Light Converse

[Stuka]

Just wondering if anyone here has any experience using the Light Converse visualizer software?

http://lightconverse.net/

Now that it supports Pangolin gear, I was thinking this might be a good way to visualize multi-element SELEM shows in advance - especially for those of whose usual laser show "theater" is the size of a 1-bedroom apartment!

Any feedback would be appreciated from anyone that has used this software -

Thanks!

[JeroenVDV]

Realtime renders / visualization is very, very good. Not 99% accurate with moving lights, like the real pro software WYSIWYG by Cast-Soft. The Light Converse software user interface is worse than a 80's style video game controlled with a tea-spoon.

[norty303]

The Light Converse software user interface is worse than a 80's style video game controlled with a tea-spoon.

This is heartening. I thought it was just me.

[Stuka]

Realtime renders / visualization is very, very good. Not 99% accurate with moving lights, like the real pro software WYSIWYG by Cast-Soft. The Light Converse software user interface is worse than a 80's style video game controlled with a tea-spoon.

Thanks for the feedback - although not very encouraging.....

[Pangolin]

Light Converse user interface is certainly "different". It is made unlike all other Windows programs. But, just because it's different doesn't mean it's bad... If you come to a professional lighting tradeshow, such as Lighting Dimensions International, and ask Gordon to show you how it works, he can whip together a stage with lasers and moving lights in no time.

So I think, once you get used to it, you find it works well.

I remember when Tango went from a DOS program to Windows, and they adopted the Windows user interface, it took me around 10 times as long to lay out a circuit board as with the old DOS version. So, although making a product have a Windows user interface will allow ordinary people to understand it more readily, doesn't mean that experienced professionals will be able to get the job done any quicker!

Bill

[Stuka]

I guess I fit in the "ordinary people" category when it comes to all this pro-lighting gear, so I'm going to add this software to the top of my ever-growing "things to try next with the laser gear" list....

Luckily, it turns out that Light Converse has a time-limited (works in 1-hour blocks) but otherwise "fully functional" Pangolin-enabled free demo available to try out. The full version is available directly from Pangolin.

I might just be able to get this worked into my schedule in time for SELEM....

[norty303]

Light Converse user interface is certainly "different". It is made unlike all other Windows programs. But, just because it's different doesn't mean it's bad... If you come to a professional lighting tradeshow, such as Lighting Dimensions International, and ask Gordon to show you how it works, he can whip together a stage with lasers and moving lights in no time.

So I think, once you get used to it, you find it works well.

I remember when Tango went from a DOS program to Windows, and they adopted the Windows user interface, it took me around 10 times as long to lay out a circuit board as with the old DOS version. So, although making a product have a Windows user interface will allow ordinary people to understand it more readily, doesn't mean that experienced professionals will be able to get the job done any quicker!

Don't get me wrong, I use MagicQ, the lighting desk lots of people moan about for the same reasons, because it doesn't function 'like a Windows app'. Given a bit of time to get over it, it's fantastic.
If Light Converse is the same then fair play, I just found it a bit too much like teeth pulling when I dipped my toe...

[JeroenVDV]

Light Converse user interface is certainly "different". It is made unlike all other Windows programs. But, just because it's different doesn't mean it's bad... If you come to a professional lighting tradeshow, such as Lighting Dimensions International, and ask Gordon to show you how it works, he can whip together a stage with lasers and moving lights in no time.

So I think, once you get used to it, you find it works well.

I think the program could work 1000x faster and would attract the more professional part instead of the "kids" in the industry if it would actually look and feel and work as professional CAD-software. We're talking about CAD-drawing and "office-like" operations as filling in DMX patch addresses, spot numbers and XYZ positions, not about shooting people in a game or racing a car.

Beside of that, most people around me have tried Light Converse and they all have stopped doing so because of the crap user interface. Again, 3D visualization is BEAUTIFUL but the drawing/CAD/patching/technical part of the software is just not good.

[Aage]

I use Lightconverse, and i think it works good.
You can see some good examples here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WpaCuSqyyM&feature=sub