Asking for Help: Learning LSX and Projection Limits
Well I've been spending some time with LSX, LaserCam Pro, and ILDSOS and my first run of graphic experiments turned out really poor. I tried to do some simple graphic animations and thought I had a reasonable point count [I observed the point count improvements in ILDSOS when optimizing] but when I project the show it looks terrible. This is not due to LSX; LSX plays (other people's) ILDs better on my projector than any other software I've managed to run so far... So I know the problem is ME
So I'm wondering if any of you more experienced guys would be willing to take a look at my .RTD file and provide some constructive criticism. I tried to avoid sharp angles in the frames most of the time. At the start of the show a transistor pans slowly across the screen, the emitter enters from the left and rest of the device moves across the screen (nerdy, I know LOL) and the result is awful, at least on my 20k projector. I used LaserCAM to capture moving images in application windows on my PC ... I simply ran AutoCAD in the background and used it to provide most of the graphic material because thats the best art I can manage for now ....
I'd really like to understand and overcome my mistakes because I've got some ideas for some shows but if won't be able to progress until I have a better understanding of the faults in my work process. Gotta get past these 'baby' steps first... Electronics, Software, Art --- Those of you who pull all of this off are really something special. Its really difficult to produce good looking content!
I'm no expert but I know how I'd try and solve the issues. I would take a single optimised image of the whole transistor and animate that in LSX, rather than using large numbers of frames. The text I would try creating using the runtext or TTF events.
Looking forward to hearing how the pros would do it though - I've not played with creating a graphics show yet, so will keep an eye on this thread
Here are the settings from my last attempt with LaserCam:
I have had good success importing a single frame and moving it around using LSX tools.
In this case I am trying to learn what I can do better with LaserCam settings (or workflow) ....
i.e. Maybe I need to check the frames per second box ?
Hi Jason, it's cool to see you're trying your hand at creation! Here is some feedback:
When doing simple animations like your transitor movement animation, it's better to create a single frame that shows the entire transistor symbol, and then zoom in on it and move that around using the LSX effects. You'll get smoother movement and better rendering, and can do a lot more than just capturing from autocad. Also, you can draw with single lines instead of double lines, the single lines will scan twice as fast.
For your lasercam captures, set your DAC rate to 30k and keep your scanner rate as it is. you can preview your lasercam captures on your projector by enabling the output to your DAC in the extended viewer pane. You can also tweak the corner and line weights, which can improve your scanning. WHen exporting the ilda for import into LSX, keep the 'color enhance' shift off, because LSX will shift color for you according to your DAC settings.
Also, if you're importing pre-optimized ilda, you want to set that animation to use optimization set 31 so additional point optimization won't be applied.
For your final animation set if you want to get two concentric circles and a rotating arm, I'd suggest creating a frame in quick picedit of a pair of circles, and a different frame with a line, and then apply them to the timeline via animation and apply a z-rotation (possibly a curve z-rotation to get you anchor points) to the line. This will get you clean smooth animation.
The key is, try to create your frames in quick picedit or inkscape, and create your animations using the animations tools in LSX. There are a lot of appropriate uses for lasercam, for live action, vectorizing rasters, capturing video, but I dont' think using it for primary creation of basic shapes and animations is the best use.
In the shows included with LSX, there is a demo show that demonstrates a lot of the basic functionality of how to do simple animation, and some more complex animation. Go through that a few times and click through to get an understanding of how each effect was accomplished. You will learn a lot!
Thank you, drlava! I'll change up my procedures and take a close look at the demo show... I've got 42 seconds of a show done, at this rate it should be ready to share this Summer LOL
Asking for Help: Learning LSX and Projection Limits
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