What are the choices.....
Vixen
Vixen is very much the champion of the DIY community and with the greatest of thanks to KC, the developer, is made available free of charge.
Vixen can be found for download over at vixenlights http://www.vixenlights.com, with the current (2010/05/03) release being 2.1.1.0, a later release 2.5.0.8 is available but not recommended by everyone. Personally i used 2.5.0.8 for 2009 without issues but your own milage may vary.
The main support forums for Vixen are at http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12 and all support issues should be posted over at DIYC.
Lightshow Pro
Released in 2008 and now at version 1.5, LSP can be considered the new kid on the block. A demo is available but a full version will cost a few dollars. It has many exciting features that look to be the way forward in the RGB world.
LSP can be found over at http://www.lightshowpro.com/content.php
The main support forums are also located there.
In many aspects LightShowPro could be considered the "Auto-CAD" of the lighting animation scene, software that has such depth that it requires some dedication to unlock it's full potential, once this potential is unlocked you may very well never use anything else.
If others would care to chime in with other choices i'll update the first post.
Cheers
Phil
Vixen
Vixen is very much the champion of the DIY community and with the greatest of thanks to KC, the developer, is made available free of charge.
Vixen can be found for download over at vixenlights http://www.vixenlights.com, with the current (2010/05/03) release being 2.1.1.0, a later release 2.5.0.8 is available but not recommended by everyone. Personally i used 2.5.0.8 for 2009 without issues but your own milage may vary.
The main support forums for Vixen are at http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12 and all support issues should be posted over at DIYC.
Lightshow Pro
Released in 2008 and now at version 1.5, LSP can be considered the new kid on the block. A demo is available but a full version will cost a few dollars. It has many exciting features that look to be the way forward in the RGB world.
LSP can be found over at http://www.lightshowpro.com/content.php
The main support forums are also located there.
In many aspects LightShowPro could be considered the "Auto-CAD" of the lighting animation scene, software that has such depth that it requires some dedication to unlock it's full potential, once this potential is unlocked you may very well never use anything else.
If others would care to chime in with other choices i'll update the first post.
Cheers
Phil