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The Light-O-Rama software package must be registered, with a valid license, in order to be used to its full potential. Each license contains two separate types of license levels: the main license level and the SuperStar license level.
The main license level covers all of the Light-O-Rama software package except for the Light-O-Rama SuperStar Sequencer. Several different main license levels exist, each having different features: Basic, Basic Plus, Standard, Advanced, and Pro. Additionally, there is an unlicensed Demo version (which is the same as the Basic version, except that it cannot be used to actually control lights, and has encrypted save files).
The SuperStar license level covers the Light-O-Rama SuperStar Sequencer. Its possible levels have names such as 2_CCR, 24_CCR, 60_CCR, and the like, indicating the number of Cosmic Color Ribbons you can use with SuperStar. Additionally, there is an unlicensed Demo version which does not allow export to an actual sequence.
Any reference in this help file to a "license level" or "feature level" refers to the main license level, not to the SuperStar license level, unless specifically noted otherwise.
You will be given a chance to register your Light-O-Rama software at the time that you install it. To register after that time, or to upgrade to a higher level license, please see the "Register Light-O-Rama" (or "Upgrade Light-O-Rama") menu item on the Sequencer's Help menu, or in the Control Panel's License section.
The following chart summarizes what features are available with each license level, with details on each feature listed below the chart.
If a feature is listed as "(demo mode)", it means that the feature can be used with this license to see what it's like, but it won't be fully supported. For example, if you try one of the Sequencer's demo mode features while building a sequence, you won't be able to save your changes to that sequence. Please see the details for each feature for exactly what "demo mode" means for that feature.
If a feature is listed as "Not in S5 or later", it means that the feature is supported in version 4 of the Light-O-Rama Software Suite, but support has been dropped in versions 5 and 6.
FEATURE |
DEMO |
BASIC |
BASIC PLUS |
STANDARD |
ADVANCED |
PRO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
UNLIMITED |
UNLIMITED |
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
UNLIMITED |
UNLIMITED |
|
No |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
YES |
YES |
|
Audio Only |
Audio Only |
Windowed Video |
Windowed Video |
Full Screen Video |
Full Screen Video |
|
No |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
|
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
(demo mode) |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
YES |
|
Create Favorites |
Create Favorites |
Create Favorites |
Create Favorites |
Create Favorites |
Create favorites and use in sequences |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
YES |
|
Waveform |
Waveform |
Waveform |
Waveform |
Waveform |
Waveform or Spectrogram |
|
No Longer Supported |
|
|
|
|
||
No |
No |
No |
No |
Not in S5 or later |
Not in S5 or later |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
Not in S5 or later |
Not in S5 or later |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
Not in S5 or later |
Not in S5 or later |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
Not in S5 or later |
Not in S5 or later |
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Except for the Advanced and higher license levels (which support an unlimited number of Light-O-Rama controllers), each license level will send lighting commands to a limited number of Light-O-Rama controllers: Basic supports a single controller, Basic Plus supports four, and Standard supports eight.
Whether a particular controller is supported or not depends on its unit ID. For example, the Basic license level will send lighting commands only to unit ID numbers 1 and 2, while the Standard license level will send lighting commands to any unit that has a unit ID between 1 and 8.
Regardless of whether a particular unit will be sent lighting commands, you can always use the Sequencer to build sequences using that unit; Light-O-Rama simply will not control the lights for that unit unless you upgrade to a higher license level.
The unlicensed Demo version will not send lighting commands to any controllers, so you cannot use it to actually control your lights.
A sequence may have multiple grid views; however, certain license levels will only support a limited number of grid views in any given sequence. The Demo, Basic, and Basic Plus levels support 2 grid views per sequence, Standard supports 4, and Advanced and higher support an unlimited number of grid views per sequence. The system grid view "View All Items" is not counted toward the limit.
You will not be able to add new grid views to a sequence if it already has the maximum supported number. However, you can still open sequences that have more grid views (for example, a sequence that was created by someone who has a higher license level than you do). In this case, the extra grid views can be displayed in the Sequencer, but you will not be able to modify them.
When a sequence is saved using a licensed version of Light-O-Rama, its save file uses a standard XML format, which is designed to be understandable by people. In the S5 version of the software, these files have an LOREDIT extension. Technically advanced users may feel comfortable editing these XML-based sequence files directly with a text editor, or even building their own tools that can be used with these files (although please be careful when doing so, as it is not terribly difficult to make a small mistake which may render the sequence file incomprehensible to the Light-O-Rama software package).
On the other hand, when a sequence is saved using the unlicensed Demo version, it is saved encrypted, and so the file itself cannot be easily understood or modified by anyone or anything except the Light-O-Rama software package. Additionally, data from an encrypted sequence cannot be copied and pasted, except on the computer that the sequence was originally encrypted on.
No matter whether a sequence is saved using the open XML format or using encryption, the Light-O-Rama software itself will still be able to use it.
If you create an encrypted sequence using the unlicensed Demo version, and later purchase a license, you can unencrypt the sequence by resaving it on the same computer it was originally encrypted on, using your licensed version of the software.
The Beat Wizard can be used to analyze a song to try to determine its tempo, and to automatically place timings and lighting effects into a sequence based upon that tempo. It is fully supported in license levels Basic Plus and higher.
It is not supported in license level Basic (nor in the unlicensed Demo version). However, you can still try it out in a "demo mode" to see what it is like; after trying it on a sequence, you will not be able to save your changes. You will be given a warning about this when you try it, along with a chance to back out before committing to using it. Additionally, if you do decide to use it, and your sequence already has unsaved changes, you will be given a chance to save them before you actually use this feature.
The VU Wizard can be used to analyze a song to find peaks in the audio - much like a VU meter - and to automatically place timings and lighting effects into a sequence based upon those peaks. It is fully supported in license levels Basic Plus and higher.
It is not supported in license level Basic (nor in the unlicensed Demo version). However, you can still try it out in a "demo mode" to see what it is like; after trying it on a sequence, you will not be able to save your changes. You will be given a warning about this when you try it, along with a chance to back out before committing to using it. Additionally, if you do decide to use it, and your sequence already has unsaved changes, you will be given a chance to save them before you actually use this feature.
The MIDI File Wizard can be used to automatically insert timings and lighting effects into a musical sequence that is based upon a MIDI song. For example, it can make your lights chase each other in time to the music, or turn certain channels on or off based upon what notes are being played.
However, the MIDI File Wizard is fully supported only with the Advanced license level or higher.
Using other license levels, you will still be able to use the MIDI File Wizard in a sort of "demo mode", to see what it is like, but you will not be able to save changes to your sequence after having done so.
You can build musical sequences based on audio files (such as MP3) or on video files (such as WMV). When a musical sequence is played, the sound will always play, but the actual video will only be displayed for license levels Basic Plus and higher. License level Basic will not display video.
At the Advanced license level or higher, you can show the video in full screen mode. Basic Plus and Standard will show video inside a window.
This feature allows you to play a show according to a schedule. Scheduled shows are enabled when the Light-O-Rama Control Panel's Show Player is open.
This feature allows you to play a show without having to schedule it. This is done by clicking the "!" icon in the Light-O-Rama Control Panel's Show Player.
This feature allows you to create a cue list of sequences and invoke the sequences interactively -- ideal for live performances. It is accessed by going to the Light-O-Rama Control Panel's Live Player. It is only available with the Pro license level.
The Light-O-Rama Control Panel's Create Shows section can be used to build shows with several different sections. Among these is the Startup Section. Sequences in the Startup Section are played immediately upon the show starting up, one at a time, in order. After all of them have been played, the main portion of the show (i.e. the Animation Section and the Main Section) begins.
The Light-O-Rama Control Panel's Create Shows section can be used to build shows with several different sections. Among these is the Shutdown Section. When the scheduled end time for the show is reached, the main portion of the show (the Animation Section and the Main Section) stops, and the sequences in the Shutdown Section are then played, one at a time, in order. After they have all finished, the show is truly finished.
The Light-O-Rama Control Panel's Create Shows section can be used to build shows with several different sections. Among these is the Background Section. All sequences in the Background Section will play simultaneously, looping back to their starts when they reach their ends, throughout the entire course of the show.
However, this section is fully supported only with the Standard or higher license levels.
Using the Basic and Basic Plus license levels, you will still be able to use this section in the Show Editor in a sort of "demo mode", to see what it is like. However, the Light-O-Rama Show Player will not actually play the sequences in a show's Background Section.
Sequences can themselves contain subsequences - a parent sequence containing a child sequence. The parent sequence can be set to start or stop the child sequence at any given point during play.
However, subsequences are only fully supported with the Advanced license level or higher.
Using other license levels, you will still be able to use subsequences in a sort of "demo mode", to see what they are like, but you will not be able to save changes to your sequence after having done so.
Using the Advanced license level or higher, Light-O-Rama can optionally tell Windows to execute any arbitrary command that you specify when a particular sequence is started. An example of how this might be used: If you broadcast the songs playing during your show over the radio, you might set your sequences up so that they tell Windows to tell your RDS ("Radio Data System") program to also broadcast the name of the song, allowing people with RDS-enabled radios to see the name of the song currently playing in your show.
In addition to being able to control lights, some Light-O-Rama controllers can also accept input, acting as triggers to start particular sequences on demand during a show. For example, as part of your display, you could have several buttons for people to push, each of which will play a particular song.
However, this feature is fully supported only with the Advanced license level.
Using other license levels, you will still be able to use this section in the Show Editor in a sort of "demo mode", to see what it is like. However, the Light-O-Rama Show Player will not actually play any sequences which are triggered during your show.
Normally, the sequences in a show will start playing immediately at the show's scheduled start time. The Advanced license level or higher allows more control over this; for example, you could hook a big red button labeled "Start the Show" up to one of your Light-O-Rama controllers, and the show will not start until that button is pushed.
For details, please see "Show Options".
The Light-O-Rama Software Package can send lighting commands to Light-O-Rama controllers over several different Comm ports simultaneously. This has several potential uses, especially for people with large numbers of controllers, or lights spread out physically far from each other.
However, this is supported only in the Advanced license level or higher. Other license levels will send lighting commands to Light-O-Rama controllers only over a single Comm port.
The Light-O-Rama Sequencer can be used to create protected sequences, which are sequences which cannot be modified (generally speaking) or viewed in the Sequencer, but which can still be played, control lights, scheduled in shows, and so forth.
However, this is supported only in the Advanced license level or higher. Other license levels can use protected sequences, but cannot create them.
Light-O-Rama allows the possible intensity of most lighting effects ranges from 0 to 100, i.e. a percentage of full intensity. DMX devices, however, are capable of taking 256 different intensities (from 0 to 255), rather than 101. Light-O-Rama supports this possibility via the DMX Intensity tool.
However, this is only supported in the Advanced license level or higher. Other license levels will not have access to the DMX Intensity tool.
The Advanced license level or higher can send lighting commands to DMX devices, in addition to Light-O-Rama controllers. Lower license levels can only send lighting commands to Light-O-Rama controllers.
Motion Effects can be fully used only with the Pro license level. Lower license levels can use the Motion Effect Generator to test effects and save those effects as favorites, but they cannot be used in sequences.
The Pro license level can use enhanced LOR networks. These can help with displays involving large numbers of independent lighting elements and are required when using Light-O-Rama Pixie controllers. Lower license levels cannot use this feature.
At any license level, music can be displayed as an audio waveform. At the Pro license level, you can also view the audio as a spectrogram. See the Audio Settings topic for examples.
These controllers are not supported in S5 and later versions.
These controllers are not supported in S5 and later versions.
These controllers are not supported in S5 and later versions.
These controllers are not supported in S5 and later versions.