Newcomer. Just a nod to others and a couple questions

[poke0123]

sorry wrong thread

[SaltyRobot]

So hi. Let me get this out front. I'm new to this and I'm addicted. Having said that, I have obtained a 4w RGB inexpensive laser and that seems to be of pretty high quality considering the price. I quickly learned about ilda and it's advantages and so I got a pangolin fb3qs and a license for beyond.
I guess my first and maybe only question is what are the advantages of other software like lsx over beyond? I know there are differences but I haven't found a thread explaining those.
I love the software beyond and the hardware works great but I feel a bit stifled knowing that the fb3 only works with pangolin. I'm probably going to pick up an eitherdream or helios in the immediate future and your suggestions might help make that decision easier.
I worked as a front of house sound engineer for 30 years and always kept a small amount of intelligent fixtures around to rent out and play with. I wish I had the ability to get into this back then, but it was outrageously expensive back then as I'm sure you all know.
I'm working on my first beam show and when I get it complete I'll create a link.

I'll chime in as an LSX and Beyond user. If you already have Beyond and are in the Pango universe then I wouldn't worry too much about the other software unless you want to mess around and have alot of time on your hands. LSX is alot of work to make shows but it can do some really amazing things with abstracts. Being able to use the "expressions" feature of LSX basically opens up the back door to the program. You can code just about any math equation you can think of to wiggle x and y axis. I would say Beyond is more powerful at everything that is not abstracts. Beam shows are way easier to create. The 3D creation is untouched by anything else. The one down side to using Beyond is being stuck using Pangolin. Random updates to the hardware and software are a complete downer. Are they needed maybe and I'll leave it at that but the way the company handles it is just off putting. The price of the hardware is always going to be more expensive. You will never be able to use your shows with any other DAC. But Beyond is also a really powerful tool and I use it all the time for clients because I can make content quickly which keeps the hours low on the bill.

[poke0123]

thanks for that, im beginning to see that. I'm on the threshold of buying the lifetime license for beyond, only a couple questions about hardware vs internet license... i might even go ahead and get the internet license tonight. the more i think about it the safer that option sounds. and i like beyond a lot. i just published my first beam show called reflection on the pangolin cloud. i've only had the software since jan 1, so be gentle. i guess i could have picked a song that wasnt over 10 mins long for my first one, but hey... my second is in the works and i think its 12....