Whats New in LOR S3 software (expected release week of October 10-14)

fasteddy

I have C.L.A.P
Global moderator
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
6,648
Location
Albion Park NSW
Re: Whats New in LOR S3 software

Exciting times with LOR S3 in beta, LSP V2 in beta and Vixen 3 being worked on. Hopefully they will be released to the public well in time to get some great sequencing done.
 

JohnBullard

New elf
Joined
Aug 7, 2010
Messages
12
Location
Chattanooga, TN - USA
Re: Whats New in LOR S3 software

cenote is a LOR beta tester, as I am.
I'll say one thing, we are already on the second beta version, and the LOR programmers, especially DevMike is fixing and closing the bug reports within a couple hours of them being reported.
Beta release 3 is just around the corner for testing.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
Re: Whats New in LOR S3 software

Most of us don't care too much about how the beta testing is going. What we're all desperate for is a release date and actual release for LOR3. I've been holding off doing any sequencing yet as it looks like it will be much easier and quicker with LOR3 but that isn't going to help me much if the software gets released on November 30 just in time for my December 1 switch on. Hoping to hear real soon that LOR3 is out.
 

fasteddy

I have C.L.A.P
Global moderator
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
6,648
Location
Albion Park NSW
Re: Whats New in LOR S3 software

Hopefully it was well tested by the developers before going to beta, if thats the case its a matter of ironing out some of the smaller bugs and i would expect LOR S3 to be out by the end of August, any later and people will start to stress as it will start eating into their sequencing time.
 

Greg Young

New elf
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
39
Location
Holland, New York
Re: Whats New in LOR S3 software

AAH said:
Most of us don't care too much about how the beta testing is going. What we're all desperate for is a release date and actual release for LOR3. I've been holding off doing any sequencing yet as it looks like it will be much easier and quicker with LOR3 but that isn't going to help me much if the software gets released on November 30 just in time for my December 1 switch on. Hoping to hear real soon that LOR3 is out.

We're all excited for S3's release, but having been with LOR since its inception back in 2003/2004, I would not recommend you hold off on your sequencing, waiting for the latest and best. Sequence with S2.
I have finished my new sequences for 2011, but plan to play around with S3 on a laptop when it's released t oget familiar with its full functionality. I am not sure whether I'll use it for the display, or continue S2, but suspect I will do the latter.
I remember too may users running into problems late in the fall when they converted over to the latest release....
Murphy always seems to make the rounds when new releases first come out..
Greg
 

ryanschristmaslights

Senior elf
Administrator
Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Messages
951
Location
Adelaide, Australia
Re: Whats New in LOR S3 software

I thought I should chime in and say that in a recent "Ultrashows" publication (sequence sharing website operated by PlanetChristmas) a release date has been revealed.

September, 2011


While most of the LOR S3 features are known from the linked to demonstration videos, the following is a write up which apparently comes from the unreleased S3 help manual.

  • Light-O-Rama Visualizer. The Light-O-Rama Visualizer is a new program in the Light-O-Rama software package. It is intended to give a visual representation on your computer screen of how your lights will look during a sequence or during your show. Please note that the Animator, which has a similar purpose, is still supported, so that existing sequences continue to work with it.
  • Channel Groups. The Insert Device dialog can now optionally create devices as channel groups, instead of as raw channels and/or RGB channels. A channel group is a set of channels and/or RGB channels that can be collapsed down to a single row in the display, or expanded to show rows for all (or some) of its members.
  • Paint Sequence Tool. The new Paint Sequence tool can be used to paint effects from another sequence into the current sequence. This can be used to accomplish things similar to what can be accomplished with subsequences, in a potentially clearer and easier way, without the extra complication of subsequences.
  • Compressed Sequences. It may take a significant amount of time to load a large Light-O-Rama sequence. When loading one in the Sequence Editor, in order to view or modify it, this may be an inconvenience, but the real issue is loading one in the Show Player. When the Show Player has to load a large sequence; it may cause a noticeable pause in your show as the sequence loads. To resolve this issue, this release of Light-O-Rama introduces the concept of compressed sequences. A compressed sequence is a separate save file, associated with a sequence but containing only enough information to play the sequence in the Show Player, and optimized for loading speed. The associated compressed sequence only takes a small fraction of a second to load on that same computer saving considerable time.
  • Variables in Windows Shell Commands. No description provided. The assumption is that the song name and title of a sequence can be used in the shell commands instead of entering the information manually. This assumption may be incorrect.
  • New Paste Modes. The Sequence Editor previously offered two different modes for pasting: paste by cell and paste by time. There are now two additional new modes: stretch to fit and repeat to fit. Stretch to fit stretches (or compresses) the copied effects so that they fit into the area that you select, while repeat to fit repeats (or cuts off) the copied effects so that they fit into the area that you select.
  • Hide or Unhide Tracks. Hide or unhide a Track by left clicking Its track bar.
  • Select Columns or Rows via the Right-Click Context Menu. In previous versions of the Sequence Editor, you could select an entire row or rows, or an entire column or columns, via the Edit menu’s Select Rows and Select Columns menu items. Now, you can also do this via the right-click context menu.
  • Protected Sequences. The Sequence Editor can now be used to create protected sequences, which are sequences whose sequence grids are made read-only, preventing changes to the sequence. (note: manual changes outside of the sequencer such as within notepad would still be allowed).
  • Channel Button Colour Changes. Although disabled by default, it is now possible to have a channel's button colour change to reflect the current effect setting when making a selection, not just when playing a sequence.
  • Custom Keyboard Mapping. The behavior of keyboard keys in the Sequence Editor can now be configured, via the new Keyboard Preferences dialog for users with special needs or those wanting to customize the keyboard even more. If one of the effect tools on the Tools toolbar has a keyboard shortcut that applies to that tool, and only applies that tool, it is displayed in the tooltip for that effect tool’s button on the toolbar.
  • Persistant View Settings for certain functions. In the Sequence Editor, several view settings for sequences are now persistent. That is, for example, if you change the width of the channel buttons for a sequence, they will automatically be that size whenever you open that sequence in the future (unless you explicitly change their size again). The following view settings are now persisted in this manner: The width of the channel buttons, whether the channel buttons are displayed or not, the height of a row of the grid (and of the channel buttons), the width of the grid per unit of time, the zoom setting of the Animator, whether the Animator’s controls are shown or hidden, the zoom level of the waveform display.
  • Tools Panel Can Be Completely Hidden. The Sequence Editor’s Tools Panel can now be completely hidden, so that not even the narrow bar with its wrench icon is displayed, via “Tools Panel” on the View menu.
  • Control Over Channel Names in “Insert Device”. The Sequence Editor’s Insert Device dialog used to give no control over the names of the channels that it would create. You can now specify the base name (such as changing the default “SD” for a Servo Dog device to “Animatronic Rudolph”, resulting in channel names like “Animatronic Rudolph 03.7” for unit 03 circuit 7 instead of “SD 03.7”). You can also specify that the unit ID should not be included at all (resulting, for example, in “Animatronic Rudolph 7” for circuit 7).
  • Channel Names in “Insert Device” Indicate Network for Auxiliary Networks. If the channel is on an auxiliary network, the network identifier will be included in the channel name. For example, “SD C03.7” would indicate that the channel is on the Aux C network, while a plain “SD 03.7” would indicate that the channel is on the regular network.
  • Changes to Subsequences are Automatically Applied to Parent Sequence. If a sequence containing a subsequence was loaded, and then the subsequence was changed and saved, and the parent sequence then played, it would play as if the subsequence had not been changed. It will now instead play using the newly saved contents of the subsequence.
  • Locking Channels in Tracks. The channels of a track can now be locked, meaning that you will be unable to add channels to the track, remove channels from it, move channels within it, or modify settings (such as device type and unit) within it, unless you unlock the track first. To lock or unlock a track, use “Lock Track” (or “Unlock Track”) from the track bar’s popup menu.
  • Additional Info in Channel Button Tooltips. In previous versions of the Sequence Editor, the tooltip that would open when the mouse hovered over a channel button would show the name of the channel. It now shows additional information, such as the unit and circuit.
  • Sequence Grid Tooltips Show Channel Button Color. In the Sequence Editor, the tooltip that opens when the mouse is hovered over the sequence grid now displays the color of the channel of the row that the mouse is hovering over. This new behavior can be turned off via “Use Channel Colors” in the Display Preferences dialog.
  • Time Ranges in BeatWizard and VU Wizard Automatically Set to Play Range. In previous versions of the Sequence Editor, when the Beat Wizard or VU Wizard was opened, it would automatically be set to operate on “the entire song”. It will now instead be automatically set to operate on the play range (the freeform play range if one exists, or the play range as set on the Play menu if not). Note: This behavior can be overridden, for these wizards and also the Tapper Wizard, via the “Use Play Range for Wizards” option on the Play Preferences dialog. If this option is not enabled, then the wizards will default to using the time range of the entire song.
  • New “Change Controller” dialog. No description provided.
  • Add Controller Dialog Allows Selection of Network. The Channel Configuration screen’s Add Controller dialog now allows the network of the controller to be selected (for those device types that have networks). Note: The “Channel Configuration” screen used to be known as the Channel Property Grid.
  • “Repeat” Function Operates Faster. The Sequence Editor’s “Repeat” function is now quicker than it used to be, and also uses less memory than it did.
  • Less Memory Usage: The Sequence Editor now uses significantly less memory than it used to in order to record events for later undoing/redoing.
 

ryanschristmaslights

Senior elf
Administrator
Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Messages
951
Location
Adelaide, Australia
Just a heads up, in the latest PDU (product development update) Dan has said that S3 is hoped to be released sometime next week, which would be October 10-14 unless Dan and the developers work weekends.
 
Top