLY, FINALLY GOT IT", that you had sent her a PM!! lol

Thank you Jim. I'm truly honored that you would notice something that noble and then publicly thank me. It's touching that someone I've never even met would take the time to go out of his way to say something nice to a fellow trooper in the war on Holiday darkness. It kind of gets me... right here... (sob, sob...)

I'm just trying to get on your good side...I've seen what happens to people on the "other side"!!!!

Chicken!!!! Just pulling Jims leg and having fun with him.

[TJ Hvasta]

Tara, glad you finally got an answer to Animation..

teege

[LightORamaDan]

You guys are having just too much fun!