Vixen or LOR 2 NOOB needs help

[Sabre03]

Price is not a concern.  Which software do you prefer?  I'm a simple person that likes simple programs.  I have no computer program skills or background.  This is my first year and need some direction.  I'll be using LE's and if I go with LOR software I will just buy the converter thingy.  I'm not sure that I will be able to make my own light shows from scratch, if thats the case, LOR seems to have more sequences that I can download and customize for my display than Vixen, Is this correct?  What do you guys Like and why? and as far as simplicety which is easier?  I played with LOR a little bit , and so far can not figure out how to open Vixen once i downloaded it.

[mmulvenna]

Price is not a concern.  Which software do you prefer?  I'm a simple person that likes simple programs.  I have no computer program skills or background.  This is my first year and need some direction.  I'll be using LE's and if I go with LOR software I will just buy the converter thingy.  I'm not sure that I will be able to make my own light shows from scratch, if thats the case, LOR seems to have more sequences that I can download and customize for my display than Vixen, Is this correct?  What do you guys Like and why? and as far as simplicety which is easier?  I played with LOR a little bit , and so far can not figure out how to open Vixen once i downloaded it.

If you are looking for simple, I'd highly recommend getting a list of displays in your area and viewing the hard work of others instead.  The entire process of Animated Christmas lights can be complicated depending on your skills and thus will require research, time and effort.

While others may disagree - I'd suggest that you write your OWN sequences and not just take others sequences verbatim – not only will those sequences not work perfectly for your display design, the display won’t reflect YOUR creativity and design.  While it seems really complicated at the moment, after spending a few months reading up, testing and learning, it will seem quite a bit less daunting.

As to what software you should use – I’d recommend downloading both.  LOR offers a demo and Vixen is free, though both programs are rumored to have major updates coming this year.

I'd recommend also reading this since you are new:  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You can also download LSP for free. It will be well worth your time to take a look at it. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[tbone321]

I would stay away from LOR software.  If you are using Express controllers, you will not be able to use many of the built in features that LOR software offers because the Express doesn't support them.  Another problem with using LOR is that if you decide to get into RJ's smart strings LOR doesn't support them which means that you will need to go to different software anyway.  Why go thru the trouble of learning it twice. 

[fslopez1950]

You are correct when looking for LOR sequences posted in the internet but do you know that you can convert some of the LOR sequences into Vixen .vix files by using LOR2VIX.jar program. Since you said that you like simple program then Vixen is the only way to go, for me i found it much simpler to use than LOR. Just MHO.

By the way, I am also a newbee in this Xmas animated lights. Still figuring out what equipments to use but for sure I'll be using Lynx equipments. For now I'm trying to do sequencing in Vixen.