Messages

1

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Can the camera viewpoint be changed in Model Preview?

« on: December 03, 2023, 01:24:20 PM »

I can get the camera viewpoints I want in the Layout tab and in the House Preview, but I can't seem to change it in Model Preview.  I can get it to zoom and pan, but not rotate.  I have a corner lot and there is a row of trees on the side that looks terrible from the front camera viewpoint.  I could create a preview that only includes that model/group and view it correctly in House Preview, but I got used to seeing the House and Model previews side by side.

2

Enhancement Requests / Re: Always updating

« on: January 11, 2020, 06:41:24 AM »

Sorry, I don't see how this is a valid point at all.  Whatever version works for you, turn off check for updates and never visit xLights.org again.  Problem solved.  And then thank the developers for making such a great version, or better yet, donate.

3

My Show Setup / Re: gravity effect

« on: December 03, 2019, 05:25:04 PM »

Easiest way to do what you want is to use the shape effect, specify the dimensions, and instead of a static velocity and direction, hit the curved green arrow next to that box which brings up value curves.  Now either find a value curve(s) that does what you want, or create a custom one(s).

4

Bugs in xLights/Nutcracker / Re: Cannot edit fade in or fade out time

« on: November 19, 2019, 08:14:22 AM »

That's really strange because I can change those values both ways.  And from my recollection there are lots of values in xLights that can be changed by double clicking, I would guess almost all of them.

5

Nutcracker Effects / Re: dimming on import

« on: November 19, 2019, 08:08:54 AM »

Brightness would go negative.  Eyeing it up on the monitor, it appears as if -40 give you a line that would be at about 60% of full brightness, so this makes sense that -40 would be 60%.

6

Nutcracker Effects / Re: dimming on import

« on: November 18, 2019, 07:29:39 PM »

Either will work, but in model definitions is *much* easier.  In the layout tab, select a model.  Look down the list of attributes and find Dimming Curves.  Here you can adjust a brightness and/or contrast.  This will need to be done with every individual model.

7

Bugs in xLights/Nutcracker / Re: Cannot edit fade in or fade out time

« on: November 18, 2019, 12:44:10 PM »

I've been using fade in and fade out for 2 years and never had experienced this.  Was there a different way to do it 3nd 4 years ago?  I just tried it again right now.  Are you in the Layer Blending window?  If you can't backspace and type a number, can you double-click to highlight the number, then replace?

8

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Dimming curves and brightness clipping to black

« on: November 18, 2019, 11:48:33 AM »

Thanks Gil I ended up finding it too, but from a Facebook post from Dan Kulp.  Was going to post tonight but you beat me to it.

I would argue that contrast is the multiplier and brightness is supposed to be an adder, but it doesn't matter.  With the custom dimming curve I can do whatever I want.

And yes, a text document with 256 lines (rows) each with a value from 0 to 255 worked great.  I can post mine if anyone's interested.  The first 2 lines are
0
3
because 1 and 2 don't do anything and when you have a gamma of 2.22, even 34 doesn't do anything.  I also chose to round up to the next integer instead of rounding down or true rounding.

9

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Dimming curves and brightness clipping to black

« on: November 17, 2019, 02:22:09 PM »

A quick update - I tried setting the gamma in FPP instead of xLights, but it has the same effect.  To make matters worse, my pixels don't light at all until they receive an absolute R, G, or B value of 3 which translates to an xLights value of 35 (under a 2.22 gamma curve) and a value of 175 (under a 2.2 gamma curve and brightness slider set to 20).  This is obviously not acceptable as more than half of all the brightness values are not showing up in the display.  This was less of an issue last year when most of my effects were more of an on or off, but now with shaders and using more complex color and brightness variations, nothing looks even close to the same as a 100% brightness and 1.0 gamma. I realize this must not be a hot topic for others, but I don't understand why.  When you limit the brightness at the controller it doesn't clip as much info as when you limit brightness in xLights?

In image editing, brightness affects the brightness of all pixels (even black).  In xLights, brightness doesn't affect black, so it's really contrast because it only affects the slope, not the height, of the curve. It appears xLights has no way to specify a vertical offset or minimum value other than a custom dimming curve from a file.

Can anyone please provide an example of the format for a dimming curve?  I can't find one.  For instance, this is the format for a value curve:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<valuecurve
data="Active=TRUE|Id=ID_VALUECURVE_XVC|Type=Custom|Min=0.00|Max=100.00|RV=TRUE|Values=0.00:0.00;0.00:0.00;0.05:0.22;0.10:0.32;0.15:0.39;0.20:0.45;0.25:0.50;0.30:0.55;0.35:0.59;0.40:0.63;0.45:0.67;0.50:0.71;0.55:0.74;0.60:0.77;0.65:0.81;0.70:0.84;0.75:0.87;0.80:0.89;0.85:0.92;0.90:0.95;0.95:0.97

|" SourceVersion="2018.55"  >
</valuecurve>

I tried changing the words valuecurve to dimmingcurve, but there is an exception error in xLights when it tries to load it.  I can't seem to find an example anywhere.  Can anyone help?

10

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Dimming curves and brightness clipping to black

« on: November 16, 2019, 07:24:14 PM »

In dimming curves, I use a gamma of 2.22 in all my models.  Because of this gamma curve, any RGB value below 9 gets clipped to 0 (off).  Unlike most other people, I also use the brightness slider in every effect.  On densely lit props I'll use "standard" brightness of 20-25, reserving higher brightness for climaxes in songs.  For sparsely lit props (or C-9 bulbs) I'll use around 40 for my standard brightness.

Here's the problem: When displaying an effect at 20 brightness, any RGB values below 110 get clipped to 0 (off).  110 out of 256 is almost half.  So nearly half of all the brightness values are not displaying at all.  This doesn't seem right to me.  Are there any ways around this?  I see the option to get dimming curves from a file which I would gladly experiment with, but I don't know the format.  Is there a sample file somewhere?

11

Bugs in xLights/Nutcracker / Re: Music is cutting out since upgrading to .62

« on: November 03, 2019, 04:05:59 AM »

Yes, I was getting it on a new (for this year) song at around 35 seconds.  It cut out for about 2 or 3 seconds.  The cut-out is very repeatable on that song.  Tested on one of last year's songs and it also had audio cut out, but at a different point in the song.  Strange.

12

Enhancement Requests / Re: Gamma and brightness adjustmens for previews

« on: May 18, 2019, 06:46:31 PM »

LOL OK.  Pew pew pew.
I have a shirt that says this and not many people get it.  I know you do.
Thanks for all the hard work and an incredible program.

13

Enhancement Requests / Re: Gamma and brightness adjustmens for previews

« on: May 18, 2019, 05:05:55 AM »

Now that we're not in the heat of things I thought I'd revisit this.  Maybe I'm the only one with interest in this?

14

Xlights Setup / Re: Brightness Slider vs. Dimming Curve

« on: January 08, 2019, 07:53:38 PM »

I wish the dimming curve/brightness slider was the other way around.  To me, it seems more logical to set the dimming curve and use the slider to override.  That way, you don't have to worry about setting the brightness for each and every effect, only the ones you know you want different.

I see what you're saying, but don't agree.  Just look at it differently.  Instead of sequencing most of your show at 100% brightness, do most of it at 30%.  Then instead of using 400% for "pop", use 100% for pop.  You won't have to choose 30% brightness every time.  Just uncheck the box that resets the setting on every new effect.  Keep in mind a few years ago there was no brightness slider at all.  If you wanted to change brightness of an effect the only way (I could figure out) was to define darker colors in the palette for that effect.  I am extremely happy for the brightness slider.  I have a feeling not many people use it though.

15

Xlights Setup / Re: Brightness Slider vs. Dimming Curve

« on: January 06, 2019, 11:59:37 AM »

What Keith said - dimming curve is last.

But I agree with you that on occasion I like to make the show pop.  So I keep my dimming curves at normal (and a gamma of 2.2), and then do most of my sequencing in the 30-50% brightness range.  I save 100% brightness for exactly like you mentioned.