10 suggestions for sequencer!!!

[bjdj45]

The sequencing is the most familiar part of xLights to me, I have been a studio musician for over 40 years, from tape to midi to all digital. 
A couple of suggestions I would make is:

1.  Interface a midi keyboard to the sequencer via USB.  That way you can tap a key on the keyboard that will place a note just like in a midi sequence. (you could even do this with the typing keyboard or midi keyboard) Then use what they call Quantize to adjust all the notes in that sequence to "Snap to Grid" and you can adjust whether that grid (regardless of the timing marks) is to 1/16th notes, 8th notes, quarter notes, etc.  There may be a way to snap all notes in a sequence now (since I notice when you paste they stray from the timing marks) but I don't know where that is.  That would speed up sequencing immediately.  Anyone who has used QBase, Sonar, or Reaper will know what I am talking about.  It would be a game changer for xLights!!

2. Move sequence notes vertically as well as horizontally.

3. (Again there may be a way to do this, I just haven't learned yet) Highlight an entire sequence and drag it left or right horizontally.

4.  Use a "box" dialog (like in a crop pic tool) instead of a shadow highlighter to define notes or series of them (you can tell I'm a musician  ) The highlighter makes it very difficult to get the first note of a sequence to copy and paste.

5.  Can you group or asterick or highlight in some way all FX that sync to music during playback so they can be easily found?

6.  Allow minimization and moving of the sequencer window, like you do the House preview, to another screen so you can separate the sequencer on it's own screen separate from the other windows.  It is imperative to have a large screen when copying entire sequences in verses and choruses of songs. 

7.  Is there a video mode where you can record your sequenced house preview in MP4 without having to shoot it with your phone??

8.  Allow an entire row to be highlighted by clicking the far left model description, instead of having to hightlight the entire row with a drag.  That way if you are adding an effect to an entire row, you can just click that sequence row and apply the FX.

9.  Make markers Editible so you can name them so you know what they are by looking at the timeline  ie: First verse, chorus, bridge, etc.  Very important when trying to add accents to a particular part of a sequence. 

10.  Group saves for "Output Upload first, then FPP Send" for those of us using a Raspberry PI so it does both as an option, the way you do save for individual model changes.  And also allow Movement of rows/tracks vertically in the order of the sequence window to adjust placement on the screen so you can easily look at groups of models you are adding FX to and then move them back when you want them in a logical order for viewing.  Sometimes I want my trees and my stars together when editing, but I want them grouped by the receiver board when finished editing.


Any agreements???

[Gilrock]

Welcome to xLights.  Looks like you got some homework to do there are at least 6 of those features already in the program.

[bjdj45]

I'm sure I do.  Any quick notes as to what I should look for as far as my list??  Maybe just a number of the ones that are available so I can look for them??

[jnealand]

7. tools > export house preview
be sure to make the house preview window as big as possible before you start this.

[bjdj45]

Awesome!  Thanks!!!   I did find some of the other functions as well.  The box selection works when you turn off the Bars and Beats timing marks, I noticed.  That helps!

Would still love to learn more about FX and layering!  What is the best place to go to learn more about that?  Any suggestions??  Does the Zoom call really go into those areas??  Mostly the discussions I have seen there have been hardware related (very helpful....but I am past most of those issues now...thank God...and Zoom participants!)

Also, if there is anyway to hook up a midi keyboard to insert "On" notes into the sequence  Right now I am inserting them manually, copying groups of them when in place.  It would be so much easier if you could designate which effect, and hit a key on the keyboard or a midi controlled keboard, that would insert the events...Notes as I call them.....with the song/sequence.  And snapping them to the grid would be helpful too.  Looks like there is some function in xLights like that, but don't know how that works yet.

[jnealand]

On youtube search for pixelprodisplays or pixel pro displays.  There is an excellent video on layering and lots of others.  You can also join the pixelprodisplays.com and sign up for a free membership to get info on zoom webinars and other stuff.  If you join the paid membership you get a free sequence every month plus there are a number of vendor discounts that become available.

[Gilrock]

The sequencing is the most familiar part of xLights to me, I have been a studio musician for over 40 years, from tape to midi to all digital. 
A couple of suggestions I would make is:

1.  Interface a midi keyboard to the sequencer via USB.  That way you can tap a key on the keyboard that will place a note just like in a midi sequence. (you could even do this with the typing keyboard or midi keyboard) Then use what they call Quantize to adjust all the notes in that sequence to "Snap to Grid" and you can adjust whether that grid (regardless of the timing marks) is to 1/16th notes, 8th notes, quarter notes, etc.  There may be a way to snap all notes in a sequence now (since I notice when you paste they stray from the timing marks) but I don't know where that is.  That would speed up sequencing immediately.  Anyone who has used QBase, Sonar, or Reaper will know what I am talking about.  It would be a game changer for xLights!!

Not sure there is anything that exactly does what I think you mean.  For one how would we know which model you want each key to place an effect on.  Never heard of the 3 programs you mention.  We have many ways to create timing marks.  You can use all the Queen Mary plugins, you can hit the T key while the sequence is playing, you can import timing files.  Not sure about midi input.  I know there are some midi related features. Possibly with the Piano effect and some capabilities with Midi using xScheduler.  Once you activate a timing mark grid dropping effects automatically fill the timing cell.  If you manually place effects then later the edges will snap to timing marks if you have that option active.

2. Move sequence notes vertically as well as horizontally.

If by notes you mean effects just click on it and use the up and down arrows.  If it doesn't move there is a restriction blocking it.

3. (Again there may be a way to do this, I just haven't learned yet) Highlight an entire sequence and drag it left or right horizontally.

Just turn off all timing tracks then use the yellow dashed box selection method to highlight all effects then hold down shift and drag away.  You can also use the Edit menu option to shift all effects/selected effects by a certain number of milliseconds.

4.  Use a "box" dialog (like in a crop pic tool) instead of a shadow highlighter to define notes or series of them (you can tell I'm a musician  ) The highlighter makes it very difficult to get the first note of a sequence to copy and paste.

Use the yellow dashed box selection like I mentioned.  Sounds like you found it.  Drag from past the end to the beginning to easily grab all.

5.  Can you group or asterick or highlight in some way all FX that sync to music during playback so they can be easily found?

You might be able to easily select all effects of a certain type with the effect selection dialog.

6.  Allow minimization and moving of the sequencer window, like you do the House preview, to another screen so you can separate the sequencer on it's own screen separate from the other windows.  It is imperative to have a large screen when copying entire sequences in verses and choruses of songs. 

This probably won't happen.  It would require a major rewrite.

7.  Is there a video mode where you can record your sequenced house preview in MP4 without having to shoot it with your phone??

You can right-click a model row and choose Export options that create videos but I prefer to use screen capture tools like Camtasia or OBS Studio.

8.  Allow an entire row to be highlighted by clicking the far left model description, instead of having to hightlight the entire row with a drag.  That way if you are adding an effect to an entire row, you can just click that sequence row and apply the FX.

Right-click the row heading and browse all the options.  You can select the entire row.

9.  Make markers Editible so you can name them so you know what they are by looking at the timeline  ie: First verse, chorus, bridge, etc.  Very important when trying to add accents to a particular part of a sequence. 

I know you can create markers but I've never used them and not sure if they can be named.  Did you try double-clicking on them?

10.  Group saves for "Output Upload first, then FPP Send" for those of us using a Raspberry PI so it does both as an option, the way you do save for individual model changes.  And also allow Movement of rows/tracks vertically in the order of the sequence window to adjust placement on the screen so you can easily look at groups of models you are adding FX to and then move them back when you want them in a logical order for viewing.  Sometimes I want my trees and my stars together when editing, but I want them grouped by the receiver board when finished editing.

You should right-click the model row heading and choose "Edit Display Elements".  You can create multiple Views which only contain the models you want to see in each view.  Then there is a combo-box drop-down in the sequencer window where you can quickly switch between views.

Any agreements???

[bwinter]

Also, if there is anyway to hook up a midi keyboard to insert "On" notes into the sequence  Right now I am inserting them manually, copying groups of them when in place.  It would be so much easier if you could designate which effect, and hit a key on the keyboard or a midi controlled keboard, that would insert the events...Notes as I call them.....with the song/sequence.  And snapping them to the grid would be helpful too.  Looks like there is some function in xLights like that, but don't know how that works yet.

There are ways to use MIDI files within xLights.  I've used a MIDI file (generated external to xLights) to "map" each note to a specific prop, turning it on/off.  That's how I generated this sequence:
https://youtu.be/lBAW9TOZq3I

So while this doesn't get you exactly what you're hoping for (ie., press a keyboard and an effect drops into the sequence), it is a means to let a pre-generated MIDI file handle a lot of your manual sequencing.

[bjdj45]

Thank you all for the replies!  Learned a lot.

Sequencing is more about the music, than the effects.  I use the word "Notes" to refer to a sequencer you use in music recording MIDI.  If you hit a key on a keybord, it inserts a corresponding note on the sequence time line.

If a song is playing, you can hit a key on the keyboard and a note is inserted each time you do.  If you can keep time at all...this would be EXTREMELY helpful when sequencing effects in xLIghts to various parts of the song.  Like a bass rif or bass Drum or a roll across drums.  Right now you have to go in and enter each effect, find the right length (1/4 note, 1/8, 1/16th etc.), then copy, copy, copy!  With a MIDI keyboard, it would enter an effect like "ON" each time I press a note.  You could select the effect before hand, then use a typing keyboard, instead of a musical one, and keep the beat on the keyboard.  Now no one is perfect at doing that....so that is where you beat markers come in.  After you perform the bass rif, lets say, you would hit a key that "snaps the notes/FX" you entered for that "track" as they call it in digital recording, and you have a bass FX track.  Then you would add drums, and so on and so on. 

I am sure most don't care to be that sophisticated, and maybe that is why no one has ever suggested it, but the sequences I am building are ones like the Halleluiah Chorus, and there are many parts, and some are syncopated!  One part is singing one thing and one is singing another.  I have done it by hand and it looks amazing.  My snowflakes and stars at the Sopranos, my houseline and wreath are the Bass, and my posts are Tenors, and the altos are other props.  But it works with Bass, organ, piano, drums, guitar....anywhere where you are entering an effect like a note.  Just SOOOO much easier than, enter, copy paste and paste and paste.  Plus, the "snap to timing marks...or snap to grid" is what they call Quantizing in recording lingo and you can select 1/4 notes, 1/8 notes, 16th notes, etc., then select the entire track and "Quantize it".  So if your timing was a bit off, it would "Snap it to the timing marks" in the case of xLights.  If anyone knows what I am talking about, I am sure they would second the suggestion!  Just saves an amazing amount of time.  Any musician who has recorded digital multitrack will know exactly what I am saying.  Importing MIDI would still require that you assign an effect to each "note" to get the same effect.  But you can more easily just do it by tapping a key along with a particular part (bass, piano, drum rolls, etc.) and have it snap to the "grid" when you have completed it.

[keithsw1111]

Have you tried vumeter. A lot of what you are talking about can be done with a timing track and a handful of effects.

[Gilrock]

I play guitar, drums and bass but I don't sequence the way I like to play an instrument.  I mean sequencing for me is more about deciding do I want it to do a Morph or a Shockwave or a Fan effect at this point in time.  And you mention lining up with the various voices in a track.  Have you seen how we do singing faces?  We create a timing track for each voice and then we can make 4 different props sing the song with each one doing the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano if we want.  You really need to just spend more time learning the program before trying to tell us how things should work.

[MichRX7]

Just a note on #7. You can also (on a PC, not sure of the mouse functions on a Mac, but can be done) take the house preview, drag it out and make it full screen, then zoom with your wheel mouse, and if your wheel mouse is clickable, click and hold to drag the preview and center a section in the preview window. That way if you want to export a video of a certain section only, you can do so as it only outputs to video what is visible in the House Preview window.