First off, I'm done with my big light show. 97 minutes. 104 scenes, many of the scenes have multiple steps, and a few scenes have "sub-scenes" for management purposes. I even ran into an issue where I had the wrong mover doing a "beacon" move, so I had to copy 4 parameters 200 times, for a total of 800 tweaks. That same scene has a "bring side to FULL and other half from FULL to 50%", which required tweaking 8 fixtures 25 times, for a total of 200 tweaks. And I'm not happy with that so I may redo that to make it a 2 second fade instead of 1, so that means 400 tweaks!
Of course, with this many scenes, it becomes necessary to specify what comes next. My numbering and labelling helps not only get things in the right order, but also helps me once I'm in MyDMX to specify what is to happen next. And when organizing, make sure you check or uncheck "fade" as needed and set your loops. Personally, for this application, I don't want looping, so 1 loop is how I roll.
Now that I'm done, I have to make animatics for "proof of concept" purposes. I won't go into the advantage this gives me for troubleshooting errors. I will say this requires, as did the creation of scenes, the 3D Visualizer. Using SnagIt!(FRAPS only does 30 seconds until registered, which I'm not doing yet and does't seem to want to kick into recording mode), I can select the 3D Visualizer Window and record that.
An error came up that really annoyed me. While recording, specifically for me, Scene 35 would simply not advance. The sequence was 32 through 37, and it would loop endlessly on 35. WTF? It said next to 35: Next was 36. And yes, I'm saving VERY often to the main location, a back-up file(name-failsafe.ext) and onto a USB Memory stick each time I save, then go back to the active show.
Tracing back, I did have an ESA.EXE error earlier.
Upon reboot and relaunching of MyDMX, Scene 35 showed "next", not "Scene 36", which oddly enough should be the exact same thing. A quick fix to set Scene 35 to jump to Scene 36 after it does it's dance, and I'm ready to go again.
Here's your lesson:
If you get the esa.exe crap-out, REBOOT. Check your work when you get back into MyDMX, fix as necessary and save.
I think excessive usage of the 3D Visualizer contributes to a lack of stability for the MyDMX software. While this in and of itself is a bad thing, overall, during live events, this should not be an issue, especially since ideally you should not be using the 3D Visualizer. You should really only use the 3D Visualizer for your design and creation assistance.
Use your tools properly and they should serve you well. Enjoy and keep creating!
Back to animatics!
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