Adding silence

[everettdael]

Is there a way to add 10 second (or more) silence to the beginning or end of a sequence. I know I can add that to the music before I load it. But can I add it later?

[Orville]

No, not in the sequence itself, it doesn't work that way. 

If you need an additional 10 seconds of silence, the way to do it is to add it to the music file you're using, then you can add that additional 10 seconds as an edit to the sequence ending, same for the beginning depending on what and where you need this additional 10 seconds of silence. 

It will require editing the music file to do this.  Just adding in addition length at the beginning or end of sequence without changing {and reloading the edited music file} will do nothing. 

The sequence will start where the music starts and will end where the music ends.  So if you have a music file that 2 minutes 20 seconds long and you want it to be 2 minutes 30 seconds long, you need to add that additional 10 seconds at either the beginning or end of the music file. 

Always make a copy of the original music file and edit that, that way if you make an error or mess something up, you can make a new copy and start over, if you mess up the original, you'll have to either re-download it i possible or re-rip it from the CD you took it from.

You'll need a music editor like Audacity to edit and modify your music in the way you need it to be.

Good Luck.

[PhilMassey]

Try this. Create a new blank sequence that is 10s longer than the original. Select your preview. Deselect any timing check boxes so you have a blank grid. Give the blank a new name.

Open the blank and the old so  you have two tabs showing.

Original sequence.  Select one entire row by right clicking select/row. In that row, right click timing mark /copy timings. Make sure you get the whole row

New Seq. Timings past timings exactly at the 10s point.

 Copy all your events to the new sequence, probably safer to do one row at a time but you only have 32 channels, right, since your license says  basic. Since the previews should match you can try selecting all the rows at once.

You might have to play with it a bit to get it right  and ideally the music and sequence should be the same length, but it is not required. save to a new name for safety.

I have not done this in S5 but in previous years in S4 and it should work. I don't think there are any license restrictions on any of these functions.

Do back up everything first (you do anyway, right?)

Actuall,  thinking about  it you will  have to fix the music file too in this case.

Edited August 7, 2019 by PhilMassey

[Brian Mitchell]

Easier way. Create a 10 second blank animation sequence and insert it between your musical sequences.

[everettdael]

Okay this is what I thought. I use music/sound editing software a lot as well as video editing software and adding silence or blank space is pretty common. I didn't see it in the sequence editor so I thought I'd ask if I was just missing something. Seems like it might be useful in some situations. Maybe in the next version update. 

 

Adding a 10 second blank animation won't work in my situation. It's a good work around though. Thanks. 

[Orville]

4 hours ago, everettdael said:

Okay this is what I thought. I use music/sound editing software a lot as well as video editing software and adding silence or blank space is pretty common. I didn't see it in the sequence editor so I thought I'd ask if I was just missing something. Seems like it might be useful in some situations. Maybe in the next version update. 

 

Adding a 10 second blank animation won't work in my situation. It's a good work around though. Thanks. 

@Brian: Thanks for bringing the animation option up Brian, I just started using them last year between some of my sequences and completely forgot about using them.  Again, thanks for reminding me.  Sometimes we forget the easiest and simplest route to do something! 😯

@EVERETTDAEL: The animation doesn't have to be blank, I use animations with certain or specific lights/props and options between some of my sequences when needed.  So that 10 seconds could be one with all lights on if desired or just selected lights/props you want functional for that time span. 

I have 5 different animation files so each one can turn on different areas of my display and some of the same lights that I use like this to even out my shows run time.  It can be a little tricky to get it down to an exact time, but it can be done and it works very well too.

 

[lanopie]

21 hours ago, Orville said:

@Brian: Thanks for bringing the animation option up Brian, I just started using them last year between some of my sequences and completely forgot about using them.  Again, thanks for reminding me.  Sometimes we forget the easiest and simplest route to do something! 😯

@EVERETTDAEL: The animation doesn't have to be blank, I use animations with certain or specific lights/props and options between some of my sequences when needed.  So that 10 seconds could be one with all lights on if desired or just selected lights/props you want functional for that time span. 

I have 5 different animation files so each one can turn on different areas of my display and some of the same lights that I use like this to even out my shows run time.  It can be a little tricky to get it down to an exact time, but it can be done and it works very well too.

 

In order to even out my shows run time I use the music they played at drive-in theater in between movies, remember the dancing hot-dog.  The MP3 is 5 minutes long so I only use what I need to even out the show.  I use this at the beginning of the show because it has a countdown at every minute, so every minute I use I change colors or different areas of my display, and at the end the voice says "and now on with the show".

[Orville]

14 hours ago, lanopie said:

In order to even out my shows run time I use the music they played at drive-in theater in between movies, remember the dancing hot-dog.  The MP3 is 5 minutes long so I only use what I need to even out the show.  I use this at the beginning of the show because it has a countdown at every minute, so every minute I use I change colors or different areas of my display, and at the end the voice says "and now on with the show".

Yes I remember the dancing hot dogs, soda and popcorn, bur the music that accompanied them was always a sung jingle for the refreshment stand or lobby.  There's an instrumental version of the music?  Where can I find it?

I try and collect all those old movie themes used before a movie would start, or during an intermission period for those old style very long movies that were 3 hours or longer.   And there were some really L-O-N-G playing movies on the screen as I was growing up.  I can remember Patton{I think this was 6 hours long!😮} and a Religious movie{just can't recall the exact title, but Charleston Heston was in it} that were 3 or more hours in length.

 

[everettdael]

On 8/7/2019 at 7:40 PM, Orville said:

😯

I have 5 different animation files so each one can turn on different areas of my display and some of the same lights that I use like this to even out my shows run time.  It can be a little tricky to get it down to an exact time, but it can be done and it works very well too.

 

 

@Orville

I was going to start a new thread, but you touched on my question. Is there a way to tell the controller to turn on some of the lights when it's not playing a sequence?

One scenario would be waiting until someone shows up to watch, but some of the lights are on. Or turning off the sequence computer, but keeping some displays lit. 

I'm not doing a standard Xmas display, I'm building a light display for people waiting in line at a Haunted House. I might be hoping for too much out of the software.

[Orville]

On 8/10/2019 at 8:50 PM, everettdael said:

 

@Orville

I was going to start a new thread, but you touched on my question. Is there a way to tell the controller to turn on some of the lights when it's not playing a sequence?

One scenario would be waiting until someone shows up to watch, but some of the lights are on. Or turning off the sequence computer, but keeping some displays lit. 

I'm not doing a standard Xmas display, I'm building a light display for people waiting in line at a Haunted House. I might be hoping for too much out of the software.

Easiest way to do that is still in a sequence, but add triggers to start specific things by allowing folks to push a button to do or turn on or off certain lights or props.   I'm not sure just how many triggers a standard residential CTB16PC style controller is capable of, but I'm sure someone here that has used triggers can chime in and tell you how to set it up.  I've never used triggers to start/stop items in my display, but others on here have used them and would be better qualified to explain how to set them up, wire them and use them in a sequence for what you're wanting to accomplish.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Orville