TASL June Meeting - LOR S2 Software
I plan to hold some software meetings this summer. And this first one will be the basics for Installing LOR S2, managing files, defining your Channel Property Grid, Importing/Exporting Channels, connecting and setting up controllers, preparing your audio files for LOR, using the Sequence Editor, Intensity and Fade Tools, etc. Most of this stuff is quite simple but it really important to know "why" each of these segments are important to you.
In this first class we'll also jump into the Hardware control side of LOR where you will define your Shows and then Schedule them. You wont actually see anything when your shows are running .. it's all automated on your computer (totally in the background) ! The shows will reliably run whenever you schedule them to run and they will shut down at your designated stop time.
If we have time we can also look at the Animation Tool, which I highly recommend for everyone to learn. It's crude but it does let you see your show without having to sit in your yard after dark with your lights up and running. I tried that and it was nearly impossible ! We'll also hold session number 2 with the Animation Tool if we don't get to it on the first meeting.
I would suggest that everyone bring a laptop with the latest LOR S2 Version 2.7.6 downloaded (or installed). Also bring your RS485 adapter. The LOR downloads page is here:
http://www.lightorama.com/w_support.htm
If you have not installed before and want help, we can walk through the full installation too. Just have the downloads with you. The trickiest part is to follow the RS485 Adapter install instructions EXACTLY to pull in the driver that translates the serial port inside your PC, to the USB port where your RS485 adapter is physically connected. The Adapter User Guide and many other good tutorials are also at the link above.
You can download the software in demo mode without buying it, but you have to be a licensed user in order to fully install it. I suggest you have your license code stored on your laptop where you can always find it. Some of the LOR software upgrades work fine when simply installed over top of your previous version - - but sometimes the license key seems to be lost and you have to re-enter it.
For the new guys - you should think about getting a second display to connect to your laptop. Buy.com has good deals on 19" and 20" flat panels in the $100 range. I found the second monitor to be far simpler to keep the animation tool running separately from the Sequence Editor. It saves time and quickly lets you work on small sections of your show. We won't use the second display at the software classes, but you will use it a lot when writing your sequences.
DON'T get caught up in thinking you need to buy sequences. If you really want some for starters we can share links to LOTS of sequences. Many people here have supplied links in past posts. I found that I spent more time trying to modify the ready made sequence to fit my channel layout, than it took to write one from scratch. BUT ... there are some good advantages to looking at other sequences to get ideas. You will start out thinking of only a few things to do with your lights, and then your brain will explode with the unlimited possibilities as you work with your setup a while.
Later this summer I expect to have at least one advanced software meeting where we will dig into organizing your timing marks to the actual beat of the songs rather than in 10ths of a second (or any other division by time). Your shows will "pop" once you get everything tuned to the beat .. But it's not the default setting for LOR (unfortunately). You have to go out of your way to get the beat marks and not have them all mixed up with the "crappy" default timing marks ..
For those who are really brave I will also walk through using the LOR "Tracks" for isolating special sets of lights from your main pallet. I found Tracks to be fantastic for my Star Spangled Banner, where I wanted to be sure that the only channels in my pallet were for lights that were Red White and Blue (ONLY).
FOR THE FIRST MEETING - - I am thinking next week either Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday. Let me know your preferences, particularly if you are flexible for all of the days. We'll try to find the day that gets the most participants. We also have to work out a location. Scott has discussed his house, which may be in the middle (when we consider some are coming from Pitsboro). My house is off Cary Parkway near Kildaire Farms road, also not too bad. Of course we could meet at Crosswinds Marina. But I would fear we might not get as much done there, with the distractions of the boat ... I think that might be a nice place for the advanced software meetings tho ..
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Originally Posted by kidcole
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