Visualization Sequences

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The Light-O-Rama SuperStar Sequencer can import visualizations created using the Light-O-Rama Visualizer.

 

•Import Visualization
•Special notes on Import Visualization
•Instant Sequences using a visualization
•Is the SuperStar program now a Visualizer program?
•Selecting a light fixture
•Adding an effect
•Play the effect
•Add a morph
•Play it
•The concept
•Instant Sequence
•Future enhancements

 

Import Visualization

 

To use this feature, click on the SuperStar Sequencer's File menu and select "Import Visualization...".  The Import Visualization dialog box will appear:

 

•Sorted by Rows: This is the default.  Your lights will be sorted by rows, and each light fixture will be represented by a box on the green sequencing rows.  The program does its best to sort your lights along the rows that it sees.  Many light displays have two or three rows of lights; for instance, there could be lights at the roof line, the window line, and the ground line.  In that case, the program will create three rows of green sequencing squares above your visualization.  The first row will contain the light fixtures that the program found at the roof line, the next row will contain the light fixtures that the program found at the window line, and the third row will contain the light fixtures the program found at the ground line.  Note that this is just an example; the program may find a different number of rows in your visualization.
 
A sequencing row can only have 50 boxes, so if you have more than 50 light fixtures in a row on your visualization, then the light fixtures will be split into more than one sequencing row.  Also, if you have a prop with many light fixtures in it, the program does its best to not split the prop between lines.
 
CCRs are always placed first.  The sorting applies only to props and light fixtures.
 
In short, the program sorts things in a way that makes it easiest to sequence, and will produce the best instant sequences.
 
•Sorted by CCDevice, Props, Fixtures: Your lights will be sorted by CCDevice, props, and then light fixtures.  CCRs will be first, props will be next (sorted by row), and light fixtures will be last (sorted by row).  This would be useful if you had two mega trees and wanted to do morphs across both mega trees.
 
•Native (same order as created): No sorting is done; the CCRs, props, and light fixtures are put in the same order that they were created in when you created the visualization.  Depending on what order you created objects in the Visualizer, you could end up with things being in a somewhat random order in the green sequencing grid.
 
•Scrunch the Sequencing Grid: As mentioned, sorting by rows gives the best instant sequences, but may create more rows than you have a license for.  If you have purchased the 2_CCR license level, you can only export two sequencing rows.  So, if "Sorted by Rows" put your lights into three or more rows, you will not be able to export all rows.  In this case, you can use "Scrunch the Sequencing Grid", and it will scrunch everything into as few rows as possible.  Using "Scrunch the Sequencing Grid" makes it so if you have 100 light fixtures or less, you will be able to fit all of them onto two sequencing rows and will be able to export your sequences with the 2_CCR license level.

 

Special notes on Import Visualization

 

When importing your visualization, you may get the warning: "The visualization file being loaded contains fixtures that have no assigned channels or duplicate channels.  These fixtures will be drawn in dark grey and cannot be selected."

 

If you have light fixtures in your visualization that have no channels assigned to them, they will be drawn in dark gray in the SuperStar screen and will be inactive (meaning they cannot be selected and will never light up).

 

Also, SuperStar likes to have each channel assigned to only one light fixture.  However, it is common to have a channel assigned to more than one light fixture.  To solve this, the additional fixtures that are assigned to the channel are drawn in dark gray and are inactive, meaning that they cannot be selected and will never light up within SuperStar.  However, when you export the sequence and play it from the Sequence Editor  to your lights, or to the Visualizer, all of the light fixtures connected to that channel will light up.

 

Instant Sequences using a visualization

 

The Instant Sequence also feature works for visualizations, using the following steps:

 

•Click on the File menu and select "Import Visualization"
•Select a visualization file that you created using the Light-O-Rama Visualizer
•Press Ctrl+I to launch the Instant Sequence dialog box, and use the three buttons in the lower left of the dialog box
•Click on the "Open Audio File" button to open your audio file
•Click on the "Sequence All" button
•Click on the "Play/Stop All" button

 

Is the SuperStar program now a Visualizer program?

 

No.  The SuperStar Sequencer imports the visualization file and displays it in the SuperStar work area.  The SuperStar Sequencer can only display the visualization file; the Light-O-Rama Visualizer is used to create or modify visualizations.

 

Selecting a light fixture

 

After importing a visualization file, you can click on any of the light string fixtures to select them.  A single click selects one item, while Ctrl+click can be used to select additional items.  A click and drag will select any item within the drag rectangle.  Each light string fixture is also mapped to a box in the green sequencing grid.  When clicking on a light fixture, you will see it become selected, and will also see a green square get selected.  You can also select fixtures by clicking on the green squares.  Left click selects, and right click deselects.

 

Adding an effect

 

•Select one or more light fixtures.
•Click on the Tools menu and select Scenes.  The Scene dialog box will appear.
•Click on the Add button in the Scene dialog box.  A white bar will appear in the time layer area.  This bar represents the effect you just added.

 

Play the effect

 

In the toolbar is a group of buttons that look like the controls on a tape recorder.  Press the Play button (the button with a right-facing triangle); this will play eight seconds of the sequence.  After pressing Play, you should see your selected light fixtures turn on when the play cursor runs across the white bar which represents the effect that you just added.

 

Add a morph

 

•Click on the Tools menu and select Morphs.  The Morph dialog box appears, and the first and last boxes in the green sequencing grid should have "1" and "2" on them.
•In the yellow time scale, select from 3.00 seconds to 4.00 seconds.
•Click on the Add button in the Morph dialog box.

 

A white bar with a tail should appear in the time layer area.

 

Play it

 

Click on the Play button again.  When the play cursor runs across the white bar with a tail, the morph will turn on every fixture, one at a time.  In other words, the effect starts at the "1" on the green sequencing grid, and travels to the "2" on the green sequencing grid.  This ends up doing a sweep or a chase across all the fixtures.

 

The concept

 

Every light in your visualization has a location and a color.  When selecting a fixture, you have selected a location.  You select the color by using the red, green, blue and white color controls on the left side of the SuperStar Sequencer.  The default is to have all four color controls "on".  However, if you want to turn on all the red lights in your display, turn on only the red color controls and select all your fixtures.  Add a scene, and you will see only the red lights in your display turn on when you hit the Play button.

 

Note: Click on the word "Main" above the color controls, and it will cycle through the basic rainbow colors.

 

Instant Sequence

 

You can use the Instant Sequence feature on your visualization:

 

•Click on the Tools menu and select "Instant Sequence".
•If you don't already have an audio file loaded, click on the "Open Audio File" button in the Instant Sequence dialog box.
•Click on the "Sequence All" button.
•After all the processing is done, click on the "Play/Stop All" button.

 

If you want to change the number of effects that are being created, click on the Timing Map button in the upper left of the Timing Map dialog box, and change the Sensitivity setting.

 

To create a different instant sequence, click on the "Roll Dice" button in the Instant Sequence dialog box.  Then click on Sequence All, then Play/Stop All.

 

Future enhancements

 

While a wide range of visualizations have been tested with the SuperStar Sequencer, there is an even wider range of possible visualizations, and so it is difficult to test every scenario.  So, as you work with your particular visualization, feedback is welcomed on ways that support can be improved for your particular needs.  Please send such feedback to wishlist@lightorama.com.