LSX Pro - Laser Show Xpress

Printable View

10-23-2013, 04:04
Galvonaut

LSX Pro - Laser Show Xpress

What a bit of software!

I've had LSX Pro for about a week and am extremely happy with the software.

I had read that LSX is quite a learning curve and although this may be the case for the some of the more complex features, I have found it a joy to use.
Here is my first abstract, created in about 10 minutes (after reading a very short section of the manual). This video created using LSX AVI export feature.

http://youtu.be/MfYlIxUGN5U

LSX has countless features that are accessible through it's GUI but also has the capability of using expressions (a bit like a cross between algebra and a very simple programming). Just to put this statement into context, my last programming language was BBC Basic and I did terribly at mathematics at school!
Despite this, in my second day of using LSX I was able to use expressions to create an abstract that reacted in real-time to audio as in the video below (excuse the TTL laser and not so good filming)!

http://youtu.be/sJPgDTT8hJQ

Yesterday I played around with some other buttons (there are lots) and messing around with more expressions. I have noticed that very occasionally (twice) LSX doesn't like an expression that I 'make up' and crashes - which isn't suprising, considering I don't have a clue what I'm doing most of the time! This usually happens when I write something like "wave*angle*pi*something that creates an infinite result"
The Wave command takes the audio waveform created when you import music (Wave2 is live audio, Spec and Spec2 are frequency related wave inputs). The Angle command is the position in radians of the current X,Y point in relation to the centre of the screen.
This should not sound scary! There is a help button with a list of functions and variables and even if you don't know what they do, give 'em a go!
This is what I came up with and although the point-rate is high, it just about scans on my laser and it's more about me learning at the moment, than creating awesome eye-melty abstracts - that will come in time ;)

http://youtu.be/TK7MxQX6Cas

The above was created using the Ping command. After talking to cmb (none of us are worthy) it's actually not the best way of creating things like this. But hey, it's all fun.

The only other thing that I've played with is the Lissajou abstract generator, without a great deal of luck so far. I suspect that a midi controller with knobs on would aid the process of creating stable, eye-pleasing abstracts - it is an analogue emulator after all. Oh, and the Masterbeam live controller - again, best with touchscreen and or midi interface but certainly a very useful tool to use for creating abstracts (as well as it's live show functionality).

I'm going to leave my review there for now but will update it as I learn more. I'm thoroughly addicted to LSX and would recommend it to those more creative types who would rather create their own individual content, rather than having typical canned effects.

It's cheap, compatible with a multitude of dacs and has amazing functionality.

Thanks Drlava :)

Keith
10-23-2013, 06:13
kl79

I'm happy you're enjoying your new toy !
10-24-2013, 07:46
Galvonaut

LSX Lissajou - first go

Thanks Mickael :)

Today I've been playing with the Lissajou generator and despite not having lots of nobs to turn, managed to turn something reasonable out.

This is my first LSX Lissajou quad chase effect.

http://youtu.be/A6sMyX3s4iI

Keith
10-07-2015, 04:53
FrankTank59

How does Pro compare to the Lite version?
10-07-2015, 05:28
dkumpula

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankTank59

How does Pro compare to the Lite version?

I like the way that LSX features are broken down between versions. Lite allows you to create fully functional shows with no limitations except that it is limited to one scanner, one target world (adjustment to where you projector projects within its potential range) and one optimization set (scanner speed and other projector specific adjustments). Although you are limited to one unique timeline, there are no limitations on color pallets or anything else, so your one scanner show can be as complicated and robust as you'd like. Most people with a single projector probably don't need more than this version to create their first shows.

Basic introduces the ability to have two unique projector shows with additional projector specific tweaks, and provides the full 3D graphics editor (PicEdit).

Pro expands your unique simultaneous timelines to 8, allows you to create use many more of target worlds and optimization sets and has tons of bonus items. Details are contained here: https://innolasers.com/shop/index.ph...roller=product

Because the cost is so low for each version compared to other high-end laser software packages, most of the LSX users advise to just start with Basic and upgrade to Pro when/if you want to make complicated beam shows or want some of the other additional features. Personally, I started with Pro and was pleased that I did so.

-David
10-07-2015, 12:50
colouredmirrorball

I would always advice Basic over Lite because of the midi support. If you are never going to get a second projector and never going to do live shows then Lite will be good enough but I find a midi controller indispensable for live shows (or in my case, the ability to send midi from Processing to LSX).
09-29-2016, 14:21
dkumpula

It lists them on the Innolaser website. Riya and Etherdream are the most popular.

David
09-29-2016, 14:21
swamidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by king4quarter

Ok I see it looks like analogue...but what about the DAC?

Cheers

from the website: Supported DACs: RIYA, Moncha, Fiesta, Easylase, Netlase, LDS, OLSD, QM2K, Lumax, Mamba, EtherDream

https://innolasers.com/shop/index.ph...roller=product
09-29-2016, 15:16
colouredmirrorball

Riya is the cheapest from the lot.
09-29-2016, 18:50
swamidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by king4quarter

just stumbled across dr.Lava's website, think Ill get it all from him

Cheers for the help :)

stumbled??

the link i posted *is* dr.lava's website. ;)
09-30-2016, 02:03
colouredmirrorball

That's his old website that he just copied onto his new website. I'm not sure if it is still up to date with respect to prices and stock availability...
09-30-2016, 05:21
colouredmirrorball

Check also here: http://www.illumn.com/laser-componen...laser-dac.html
11-30-2017, 14:57
Yarkus

Does anyone know if it is possible to send laser animation from LSX to visualizer like Lightconverce, Vizualizer, Polar etc. ?
02-22-2018, 20:45
drmbt

Does anyone know if its possible to A) retrieve the the data as Audio, or B) route the information to a program like TouchDesigner and serve the LSX information to a DAC from there? Does anyone with any experience in TouchDesigner use LSX? Thanks
02-23-2018, 04:25
dkumpula

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yarkus

Does anyone know if it is possible to send laser animation from LSX to visualizer like Lightconverce, Vizualizer, Polar etc. ?

I am reasonably sure the answer to this is no, but you can ask the DrLava, the author of LSX.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmbt

Does anyone know if its possible to A) retrieve the the data as Audio, or B) route the information to a program like TouchDesigner and serve the LSX information to a DAC from there? Does anyone with any experience in TouchDesigner use LSX? Thanks

Regarding (a), retrieve what data as audio?

Regarding (b), can't you just communicate to Touchdesigner with OSC? Personally, I've never used OSC with LSX but the features listed with LSX include:
"Live touch-screen lasershow control also with OSC and MIDI control surface input"
"Full OSC control of every aspect of animation - control laser shows with hardware control surfaces and even your pad"

Furthermore, I think the EtherDream DAC is also OSC compatible. J4cbo on this forum (the creator of the Etherdream) would be able to address that question in detail. I'm not sure if that addresses what you want to accomplish, however.

Other LSX questions can be addressed to DrLava or you can try asking on the PhotonLexicon chat room, although don't expect an immediate response in an IRC space. (Lots of people come in and ask a question and leave 2 minutes after receiving no response.)

-David
02-23-2018, 08:22
drmbt

The use case is that I'm actually interested in recording and sampling the audio that would result from playing the X and Y frequencies through the left and right channel of a speaker system. This would result in some very dense noise, but treated properly, could be listenable. I've been working with oscilloscopes and oscilloscope music (google it if you aren't familiar), some samples of the kinds of tests I've been doing can be found at instagram.com/drmbt . I know LSX can receive OSC, can it send it too? I'm not sure with the sample rate of an OSC float is, but it would theoretically need to be up to 40,000 hz if I'm recording that data from what the laser is sending. I'll try hitting up DrLava, thanks!
02-23-2018, 09:01
colouredmirrorball

No, LSX can't send OSC out. It can receive frames over OSC but not the other way round.

To capture frames generated by LSX you can:

* Capture the analog signal generated by the DAC and send it back to your own software via a sound card (easiest way)

* Rewrite a software driver for a DAC so it sends the frames to Touchdesigner instead of a laser DAC (or both)

* Record the outgoing Ilda frames to disk and convert them later, this is not real time

Some people have done what you want but in a different way. The most used approach here is to generate analog audio signals with a synth and send them to both the scanners and audio system. The challenge here is that the audio needs to be carefully generated as to not damage the scanners. This'll be your main limitation whichever route you go: a scanner is limited to 30 000 points per second, and each point can only be some small distance (= galvo rotation angle) apart. 1 kHz waves would already be pushing it. Oscilloscopes don't have this problem as there are no mechanical moving parts. So whatever sound you end up generating will be pretty bassy.
02-23-2018, 09:21
drmbt

My answer to this so far has been to create the music I want for an oscilloscope, and then filter an aux feed that is going to touch designer with a severe LPF around 3khz. Obviously what I'm sending to a laser is a much loser resolution/complexity than what I can do with an oscilloscope, but something is better than nothing. Part of why I find LSX to be interesting for this is the ability to create animations that are already optimized for the laser, and if I can get them back as audio I'll have cut out the need to filter something.

Can you further elaborate on how I would capture the analog signal from the DAC? Would this involve going ILDA out from my EtherDream and converting the other end of that to 1/4", RCA, XLR or something similar and recording it as audio? This would probably accomplish what I want, although the ability to keep it real time by just routing this information as audio over SoundFlower, Loopback audio or some other audio stream sharing protocol would be ideal.
02-23-2018, 14:18
colouredmirrorball

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmbt

Would this involve going ILDA out from my EtherDream and converting the other end of that to 1/4", RCA, XLR or something similar and recording it as audio?

Something like that, yes. I haven't done anything like that myself so I don't know if there are any caveats. However, using a sound card as a laser DAC used to be popular in the hobbyist scene. So there is some knowledge around in this area. In the past ADAT tapes were commonly used to capture laser shows. PL users "DZ" and "James" are far more knowledgeable about this subject.
02-23-2018, 16:00
swamidog

right.. you basically need to resample the ILDA stream with some speciality hardware.

you can use a modified adat
or a modified echo layla 24/96

or some of the awesome little widgets that DZ makes:

http://www.aldebaran-systems.com/I2AC.htm

i recommend this one: http://www.aldebaran-systems.com/WaveUSB.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by colouredmirrorball

Something like that, yes. I haven't done anything like that myself so I don't know if there are any caveats. However, using a sound card as a laser DAC used to be popular in the hobbyist scene. So there is some knowledge around in this area. In the past ADAT tapes were commonly used to capture laser shows. PL users "DZ" and "James" are far more knowledgeable about this subject.
02-24-2018, 16:27
drmbt

These look like they are probably what I need, although its hard to believe that in 2018 there isn't a completely software capable way of saving this data in the box. Is there no software solution for recording one's show? I come from the video and audio world, and it seems like these things have been around forever over there...
02-24-2018, 18:41
swamidog

you'd have to emulate a dac in software. i'm sure it could be done, but there's been no practical need to drive the development.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmbt

These look like they are probably what I need, although its hard to believe that in 2018 there isn't a completely software capable way of saving this data in the box. Is there no software solution for recording one's show? I come from the video and audio world, and it seems like these things have been around forever over there...
02-10-2022, 08:48
SnacksDaily

Capturing AVI from timeline

Hi all,

I am trying to capture a video export of a timeline animation. Currently, the option to do so is greyed out. Any suggestions?
02-10-2022, 09:01
swamidog

Hi Snacks,

I'm the one who made that animation. Please work with me and the emails that I've been sending.

-Christopher

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnacksDaily

Hi all,

I am trying to capture a video export of my timeline animation. Currently, the option to do so is greyed out. Any suggestions?
02-11-2022, 07:32
james

LaserBoy can export directories full of numbered bitmap files. Then ffmpeg can compile them into a video.

https://laserboy.org/mp4

James.
09-10-2022, 00:14
Eu1eOne

WTB LSX

Where can i buy LSX ? The website Looks dead to me.
01-17-2023, 18:08
Cassy0110

If you studied by video, please send the links, I want to watch
01-17-2023, 20:30
Guido

Show Recording

Hello,

to record and play the ILDA Output there are several Ways.
IDN StageFeed/StageMade is a combination of Boxes to convert the ILDA Output to a Wavestream, send it via Network
and convert it back to ILDA. This Stream can be recorded.

There is also AVB in the professional Area. Lasersoftware like Sollinger´s DSP can convert XYRGB to a 5-Channel Audio.
There is an Box like a virtual Soundcard which you can feed with several of theese Streams. Because Transport via LAN is
on Layer 2 you have no Access direct via Windows. AVB LAN Switches are also very expensive but a.e. you can reserve Bandwidth.
On the other Side there are AVB to ILDA Converter.
02-04-2023, 08:47
nuphotonix

LSX update?

After Covid, and 3 years of surgery recovery.. It seems im still alive... Updating my LSX pro and cant find if there is an update file.. Any leads on that?