S3 suggestions

[plasmadrive]

I am not sure if this is the right place to do this but here goes.
I am new to LOR but I am used to running time line based software for laser shows. A lot of the general ideas for S3 are the same however there are a couple of things that would make it really helpful to program.

1. Add a dark or heavier line that line up with the major hash marks on the time line. That way you can hit the target a lot easier down below. Heavier for the 0 hash and perhaps just a bit heavy for the 5 hash. Or something like that.
2. Heavier horizontal lines about every 5th or 10 line wouldn't hurt either.
3. The ability to pan the time line when you want to make a test bit longer then the what shows in the window. I have been using the space bar and working the "selected" sections. But it is limited to what shows on the screen at the time.
   
4. I noticed the clipboards get lost when you have to shut down the sequence editor. If I am not done programming a specific sequence and I have to shut down, (do to the software becoming very slow) I loose all my clipboards. I know they are supposed to be temp files, but temp as long as I want to keep them. Perhaps a notice when you save that allows you to either dump or keep the clipboards?

More to come.

[plasmadrive]

OK.. another idea or two:

1. Create a way to disable a track. When I am making a track I sometimes want to know if it will look better with A or B. The easiest way would be to duplicate the track make changes in the duplicate track, disable the original track and watch the outcome. I could then switch back and forth between tracks to see which I like better. I would then delete the track I don't want to keep.
2. For some reason when I copy a group into another track and delete the original, it seems the dup will no longer work. I see events in the track but it won't show on the animation screen. It would be good if that didn't happen.
3. Move a group of events on a time line. If I want to highlight a group of events and drag them just a bit left or right I can't. I have to cut and paste them.

Perhaps some of this exists and I just don't know how to use it since I am new to LOR.. but I sure couldn't find these features.

[LOR Staff]

Those are good suggestions. Please make sure to eMail them to wishlist@lightorama.com, so the right person can see them.

[plasmadrive]

Thanks.. now I know what to do with them..

I have another..

An invert command. Highlight a section and invert it.

I sent them all to the wish list.

Thanks, didn't know that existed.

[Don]

plasmadrive wrote:

Thanks.. now I know what to do with them..

I have another..

An invert command. Highlight a section and invert it.

Tools -> Toggle.

It will change any "off" event to "on"

It will also turn any event/cell/space, etc, that has *anything* in it, off. So, if you highlight a fade up, it's not going to magically fade down. It will turn off.

[plasmadrive]

Thanks Don,

I knew about the toggle, I was hoping for a complete invert. On a 0-100% scale for every event, the inverse would be toggled. If it was 30% up it would change to 30% down.

That would be VERY helpful !

[bob]

I noticed the clipboards get lost when you have to shut down the sequence editor. If I am not done programming a specific sequence and I have to shut down, (do to the software becoming very slow) I loose all my clipboards. I know they are supposed to be temp files, but temp as long as I want to keep them. Perhaps a notice when you save that allows you to either dump or keep the clipboards?

Try right-clicking on a clipboard in the list and selecting "Save" from the popup menu. It will automatically be restored the next time you open the Sequence Editor.

[plasmadrive]

Doh!
I have clicked on that a hundred times or more but never even saw the save.. Operator problems! oops..

Thanks!

[jimswinder]

plasmadrive wrote:

I knew about the toggle, I was hoping for a complete invert.

try this flip software that Bob wrote:

http://itsmebob.com/SD.html

[plasmadrive]

I actually downloaded that but haven't played with it yet.. looks like fun, but still not the same..

I am now desperately trying to get some sort of program going for my 6 CCRs.. I need to add them somewhere in my shows.. I will have to try the Flip software soon.

Thanks again.

Craig

[jimswinder]

plasmadrive wrote:

I actually downloaded that but haven't played with it yet.. looks like fun, but still not the same..

it also "mirrors" as well as "flips"...

wouldn't a "mirror" be the same as your wanting to invert?

[plasmadrive]

Not exactly.. but I still haven't tried Bob's.. Mirror usually means basically a reflection. Backwards and not inverted.

[jstorms]

I have two suggestions

(1) A feature I would like in the Show Editor would be an option to have the musical sequences not loop, or loop a certain number of times.

This year my show is mostly static, but occasionally I'd like to schedule a short show of a few songs.

One way to do this currently is to schedule a very short show, and have all the musical sequences under the shutdown tab, which brings me to my next RFE,

(2) In the Schedule Editor a way to list current shows. The schedule editor only shows a graphical calender and it's hard to click on a show that is only 3 minutes long.

[jimswinder]

jstorms wrote:

(2) In the Schedule Editor a way to list current shows. The schedule editor only shows a graphical calender and it's hard to click on a show that is only 3 minutes long.

Also an option to delete multiple blocks of time/shows instead of just one at time...

[bob]

A feature I would like in the Show Editor would be an option to have the musical sequences not loop, or loop a certain number of times.

To have them not loop, you may want to try putting them in your Startup section instead of your Musical section. This may not do what you want in all situations (depending on how the rest of your show is supposed to work), but it will at least work in a lot of situations.

[jimswinder]

bob wrote:

A feature I would like in the Show Editor would be an option to have the musical sequences not loop, or loop a certain number of times.

To have them not loop, you may want to try putting them in your Startup section instead of your Musical section. This may not do what you want in all situations (depending on how the rest of your show is supposed to work), but it will at least work in a lot of situations.

couldn't you also just schedule the show for as long as your sequences add up to?

IE..if the total time of all your songs is 25 minutes..just schedule the show for 25 minutes...if you want it to "loop" twice...50 minutes...

[jstorms]

I could, but that would require math. Having a show for the exact amount of time, vs. shorter is practically the same to me. The short shows aren't a problem except you can't see to click on them on the schedule editor.

When I have the musical tab empty it just sits there.

What I'm doing now is I have my radio warmup in the startup and all my musical sequences in shutdown. Then when I want to kick off a show manually I fire up Show on demand. As soon as the radio kicks in I shut down the show on demand. It cuts the startup sequence off and moves to shutdown mode playing all my songs. When it is done it goes back to regularly scheduled programming which is the static light display.

[jimswinder]

jstorms wrote:

The short shows aren't a problem except you can't see to click on them on the schedule editor.

I agree with that..complained about that my first year with LOR!! LOL

guess it wasn't on enough peoples WISHLIST....

[scubado]

Bob's suggestion does work. Make a blank musical the length you need for warm up, put that and your songs in the startup and then have it loop your animation.