HLS

WORK IN PROGRESS

Information

History

In December of 2011 Joe Hinkle saw his first Holdman's Christmas video and decided "I can do that". Shortly thereafter he designed his own 24 channel controller and wrote a sequencer! In February of 2012 Joe offered his sequencer in beta form to all who wanted to try it ( HLS Sequencer - Beta - Free to use ). Joe's support of his software is beyond anything you could hope for. When a solid issue is brought up by a user, Joe usually has a fix and a new version out the same day. Usually within hours after discovery and isolation of the issue's source.

The DIY Christmas user Jon Stenerson (stenersonj) wrote the HLS Getting Started Manual (located on Joe's software download page) where he also keeps the latest version of HLS, release notes, HLS Player, WAV converter and several other pieces of software. As Joe has refined HLS, some of the information, screens, etc have changed. Using a Wiki should make it much easier to keep the HLS Getting Started Manual updated reflecting the current version of the software. With the speed that Joe continues to add new functions and power to HLS, the manual additions/revisions is going to have to be a community effort.

There are several very experienced users of HLS that share thier time and energy helping to teach others the use of HLS and assisting in helping answers that come up. One DIYC user in particular is angus40. Angus40 (Richard) has produced numerous, excellent how-to videos which are hosted on Vimeo. Richard's videos and descriptions can be found in the Video Tutorial section of this Wiki (soon).

The reason I decided to contribute to this Wiki is that I've found if I document what I learn, I can always go back and review it as a refresher. The HLS forum on this forum is filled with excellent information on how to operate the software and what to watch out for, but sometimes trying to find those nuggets later on can be difficult.

I'm looking forward to learning all I can about HLS and and sharing what I learn.

OriginalHotrodder

Installation

All installations begin with visiting the current website and downloading the latest ZIP file: [1].

Upgrading

Upon HLS launch, HLS will check the download site to see if there is a newer version available. If there is, a prompt will be shown suggesting to take you there for a download. Upgrading follows almost the same procedure as installation, only you will extract the files of the ZIP on top of the existing installation.

Usage

Getting Started Manual

The DIYC user Jon Stenerson (stenersonj) wrote the HLS Getting Started Manual which describes the installation/usage of HLS and contains many screen shots and great information for getting started. Note that this was written a while ago and many things have changed over the development per feature requests on DIYC so some screens may look different than in the manual. The basic concepts of channel layout, preview preparation, sequencing remain the same so the manual is still very useful, especially for a beginner to HLS. The manual can be downloaded at the main HLS download site here.

DIYC Getting Started Manual

To reflect the later versions of HLS Jon's manual layout has been duplicated and additional information is being added as possible. The following wiki was first used but once the information is fully transfered to this wiki it will not longer be supported. Getting Started with HLS (External Wiki)

Here is the new: Getting Started Manual

Howto Videos

Joe's Videos

• Intro Video - This video goes over most of what you'll need to get started including selecting audio, managing channels, adding effects, setting up a preview.
• RGB - This video shows the changes to Over Control and the addition of RGB support.
• Beta0 - This video was from when the first beta went to testing. It covers a couple more sequence editor changes as well as setting up channels for output to Renard and E1.31.
• Dimming Curves - Setting defaults for dimming values, dimming curves, and library support. The library support covers insertion of custom effects and saving of channel layout.
• Converting to RGB - Converting channels to RGB. If you previously had
• Automatic RGB Conversion - This details how to use the automatic RGB conversion tool.
• Group Move/Resize - Demonstration of the group move and resize functionality including a cool trick for fast chases.
• Pixel Plane - This video is a quick demonstration of how to set up a pixel plane and add an effect from nutcracker.
• More Pixel Plane - A more in depth look at what can be done with pixel planes, multiple universe output, and a short demonstration of the manual test mode.
• Pixel Plane Training - This is the latest video from Joe that discusses HLS channel capabilities and angus40's stress tests running HLS and pixel plane capabilities. This demonstrates using the dumb-RGB-like effects and over effects to Pixel Planes.
• Segments Training - This video demonstrates the new segments feature using a 30 channel pixel arch.

Tips

Ctrl+click Shift for info

FAQ

How do I re-order channels?

How do I delete effects?

How do I make channels actually output data?

How do I make channels NOT output?

How do I import sequences from sequencer X?

How do I convert 3 individual channels to 1 RGB channel?

How do I remove all effects from a channel?

How do I copy/paste?

How do I cancel a selection?

How do I select an effect, starting from the upper corner?

How do I make an effect bigger?

How do I move an effect?

How do I move an effect from one channel to another?

What are the keyboard shortcuts?

How does the Beat Track work? http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?20796-Beat-Track https://vimeo.com/44991162

Useful Links

• Website - TBD
• Download
• PDF Manual
• HLS Forum on DIYC