Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Add more cue slots to a page in BEYOND?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Add more cue slots to a page in BEYOND?

    I'm trying to add a bunch of different cues onto one page so that Virtual LJ can play them and have ran out of space, specifically just the Boxes labelled QWERTY through to /.


    I've spent some time going through it and I can't seem to:


    A) Get Virtual LJ to play from multiple pages


    B) Create more cue space within a page so that Virtual LJ can play from a "big" page of cues.


    Is there an easy way to achieve what I am trying here? I feel like I'm missing something obvious. I posted this initially to Pangolin directly but it seems a desert over there. Thanks for any help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Posts
    439

    Default

    Settings->Configuration->Grid

    Set grid to whatever size you like (up to 10x10)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default

    You're a star thank you mate.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    The solution to A) is you need to set VLJ (right click over button) to "Trigger on Any Page Selected by the User".

    Not in any way saying this is you, but many people fail to read that carefully, and fail to realise that you can't get VLJ to just select pages by itself (I rather suspect that it's a safety feature to prevent static patterns and / or hot beams from being projected into an audience in circumstances where the laser hasn't been set up to accommodate those safely).

    So with the above VLJ option selected, you can get VLJ to select from any page, but you as the user have to change the page manually. VLJ will select the cues on the currently (manually) selected page according to it's preset criteria ie linear or random. You just click the page tab, VLJ will select the cues, to change page just click a new tab and let VLJ do the rest (don't click a cue).

    Now if you want more control and want VLJ to run automatically from pre-determined pages, then it can be done in Beyond, but you have to use Pangoscript. Using the latter allows you to specify exactly which pages VLJ should select from in a linear selection. I have written a script for this and will post it once I've made some amendments.
    Last edited by White-Light; 07-05-2015 at 14:05.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    Ok here's the script I created. Make sure you read the notes before using as they contain WARNINGS as well as information.

    NOTES:

    1. The Script automatically ENABLES LASER OUTPUT - there's an assumption here that you want instantaneous output and that your laser has been set up safely. If any one of these things isn't true, then you need to delete the line "EnableLaserOutput".

    2. There's an assumption your pages are named the same as mine. You need to check and amend any names that don't match or names that may lead to the display of inappropriate content for the way your laser has been set up (ie dangerous cues / dangerous cue types for your setup)

    3. The sleep time here is set to 13714 milliseconds. The reason for this was because I wanted 1 cue to display from each page per cycle and the bpm was set to 140bpm on internal timer and cue to change every 32 beats (VLJ settings need to be made in VLJ as Pangoscript doesn't currently support scripting the settings). I was pleased for the cycle time between page changes to be around 13-14 seconds as it enables enough time to take in the cue. You may want faster or slower changing. The maths is:

    140bpm / (change every) 32 beats = 4.375 cues displayed per minute.

    Duration of each cue therefore is 60 seconds (1 minute) / 4.375 = 13.714 seconds

    Therefore by setting a sleep time of 13714 milliseconds between page changes, only 1 cue is displayed per page.

    If you wanted to alter this, it's easy to either adjust the sleep duration eg to allow for 2 cues to display per page for 13714 milliseconds each, it would be 13714 * 2 = 27428 OR you could keep the sleep time (page duration) the same and set the cue to change every 16 beats thus halving the duration of each cue and allowing 2 cues to be selected in the same page time frame.

    If you wanted pages to change faster then you could reduce the sleep time eg for page changes every 7 or so secs in the original 1 cue per page example, you would use 13714 / 2 = 6857 milliseconds. However, unless you wanted each cue to be selected from every other page, then you'd also need to 1/2 the cure duration so eg set VLJ to change cue every 16 beats 140/16 = 8.75. 60/8.75 = every 6.857 secs, the same as the page.

    If you use a different bpm rate, because you listen to a different type of music, then the calculation needs to be made on the bpm rate you use.

    4. This script is used at your own risk. It's up to you to check it and what I've said above, for errors, safety etc before deploying it.


    VirtualLJ On
    CodeName "VLJ Main Atmospheric Pages"
    // Autostart
    EnableLaserOutput
    SelectTabName "Atmospherics"
    MyVariables: SelectPageName "Sheets"
    Sleep 13714
    SelectPageName "Cones"
    Sleep 13714
    SelectPageName "Waves"
    Sleep 13714
    SelectPageName "Boxes"
    Sleep 13714
    SelectPageName "Fans of Beams"
    Sleep 13714
    SelectPageName "Mixed 1"
    Sleep 13714
    SelectPageName "Mixed 2"
    Sleep 13714
    StopOnBlackout On
    goto MyVariables
    Last edited by White-Light; 07-05-2015 at 15:35.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    BTW if you don't know how to implement the script, do this:

    Go to Pangoscript (Tab in Live Control Area).

    Select New Script (White Page Symbol at top left of pangoscript window).

    A box containing a new script should pop up.

    Delete all the existing text out of the box.

    Copy and paste the above script into the box then click OK.

    You can now run / stop the script by clicking on it in the pangoscript window. Pressing Blackout will also stop the script.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

    Default

    Thanks for posting this, White-Light. I wanted this functionality as well, and now I have an excuse to start dabbling in PangoScript.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    Glad you found it helpful Bungy.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default

    White light that is amazing thank you. I was aware of "playing selected pages" but assumed that I could group select the pages like in just about any other piece of software; anywhere. Seems not . At any rate you did one better and introduced me nicely into scripting. Legend.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    Yep you can't currently select randomly from a list of pages. It's either manual or from a scripted list which then runs in the order they're scripted to be selected from.

    I have suggested to Pangolin that random selection from a list would be helpful, so we'll have to wait and see if it it's feasible on the programming side and if demand is deemed high enough to make it worth including.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •