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What's new file


rick gurnee

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From the Control Panel, click the question mark at the top right. From there click on "What's New" and scroll down a little bit and it will show you what all is new

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Couldn't find it online so here you go.

 

What's New in Version 6.0.0 (S6 Beta)

 

Big Changes

 

·Many functions that used to be separate programs are now part of the Control Panel. This includes:

 

Defining your lighting networks (previously done in Network Preferences)

Monitoring the status of those networks (previously done in the Comm Listener)

Creating shows (previously done in the Show Editor)

Checking if there are any issues with the show (previously done in the Verifier)

Scheduling shows (previously done in the Schedule Editor)

Playing shows (previously done in the Show Player)

Creating SD cards for Light-O-Rama Director units (previously done in the Hub)

 

·There is a new phone app, available for Android, iPhone, and iPad, that allows your phone to communicate with the Control Panel

 

Licensing

 

·Registering your software is done from the new Control Panel.

·You can no longer register from the Sequencer.

·The Startup and Shutdown sections of shows are now available at all license levels.

·Show On Demand is now available at all license levels.

·Using calendar dates when creating a show schedule is now available at all license levels.

·Your license is also used when logging into the phone app.

 

Control Panel

 

·Access the Hardware and ServoDog Utilities.

·Access the PixCon16 configuration tool.

·Find PixieLink controllers on the network.

·Network Preferences and network status are combined onto a single page. The network log can be displayed in a separate window if desired (similar to the Comm Listener window, but nicer)

·Test lights - test a preview, a group of channels, or a group of pixels

·Access the Sequencer - with a view similar to the Sequencer's Start Page.

·Edit, verify and schedule shows. Length of each sequence and total duration of the show are displayed.

·When playback is disabled, you can pick 1 of 4 playback modes: Show Player (traditional playback), Live Player (jukebox playback), Timecode Leader (coming soon), and Timecode Follower (coming soon).

·The new Show Player allows the queue of upcoming sequences to be manipulated by the user.

·The new Show Player allows a set of "Override Sequences" to be defined and inserted into the queue at any time (for example "Clear out please" announcements).

·The new "Live Player" mode puts you in control of playing your show. It works like a jukebox and makes using Light-O-Rama sequences in live performances much easier.

·Create SD cards for your mini- or MP3 Director.

·Click the cloud icon in the title bar to enable or disable your cloud connection, which is used by the phone app. A cloud icon with a "!" in it means the computer is connected to the cloud, but the phone app is not connected to the cloud. When the phone app connects, the icon will show a check mark inside.

·Album art is displayed beside a musical sequence if the media file contains such an image.

·The new Control Panel behaves like a regular Windows program. It does NOT minimize to the system tray.

·Sequence playback uses a new file format. This should allow sequences to start playing more quickly and use less memory. S4/5 compressed sequences (LCS) and intensity data (LID) files are no longer used.

 

Hardware Utility

 

·The tabs for "Digital IO Boards" and "X10 CM11A" have been removed.

·The SD card creator remains, but can only use LMS and LAS files. The ability to use LOREDIT files here has been removed.

·The Light Console and Pixel Console remain, even though these functions have been recreated in the new Control Panel.

 

Sequencer

 

·The right-click menu for the waveform has been removed, although this menu is still available by right-clicking on the yellow timeline. Also, the ability to drag across the waveform to zoom in has been removed. Double-clicking on the waveform now opens the Audio Settings panel.

·Empty grid view groups are now automatically deleted.

·Added new item to the timeline's right-click menu: Zoom To Play Range.

·Added new shortcuts: Ctrl-A to set max intensity and Ctrl-I to set min intensity. These are the counterparts to Ctrl-U and Ctrl-D. Ctrl-A will no longer select all, but you can use R followed by C to accomplish that.

·The "T" shortcut key will now add a timing mark wherever the pointer is located if there is no selection in the sequence grid and playback is stopped. You can clear the selection by clicking in the waveform area.

·On the right-click menu, "Add/Modify Motion Effect Rows" is now "Manage Motion Effect Rows"

·Motion rows are now only displayed in the order in which they are rendered. You can no longer drag a motion row anywhere in the sequence grid. Row order is modified using the "Manage Motion Effect Rows" menu item.

·The first column in the Manage Motion Effect Rows dialog now identifies the foreground and background rows.

·On the Sequencer Preferences "Startup" tab there is a new option: Use default window arrangement at startup. A few users with multiple monitors had problems with the way the Sequencer remembered the position of its windows - sometimes causing a crash the next time the Sequencer started. This gives those users a reliable way to start the Sequencer every time.

·The playback marker style can now be set by right-clicking on the timeline, as well as in Sequencer Preferences. For users that change the playback marker style fairly often, and this allows them to do that more quickly.

·Converted the "Carryover" column to "End Unit / End Circuit" in Prop Definition.

·Previously, setting a dimming curve in Prop Definition only applied to ELOR and DMX networks. They now also work on regular LOR networks (not enhanced).

·Added option to Preview Design's Layout View to save it as a PNG image file. You can then open the PNG image in MS Paint or similar programs and print to multiple pages. This is helpful for layouts that are wider than 1 page.

·Typing the right-arrow key after a paste will now keep you on the first row of the selection. So you can do multiple pastes with Ctrl-V, Arrow-right, Ctrl-V, Arrow-right, Ctrl-V, Arrow-right, etc.

·Updated the Statistics tab in Preview Design to include the number of channels in each LOR network. This can help you diagnose when a network is overloaded.

·On Preview Design's Design tab, added "Create Group" to the item list's right-click menu.

·Added a Snowflake shape in Prop Definition. This shape can be used to efficiently model pixel snowflakes and other props with radial symmetry. Motion effects that move left or right will spin around the snowflake.

·Added Teal and Pink to the list of traditional colors in the Prop Definition screen.

·When editing a prop with a custom shape, you can now shrink the size. This works well for coro props -- and the smaller size greatly improves performance.

 

SuperStar

 

·Added enhanced singing face features. Eyes will now blink every 2-4 seconds. Bow/Star will illuminate when mouth is moving. Motion row defaults for Boscoyo type faces will automatically be added into the image list.

·Added twinkle and shimmer to the smooth effects

·Added Windows Font support in Text Setup dialog box. This allows text using any of the Windows system fonts. Bold, Italic, underline, and smoothing can be done for any of the fonts at any size.

· Added "Don't Use Music" feature in the Auto Sequence dialog box.

·Added feature for image mode, double click in the green grid, or the preview and in addition to setting the current color for the pixel you clicked on, it sets all non-black to the current color.  This is to make it easy to change the color of all the pixels for a face element for the Boscoyo type faces.

·Added the feature "Silhouette Mask Adjacent Effects Only." This enables you to have multiple image masks at the same place in the time ruler and have background and foreground effects that apply to the mask they are adjacent to.

·Added support for image masks with smooth effects

·Added ability to multi select images and delete them with the Image list "Delete" button

·Added feature so Ctrl + double click will select all 4 colors in the color controls

·Increased the maximum dimensions from 360x360 to 400x400

·Fixed a bug in "Change Orientation" in the "Move or Scale Selected Effects" dialog box. The source width and height were interchanged when the preview was Horizontal. They now work as expected.

·Fixed a bug where Instant Sequence would not create any effects if you double click to edit a sequence.

·Fixed a bug where if launched from the Sequencer and you do "export to sequence editor" the .lms file can have missing channels if there are props in the Preview that have duplicate channel assignments.

·Fixed a bug where if you are in horizontal orientation and you copy a portion of an image in Image mode, when you try to move the orange rectangle it doesn't move around properly.

·Fixed a bug where if you copy a portion of an image in Image mode and do not press Esc key, then select an effect that is not and image action and do paste, the paste appears to do nothing because what it did was paste the portion of the image that was copied while in image mode. Fixed it by exiting "copy a portion of an image" mode if the graphic mode changes, or if the "copy" button is pressed.

·Fixed a bug where if you have a group selected and load a .sup file then the code thinks there is still a group selected.

·Fixed a bug where you can select a smooth effect and then select a smooth effect before the currently selected effect and the selection

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On 6/30/2022 at 10:10 AM, PhilMassey said:

Couldn't find it online so here you go.

 

What's New in Version 6.0.0 (S6 Beta)

 

Big Changes

 

·Many functions that used to be separate programs are now part of the Control Panel. This includes:

 

Creating shows (previously done in the Show Editor)

 

Scheduling shows (previously done in the Schedule Editor)

Playing shows (previously done in the Show Player)

 

 

·There is a new phone app, available for Android, iPhone, and iPad, that allows your phone to communicate with the Control Panel

 

Licensing

 

·The Startup and Shutdown sections of shows are now available at all license levels.

·Show On Demand is now available at all license levels.

·Using calendar dates when creating a show schedule is now available at all license levels.

·Your license is also used when logging into the phone app.

 

Control Panel

·Test lights - test a preview, a group of channels, or a group of pixels

 

·Edit, verify and schedule shows. Length of each sequence and total duration of the show are displayed.

·When playback is disabled, you can pick 1 of 4 playback modes: Show Player (traditional playback), Live Player (jukebox playback), Timecode Leader (coming soon), and Timecode Follower (coming soon).

·

The new Show Player allows the queue of upcoming sequences to be manipulated by the user.

·The new Show Player allows a set of "Override Sequences" to be defined and inserted into the queue at any time (for example "Clear out please" announcements).

·The new "Live Player" mode puts you in control of playing your show. It works like a jukebox and makes using Light-O-Rama sequences in live performances much easier.

 

·Click the cloud icon in the title bar to enable or disable your cloud connection, which is used by the phone app. A cloud icon with a "!" in it means the computer is connected to the cloud, but the phone app is not connected to the cloud. When the phone app connects, the icon will show a check mark inside.

 

·The new Control Panel behaves like a regular Windows program. It does NOT minimize to the system tray.

·Sequence playback uses a new file format. This should allow sequences to start playing more quickly and use less memory. S4/5 compressed sequences (LCS) and intensity data (LID) files are no longer used.

 

 

 

I left what i thought all this best parts are and highlighted some of my favorites at least in concept.  can someone do a test drive video and post it on youtube?  I would like to see the GUI in action.  I think opening up the startup and shutdown and the on demand part is great.  concept of the app is cool so you can field operate the unit but i would need to see what it does. 

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When is the plan to release more S6 feature information?  So far... it looks like a lot of old features are being moved around and there is a new cloud phone app.  Where is the beef???

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2 hours ago, jond said:

When is the plan to release more S6 feature information?

As they said in the Beta announcement, most of the new features have been added to the Control Panel / Show Player. Here are the ones that will be most useful to me:

  1. Dimming curves on channels in regular (old) LOR networks. I don't have any ELOR networks, so this is useful to me.
  2. The ability to manipulate the show as it is playing. Sometimes I would like to replay a particular sequence while a show is running. In S5, I have to shut the show down and restart it. S6 allows me to press a button that says: "Play this sequence next." Then the show will go on as normal.
  3. Test lights is built into the Control Panel. I no longer have to disable shows, launch the hardware utility, scan for controllers, then test the lights.
  4. I don't have to disable shows to test a sequence with the Sequencer. I can sequence and control lights while a show is running (although that's not normally useful).
  5. The Control Panel tells me the sequence times and total times for the show.
  6. Editing the schedule is easier.
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4 hours ago, Steven said:

Here are the ones that will be most useful to me:

So far I have not seen anything I would be interested in.  I have an email from LOR last year that mentions the next version would be able to handle group tasks and have more entire display features.  Right now an entire house effect is very limited and almost non-existent for a larger display.  I sure hope they are holding back and better things will come with the full release.  I would agree the control panel was not the friendliest, but after using it for years I knew where everything was.  Paying for an upgrade so I can relearn where everything is located again is not really a feature I was looking for.  

I am glad you are looking forward to the new items.

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How is a whole house effect limited. It's only limited by how you group and apply the effects, no matter how large the display. In any case it's way too easy to overuse and ends up being repetitive and uninteresting.

There have been regular additions to the motion effects library over the past couple of years, and the editor allows for the creation of an almost infinite variety of effects. 

The improvements to the show player alone are worth the cost of the upgrade, but if you want to stay with S5, that's fine too.

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10 hours ago, jond said:

When is the plan to release more S6 feature information?  So far... it looks like a lot of old features are being moved around and there is a new cloud phone app.  Where is the beef???

There is no more beef. The big appeal of S6 has always been that of the easier scheduling and app functionality. It's never been said there would be any major changes in the Sequencer or other sequencing portions. There are a few minor ones, but nothing major.

And yes, the whole house effect is limited .... only by what you put in there and how.

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12 hours ago, PhilMassey said:

How is a whole house effect limited. It's only limited by how you group and apply the effects, no matter how large the display. In any case it's way too easy to overuse and ends up being repetitive and uninteresting.

There have been regular additions to the motion effects library over the past couple of years, and the editor allows for the creation of an almost infinite variety of effects. 

It has been a couple of years since I tried, but seems like it worked okay on smaller groups of lights, but the more lights you added to the group the worse it looked.  If that effect is only limited by what you put in there, it was well beyond what LOR support could help me with at the time.  I could post several emails from LOR support that suggest there are several program limitations in that area. 

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14 hours ago, Don said:

The big appeal of S6 has always been that of the easier scheduling and app functionality

There has not been much said about the new features.  LOR is the best AC light designer out there by far, but they are weak in the pixel arena.  Before anyone tries to enlighten me, If you bought a sequence from LOR last year it would only have came with single color arch programming... enough said.  I retired all my AC lights a year or two ago and only have 100% intelligent pixels at this point.  I was running into several frustrations points with the LOR software last fall and reached out to them.  It was implied that they would be releasing new features and correcting this in the next version.  I was not seeing many new features and thought I was missing something is all.

I have been using E1.31 ethernet DMX for years, so standard LOR protocol improvements have no value to me, I use an old computer in my basement to run the show.  It is slow and I have no desire to mess with it if it is working.  I would agree the interface was a little clunky and could be cleaned up, but I have been getting by with the present one without issue for years.  I thought maybe the plan was to release more features once they have some of the kinks worked out.  That is what I was hoping someone would let me know.  I am happy for others that are excited about the new features, but so far I am not seeing anything worth dealing with all the bugs that come with new software.

Edited by jond
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I tried using xlights in the past. Early on, it was easy to learn but had little to offer. Last time I looked at it, a few months ago, it was radically different and I couldn't figure out how to get around in it. Yes, it would just take more time and effort on my part to learn it. However, I'm vested in LOR and frankly, I love the LOR software. Now I'm not a huge fan of prices for this or that options but they are also a business trying to make money. They need to charge for this product in order to employ all the people they do which I do agree with and support. Programmers do not work for free! Being a former programmer and user of my own code in a major laboratory environment, I had the luxury of identifying issues that needed improvement and I would work on those myself eventually resulting major releases of software for lab use. The large difference here is that I was one programmer vs LOR's many but also, I had to do my own debugging and insure there were no bugs at all before it was released. Considering something costing a minimum of $200M+++ each, no room for mistakes. I didn't have a whole army of users like us out here to test with. Anyway, if you aren't happy with the LOR software, nothing says you have to use it.

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I too would like to see more features when it comes to sequencing with LOR but I do believe that will happen in time. I did quite a bit of sequencing in xlights about 2 years ago and learned quite a bit but decided to stay with LOR because I found xlights to be very buggy with each version I downloaded it seemed. I like a lot of features that xlights has but I like the ease of LOR. I think both has pros and cons. For now though, I will stick with LOR and hope that in the near future we see more features being released.

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