Messages

1

Show Assets / Re: Nutz4lights Shared Sequences 2017

« on: December 12, 2017, 11:39:47 AM »

I'll second the thanks for sharing.   I had to do serious pruning to convert your layout to mine which compared to yours is quite modest.   Wow, your house must be visible from low earth orbit.  Plus, it's always interesting to learn from others and, in specific, you made cool use of the morph effect which I haven't used much.  Nice work!

2

Free Sequences / Re: Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree by Newsong

« on: December 24, 2016, 03:21:39 PM »

I've attached a couple of xLights screenshots so you can see how the beginning and ending of the sequence are lined up. 

3

Free Sequences / Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree by Newsong

« on: December 19, 2016, 07:46:40 AM »

This is the first year I've had lights on my house and they've worked flawlessly thanks to the resources available on sites like this.  In gratitude, I'd like to give back to the community in a small way by sharing one of my sequences.  It's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" by Newsong. It features a singing face on a megatree and I've included the Papagayo (pgo) file that goes with it. 

One complication is you'll have is to change the pathname for the pictures.   In situations like this, I use XML Notepad 2007 and change the pathname for all pictures using Replace All.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockin-Around-The-Christmas-Tree/dp/B00137X8Z8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482154995&sr=8-1&keywords=rockin+around+the+christmas+tree+newsong
Note:  I shortened the original song by trimming off the first 12 seconds or so.

I think I've included everything needed in the attached zip file.

4

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 04, 2015, 04:18:40 PM »

I played sequences from the Layout and Sequencer tabs. 

5

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 04, 2015, 03:13:44 PM »

In the interest of completeness this is a followup to my original posting.  My search for a solution resulted in a phone conversation with the main man at Falcon Christmas, Mr. David Pitts.  He spent about an hour on my computer using Teamviewer and Wireshark investigating my issue. The problem appears to be how XL4 communicates with the etherdongle.  XL3 apparently sends data to all nodes all the time which apparently the etherdongle expects.  XL4 sends data to nodes only if needed.  In addition, my last E1.31 universe only uses 4 nodes so data was frequently not sent to that universe exacerbating the issue.  This was most apparent with effects that light relatively few nodes, like some of my spirals. 

For a fix, Dave suggested three options. 

1.  Continue with XL 3.6.x.  I know this works. 
2.  Use a Raspberry Pi to communicate with the etherdongle instead of my laptop.  Dave assured me this works.
3.  Wait for a fix to XL4.  Dave was going to followup about this with his XL contact.   

Since a Pi is only about $40, I'm going to proceed with that option.

I again express thanks to Dave for taking time from his busy schedule to help me.  It was an honor to talk to him.  What an awesome guy.

6

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 03, 2015, 07:07:29 PM »

I'm not sure what you're suggesting.   I have the problem after I convert 3.6.x sequences and I have a problem when I create new sequences with the spiral effect.

7

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 03, 2015, 06:32:23 PM »

Do you have any devices configured in xlights setup that aren't connected? If you are set to unicast and you have unconnected devices you will get this behavior.
I don't think I have any devices in xlights setup that aren't connected.  The E1.31 universes I defined in setup are multicast, not unicast.  My sequences work fine in release 3.6.x.

..if I remember correctly...there's a process in using old effects in 4.0.  It's in a video somewhere...either Gil or Sean showed it

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
I followed Sean's video instructions for converting sequences from 3.6.x to 4.x, but I wonder if I missed something.   However, I have the problem when I create a new sequence.

8

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 03, 2015, 01:08:11 PM »

I was suspicious of a network conflict also so one thing I tried was to connect my computer directly to the etherdongle so they were off my home network completely.   Same problem.   The only thing running on my computer was XL4.

9

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 03, 2015, 12:59:52 PM »

I do not have any other E1.31 devices.  I do not use LOR or Vixen.   My sequences run normally in 3.6.x.

10

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

« on: November 03, 2015, 11:55:00 AM »

I installed release 4.2.18 and converted my 3.6.x sequences using constant bit rate mp3s.  When I play the sequences, the preview on the screen looks normal but my physical Megatree lights are jerky and is especially noticeable with spirals.  I've attached a video of the jerky playback in release 4.2.18.  My setup uses a DLA etherdongle and a Falcon F16 V1.    I get jerky playback even when I create a new sequence.  I've run out of ideas and need troubleshooting advice on what to try next.   If I can't figure this out, I'll have to revert back to 3.6.15.

[attachment deleted by admin]

11

Bugs in xLights/Nutcracker / Papagayo Auto-faces Sequence Conversion Error

« on: October 26, 2015, 07:36:16 PM »

After a 10 month hiatus, I'm getting my christmas lights hardware and software in order for this year's show and in the interim I see Sean and his crew have been very busy. Holy crap, I must be behind behind several dozen releases.  I installed the latest release of Xlights and brought all my sequences through the conversion process. All was successful except for one Papgayo sequence that used the Auto-faces option.  This was an option I used only once (mostly because Papgayo is so tedious to use), but it worked great.   This was an option Sean introduced in release 3.4.x for auto scaling faces for megatrees and matrixes.   To create the sequence, all I had to do was specify the Papagayo file, the output xml file and Auto-faces, which was one of four options. The eyes and mouth shapes and an outline magically appeared on my megatree.  How slick is that? 

After converting the sequence to 4.x, I had audio but no video.  I was able to repair my xml file by editing it with an xml editor and performing a Replace All on the string,     

E_CHOICE_Faces_FaceDefinition=xlights_papagayo.xml

with,

E_CHECKBOX_Faces_Outline=1,E_CHOICE_Faces_Eyes=Auto,E_CHOICE_Faces_FaceDefinition=Default

and all was good again. 

In closing, I like to express my sincere appreciation to Sean and the crew for all your work in producing Xlights, a fabulous amazing best-in-class software product.