Preston Meyer Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 The new Pixel Editor is a great program!! Only one major problem. I purchased the PRO upgrade and started to reprogram all of my show this year to only find out that none of it will work on my obviously old and obsolete equipment. It would have been nice to see a disclaimer or some kind of notice that says "WARNING THIS FEATURE WILL NOT WORK ON OLDER EQUIPMENT!!!!!" (also, a readily visible list of what works and what doesn't would be nice) Instead of a $50 upgrade it's more like a $ 1000 to replace equipment. Like i said it works great, I just wish it would work with my controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 The new Pixel Editor is a great program!! Only one major problem. I purchased the PRO upgrade and started to reprogram all of my show this year to only find out that none of it will work on my obviously old and obsolete equipment. It would have been nice to see a disclaimer or some kind of notice that says "WARNING THIS FEATURE WILL NOT WORK ON OLDER EQUIPMENT!!!!!" (also, a readily visible list of what works and what doesn't would be nice) Instead of a $50 upgrade it's more like a $ 1000 to replace equipment. Like i said it works great, I just wish it would work with my controllers. If you are trying to use older CTB controllers on the same network as your pixels, then you could just have a second LOR network. About $30 for another RS485 dongle. If you have older CCRs, CCBs or CCPs, then you can do a firmware upgrade to get Enhanced LOR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 If you are trying to use older CTB controllers on the same network as your pixels, then you could just have a second LOR network. About $30 for another RS485 dongle. If you have older CCRs, CCBs or CCPs, then you can do a firmware upgrade to get Enhanced LOR. Only one problem with that. PE ONLY outputs as intensity files, and the older controllers CAN NOT be made to use intensity files. Now, you DO have the option of sequencing pixels (if you have them) and newer controllers with PE and run them either E1.31 or on a separate enhanced network, and sequence your older controllers with Sequence Editor or SuperStar (using legacy format export). That's kind of what I'm doing this year. My pixels and newer controllers are being sequenced in SuperStar and exported as intensity files, and the dozen or so channels on two older controllers are being added in SE. I'm sorry that you missed that detail about PE, but it was heavily discussed on the forums when S4 first came out. As I have not done much with PE since the help pages were written, I can't tell you if the current help pages talk about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston Meyer Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 As I have been doing LOR for some time (since before license levels) I don't usually need to visit the Forums. Since all of my AC units are the DIY kits to run anything under PE will require new controllers. It would have been nice to see LOR being up front in limitations to PE in their sales info. Looks like I am going to stick with my current LOR (6 CTB's, 3 servo dogs, 2 dc 16's, one dc 24 (and that pesky partridge) / Sandevice (2 Elors & 2 E682's) lash-ups with xlights to LOR for pixels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBrown Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I agree that the disclosure about only controlling enhanced LOR or DMX/E1.31 is lacking - thanks for pointing it out. I am working on getting this fixed. However, I don't understand how this compels you to use xLights. The Pixel Editor can control the E682's. What other elements would you use the Pixel Editor to control? Thanks, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston Meyer Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 Since most of my LOR work is Halloween prop control, I have only run sequences thru show controllers without any computers on line. Smart RGB's run thru a Sandevice Elor simulator to drive the E682 (still no computer required). I was hoping to be able to continue this way without having to rely on a computer. The Christmas displays could probably be changed over but Haunted Houses generally want standalone props that are plug & play. Are you guys working on a show director that can do that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBrown Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Are you guys working on a show director that can do that??? You can load intensity data files from the Pixel Editor or SuperStar onto the G3-MP3 Director. It has 2 outputs, so you could designate one output as enhanced and the other as legacy. The enhanced output could go to LOR PixCon 16 controllers, which have similar capabilities to the E682s (but would use bandwidth much more efficiently than your current ELOR+E682 combination). That can be done with the current LOR product offering, but does require a significant monetary investment beyond what you currently have. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cotton Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 (edited) So glad I found this thread as I was about to invest money that would not produce expected results. Now it looks like a minimum of about $600 (upgrade from S4 Advanced to Pro, the CCP-100D pixels and a G3-MP3 Director) to add just a 100 pixel star (I already have the star form) to my display -- kinda steep. Was not planning on the G3-MP3 initially, but it appears to be necessary to run Legacy and Enhanced networks. I agree that there should be some MAJOR disclosures on pages that require an enhanced network to use pixel controllers and what extra items will be necessary to convert existing networks to enhanced in order to work together. I will move forward, but at a much slower pace. Edited December 24, 2015 by George Cotton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Much less expensive alternative. Run the show on an $80 computer rather than a director. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viennaxmas Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Maybe I am missing something. My understanding is that you can continue sequencing the existing gear in SE as usual. And then you add PE sequenced material. No one forces you to do all in PE. I have several "dual" sequences... I pretty much only add pixel heavy stuff in PE, everything else is still done in SE... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Yes, you can sequence channels in SE that are NOT in the intensity file. I'm not using PE, but I am using intensity files generated from SuperStar on all the new songs for this year. I can't use intensity files for about a dozen channels because they are controlled by two old controllers that can't use the enhanced protocol. Those dozen channels are sequenced in SE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBrown Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 You can load intensity data files from the Pixel Editor or SuperStar onto the G3-MP3 Director. It has 2 outputs, so you could designate one output as enhanced and the other as legacy. The enhanced output could go to LOR PixCon 16 controllers, which have similar capabilities to the E682s (but would use bandwidth much more efficiently than your current ELOR+E682 combination). That can be done with the current LOR product offering, but does require a significant monetary investment beyond what you currently have. Matt Just to be clear, the original poster had 3 requirements:1) run the show standalone, *without* a PC2) use intensity data files from the Pixel Editor to control pixels3) also control *first* generation controllers (which do not have a firmware upgrade that allows them to run on an enhanced LOR network) If he were running his show from a PC, the additional investment required would be $0. His E682 pixel controllers could be attached via ethernet and his first generation controllers could still attach to his LOR USB dongle. For information on which controllers are compatible with enhanced LOR networks, you can review the "Enhanced" column on this page:http://www1.lightorama.com/network-speeds/ Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston Meyer Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 Thanks for the additional info on controller compatibility, it makes it much clearer on what is needed. Also, the lack of a trigger on enhanced systems is a killer for prop control and whole room effects. A typical Haunted House will run 8 to 12 separate "rooms" or props that need to work independently from each other. Even with the right controllers, Haunts wouldn't be able to use anything running in enhanced mode (except for background or constant action situations). The LOR ability to be controlled by external triggers (pir, push button, mat switch, etc.) is the major reason that I've been pushing LOR controllers to Haunt people. Hopefully, no triggers is just a temporary situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now