Delete/remove data layer from converted sequence

Habbosrus

Habbosrus

Back again
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
758
Location
Swansea, NSW
Okay, I got my HLS sequences converted to XL after some help from Boof (thanks mate), but now I'm struggling to remove some effects/data layer from some of my models. I was advised to add/overwrite with an effect at at the model level and this would overwrite the data at node level. I could then delete the effect, which would remove the effect/data layer. I did this, but the data layer keeps re-appearing. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, it returns. I have tried on a number of sequences, and the same thing happens. Any suggestions?
 
I answered on xLights forum so I'll change up my response to keep it interesting.

When I first started xLights the technique to import was you used the Convert tab. It imported the data into the FSEQ file. When you opened the sequence it would read in the FSEQ file and then when you dropped effects they would render into the FSEQ file as well. When you deleted an effect its data remained in the FSEQ file and could not be overwritten unless you dropped another effect to render to that location So if you moved an effect it would paint over the area it began and paint over the area where you moved it. So my first act as xLights developer was to create the Off effect because there was no other way to actually completely remove data from a section of the FSEQ file except using an On effect set to black which didn't seem intuitive. The issues were if you dropped an effect and rendered and then moved that effect over and rendered you now had that effect in both locations in the FSEQ file. If you deleted an Off effect the section was still black until you dropped a new effect. The way we told everyone to repair the file was to delete the FSEQ (or XSEQ in the old days) and then redo the Convert process.

To resolve all those issue I came up with the idea/concept of a Data Layer. You import the data into a data layer and only do the convert process once. That data can never be destroyed. You can only use the entire data layer or delete the data layer. If you edited the source file all you had to do was hit the re-import button for that data layer. Now if you moved or deleted an effect the data layer would put the appropriate data back in the base of the file during render which eliminated the need to delete and re-convert which was a lengthy process for LMS files.

I also added the option under Settings to have the Render Mode set to Erase Mode or Canvas Mode. So you can change it back to Canvas Mode and it will work like it did in the old day but you need to use the Convert process and not the Data Layer import to bring in the data if you want it to work like the old days.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm understanding it a lot better now. While reading your post I had an epiphany, the easiest thing for me to do is edit my HLS file first, then convert to XL. This will remove the effects I was wanting to remove and give me a better canvas to work with in Xlights
 
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