Sequencing Software for pixelnet

[galgon]

So I am curious what people are using this year for sequencing RGB and dmx.  Obviously nutcracker is wonderful for effects but you still need something to put the sequence together.  I had previously used vixen 2.x before going to pixels. I have spent time with HLS but it seems to have a high learning curve.  I know vixen 3 is out there.  It seemed like the consensus from last year was it was still more of a beta.  Is this still true or has the bugs been worked out?  Is light show pro worth the cash?

If you were starting to move into RGB which software would you use?

[Steve Gase]

I think its a good idea to decide first where you see your show going over 3 years.  Selecting a software tool can necessitate a steep learning curve.  Make sure that the software will take you where you need to go, and you won't be hobbled by it.


I am finding nutcracker to be able to cover 95% of my needs, and that remaining 5% is so unimportant that I leave it out of my show.


I still have working licenses of LOR and LSP, but I would use LSP for those situations where I need something special.  I'd create the effect/song in LSP and import it into nutcracker for display.

[jnealand]

+1  I'm with Steve on this.  I also have working licenses for LOR and LSP and still use Vixen 2.1 or Vixen Plus.  Eventually I will try to learn Vixen 3, but probably not this year.  As Steve says Nutcracker will do most of what you want.  I try to remember that my audience will not care what I use, nor will they be looking at the fine details.  Most will just go WOW, How do they do that?  The audience for the most part is there to be wowed / entertained and not being exactly on the beat or anything else will not be noticed by them.  When I was learning about pixels I created a simple animation with color changes that changed every 30 seconds with no music.  As friends and family saw it they all liked it so I added some music and added a couple more 20 sec segments to match the music length and put it in my show.  It is still there and still gets positive comments. Now I use audacity to get timing marks for new stuff and still create simple effects and color changes it all works including my DMX channels.

[arw01]

I'm from the other side of the fence than Steve.  I prefer one stop shopping and not messing with converting and re-processing.  I've not found a nutcracker effect I cannot duplicate in LSP and there are many in there that nutcracker does not yet do.  Some are certainly easier in nutcracker in some ways, and marquee works better, but I just want one stop shopping.

Now as some point out LSP costs some money, but in the long run as Steve suggested, it's a small percentage of what I have in cables, controllers and lights!

Alan