Channel Config import/export

[Kyle Whitaker]

I added some controllers this year so I updated my "base" channel config and imported it into last year's shows. When they imported I lost the tracks in the old shows. Is their a way to retain the tracks in the old shows and still import the new controller and animation info?

[huskernut]

I believe the right sequence of events would be to start with your old configuration, either start with a sequence from last year or if you had exported it last year then import it from last year.

Then add your new channels to your old configuration

lastly export the new one which contains the old and the new channels, I would export it using a new name like 2010config

[wallleyes]

huskernut has it right.I have added channels a few times this summer.

[Kyle Whitaker]

The problem with that is that I have export every sequence that I've built and redo them 1 at a time in order to preserve the tracks! I just want to import the new animation and channels without having to redo them in each sequence. Entering the channels on each sequence wouldn't be too bad but doing the animation on each would be a nightmare.

[Kyle Whitaker]

Is there a way to maybe export a copy of each sequence, strip out just the track info, import the new config, then import just the old track info? Sounds like more work then I wanted but better than the alternative.

[beaker020]

Just like Huskernut says.

take an existing sequence, add your new controllers, export the configuration and then import that into the other shows.

This does require, however, that all your existing shows have the same channel layout. the same number of channels and all the channels are in the same position before you import.. If your channel layout is different you can rearrange the channels by dragging and dropping the channel buttons to the correct position. It also means that all new controllers need to be added to the bottom of the configuration. If you need to add controllers or channels in the middle of the pack, so to speak, just add blank "placeholder" channels to the existing sequence in the position you want them before importing the new configuration.

[Kyle Whitaker]

I'm not sure if I'm not explaining it clearly or not. I can import the new animation and channels just fine. Works great and lines up perfectly. The problem is that it removes the tracks that were specific to the sequence that I am importing into. I want to somehow retain the tracks that are in the existing sequences but replace the existing animation and channels. When I import the new config the tracks are replaced by the new config's tracks. Since each sequence has it's own custom tracks it causes a problem. Clear or am I missing something from your explainations?

[Ed P]

Since you say that you have custom tracks in each sequence that seems to be the problem.

You likely would need to add all custom tracks to the sequence that you use to create Export the config file. (no longer custom but global)

I do not use tracks yet, planning or using some this year.

Hopefully others will confirm. But best guess from me is you need all your tracks in the Export config file.

[Kyle Whitaker]

If you're not using tracks you are really missing out! Helps tremendously! Anyway, I'm not sure that I can replicate the tracks in a "master config file". The timings are all over the place, different song lengths, etc. Might be onto something though.

[George Simmons]

Kyle Whitaker wrote:

I'm not sure that I can replicate the tracks in a "master config file". The timings are all over the place, different song lengths, etc.

The timings are no issue, and neither is the length of a song when it comes to a master cinfiguration file. The configuration file has your channel assignments, including controller and circuit number, and this has to be the same for each sequence. If you're doing it any other way then you're causing yourself a LOT of extra work and as well as upping the odds of screwing things up.

One way to leave last year's stuff unaffected is to add any new tracks for this year to the "bottom" of last year's order. If you change the number of channels in any existing track, once you've saved your changes for this year into a current config file you can easily import that into sequences from last year. (Any modified animation drawing will also import into old sequences) The software will pick up and handle different numbers of channels in identical track locations and will also correctly add new tracks to the bottom of what there was last year. But as mentioned previously, your tracks need to be in the same order from one sequence to another.

[Max-Paul]

Ok, if I make a mistake in the following statements will someone correct me.

When you export your channel config info, all you exporting is both the channels, tracks and the data that makes up your visualization screen. Now you are having some of the same problems I have had. If you go and make a bunch of different sequences and each time you built up the tracks and the visualization screen. Well if you export any of the versions and then import it to any of the others, there are going to be conflicts.

All I can say is if you bite the bullet and get all of your tracks and channels in line on all of your older tracks, you will be ahead. Now in the future if you would go back into one of your older sequences like someone else has been trying to tell you. And add the new controllers and tracks to the old sequences. But you do not need to actually do any programming. Now export the channel information and import it to all of your sequences. This will keep them all updated, even if you do not edit and add any of the new channels into that show / seq.

The key is that you keep all sequences updated and the same, same tracks with same channels.

Well at least that seems to work for me. Maybe you can think outside of the box. but does not seem to work that way for me.

[bob]

If you're not using tracks you are really missing out! Helps tremendously! Anyway, I'm not sure that I can replicate the tracks in a "master config file". The timings are all over the place, different song lengths, etc. Might be onto something though.

As George noted, timings and song lengths aren't important to channel config files. But I just want to also point out the following:

If the only thing you're using tracks for is to be able to use different sets of timings within the same sequence, consider instead using a single track with multiple timing grids. In my personal opinion, this would simplify things.