xLights 2012c release

[dowdybrown]

I have put a copy of the xLights 2012c installer in my drop box. I am not posting it to SourceForge because I have not run an actual show with it yet, though I have done a lot of testing indoors. There are more features I want to add in short order, but I know show season is about to start, and I wanted to get this out there for those who need it.

• xLights is now a single integrated program. Prior versions were split into multiple files.
• There is a single list of channels in the testing module - so you can test all of your Etherdongle channels at once.
• As I have warned before, I have removed the ability to schedule LOR and Vixen files. You can now only schedule audio files, video files, and xLights sequences. You will have to go to the Converter tab to convert your sequences to xLights format.
• xLights can still send the LOR/D-Light protocol if you want to, but I would recommend using LOR and D-Light controllers in DMX mode. If you set up LOR or D-Light networks, pay attention to the new messages about how many channels you can drive at various baud rates.
• There is now more help available. Click on the info button in the upper left of the screen, or select Help > Content from the menu. The help displayed is specific to the tab you have open.
• The Converter has been enhanced such that it can also use xLights sequences and Conductor files as input. Thus, you can convert xLights sequences to Vixen to visually see the content (since there is no xLights sequence viewer yet). Or you can export your sequence in LSP to conductor format, then use the xLights Converter to convert it to an xLights sequence.
• When converting LOR sequences, the Converter now makes a distinction between LOR networks in your sequence, and DMX universes. For LOR networks, it uses the old channel mapping (everything is 16 channels). However, if you set things up in LOR as DMX universes, then the Converter module understands that and treats it as a 512 channel block.
• You can now set the last channel on E1.31 networks, which should make xLights compatible with SanDevices controllers (E680, E681)
• The xLights files containing your network and schedule information are fully compatible with the new version. However, I had to change the way test configurations are stored, so any test configurations saved with prior versions of xLights are not accessible in this version - but you can create and save new ones.

You can download version 2012c from here:

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I hope you find it useful and that your show is a big success this year! I will try to fix any bugs found in short order.

Matt

[rrowan]

Sounds Awesome Matt

Thank you for all of your hard work

Rick R.

[Steve Gase]

Thanks for doing this, Matt!!

[sebjsan]

Thank you Matt!!

[frankr]

Thanks Matt!

I have been playing with this version all week and I can tell you it is a very nice change to the tool. 

Again thanks for all your hard work Matt!

Frank

[deanathpc]

Awesome!!!!

I will download it this weekend and give it a whirl!!  My show starts in 7 days pending setup completion...

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[rdebolt]

Thanks Matt  for sharing AND thanks for all of your hard work! 

[JonB256]

Looks good. Well thought out changes. The understanding of DMX in LOR will make the Conductor much more usable for me.

Definitely not a show stopper, but once you enable "Output to Lights" the ability to modify the Lighting Networks ends (gray)
That makes perfect sense. But, when you uncheck "Output to Lights" it doesn't re-enable the the Lighting Networks without closing and restarting.

[JonB256]

Matt, when I converted some of my LOR S3 sequences from last year, I got error messages from most or all channels assigned to Universe 2 and 3. My sequences have no LOR networks defined at all. That was with "Single" LOR Sequence Mapping checked.

When I changed to Multi and converted the same sequences, I did not get those errors and they appear to have converted perfectly. I've been waiting for this feature because the older 2012b wouldn't give me a good Conductor file.

Is the behavior between Single and Multi mapping as you expected? Could you better explain the difference between them?

[dowdybrown]

Looks good. Well thought out changes. The understanding of DMX in LOR will make the Conductor much more usable for me.

Definitely not a show stopper, but once you enable "Output to Lights" the ability to modify the Lighting Networks ends (gray)
That makes perfect sense. But, when you uncheck "Output to Lights" it doesn't re-enable the the Lighting Networks without closing and restarting.

This is by design, although I debated about making it work they you expected. I will change it in the next release.

Matt

[SCUBA]

Thanks Matt for the E68X feature.  I had to modify the Xlights_network.xml file to use it in 'b'. 

BTW: quick question, When I use the repeat feature, will it finish the current sequence or playlist?  And does the the 'last' sequence play after the end of the schedule or within it?

LSP 2.5 with 4900+ channels

John

[mmais68569]

will this version now let us set up DMX channels in LOR and have them work?

               Mike

[dowdybrown]

will this version now let us set up DMX channels in LOR and have them work?

               Mike

Yes

Sent from my LG-LS840 using Tapatalk 2

[dowdybrown]

BTW: quick question, When I use the repeat feature, will it finish the current sequence or playlist?  And does the the 'last' sequence play after the end of the schedule or within it?

John

1-it will finish the current playlist first.
2-if you select to have the last item play once, that last item will play after the scheduled end time.

Matt

Sent from my LG-LS840 using Tapatalk 2

[dowdybrown]

Is the behavior between Single and Multi mapping as you expected? Could you better explain the difference between them?

Single is meant to indicate that all channels are in the "regular" network (in LOR parlance). I added this feature early on as a weak attempt to deal with LSP exports to LOR. Now with Frank's LSP to xLights converter, plus 2012c's ability to convert Conductor files, the "Single" network mode is no longer needed (if it ever was). I will remove it.

Good question!

Matt