What are you using to sequence your smart strings

[z327]

Just wondering what software everyone is using to sequence your pixel net SSC. I have the latest LSP but find it very slow even though I have a new high powered PC. Also issues with playback output.
LOR does not offer direct support and I struggle with the best way to use LOR and xLights.

Success stories and advice are welcome.

[rrowan]

I am staying with Vixen for the time being. So far my Smart Strings are only window frames and I really don't need to get overly fancy with them.

Cheers

Rick R.

[djohnson]

Just wondering what software everyone is using to sequence your pixel net SSC. I have the latest LSP but find it very slow even though I have a new high powered PC. Also issues with playback output.
LOR does not offer direct support and I struggle with the best way to use LOR and xLights.

Success stories and advice are welcome.

Hi,
if you havent already got the latest LSP, there are improvements to the pixelnet plugin output...
if you have, please post your issue over at the LSP forum and we will help you resolve whats going on for you.

it shouldnt be slow if its all configured correctly.

Thanks,
David
LightShow Pro

[TAdamsOK]

Upgraded to the newest version of LSP yesterday and set a couple of my flex strips out to test things out.  I can say that the newer LSP does a much better job outputting higher channel counts.  I have 2 20 frames per second transitions set up and they play very smoothly now.  The before and after to me is very similar to the difference in videos between the pixelnet dongles and etherdongle.  Can't wait to get the other 9 flex strips and my pixels out in the yard after watching that (and the etherdongle of course).  This year's show is going to rock! 

Next year, need more RGB!  and to upgrade to the 32k channel license as well...

LSP does have a steep learning curve, but once I got it, I can program a simple 2 minute RGB sequence in 10 to 15 minutes across 5600 channels.  Cut and paste can be one very powerful ally in LSP as is the autofill.  The devil is in how you set up your layers and controllers and your custom transitions to get the effects you want across either the stage or objects.  Once that is set up just have to resist the urge to change it.  Well until next year of course!

The only weak spot I can see is the chaser tool is not very powerful, but the transition function sorta can make that obsolete IMHO.  But it really all depends on what you want as far as that goes.  If you want true chases then you will probably need to set that up as a custom pattern and get to cutting and pasting.  Some of the more advanced users might have some better work arounds though.

[Mickpat]

I am using Lightshow Pro 2 and it’s much improved over 1.8.  I agree it has a slight learning curve, but once you get over that it’s very easy to use.

This year I have 11 flex strips and 100 LED modules.  With Lightshow Pro, you simply draw your LED lights on the visualizer and then add transitions to the grid.  The transition takes care of programming all of the lights allowing you to create amazing effects that cannot be done manually.  I cannot image trying to program 5000+ channels without using transitions.  Totally brilliant.   I am having a blast using the program and cannot wait for this year’s show.

[Rainlover]

Like Rick, I am using Vixen. It is very intuitive but very cumbersome. I like how it works, but with a couple thousand channels. it takes some time.

John

[dandyman]

LSP for me, too...

the newest version really does make a difference as far as speed/smoothness for SmartStrings...

The only thing that was time-consuming for me was manipulating imported LOR sequences into my default controller set-up in LSP... I had to do it this way so that I could use one set of matrix animation grids...

[dowdybrown]

I'm using LOR3 + xLights. I "only" have 2800 channels, but with the creative use of tracks, I had 7 sequences done in a week (none new - all converted from 1000 channel sequences I used last year).

I also like that the sequence files are XML, so I can write short scripts to manipulate the XML directly in cases where LOR makes things difficult.

Matt

[frankr]

I was using LSP but got too frustrated with the scheduler on Halloween so I have gone back to LOR and xlights.  I have to second Matt's comment about XML file format.  It is very easy to manipulate and create groups, channels or tracks if you are handing with a scripting language like Python or perl.

I am using 2640 pixels as well as another 300 channels split between Lynx(DMX), and LOR.

Frank

[jnealand]

I have LOR S3, Vixen, LSP 2, and xlights.  I play with them all.  I mostly use xlights for testing since I think it has some great test functions (and I want more), but you do not sequence with xlights only play a program.  I am a former LOR user and bought the S3 upgrade since it was reasonably priced and I still have some LOR equipment, but have been running them in DMX mode with my Lynx equipment.  I used Vixen the last 2 years and have played with my 2011 setup some, but will probably not use it for Christmas although I did use it for Halloween, but without the pixelnet stuff since I had some hardware issues.  For Christmas I am converting all my old sequences into LSP 2, but have not tried running a program yet.  If I have problems with the scheduler I will probably export the sequences into LOR and run them using xlights.  Too many choices.  I have yet to create a new sequence with LSP, but I think I now understand how to use the functionality built into LSP and am looking forward to doing more with it.  I just need to get my 2011 display hardware completed and setup so I have more time to try the new functionality of LSP which I think is the strongest overall software solution going forward so far.  All the software has trials and tribulations along with shortfalls in different areas.  YMMV.  There is no one universal choice YET.