Getting a show onto the SD Card

[lightsbyjoe]

lol no

[work=nofun]

last year was my 1st year using LOR

but I ran it off my desktop, thought about the director but decided against it

I never had any issues using the family computer to run the shows while my kids and wife played on the computer, the only thing is your sound, when shows are running kids can't play games as that would be put thru to the fm transmitter, this year I bought a net book on sale for 199 and can just set it up out of the way, might be something to consider if you cant get the director working the way you would like

[Guest wbottomley]

july1962 wrote:

That's easier said than done for some. Not having a laptop that can easily be moved around...and a desktop that gets used readily by many members of the family makes the Director a necessity. As I mentioned above, the advertising for the Show Director says "Load a completed show on to an SD memory card and plug the card into the LOR Show-in-a-Box controller." To me, that alludes to the fact that it can run whatever show the software can produce. I wrote to Dan BEFORE I purchased all my equipment with lots of questions. This is his response in regard to the MP3 Director:

"With any of the MP3 Directors, you can put the show on a SD card and have the MP3 director run the show. (no PC is required to run the show). You can control a large number of channels (500 to 1000) depending on the intensity of the shows activity. To create shows on the SD card with more than 32 channels you will need a license level for the software that supports that number of channels."

That's very misleading considering what I know now. Sure, a PC isn't "required" to run the show, but the Director won't run all shows either...it's limited in what it can do in comparison to the computer. None of the advertising says that. He also alludes to the fact that I need a license for the "software" in the same paragraph he talks about the director, which tells me that all the software works with it.

I wish I had known all this before I purchased. I would have still purchased the Director, but I wouldn't have spent a whole day (that I needed to work on my display) trying to figure out how to get my "scheduled" show onto the SD card.

Uh yea....

I can take the director card and make any show run that you would like.

It's not working hard, it's working smart.

I know a child (under 10 yo) that can make the software/hardware do anything.

[Denny]

Mountainwxman wrote:

I know a child (under 10 yo) that can make the software/hardware do anything.



Heck, my grandkids seem to make a computer do anything they want and some of them can't even read yet! More than once I have asked them, "How did you do that!"

Not that this has anything to do with this thread, but after a couple years on this forum, I just noticed you are from North Carolina. My wife is from Gastonia. She goes back to visit her sisters for a couple weeks and when she comes back home, I can't understand her (which I suppose, could be a blessing) for a month because she reverts to that "accent." After all these years, she still can't say "aluminum." Used to try and trick her into saying it, but it only took a couple times before I learned my lesson. By the way, I have learned that there is no product called "aluminum foil;" it's "tin foil."

[Surfing4Dough]

july1962 wrote:

That's easier said than done for some. Not having a laptop that can easily be moved around...and a desktop that gets used readily by many members of the family makes the Director a necessity. As I mentioned above, the advertising for the Show Director says "Load a completed show on to an SD memory card and plug the card into the LOR Show-in-a-Box controller." To me, that alludes to the fact that it can run whatever show the software can produce. I wrote to Dan BEFORE I purchased all my equipment with lots of questions. This is his response in regard to the MP3 Director:

"With any of the MP3 Directors, you can put the show on a SD card and have the MP3 director run the show. (no PC is required to run the show). You can control a large number of channels (500 to 1000) depending on the intensity of the shows activity. To create shows on the SD card with more than 32 channels you will need a license level for the software that supports that number of channels."

That's very misleading considering what I know now. Sure, a PC isn't "required" to run the show, but the Director won't run all shows either...it's limited in what it can do in comparison to the computer. None of the advertising says that. He also alludes to the fact that I need a license for the "software" in the same paragraph he talks about the director, which tells me that all the software works with it.

I see nothing inaccurate (or misleading) in Dan's comments. Nowhere does he say you will need all the software. And it is true that you needed a license to activate what software you did use (if you had over 32 channels)--even just the software used for the mp3 director. And I don't see how the advertisers claim of "Load a completed show on to an SD memory card and plug the card into the LOR Show-in-a-Box controller" alludes to anything other than what it says. It says you can load "a" show, not "every show." I am sorry that you had a certain idea of a certain exact type of show (or more accurately, type of schedule) in mind but that you didn't realize ahead of time that your expectations were unrealistic for what the hardware could presently do. When buying something, especially if it is expensive, I would never ASSUME. Did you ask Dan (or even here!) specifically if you could run the show every 15 minutes (or other specifics) using a mp3 director? I would strongly doubt that anybody would have told you that it could--unless they specifically told you that it was a work-around. If you were specifically told "that the mp3 director can run a show every 15 minutes" but it can't, then I would agree that that is misleading. I think it is neat that you can go on LOR site and read the manuals BEFORE you make the purchase. I don't even own the mp3 director, but can clearly tell from the manual that you only have certain options for the timing of your show schedule. And it is very clear in saying "There are two ways to create a SD card for the DCMp3: 1. Simple Show Builder & 2. Hardware Utility." Doesn't say "many ways" or "here are 2 of many" -- it says "there are 2 ways." None of which include the show editor. Quite clear. It appears again that you assumed incorrectly, nor did you ask specific enough questions. That isn't LOR's fault. Despite that, they have tried to help you still, and have provided work-arounds to try--but doesn't seem you are willing to be flexible to make up for your misunderstanding.

We have all done it--where we bought something with one thing in mind and then realized after we opened it that it didn't do what we thought the product would do. Often when going back and looking at the package labeling we then realize that the product never claimed to do what we hoped it would (I guess we become blinded by the excitement of the purchase). Again, not the manufacturer's fault. After we swallow our pride and admit that we misunderstood or assumed too much, then we have to decide "do I want to keep the product and figure out if I can still use it, or do I want to get rid of it and try something different." I am sure there are several members here that would be willing to buy your unwanted/unneeded equipment. And then if I want to be helpful to the company, I might send them an email explaining that I would be interested in a future product that included additional features that are desired. Usually that means that I would then have to buy that new product someday if it became available. Again, another amazing thing about LOR is that they MIGHT be able to create a new firmware in the future for your product and probably will give it out for free.


OK, enough time spent on this and now back to sequencing...

[Guest guest]

Surfing4Dough wrote:

I see nothing inaccurate (or misleading) in Dan's comments...
OK, enough time spent on this and now back to sequencing...

What the h**l?!

First of all, just because YOU see nothing inaccurate in what I wrote, doesn't mean that all of a sudden it isn't accurate or that a plethora of others might also find it inaccurate. Further, it appears you're already a LOR user so you already have a working knowledge of how it all works, so going back and reading the misleading information is going to mean something different to you than it does to someone who knows NOTHING about LOR. I'm also not quite sure why you felt the need to trivialize the way I feel on a public forum like this. What did you get out of your post?

2. I never said it did say I needed ALL the software. But it never said you couldn't use ALL the software for all components of the hardware. Do you get software with a new computer that you can't use with the computer??!! Why would one assume that software included with a product can only be used with a portion of the hardware inside?! You can even buy the LOR controller with the MP3 Director attached, software included, which makes it even more confusing. Nowhere in the documentation or what Dan told me personally does it ever say that the Director's shows are anything less than what can be produced with a computer attached.

3. Why would "A completed show" be different than "every show?" A completed show is a completed show. A series of "completed shows" would be "every show." You're playing semantics games now.

4. My expectations were in no way unrealistic. They are based on the advertising materials and what Dan wrote me personally in an email.

5. You say, "but can clearly tell from the manual that you only have certain options." Where in the manual does it say you ONLY have these "certain options." It doesn't. It says that you can use these two items to control the Director. OK, good. I can use these two items. But that doesn't mean I can't use other items. A computer advertisement might say I can use Microsoft Word or Word Perfect to write letters. Does that mean they are the only two things I can use? No, I can also use TextEdit which is also included (on my Mac). When I buy a VCR and it says, "you can use the remote to change channels," does that mean I can ONLY use the remote to change channels? No, I can also use the buttons on the front of the VCR. Again, you're playing semantics. It doesn't say there are ONLY 2 ways to create SD cards, when it easily could have.

6. No, I didn't ask Dan specifically if I could create 15 minute shows. But when I looked at the instruction manuals online before purchasing, I saw that you could do so in the Show Scheduler Utility. So why would I ask him that?

7. It IS LOR's fault that their manuals and advertising are not perfectly clear. That's how businesses get in trouble with lawsuits. That's why businesses hire lawyers to proof-read stuff before it's ever given to the public. Clearly the advertising for the MP3 Director states that I can put a show and run it without the computer. But it doesn't state that "some shows created by the included software cannot be run on the MP3 Director."

8. "but doesn't seem you are willing to be flexible to make up for your misunderstanding." I didn't misunderstand anything and yes, they have been helpful in providing workarounds. I've never said anything different. I thanked them for their tips. I don't think I should be flexible on this issue. As I said, this equipment is not cheap and I did the right thing by contacting Dan before purchasing it with a series of questions. Even in his answers he did not accurately describe what I needed to know. It is YOU who are less flexible in seeing how someone totally unfamiliar with LOR could misinterpret the advertising and manuals.

9. If the manufacturer had clearly labeled everything properly, you're right, I couldn't go back and complain. But I can complain since that didn't happen. And it's posts like yours that make me even angrier about it all. I was fine posting my gripe once, but have since had to re-clarify things and justify myself for people like you.

10. Show me one place where I ever said I wasn't happy with my LOR purchase in its entirety and want to sell it. It doesn't exist. So I don't know why you're making it sound like that's what I want to do. You're using your words to try and make this situation sound worse than it is.

11. You should have just continued to sequence instead of adding your 2 cents where it really wasn't needed.

[LightORamaJohn]

This thread is going nowhere, so I'm closing it.