Tracks - a painful learning curve

[sjmiller]

I am going to try every sequencing feature of LOR before I settle in on the ones "I like". Song sequence #5 for this year is The Chipmunk Song:

- Open new music sequence

- set track 1 for .05 sec timing

- Import Channel config

- Add new track - Beat Track

- set beat wizard for song timing of .7 secs to 20.2, 2X tempo, turn on channel 1 every 2nd beat.

I can't see timing play on animation for either track 1 or beat track. Timing marks for the beat track do not show up on track 1...

A couple of hours later (lots of frustration) and trying different things - if I duplicate track one, then track 2 (beat) times show up on track one. And the animation works.

I was going to wait until my next song sequence to try the VU tool, but this song has some high volume notes - so what the heck. I scrolled back up to track one and duplicated it - track 3 is VU and I assigned it to one of my mini-tree channels. After tweaking it in the wizard - I did an apply and exit, it shows up on the other two tracks and the animation works.

Now I want to do a simple copy channel to replicate the light timing across other channels in the track - I don't see any easy way to do so, I have to highlight the entire channel - then copy-and-paste.

How much of the above is pilot error, not knowing how to use the sequencer software - or that it doesn't do what I expect it should?

Steve

[bob]

I'm not sure I'm following completely, but if you want to copy some channel from one track to another, right-click on the channel's button, select "Copy to Other Track" on the menu that pops up, and then either "Copy to New Track" or "Copy to Track Number..." depending upon whether you want to copy it to a brand new track or an existing track, respectively.

[Steven]

sjmiller wrote:

- Add new track - Beat Track

This could have been where the error happened.

I assumed you used the "Edit" -> "Add New Track" menu item to add the Beat Track. This is ok. But then, how did you set up the channel(s) on this new track?

If you changed the channel settings for a channel on this new track and selected the same device type, unit, and circuit of a channel in track 1, then this is where the pilot error happened. What you ended up doing in this case is making two separate channels that will try to control the same circuit. It won't work because LOR thinks they really are two different channels at this point, even if they have the same unit and circuit numbers.

The way to "link" a channel from one track to another is use the "Copy to Other Track" menu, or duplicate the whole track.

[sjmiller]

Steven,

I think you nailed it, I was doing the Edit > Add Track

As I reviewed the screens again - it appears as if it is a software design flaw.

The Edit > Add Track does not give the option of designating which controller(s) the track applies to. In my case I only have 48 channels - when I add a track and specify 48 channels - my expectation would be that the sub tracks would funnel up and be displayed on track one and play on the animation - not contend for a non-existant controller.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but I don't see a use for Edit > Add Track if the only way to view sub-tracks on track one or playing aninmations is to dulicate track one?

Am I missing something?



Steve

[sjmiller]

I used the VU tool to turn on the lights on track 3 channel mini 1-1, now I want to dulicate it on another 15 channels on the same track. There isn't a way to copy a channel to another channel on ther same track - except copy and paste?

Steve

[Steven]

sjmiller wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong - but I don't see a use for Edit > Add Track if the only way to view sub-tracks on track one or playing aninmations is to dulicate track one?

You can add a track, then, from track 1, right-click on a channel and select "Copy to Other Track".

There isn't a way to copy a channel to another channel on ther same track - except copy and paste?

When LOR says "Copy a Channel", it really means "Access that Channel in another track." What you want to do is copy the Events from one track to another. And yes, the only way to do this is copy and paste.

[sjmiller]

This is kind of a shout out.... and it helped me reset my thought process. I have been critical of the software - but my perspectve has been that of a holiday lighting enthusiest.

We are adopting LOR's commercial product to our hobby lighting projects, and the fact that they have ths forum speaks volumes about LOR standing behind thier product.

Initially I may not understand why things work the way they do, and that is where the advce on this forum comes nto play.

Steve