Pixel Editor vs Super Star

[cmulvey]

Excuse me if this is the wrong forum to post but... I just upgraded to Pro because next year I'm planning on incorporating some RGB's and felt like via the software description (and verification from LOR spt) that Pixel Editor would work for me. However after reading of all of the issues that you seasoned folks are running in to I'm beginning to have second thoughts that perhaps Super Star is the way to go. Especially after reading about the user that just wants to be able to change his roof light's from red to green. "If the lights are horizontal set them to vertical. If they're vertical, set them to horizontal and and and". It has my head spinning. And yes, I too am in the IT field and like I've read by others, this stuff is blowing my mind.

For those that have experience with both, can you give me a recommendation of what's easier to learn and work with so I don't dedicate too much time to Pixel Editor before throwing in the towel?

[Ed K]

I prefer SuperStar over Pixel Editor, but only by the smallest of margins.  SS lets me control each pixel, which for many effects I create, is crucial.  I can do some effects in SS that I cannot do in PE.  One example are spirals on my mini trees that begin at the bottom of a blank tree and move up (like I am uncovering the spirals while they turn).  Once you spend a few concentrated hours on SS, you'll really start to get it.  Also, the support for the product is fantastic, and personal.  The SS author, Brian, is known to provide  personal assistance on an actual copy of your sequence. Two keys to SS results are to:  (1) first  build your display in Visualizer (which takes some work), and (2) import and place the Visualizer file on SS's sequencing grid how you want it.  These two steps are a bit hard to learn at first, but are crucial in being able to insert new props later and in more easily building sequences.

I used Pixel Editor for one entire sequence on all my props, and found it really useful and powerful.  Pixel Editor seems to me to be much easier to use at sequencing an entire prop (not individual pixels), and has at least one built-in effect (butterfly) that I can't do on SS.  All of the primary effects in PE (e.g., colorwash, curtain, and meteors) are chosen from a pull down menu, which makes that part really easy.   PE has great built-in overlay capabilities, meaning you can layer one effect over, or under, another effect on the same prop for some tricked results. And, support is 5-star:  immediate, clear, concise, and useful. 

Objectively, I think SS and PE are about equal, but have much different capabilities.  I prefer SS for its ability to control each pixel, while also having SS tools that allows me to sequence entire props easily.

 

[Homuncio]

On 1/8/2018 at 2:02 PM, Ed K said:

I prefer SuperStar over Pixel Editor, but only by the smallest of margins.  SS lets me control each pixel, which for many effects I create, is crucial.  I can do some effects in SS that I cannot do in PE.  One example are spirals on my mini trees that begin at the bottom of a blank tree and move up (like I am uncovering the spirals while they turn).  Once you spend a few concentrated hours on SS, you'll really start to get it.  Also, the support for the product is fantastic, and personal.  The SS author, Brian, is known to provide  personal assistance on an actual copy of your sequence. Two keys to SS results are to:  (1) first  build your display in Visualizer (which takes some work), and (2) import and place the Visualizer file on SS's sequencing grid how you want it.  These two steps are a bit hard to learn at first, but are crucial in being able to insert new props later and in more easily building sequences.

I used Pixel Editor for one entire sequence on all my props, and found it really useful and powerful.  Pixel Editor seems to me to be much easier to use at sequencing an entire prop (not individual pixels), and has at least one built-in effect (butterfly) that I can't do on SS.  All of the primary effects in PE (e.g., colorwash, curtain, and meteors) are chosen from a pull down menu, which makes that part really easy.   PE has great built-in overlay capabilities, meaning you can layer one effect over, or under, another effect on the same prop for some tricked results. And, support is 5-star:  immediate, clear, concise, and useful. 

Objectively, I think SS and PE are about equal, but have much different capabilities.  I prefer SS for its ability to control each pixel, while also having SS tools that allows me to sequence entire props easily.

 

Ed thank you for explaining the differences from your experience. I am struggling with getting started on PE and I think it's because I've only been using the standard S4 Sequence Editor for 6 years and can't seem to get the hang of PE. I am really used to the pixel level of control, I did all my CCR arches within SE. One question I've had that maybe you can answer - there are megatree sequences I see out there (and one I have bought) that have images scrolling across the tree, like say a Santa on a sleigh, is that something that PE can do, or is that a SS job?

[Richard Hamilton]

On 1/8/2018 at 2:02 PM, Ed K said:

 I can do some effects in SS that I cannot do in PE.  One example are spirals on my mini trees that begin at the bottom of a blank tree and move up (like I am uncovering the spirals while they turn). 

 

Interesting.  I am able to do that effect in PE on a tree that has RGB bulbs.  Maybe you are using something different?   Agree though, I use both PE and SS for different effects.

[k6ccc]

I prefer SuperStar - but I fully admit that I'm biased.  I have been using SuperStar since 2012 and for years have done essentially ALL of my sequencing in SuperStar.  I played with Pixel Editor when it first came out and could not make it work.  I could create cool effects, but never could get those effects applied to some chunk of time.  Apparently the workflow did not make sense to me.  With the change to S5, I can at least make Motion Effects (what that functionality is now called in S5) function.  But I still prefer SuperStar.  I am using Motion Effects for my Tune-To P5 and P10 matrixes, but that is only because of channel count.  I have a 12,000 channel SuperStar license and the P10 matrix is 18,432 channels and my P5 matrix is twice that  As Ed said, SuperStar gives control down to the individual pixel whereas Pixel Editor is primarily oriented around entire props.

Note that things changed with S5, so specific answers depend on S4 vs S5.