Help Laser show software Medialas or laserworld ?

[heroic]

(the FB3)
It uses Compact Flash, but it might *also* use XD; I'm not sure about the latest revision of the controller. (There was some talk about adding XD support a while back - not sure what happened though.)

My FB3 seems to have a SmartMedia card in it... XD is, of course, the updated version of SmartMedia. I have no idea why it's not CompactFlash.

I don't really like the FB3, mostly because of the (still unresolved) stability problems I've had with it, but I have to admit that when it works, it works well. I just wish there was more openness- being able to run it on other software than Pangolin's would make me a lot happier.

[buffo]

My FB3 seems to have a SmartMedia card in it... XD is, of course, the updated version of SmartMedia. I have no idea why it's not CompactFlash.

Oops! Heroic, you are correct. It's SmartMedia, not Compact Flash. My mistake. (I get those two formats confused all the damn time! They look too much alike!)

I don't really like the FB3, mostly because of the (still unresolved) stability problems I've had with it, but I have to admit that when it works, it works well.

I think you need to mention that you're running it on a Mac under emulation. To the best of my knowledge no one else is having the same "stability" problems that you are when running it under Windows on native hardware.

In fact, if memory serves, Bill has been working on the specific issue that you were having for a couple weeks now. I seem to remember that the problem you were having is confined to the specific virtual machine software you were using. (One of the Pangolin employees had a Mac with the competing virtual machine software installed, and he couldn't replicate your problem on his machine.)

Have you tried installing that other virtual machine software yet to see if it solves your problem?

I just wish there was more openness- being able to run it on other software than Pangolin's would make me a lot happier.

Yeah, several users have asked for a software development kit to be released for the FB3. Bill has addressed this before. It's in the works, but it's not going to be anytime soon. (Only so many hours in the day and all.)

There is an SDK available for the QM-2000 board, but that's obviously a more expensive product.

Adam

[heroic]

I wasn't referring to the stability of the LiveQuick software under virtualization (which isn't, by the way, emulation). I also have some problems with stability with the FB3 running off DMX- no computer machine involved at all. It seems to crash when it encounters RFI transients on its power rail. I don't know why this is. There's plenty of decoupling on the board, as Bill has said- I think the FB3 and I are just never going to get along.

[buffo]

Hmmm... You must have bad karma then. Sacrifice an old HeNe laser to the gods (preferably by smashing it with a hammer) and you might regain their trust.

Adam

[highvolt]

My FB3 seems to have a SmartMedia card in it... XD is, of course, the updated version of SmartMedia. I have no idea why it's not CompactFlash.

I don't really like the FB3, mostly because of the (still unresolved) stability problems I've had with it, but I have to admit that when it works, it works well. I just wish there was more openness- being able to run it on other software than Pangolin's would make me a lot happier.

The only stability problem I had was my own d*mn fault. I mounted the FB3 right above the galvo PSU. Which, as you might guess get's seriously hot. The FB3 showed this to me by disconnecting itself softwarematically from the usb port. All this happened always after 15 minutes of operation It only needed to happen three times to give me a clue what the problem was.

I mounted the FB3 elsewhere, and it is rocksolid now.

If you are talking about unstability issues under vmware or some other non native windows environment, then you should be happy that it works *at all*

[Alsone]

You connect a computer to it via the USB cable and then use the LA Studio software to play shows. The frames are sent to the FB3 in real time via the USB cable. The FB3 converts the digital data to analog signals and sends them on to the projector (via the ILDA output port) in real time, just like every other controller on the market.

Ahhh, i didn't know it could do that. When it mentioned USB inputs on the FB3 Pangolin page I thought it was for loading shows into the flash memory. I thought that unless you used DMX, there was no external means of control and that it had to be standalone. It doesn't seem to mention laptop to FB3 control via USB: http://www.pangolin.com/flashback/flashback3.htm

An oversight by Pangolin's marketing department I think.

Provided USB is fast enough to handle all the commands I see no problem with that.

Good to know you can mount it externally as a control box as well. I presume you just run an ILDA cable from the box to the projector's ILDA in if you do it that way then?

BTW if you know Bill, ask him to consider swapping the memory to SDHC in a board revision - far more practical memory card format because of cost and capacity. XD is little used now.

[buffo]

It doesn't seem to mention laptop to FB3 control via USB: http://www.pangolin.com/flashback/flashback3.htm
An oversight by Pangolin's marketing department I think.

Hmmm... Good point. That web page could use some improvement - maybe Bill will add some more info about it when he revamps the page. (I know Pangolin recently updated their home page, maybe more pages will get the same treatment in the future...)

I presume you just run an ILDA cable from the box to the projector's ILDA in if you do it that way then?

Yup. That's what most people do.

BTW if you know Bill, ask him to consider swapping the memory to SDHC in a board revision - far more practical memory card format because of cost and capacity. XD is little used now.

Heh! We think alike! I actually asked Bill why he went with Smart Media for the FB3 instead of SD... This was about a year ago - maybe longer. Anyway, his answer was "license fees".

Evidently it's a lot more expensive to get a license for SD than for Smart Media. That's probably not much of an issue when you can spread the cost out over millions of cell phones or digital cameras, but the market for the FB3 is decidedly smaller, and apparently the license fees were significant enough that they decided to ditch SD in favor of the older Smart Media format.

Adam

[Alsone]

Heh! We think alike! I actually asked Bill why he went with Smart Media for the FB3 instead of SD... This was about a year ago - maybe longer. Anyway, his answer was "license fees".

Adam

That would explian things but maybe its time to revisit the issue. Practically everything uses SDHC now so presumably licensing may have changed in view of this. The board needs SD capacities.

[Stuka]

As a VERY happy Pangolin FB3 owner, I thought I'd chime in -

The FB3 is one incredibly capable card. The on-board memory is primarily used for storing frame files during stand-alone (non-computer) operation, using either a DMX controller to select & control frames (if you get the version with the DMX daughterboard), or running automatically from the frames stored in memory. The current version may already be using SD memory cards (might want to check with Pangolin to be sure), but even with just the one SmartMedia card that came with the version I own (bought in '07), lack of staorage is not an issue, since I use computer control for mine.

When using the card with a computer, controlled via the USB interface, you'll get virtually the same control of a connected projector that you would using a "professional" grade controller card. It supports all the primary ILDA connectivity and functions, including shutter operation, analog modulation of 3 lasers (RGB), and full X-Y scanner control. Images can be created, modified, and displayed on the fly. AND, the suite of free software available for the board is incredible: Abstract, Draw3D, LiveQ, LivePro, Showrider, and TraceIT, all released as versions to work specifically with the FB3. There are even plugins available to automatically sync beams and graphics with external audio sources!

As far as I'm concerned, you can't beat the board and software for the price, since you can get the full evalution kit (includes USB and DMX daughterboards) for less than $600. You won't get TTL & DMX control of additional devices using this card, but since it's geared towards the hobbyists you probably wouldn't need these functions anyway.

As mentioned previously, search the PL forums, and you'll find a LOT of info on the FB3!!

Randy

[pointless]

Hi There,

i'm looking to run an automated animation show from an SD card and currently looking at the Quickshow+FB3 with XD card option, i've downloaded the manual but i can't find out about these particular issues:

-how many frames can be stored on the XD card?
-can you save "quicktimeline" cues on the XD card?
-ie: is it possible to program a precise timeline cueing of a show with quickshow to be saved to the FB3's XD card and then triggered automatically on power on?

any pointers on where i can find more manuals/ tutorials about these functions and their limitations (lenght of show, number of slide, remote control of FB3)

thanks

david