Moving from Vixen 2.1 to Current Software

TomL8345

TomL8345

New member
I know there will be several different views on the best way for me to proceed, but I want to open this up for discussion. I have quite a few sequences that were done over the past 6 years using Vixen 2.1 for my Renard based show.

Two years ago I added a couple of Pixel props to my show, a Pixel Mega Tree and Pixel Candy Canes, which I brute forced into my existing sequences. They worked fine, but did not allow me to take full advantage of the potential of these props. This year I am adding even more Pixel based props.

I have looked at and played with HLS (not my cup of tea), V3, and XLights. I have been leaning towards XLights, but I am having a real issue with importing my existing sequences into the system. I do not want to lose the work I have put into my existing sequences, rather I just want to agument what I already have, and then do some new sequences from scratch.

What in your opinion is the best of the new software to use with older Vixen 2.1 sequences, and what is involved with importing the old sequence? Any help and guidance you may have will be greatly appreciated.
 
Xlights is a great choice. Bring your existing sequences in as a data layer and you should be good to go. What problem are you having?
 
Lots of opinions on this topic. I like Vixen 3 and I know the V2 import to V3 works (I rewrote it two years ago). Before you import, you create V3 Elements for your show. The first time you try to open a V2 sequence, you will be given the chance to create a map from the V2 channels to the V3 elements. Once the map is created, your sequence will get imported (It can take a while). After that, you reuse the same map to import the rest of your shows. You can use customized maps to tweak your imports. Once you have imported a sequence, it is going to look a bit busy on the sequence timeline pages. That is because everything is turned into "set Level" and "pulse" events. Your show will work, but maintaining it will be less than fun. For me, I used the imported show as is the first year and then changed a lot of the effects to use the V3 built in effects.
 
dpitts said:
Xlights is a great choice. Bring your existing sequences in as a data layer and you should be good to go. What problem are you having?
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Dave,

Can you expand on "Bring your existing sequences in as a data layer", or direct me on where I can read more about doing this?
 
I'd be curious what kind of issue you had importing the data into xLights. More importantly, I'd be happy to help fix any bugs you encounter while trying to do so. Just let me know what issues and if you can, send me your xlights setup and the vixen files and I'm sure I can get it to work.
 
dpitts said:
It is outlined on page 149 of the user manual.
https://xlights.org/xLights_User_Manual.pdf

If you have Xlights questions there is a weekly online meeting on Wednesday nights where questions can be answered. This is done using Kevin Smith's Zoom meeting account. Thanks Kevin.
You can share your computer screen and get specific help for your questions.


We have created a few links to make it easier to get there.

http://webmeeting.pixelcontroller.com

and

http://webmeeting.holiday.lighting
Click to expand...

Dan and David,

I made some progress. I need to play with this a bit, I got my sequence to play, kind of, but the correct lights were not lighting in my preview. Can you direct me to instructions on what I need to do to get the conversion mapped properly?

As I am understanding this process, I will no longer be able to edit the information that I am importing from the previous sequences, but I can add new effects over top of the old to incorporate my new props into the existing sequence. Is that correct?

I am planning on joining the online meeting next wednesday.
 
If using a data layer, then yea, the results won't be editable. How many channels are you importing? If it's only a couple hundred or so, a direct import should work fine and would result in completely editable effects. (just a bunch of "On" effects for Vixen import) . What issue were you having with the normal import process? I have to admit I haven't looked at the Vixen imports since Keith redid the Import dialog. If something isn't working, I'd like to get it fixed as that would help everyone in the same boat.
 
dkulp said:
If using a data layer, then yea, the results won't be editable. How many channels are you importing? If it's only a couple hundred or so, a direct import should work fine and would result in completely editable effects. (just a bunch of "On" effects for Vixen import) . What issue were you having with the normal import process? I have to admit I haven't looked at the Vixen imports since Keith redid the Import dialog. If something isn't working, I'd like to get it fixed as that would help everyone in the same boat.
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Dan,

I will have to work with it again to get you the specific issues I was having using import. I am going to be busy this weekend, but I should be able to get back you on this early next week.

To be clear, I do not really need to edit my existing effects, I really just want to add to what I have. The effects on my AC strings and Dumb RGB are fine, I just want to add in the Pixel elements as I continue to expand. What I do need is to get the effects on the correct AC and Dumb RGB strings in XLights.

Thanks for your help.
 
Tom, I found that setting up my profile channel orders to match in v2.1 and xlights made the data layer import painless. I moved 1400 channels over into xlights, and added my pixel stuff on top of it. As to the data layer not being editable, you can actually add effects right on top of the imported layer if you need/want to edit.

Bruce
 
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All,

Thanks for the help! It was exactly what I needed to get my old sequences into XLights using Data Layers.

Dan,

I still want to revisit the Direct Import. That is what I was trying before and not getting results, but I may have been missing some steps there as well. I will look into it and get back to you!
 
TomL8345 said:
Dan,

I still want to revisit the Direct Import. That is what I was trying before and not getting results, but I may have been missing some steps there as well. I will look into it and get back to you!
Click to expand...

Dan,

When I import a Vixen 2.x sequence during New Sequence, my channels all seem to end up in the correct place (now that I have my XLights channels matching my Vixen profile), however the sequence seem to play approx 2X faster than the audio. Also I do not see the effects on the sequencer page for the vixen effects to edit, should I?
 
TomL8345 said:
Dan,

When I import a Vixen 2.x sequence during New Sequence, my channels all seem to end up in the correct place (now that I have my XLights channels matching my Vixen profile), however the sequence seem to play approx 2X faster than the audio.
Click to expand...

Are you creating the sequence with 25ms timing? Vixen files are only 50ms.

Also I do not see the effects on the sequencer page for the vixen effects to edit, should I?
Click to expand...

No. If you use it from the New Sequence wizard thing, you are creating a data layer (which is also why the timing has to match). However, if you create a brand new sequence and do the Import from the Import -> Import Effects dialog/menu, it should come in as editable effects. Also, channel numbers and such don't need to match anything as you are mapping based on names.
 
dkulp said:
Are you creating the sequence with 25ms timing? Vixen files are only 50ms.
Click to expand...

That was exactly what was happening.



dkulp said:
No. If you use it from the New Sequence wizard thing, you are creating a data layer (which is also why the timing has to match). However, if you create a brand new sequence and do the Import from the Import -> Import Effects dialog/menu, it should come in as editable effects. Also, channel numbers and such don't need to match anything as you are mapping based on names.
Click to expand...

When i Import -> Import Effects, I get a message box saying "No models to import to. Add some models to the rows of the effects grid." If I click "OK" then another window opens "Map Channels - sequence name.vix" I am not sure how to proceed from there. Each time I push a button on the bottom of that box I get a "Debug report "xLights""
 
You are trying to import effects into a sequence that doesn't have any models. That won't work as you need something to import them onto. (it shouldn't crash, that's a bug I'll need to look at)

Before you hit that, make sure you add the models you will use to the sequence. When you create the sequence, toward the end you can "Select a view" of "All models" and they should then be added to the sequence.
 
dkulp said:
You are trying to import effects into a sequence that doesn't have any models. That won't work as you need something to import them onto. (it shouldn't crash, that's a bug I'll need to look at)

Before you hit that, make sure you add the models you will use to the sequence. When you create the sequence, toward the end you can "Select a view" of "All models" and they should then be added to the sequence.
Click to expand...
Dan,

I am adding models. Step by step:
New Sequence
Musical Sequence
Choose Audio file - vixen sequence audio file
Sequence Settings - 20fps (50ms)
Select a View - All Models ->Quick Start

the sequencer opens up with all my models listed down the left hand column

Import -> Import Effects
Choose file to import - vixen sequence file
Message - No models to import to. Add some models to the rows of the effects grid -> OK
Map Channels - > Debug report.

Am I missing any steps?
 
I wan't able to reproduce this with various .vix files I found on the internet. I know Keith has updated the import dialog code to provide better error messages and prevent the crash, but even with the release code, I wasn't able to reproduce the problem. You'll likely need to send me the .vix file and your xlights_*.xml files so I can reproduce it.
 
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