Has anyone had success importing HLS sequences to Xlights?

[szaske]

Well It seems HLS is dead, but it still works fine for me.  If I can get my sequences converted I'd be happy to switch software, but I've invested a HUGE amount of time into my sequences; 9 songs, 5000 channels all 25MS timing and lovingly edited each pixel.  It would take me hundreds of hours to recreate them.  So my question to anyone who sees this is, has anyone had success importing HLS sequences into Xlights?  What's the general process?

[keithsw1111]

There are no currently known bugs with the import.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[szaske]

Can you explain the high level steps to converting an HLS sequence?  I'm able to convert it to an Fseq file using the xLights convert tool, but when I attempt to load that resulting fseq file into Xlights it says it cannot load the sequence into xLights.  Is this file playable by the scheduler but not editable?  How can I confirm that the conversion has been successful?

[Gilrock]

For converting from any other program to xLights there are always multiple ways.  If you create an FSEQ file that is just a data file and yes it's playable but you don't edit them.  An editable xLights sequence will be an XML file.  Do you have all your stuff modeled in xLights Layout?  That has to come first before you can create sequences.  You used to be able to open up an FSEQ file in xLights and it would create a blank sequence and contain that data but I'm not sure that is still a feature.  You could definitely bring the FSEQ file into a sequence as a data layer.  You can sometimes right-click on the left of the grid and use the various promote options to turn data into effects but I can't remember if you could do the whole thing at once.  That's pretty much all I remember.

[Boof63]

Converting to XL from HLS is a breeze, the only problem is it doesn't work as intended.
All your effects come across at the node level,  not at the model level that XL generally works in.
The effects generally import ok, the problem is because they are at node level you can't edit them- add or subtract them they stay permanently, if you are happy with the conversion then fine. But if you wish to change things around, add another Xl effect at a certain spot and an existing HLS effect is there they will clash because you cant delete the HLS effect.
So longwinded explanation im sorry, rebuild all your sequences in XL from scratch. HAve two computers alongside so you can run HLS and XL and find effects that mirror the HLS effect you are viewing, the only way i found to convert all my HLS sequences satisfactorily. If someone has a smoother way then please run with it, yes its tedious but in the long run you do learn XL a lot quicker.
Cheers Boof63 

[Gilrock]

If you have data at the node level you should be able to run the Convert To Effects command on the row.  Probably would be nice if it would do the entire sequence all in one command.  I can't remember if that's an option.

[DrNeutron]

I had successfully imported my HLS sequences over to xlights around 3 or 4 years ago, back when version 4 came out. I believe Dan developed the import for HLS since he was a HLS user before becoming an xlights developer.
I'll admit, it was a while ago but I believe the steps I followed were:
1. Setup the Lighting network exactly as I had them when I exported my HLS files (HLSdata files). in other words I setup all my controllers and universes exactly as I had them in HLS.
2. Created all my display elements in layout of Xlights and named them as I had in HLS.
3. Once all that is setup, you can create a new sequence and select your music.
4. Select import and then import effects and point to the HLSDATA file you exported from HLS.
5. You have to select the models you want to have the effects import on and then you can select the HLS nodes to import.
Now this part can be tedious, but you only have to do it once and then save the mappings. Once done, you can import the next sequence and use the same mappings.
As stated before, once imported you can't really edit things since it is a flat data layer import. However, for those few HLS sequences I still use I just add to it in HLS and then re-export and re-import to Xlights. This is a labour of love for those few sequences I have lot of time put in like yourself. Newer sequences are made with xlights only of course.