G3-MP3 Schedule Change

[aurickle]

Hello all,

 

This is my first year with the G3-MP3 Director.  In the past I've simply used a laptop to run the show, which made it very easy to change the schedule as I'd just use the Schedule Editor.  But with the Director I need to use the Hardware Manager's MP3 tab.  The catch is that tab requires you to set the schedule, then add the songs, then create the show and finally write it to the card.  So basically you seem to have to rebuild the entire show for the sake of changing its schedule.  Nor does it appear possible to load the show into the Hardware Manager to then make desired edits to the schedule.

 

Given that I have a total of 50 sequences in Show 1, that's quite a pain!  

 

Am I simply missing something?

 

I ask because over the course of the month during which the show will be running, the time of sunset changes pretty dramatically.  It would be nice to adjust the schedule a few times to compensate.  Is there a convenient way to do this that I'm missing?

 

I've tried looking on the memory card but the CFG file is encoded and so can't be edited.  There doesn't appear to be any other file that would contain the schedule.

 

Thanks!

 

[k6ccc]

Makes me glad I use a computer - although I have no choice on that...

[Orville]

Unfortunately no, there isn't.  You have to rebuild for each and every schedule change.   I used to whole heartedly believe an MP3 was the best way to go.  When mine went belly up 2 years ago and was forced to use the computer to run my show, WOW, I had so much more flexibility and options, I can change a sequence in the show on the fly and NOT disrupt the show at all, unlike the MP3 Director which requires you to remove the card, stopping everything in it's tracks!

 

I may buy another MP3 Director in the future, but it won't be for running my show, perhaps a neighbors house.

 

But I'll now go with an old PC or laptop for running shows, if I need to do a time change, it's just a simple process of loading the show scheduler and edit the block.  Or if I need to add a new song or update a sequence in a current show, just open the show editor, add the file or new sequence, save and I'm done.   And I've done this while in the middle of a running show.

 

MP3 directors are nice, but now I'll stick to a dedicated computer to edit, run and create shows for my display, just so much easier and a lot more flexible.

[aurickle]

The lack of flexibility with building shows is a serious pain, for sure.  Unfortunately, my home does not have a convenient location for me to put the control computer.  The best I can do requires me to run 100' ethernet cables from the computer.  Yeah, it's possible but it's a pain.  Especially when you have a show that requires multiple networks.  And on top of that, I have limited power availability.  Not needing to run a laptop frees up amps for use in the lights themselves.

 

Hopefully they'll make the hardware manager more robust or provide functionality for the Show Editor to support MP3 show directors.

 

What the Hardware utility needs most is the ability to open a show from the card, allowing you to then edit it.  That would resolve the lion's share of issues.  

 

The second thing that would be really nice would be if it could also use files from the Schedule Editor.  For example, if the Hardware utility had a check box to "Use Schedule File."  With that check box turned off, it would use the current scheduling technique but with it on, the configuration file would tell the show director to look for a schedule file from the Show Editor.  Of course, that would then require that the Schedule Editor be able to load shows from the card.  So the first step would be to build the show(s) with the Hardware manager, then with the card still in the reader you would open the Schedule Editor and create your schedule which would then be added to the card.  This would then allow you to update the schedule at any time without even having to touch the actual show files or open the Hardware utility.  

Edited December 2, 2015 by aurickle

[kdjz28]

This may sound cheesy, but if you are only needing to change the shows due to it getting dark earlier, you could always fudge by changing the MP3 clock time to adjust the schedule start time?