Pangolin Lasershow Designer 2000 Tips...

**Stuka** · 02-02-2010, 08:36

Originally Posted by allthatwhichis

I actually hesitated putting this up as it can be very hard on any scanner set used. Attempt at your own risk.!!! My ct6215s don't have mush problem but there is a lot of flicker.

I have posted two Youtube video tutorials on how to set up projections zones in LD2000/Showtime to simulate 5 projectors from one projector. This is also a few steps away from a multi-projector projection zone set up when you have multiple QM2000s. All you have to do is change the scanner the zone is set to from scanner 1 to scanner n. I started this as a way to plan out multiple projector shows in Showtime and have grown to like watching shows this way. Let me know what you think and it I missed anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrvosZD5fqE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR0cuuJDWUY

Awesome...thanks for posting this!!

**allthatwhichis** · 02-20-2010, 15:34

Originally Posted by prodjallen

Hey Guys & Girls,

Has anyone figured out how to make a very slow moving sine wave on the abstract generator? (QM2k) I've been trying to make a wide sine wave, sorta like a liquid sky, but it tends to move wayy too fast, and unable to make it go slow... any ideas?

-Allen

Frame 100 in the Budabar (Rupert Morse) show. Change the top waveform to to blanked Sawtooth and it is a two hump, slow moving wave.

Promise me you will only play it in private or on a varienced projector.

**prodjallen** · 02-21-2010, 01:24

Hey Thanks for that

I Promise! Also, I think I've also seen it in another show as well, but I was curious if it was possible to get that effect via the abstract generator, by manipulating settings or no?

**Stuka** · 02-22-2010, 06:26

**soforene** · 02-22-2010, 07:46

I was experiencing an issue whereby, when running a show in the preview window of Showtime, the show "carried on" after the end until I manually stopped it.
After querying it with "The Mighty Bill" he mentioned that Showtime contnues to play (even if there's nothing to display) until it reaches the last event.

it turns out there was a "Reset Track Frame Zero" effect further along the timeline, way past where my show ended.
I know I didn't add this last effect so maybe it's added by default (at 4:00 mins) when you start creating a show so if you experience the same issue then it's worth zooming out on the timeline to find the last event.

Hopefully this'll stop others scratching their head about why their shows don't stop in the playback window.

**Stuka** · 02-22-2010, 08:25

Originally Posted by soforene

I was experiencing an issue whereby, when running a show in the preview window of Showtime, the show "carried on" after the end until I manually stopped it.
After querying it with "The Mighty Bill" he mentioned that Showtime contnues to play (even if there's nothing to display) until it reaches the last event.

it turns out there was a "Reset Track Frame Zero" effect further along the timeline, way past where my show ended.
I know I didn't add this last effect so maybe it's added by default (at 4:00 mins) when you start creating a show so if you experience the same issue then it's worth zooming out on the timeline to find the last event.

Hopefully this'll stop others scratching their head about why their shows don't stop in the playback window.

That solves issues I've had with a few shows - thanks for posting!!

**buffo** · 02-23-2010, 04:41

Here is a little tip that might help you out if you're creating a complex show with lots of cues and effects. Pangolin's Showtime editor has a maximum limit on the number of "events" in a given scene. Running into this limit while you're creating a show can be very frustrating, but you can avoid this by planning the show better from the beginning.

First, a little review: remember that a scene is the smallest division on the time line, followed by module and show. All of the cues and effects are added in the scene editor, while the module time line stitches together several scenes, and the show time line stitches together several modules.

Where people get into trouble is when they consider a "scene" to be a whole song. This is not the way the software is set up. A scene is only supposed to be *part* of a song. A module is one complete song. And yes, sometimes the whole show is just 1 song long (that is, only 1 module), but you can also have multiple modules (songs) in a show.

So if you start creating a show and decide that you only need 1 scene, you might have a problem, because if the show is very complex, you'll run into the built-in limit for the maximum number of time line events in a single scene.

I think the limit is 600 events per scene. It might be slightly more than that, but I know the limit is close to 600. Now, that sounds like a lot of events, but if you're doing a beam show to a song with a fast beat (think just about any dance tune), then you're probably going to have lots of cues and effects crammed into the time line. Also, everything you drop on the time line counts, even if it's only a "reset track" effect.

So what ends up happening is that you get 2/3ds of the way through with your show, and suddenly you can't add any more cues to the time line because you've reached your limit. And you're usually right in the middle of a complicated series of effects when this happens. ARGH! Now you've got to create a new scene and cut and paste some of the events from the old scene to the new scene until you can end up with a smooth transition from one to the other. (Be sure to save it before you do this, because it's easy to mess up the timing for everything if you accidentally change the length of the first scene.)

To prevent this from happening, all you need to do is divide the song (module) into two or three scenes right at the start, before you begin placing cues on the time line for the first scene. Set the transition points between scenes to coincide with passages in the music where you plan to be in-between effects so you don't have to try to span two scenes with a continuous effect. (This is very difficult to do.) As a general rule, 1 scene per 1 to 2 minutes of audio works quite well.

I've hit this limit on nearly half the shows I've created, so it *is* something you need to be aware of. But a little pre-planning ahead of time will keep you in the clear.

Adam

**Stuka** · 02-23-2010, 05:52

Originally Posted by buffo

Here is a little tip that might help you out if you're creating a complex show with lots of cues and effects. Pangolin's Showtime editor has a maximum limit on the number of "events" in a given scene. Running into this limit while you're creating a show can be very frustrating, but you can avoid this by planning the show better from the beginning.

First, a little review: remember that a scene is the smallest division on the time line, followed by module and show. All of the cues and effects are added in the scene editor, while the module time line stitches together several scenes, and the show time line stitches together several modules.

Where people get into trouble is when they consider a "scene" to be a whole song. This is not the way the software is set up. A scene is only supposed to be *part* of a song. A module is one complete song. And yes, sometimes the whole show is just 1 song long (that is, only 1 module), but you can also have multiple modules (songs) in a show.

So if you start creating a show and decide that you only need 1 scene, you might have a problem, because if the show is very complex, you'll run into the built-in limit for the maximum number of time line events in a single scene.

I think the limit is 600 events per scene. It might be slightly more than that, but I know the limit is close to 600. Now, that sounds like a lot of events, but if you're doing a beam show to a song with a fast beat (think just about any dance tune), then you're probably going to have lots of cues and effects crammed into the time line. Also, everything you drop on the time line counts, even if it's only a "reset track" effect.

So what ends up happening is that you get 2/3ds of the way through with your show, and suddenly you can't add any more cues to the time line because you've reached your limit. And you're usually right in the middle of a complicated series of effects when this happens. ARGH! Now you've got to create a new scene and cut and paste some of the events from the old scene to the new scene until you can end up with a smooth transition from one to the other. (Be sure to save it before you do this, because it's easy to mess up the timing for everything if you accidentally change the length of the first scene.)

To prevent this from happening, all you need to do is divide the song (module) into two or three scenes right at the start, before you begin placing cues on the time line for the first scene. Set the transition points between scenes to coincide with passages in the music where you plan to be in-between effects so you don't have to try to span two scenes with a continuous effect. (This is very difficult to do.) As a general rule, 1 scene per 1 to 2 minutes of audio works quite well.

I've hit this limit on nearly half the shows I've created, so it *is* something you need to be aware of. But a little pre-planning ahead of time will keep you in the clear.

Adam

Glad you posted this -
After we talked about this idea yesterday, I split my TSO show I'm working on into two scenes, so I should be safe from the max event limit!

I found that the key to splitting an existing scene falls right in line with the post Soforene made yesterday - provided the (default) automating show times settings aren't changed, the last event in the timeline will specify the end of the scene / module. So, to specify a split point in an existing scene / module, simply drop a "Reset Track" event where you want the split to occur. Cut all events AFTER that, and paste them into the new scene / module.

When the show is saved, the scene / module lengths will automatically adjust. Cool!

You know, if we keep sharing these tips, a lot of us are really going to be well on our way to really figuring this stuff out.!!

Scary......

**allthatwhichis** · 02-23-2010, 07:11

I just started a new show and hit the 600 event limit within the first 45 seconds...

I know have 4 scenes in the first minute of the show.

I knew about that limitation after finding on my first show and have learned to only work on 8 to 15 seconds of your show at one time.

**buffo** · 02-23-2010, 09:14

Originally Posted by allthatwhichis

I just started a new show and hit the 600 event limit within the first 45 seconds...

Holy Crap! 45 seconds! Wow... That's got to be one hell of a show. (That means you've got an average of more than 10 events per second!) I can't wait to see this monster...

I typically hit the limit at about 2:30 to 3:00 minutes into a 4:00 minute show. But now I've learned to split the show up into smaller chunks (scenes) to prevent the problem.

You know, I just realized that you're probably writing a show for multiple projectors, which means you're using more tracks and more simultaneous effects, so yeah, I guess I can see how you might hit the limit earlier. Still though, the first 45 seconds? Damn, Arron, you're hard core!

Adam

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Method to avoid the "maximum number of time line events exceeded" problem.

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