Hi All and particularly Keith,
Concept and Reasons
I've been pondering for a while things I'd like to see enhanced/improved/fixed in the xLights Show Scheduler and Playlist function, and was interested to watch Keith's video "xLights Standalone Scheduler Concept" on youtube.
I know a lot of people don't use xLights' built in Playlist and Scheduler, but there are some that do. For instance, there are people migrating from LOR who already have a PC for running their show so they have no need to immediately obtain something else (eg Pi and FPP). Newbies starting out have enough to learn, without the added pressure of learning how to set up a Pi, for instance. Some people just have spare PCs lying around and couldn't be bothered buying something else to run their show, even if it costs only fifty bucks.
Another reason to improve xLights Scheduler is that it makes xLights look a little less polished than some other sequencing software. Xlights is a fantastic program at a fantastic price (free) with amazing abilities but the Scheduler section lets it down a bit (IMHO).
What You need to do !!
Remember these are just my opinions based on my observances.This thread is not to start a war on Pi V PC, so please just respond with things you would like to see enhanced/improved/fixed in the xLights Show Scheduler and Playlist function.
Enhancements / Improvements / Bug Fixes / Wish List
So here's some suggestions/ideas for improvements/enhancements that might be considered if any of the busy programmers has some spare time and inclination (I'm aware Keith may already have some of these covered in his Standalone Scheduler Concept):
1. Have the ability to automatically turn the lights on and off (‘output to lights’) from the show scheduler itself.
When creating show schedule have 3 options
Turn lights on automatically (‘output to lights’) at start of show
Turn lights off automatically at end of show
Leave lights on
These are options so that users can still manually set ‘output to lights’ or to leave ‘output to lights’ permanently on. (see bug issue below)
2. Have the ability to add individual days to schedule.
Seems only way is to have block of dates but only have the show run on some of them. Would like to be able to select a show/playlist then select individual days or groups of days.
3. Have the ability to instantly (on-command / interactive) play a whole playlist.
Handy if you want to start a show from the start “on-command” (eg a group turns up, you (re)start the show for them and then the show returns to repeat playing as before)
4. Play more than 1 sequence at the start or end.
a. Have the 1, or more, sequence(s) play only at the start, and/or end, of the show.
If a show schedule has x number of sequences, which are constantly repeated, then would be good to be able to better select a single (or multiple) sequence to play only at the very start, and/or end, of schedule.
5. Have the ability to randomize playlists.
Say you have several playlists each about 15 minutes long (eg 1. singing face songs, 2. current hit songs, 3. instrumental tunes, 4. classic christmas tunes) have the ability to randomize the playlists between show time hours.
6. Have the Playlist 'Play Item' or 'Play All' run the House preview
7. Overlap check. If running several different playlists in a row, a check to make sure you haven’t accidentally programmed one to start before the other finished (could include a check for longest song that might still be playing past finish time).
8. If computer restarts for some reason, have Scheduler restart automatically. Can restart xLights automatically but doesn't always enable lights and enable scheduler when it restarts. (see point 9)
9. Have the show scheduler as a separate program so the whole of xLights doesn't need to be open. - Appears Keith's already on this.
Bugs/Issues:
The Playlist 'Play All' doesn't appear to work properly. If you select one sequence and then click 'Play Item' the xPlayer starts but if you click 'Play All' the playlist starts but no xPlayer appears.
Whilst idle with 'output to lights' turned on there is a considerable amount of network traffic. I measured about 200kbps extra on the WiFi and I'm not even using the wifi to control anything.
Conclusion
So that's my thoughts and wish list, if anyone has any other constructive ideas of things they'd like improved or extra features they'd like in the Scheduler post them in this thread.
Cheers
Concept and Reasons
I've been pondering for a while things I'd like to see enhanced/improved/fixed in the xLights Show Scheduler and Playlist function, and was interested to watch Keith's video "xLights Standalone Scheduler Concept" on youtube.
I know a lot of people don't use xLights' built in Playlist and Scheduler, but there are some that do. For instance, there are people migrating from LOR who already have a PC for running their show so they have no need to immediately obtain something else (eg Pi and FPP). Newbies starting out have enough to learn, without the added pressure of learning how to set up a Pi, for instance. Some people just have spare PCs lying around and couldn't be bothered buying something else to run their show, even if it costs only fifty bucks.
Another reason to improve xLights Scheduler is that it makes xLights look a little less polished than some other sequencing software. Xlights is a fantastic program at a fantastic price (free) with amazing abilities but the Scheduler section lets it down a bit (IMHO).
What You need to do !!
Remember these are just my opinions based on my observances.This thread is not to start a war on Pi V PC, so please just respond with things you would like to see enhanced/improved/fixed in the xLights Show Scheduler and Playlist function.
Enhancements / Improvements / Bug Fixes / Wish List
So here's some suggestions/ideas for improvements/enhancements that might be considered if any of the busy programmers has some spare time and inclination (I'm aware Keith may already have some of these covered in his Standalone Scheduler Concept):
1. Have the ability to automatically turn the lights on and off (‘output to lights’) from the show scheduler itself.
When creating show schedule have 3 options
Turn lights on automatically (‘output to lights’) at start of show
Turn lights off automatically at end of show
Leave lights on
These are options so that users can still manually set ‘output to lights’ or to leave ‘output to lights’ permanently on. (see bug issue below)
2. Have the ability to add individual days to schedule.
Seems only way is to have block of dates but only have the show run on some of them. Would like to be able to select a show/playlist then select individual days or groups of days.
3. Have the ability to instantly (on-command / interactive) play a whole playlist.
Handy if you want to start a show from the start “on-command” (eg a group turns up, you (re)start the show for them and then the show returns to repeat playing as before)
4. Play more than 1 sequence at the start or end.
a. Have the 1, or more, sequence(s) play only at the start, and/or end, of the show.
If a show schedule has x number of sequences, which are constantly repeated, then would be good to be able to better select a single (or multiple) sequence to play only at the very start, and/or end, of schedule.
5. Have the ability to randomize playlists.
Say you have several playlists each about 15 minutes long (eg 1. singing face songs, 2. current hit songs, 3. instrumental tunes, 4. classic christmas tunes) have the ability to randomize the playlists between show time hours.
6. Have the Playlist 'Play Item' or 'Play All' run the House preview
7. Overlap check. If running several different playlists in a row, a check to make sure you haven’t accidentally programmed one to start before the other finished (could include a check for longest song that might still be playing past finish time).
8. If computer restarts for some reason, have Scheduler restart automatically. Can restart xLights automatically but doesn't always enable lights and enable scheduler when it restarts. (see point 9)
9. Have the show scheduler as a separate program so the whole of xLights doesn't need to be open. - Appears Keith's already on this.
Bugs/Issues:
The Playlist 'Play All' doesn't appear to work properly. If you select one sequence and then click 'Play Item' the xPlayer starts but if you click 'Play All' the playlist starts but no xPlayer appears.
Whilst idle with 'output to lights' turned on there is a considerable amount of network traffic. I measured about 200kbps extra on the WiFi and I'm not even using the wifi to control anything.
Conclusion
So that's my thoughts and wish list, if anyone has any other constructive ideas of things they'd like improved or extra features they'd like in the Scheduler post them in this thread.
Cheers
