Robert Burton Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I have several questions on the S4 software and the Pixel Editor.Will it run on this hardware?Computers;I sequence on a Lenovo V570 (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2c2817%2c2387552%2c00.asp?tab=Specs) . My show computer is a Asus X401A1 (https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/X401A/specifications/) with Celeron Dual-Core processor, 4gig ram and Win 8.1.Controllers;I have several Gen.1 and Gen.2 LOR controllers (AC and one DC controller). The LOR controllers are run off of a LOR dongle. I have a bunch of 27 channel RGB DMX controllers, 3 Channel RGB DMX controllers along with a few 24 channel RGB DMX controllers. I will be running one or two generic (One Universe) pixel controllers. I also have several Sandevices E682 pixel controllers that I run off of Ethernet (E1.31).Can I use the above configurations and hardware with S4 ? I don’t plan on upgrading any of the hardware (computer or controllers) anytime soon. I may in the future. It is just not in the cards right now. Visualizer , Preview, whatever you want to call it;I know think there are different names for S4 vs. Pixel Editor. I want to be able to have my “Pixels” show up in the same screen as my non-pixel stuff (in addition to all of my RGB dumb pixel stuff). Is this possible? Edits;Will I be able to go back and forth with editing all of the elements, including the pixel stuff done in pixel editor? In other words after I watch something (preview it) and decide I don’t like it, am I able to go redo this in S4, then watch it immediately ? Or will I have to edit it in pixel editor, then throw it into S4, then play it back? How does this work? Playback for shows;Is this done differently than S3? I liked how the “Show Editor” worked and was able to quickly move things around when the line of cars were backing up too much. MP4 or Movie playback;I use videos in my show. Has this changed in the new software? How will that be handled with Win10 updates? Do you need VLC or something like that on the computer in order for the playback of the video to work? (Since Microsoft is taking Media Player out of Win10) I know that VLC is pretty lightweight. I just keep my showtime computer stripped down to the basics. I know I will probably have more questions. I honestly have more questions now after learning a few things (by word of mouth) from the Expo.Thanks ahead time for reading and responding.Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Burton Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Bump. Learned a few answers to this but not all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Let me see if I can answer at least some of these: > Will it run on this hardware?> Computers;> I sequence on a Lenovo V570 (http://www.pcmag.com...0.asp?tab=Specs) . My show computer is a Asus X401A1 (https://www.asus.com...specifications/) with Celeron Dual-Core processor, 4gig ram and Win 8.1. You should be fine. My show computer is an ancient Pentium 4 w/ 1GB of RAM running WinXP. Ran just over 4500 channels last year. > Controllers;> I have several Gen.1 and Gen.2 LOR controllers (AC and one DC controller). The LOR controllers are run off of a LOR dongle. I have a bunch of 27 channel RGB DMX controllers, 3 Channel RGB DMX controllers along with a few 24 channel RGB DMX controllers. I will be running one or two generic (One Universe) pixel controllers. I also have several Sandevices E682 pixel controllers that I run off of Ethernet (E1.31). You should be fine, with a catch. Keep in mind that the older LOR controllers can't understand the new LOR enhanced protocol that is required for intensity files. Pixel Editor only outputs intensity files. SuperStar CAN output intensity files, but can also still output older format files. > Visualizer , Preview, whatever you want to call it;> I know think there are different names for S4 vs. Pixel Editor. I want to be able to have my “Pixels” show up in the same screen as my non-pixel stuff (in addition to all of my RGB dumb pixel stuff). Is this possible? Visualizer is largely the same as it was before with one major exception. It now can have pixel string. Each string (rather than each bulb) is a fixture which dramatically reduces the problem due to the 1,000 fixture limit. For example, with S3, my pixel tree and star took 960 fixtures - in S4 it will be less than two dozen.The new Pixel Editor has it's own "Preview" which serves a similar function as Visualizer but within PE. > Edits;> Will I be able to go back and forth with editing all of the elements, including the pixel stuff done in pixel editor? In other words after I watch something (preview it) and decide I don’t like it, am I able to go redo this in S4, then watch it immediately ? Or will I have to edit it in pixel editor, then throw it into S4, then play it back? How does this work? This is one area where the new way of doing things is more complicated. Intensity files can not be edited (or even viewed) within Sequence Editor so yes, editing something created in PE (or using intensity files from SuperStar) have to be edited in PE or SSE. > Playback for shows;> Is this done differently than S3? I liked how the “Show Editor” worked and was able to quickly move things around when the line of cars were backing up too much. No changes here. >: MP4 or Movie playback;> I use videos in my show. Has this changed in the new software? How will that be handled with Win10 updates? Do you need VLC or something like that on the computer in order for the playback of the video to work? (Since Microsoft is taking Media Player out of Win10) I know that VLC is pretty lightweight. I just keep my showtime computer stripped down to the basics. I don't use video so I'm not the expert here, but Microsoft is NOT taking Media Player out of Windows 10 - they are taking Windows Media Center out of Windows 10 (not the same thing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Burton Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Leave to a HAM to help another HAM (KD4YDC here ;-)Jim you've been a tremendous help in two threads. Thanks so much.Good news then on most all the fronts. The computer was a really big issue for me. My "Christmas Light Budget" was greatly squashed this season and don't anticipate it getting any better. A new computer would be a pretty big ticket item. Even though I honestly hope to maybe next year look at a Rasberry PI to run the show next year, especially since it will run on Win10. Ok, on with the thread....That was a big deal last year with the Visualizer. Glad to see that upgraded. With the edits in Pixel Editor - Then do I understand that you would have to go edit in PE, import it back into SE, then play it back in Visualizer in order to see everything? Is that correct? I really like to see the "Pixel Tree" be more incorporated into the overall show than a stand alone type of deal. That is why I want to see it all together. On the Media Player; Ok. I honestly thought they were doing away with it, but have read some articles and now see what your talking about. I still might see how VLC does or if LOR even would revert to that. I think VLC might be a little more light weight than Media Player.... but could be wrong. Thanks again Jim.RobertKD4YDC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 > Leave to a HAM to help another HAM (KD4YDC here ;-)> Jim you've been a tremendous help in two threads. Thanks so much. You're welcome. glad I could help.. > Good news then on most all the fronts. The computer was a really big issue for me. My "Christmas Light Budget" was greatly squashed this season and don't anticipate it getting any better. A new computer would be a pretty big ticket item. Even though I honestly hope to maybe next year look at a Rasberry PI to run the show next year, especially since it will run on Win10. Yea, money has been pretty tight this year as well. Most of the additions I planned for 2015 are getting pushed off. Fortunately a show computer does not need to be all that much. > That was a big deal last year with the Visualizer. Glad to see that upgraded. The Vis upgrade for pixel strings is huge for me too. > With the edits in Pixel Editor - Then do I understand that you would have to go edit in PE, import it back into SE, then play it back in Visualizer in order to see everything? Is that correct? That's about it. Kind of awkward in my opinion, but we'll live with it... > On the Media Player; Ok. I honestly thought they were doing away with it, but have read some articles and now see what your talking about. I still might see how VLC does or if LOR even would revert to that. I think VLC might be a little more light weight than Media Player.... but could be wrong. We're talking about a Microsoft product - of course something else will be more code efficient! 73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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