Software to create an .ild formated file (ILDA Export?).

[hdbaird]

I have a problem that I've been working on for over 2 weeks now. And I'm very discouraged with.
I have a laser, which has the SD Card feature. The SD Card feature will only work with .ild formated files.
I NEED to use the SD card for what I'm trying to do. (No direct connection to the computer)
Since the demo version of Pangolin's QuickShow won't allow for the exporting of ques, I purchased QS with the expectation that the que export feature would create the necessary .ild formatted files for SD Card use. I was wrong.
Why would Pangolin create such great product but not give us the choice of exporting either their own proprietary format (.ids) or the "industry standard ILDA" (.ild) formats to use? They (Pangolin) can talk all they want about how much better their format is, but it doesn't do me any good.
Now that QS is useless for what I need, I now need to find some software that will generate the .ild files. I've been reading and downloading various demo/trial versions of software. Phoenix, spaghetti, Mamba, Moncha, Millenium, Zion... None of which have been able to do the ILDA export. I've tried to get the ILD SOS product, but the only site where I found it just took my money and I have no product and no communication from the the manufacture of ILD SOS (and I'm debating on if it's worth the lawsuit to try & get my money back).
I'm now waiting for the arrival of the iShow product which I don't know if this will work either, but I've run out of options. I've already wasted the $600 QS and $30 on ILD SOS. I'm afraid that I've also wasted another $100 on iShow.

Why is creating an .ild file so difficult (and now expensive)? The SD Card that came with the laser had about 200 pre-loaded .ild animations, so I have to assume there's a way to do this.

I could use some more options and advice.
And, does anyone want the QS software/FB3 for a good price? It's of no value to me anymore. Maybe I can recover something from this.
As you can probably tell, this "laser newbie" is very discouraged and disappointed with whole laser animation technology at this point.

Doug

[swamidog]

the lack of ild export in quickshow is a huge frustration with me as well. it's quite shameful for an "industry leader" to not support industry standards. that is my biggest beef with pangolin. it's on par with buying photoshop elements only to discover it won't save jpg. it may help pangolin's bottom line, but in the long run, it fractionates and damages the industry as a whole.

having said that, i do believe pangolin has some sort of satisfaction guarente. contact bill benner at pangolin (try 1-407-299-2088). maybe he can fix things for you.

I have a problem that I've been working on for over 2 weeks now. And I'm very discouraged with.
I have a laser, which has the SD Card feature. The SD Card feature will only work with .ild formated files.
I NEED to use the SD card for what I'm trying to do. (No direct connection to the computer)
Since the demo version of Pangolin's QuickShow won't allow for the exporting of ques, I purchased QS with the expectation that the que export feature would create the necessary .ild formatted files for SD Card use. I was wrong.
Why would Pangolin create such great product but not give us the choice of exporting either their own proprietary format (.ids) or the "industry standard ILDA" (.ild) formats to use? They (Pangolin) can talk all they want about how much better their format is, but it doesn't do me any good.
Now that QS is useless for what I need, I now need to find some software that will generate the .ild files. I've been reading and downloading various demo/trial versions of software. Phoenix, spaghetti, Mamba, Moncha, Millenium, Zion... None of which have been able to do the ILDA export. I've tried to get the ILD SOS product, but the only site where I found it just took my money and I have no product and no communication from the the manufacture of ILD SOS (and I'm debating on if it's worth the lawsuit to try & get my money back).
I'm now waiting for the arrival of the iShow product which I don't know if this will work either, but I've run out of options. I've already wasted the $600 QS and $30 on ILD SOS. I'm afraid that I've also wasted another $100 on iShow.

Why is creating an .ild file so difficult (and now expensive)? The SD Card that came with the laser had about 200 pre-loaded .ild animations, so I have to assume there's a way to do this.

I could use some more options and advice.
And, does anyone want the QS software/FB3 for a good price? It's of no value to me anymore. Maybe I can recover something from this.
As you can probably tell, this "laser newbie" is very discouraged and disappointed with whole laser animation technology at this point.

Doug

[Solarfire]

Mamba 2.0 supports ILDA import/export..

[norty303]

If you exchange your FB3 QS board for an FB3 XE board, you can use the SD card on the FB3 instead of the rubbish that came built into the projector. You then use LiveQuick/Quickshow to generate and export your frames.
Failing that, as has been mentioned, Pangolin offer a money back guarantee, so drop Bill a line and I'm sure he'll sort you out.

[JohnYayas]

Spaghetti will export to ILDA and if you have a dongle you can use Spaghetti Draw (in development but taking shape quickly) to create frames from scratch.

[hdbaird]

If you exchange your FB3 QS board for an FB3 XE board, you can use the SD card on the FB3 instead of the rubbish that came built into the projector. You then use LiveQuick/Quickshow to generate and export your frames.
Failing that, as has been mentioned, Pangolin offer a money back guarantee, so drop Bill a line and I'm sure he'll sort you out.

I saw that when first started looking into laser's & software. This would require buying at least 3 of these (I have 3 lasers and I don't see where I can buy them without the QS software at $600 a pop), opening up the laser, figuring out how to mount the card inside the laser & tapping into my laser's current DMX connection and voiding any and all laser warranties.
Pangolin's answer to their lack of using industry standard is to have me purchase more proprietary hardware while ruining my existing products? Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

Doug

[hdbaird]

Mamba 2.0 supports ILDA import/export..

I tried the Demo's of both versions, the 2004 and black. I could not get the to export at all. Maybe I didn't create the image correctly (a "trace feature" would be nice) or maybe it's a demo version or maybe just me not knowing the software. And I could not get the demo version of Mamba Black to install. Got a "Source file not found: Data1.cab".

Doug

[hdbaird]

Spaghetti will export to ILDA and if you have a dongle you can use Spaghetti Draw (in development but taking shape quickly) to create frames from scratch.

I couldn't get Spaghetti to run. I get a "An unhandled thread exception has occured. Please send the following information to the developer" error.

Doug
(are we begining to understand why I'm getting so discouraged with the animation laser technology?)

[norty303]

I saw that when first started looking into laser's & software. This would require buying at least 3 of these (I have 3 lasers and I don't see where I can buy them without the QS software at $600 a pop), opening up the laser, figuring out how to mount the card inside the laser & tapping into my laser's current DMX connection and voiding any and all laser warranties.
Pangolin's answer to their lack of using industry standard is to have me purchase more proprietary hardware while ruining my existing products? Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

If the projectors all need to do the same thing then use a single FB3 to drive all 3 projectors via ILDA, externally.
In my experience, the projectors that come with the internal cards don't really live up to the 'animation laser' name anyway.
I think what you are finding out is that to things properly, it's not cheap, and usually not done using in built SD card readers.

BTW, JohnYayas is the Spaghetti developer, and DrLava on the forum is the ILD SOS developer, so a couple of PM's should have things moving along for you I'd suspect.

[hdbaird]

If the projectors all need to do the same thing then use a single FB3 to drive all 3 projectors via ILDA, externally.
In my experience, the projectors that come with the internal cards don't really live up to the 'animation laser' name anyway.
I think what you are finding out is that to things properly, it's not cheap, and usually not done using in built SD card readers.

BTW, JohnYayas is the Spaghetti developer, and DrLava on the forum is the ILD SOS developer, so a couple of PM's should have things moving along for you I'd suspect.

All projects won't be doing the same thing and They will be about 150 feet away from the computer. Unless I can daisy chain the ILDA cable from one laser to another, I can't really use the ILDA interface for that. What the plan is, creating the animations on the SD card and then triggering the animations, via DMX, when I need them. This does work using the animations that came pre-loaded with the Laser. Right now, I just have no way of changing those animations. And the cost hasn't really been the issue. It's paying for something that doesn't work. I haven't found **ANY** software yet that will create the .ild files I need, but there has to be something because I have the 200+ that came with the laser.


I did send DrLava a PM, here and on Laserboy.org and multiple "what's the status" from google wallet (which is how the software was purchased). No response.
As for Spaghetti, I think John already replied about a "in the works" feature of Spaghetti. Nice but doesn't help me now.

Thanks again for all the advice.
Doug

Doug