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Thread: how to make ild laser shows?

  1. #1
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    Talking how to make ild laser shows?

    hi everyone

    im a new member of photolexicon and have got alot of advice from here already.
    just to introduce myself i started out wanting to be a lighting engineer but never managed to get trained in it. i then started working with a mobile dj and bought a substantial amount of dmx lighting. including yokes scanners and moonflower effects. i then bought my first laser which was a 5mw chauvet laser. this was not very powerful at all and im was slightly disappointed. after using it for a while i got bored and wanted something alot more powerful. i then bought a red and green sik 4 head system with combined power of 260mw.
    i was very impressed at first but slowly got bored of it as all the patterns were a bit the same. then i bought a set of 4 shinp dl11 50mw lasers and these are great for adding to other more controlled laser effect but on there own are not fantastic as they use stepper motors.
    i then decided to go all out and buy a big dipper f2000 rgb 10k scanner 400mw combined laser. i was amazed with it but its just not bright enough the green is ok but the red is very dim as so is the blue.
    then i bought a me lighting 200mw green ilda laser and interface and absolutly love it its so contolled and as it has close to 30k scanners in them and are very bright (for what i need anyway) i like them so much i have bought another one.

    thats me and i hope thank anyone for there advice ahead of time.

    this is my question anyway

    i have started using a laser sofware called i show this used ild shows. i was looking for some advice on how to create a laser show as i am finding it very hard to do very simple ones.
    i need a tutorial of how to do this and any ways to make it easier to do this.
    i am wondering if every frame has to be drawn cause i want to make 3-4 minute shows and drawing every frame will take me about 10 years to this. pls help me

    thanks in advance

  2. #2
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    Hi. I started writing my Spaghetti software because I wanted to make shows without having to draw a bunch of frames. My idea was to use free ILDA files that I found on the internet and apply effects to them so that they aren't so boring. I ended up with an application with a single layer time line that I could drag ILDA files onto. I could make them spin in any direction at any speed. It was easy to synchornize to music because I made it create markers when I hit a button as the music played. My first synchronized show took only about 30 minutes to make. It was not a very fancy show but it amazed my friends. Later, I decided to do more work on my application and I made the timeline have an unlimited number of layers and added new effects and other features. That is where it is now.

    Anyway, to answer your question. If you want to make your own animations then yes you need to draw all the frames. But, if you want to make fast shows you can do it like I did and just use existing animations or frames and apply effects to them.

    Creating laser shows can be as simple or as time consuming as you make it.

  3. #3
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    thanks alot mate
    do you know of any sources to get frames from except for on here
    thank you

  4. #4
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    This website has an FTP site with a bunch of ILDA files on it. Otherwise, it is hard to find ILDA files that are any good.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by oliverst14@hotmail.com View Post
    ...
    i have started using a laser sofware called i show this used ild shows. i was looking for some advice on how to create a laser show as i am finding it very hard to do very simple ones.
    i need a tutorial of how to do this and any ways to make it easier to do this.
    i am wondering if every frame has to be drawn cause i want to make 3-4 minute shows and drawing every frame will take me about 10 years to this. pls help me

    thanks in advance
    Yep afraid so, every frame has to be drawn and as you have found out there is no morphing of any kind. The resize function is a complete joke as it uses the most awkward control I have every come across. I asked my supplier if he could talk to the developers about changing it to a box that was same size as the object selected with handles so you could stretch it as per other graphic programs. The reply I got from th developer via my supplier was that the Pangolin software does not have this so we can't be bothered. I can't comment if the Pangolin software has that feature or not as I don't have it.
    Th iShow software is truly awful for doing anything at all.

    I now use Mamba Black to create my shows, but for some reason I cannot get an .ild file out of it that contains all of the show. For me it just creates an .ild file that contains only the frames I have created and not what has been done on the timeline with the morphing etc.

    I will get some version of the Pangolin software/hardware and an FB3 or 2 in the future when pennies allow, as this seems to be the mutts nuts.

    Onge

  6. #6
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    If you can get an ILD file out of Mamba with all the frames you can put them together in Spaghetti and then create a single ILDA file for the entire show. It kind of sucks that you would have to do that but it will work. I have done it before with other shows and it doesn't take to long once you figure out how to do it.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by carmangary View Post
    If you can get an ILD file out of Mamba with all the frames you can put them together in Spaghetti and then create a single ILDA file for the entire show. It kind of sucks that you would have to do that but it will work. I have done it before with other shows and it doesn't take to long once you figure out how to do it.
    I was trying to say that all the work done on the timeline in Mamba Black does not save to the .ild file, on my system, someone else said it does on theirs. The version I have is higher than the update patch on the Medialas website as well.
    For example I create 1 frame that is just a line. On the timeline I can use it control panel to make it spin around 360 degrees and tel it how long it should take. It creates all the frames for that on the timeline and it plays back fine. Save it as and .ild file and all I get is the 1 frame that I created.
    So even with Mamba Black to get an .ild file I would have to create each frame for each step that I want to display.

    All I want is a pices of software that will allow me to create simply objects and then manipulate them via some kind of morphing to create patterns, movement etc and then be able to save that as an .ild file so I can then save them to an SD card and then put it into my DMX/ILDA interface and be able to call up the laser shows from my DMX lighting console.
    I am no graphics expert in anyway shape or form can do simply objects and trace around things.
    Everything I have tried so far just does not cut the mustard and until I can afford the Pangolin hardware/software and an FB3 I cannot find an easy way to do this.

    Onge

  8. #8
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    Spaghetti lets you do just that! It has a time line and you can add frames to it and manipulate them. When you are done you can save the entire timeline to a giant ilda file. You should try it. It's free. I'll help you with any questions.

  9. #9
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    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by Onge View Post
    For example I create 1 frame that is just a line. On the timeline I can use it control panel to make it spin around 360 degrees and tel it how long it should take. It creates all the frames for that on the timeline and it plays back fine. Save it as and .ild file and all I get is the 1 frame that I created.
    Did you just save the show, or did you click the "output show as ILDA" button? They do different things, you know.

    Saving the show will save the timeline data in one file, and the frame data (just the initial framesets) in another file.

    Outputting the show as ILDA will save a stream of frames that lasts as long as the show does. You end up with one *huge* honkin' ILDA file.

    Adam

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by buffo View Post
    Did you just save the show, or did you click the "output show as ILDA" button? They do different things, you know.

    Saving the show will save the timeline data in one file, and the frame data (just the initial framesets) in another file.

    Outputting the show as ILDA will save a stream of frames that lasts as long as the show does. You end up with one *huge* honkin' ILDA file.

    Adam
    Hi Adam,

    Yeah I am aware of the differences and I do output as ILDA, what ever option I try and output it too I just get the frames I have created, not a huge ILDA file.
    If I save as a show then that is fine I can load it back and play it again, just can not get a full ILDA file.

    I have just done a simple test again. A single blue line in one frame. Then using the timeline have rotated it aroun 180 degrees over 20 seconds.
    Saved the show and reloaded it, nothing just an empty timeline and an empty framelist, tried loading the framlist and the program crashes.
    Tried again did same thing but before reloading show, I saved output to a file as ilda 256 colors (default for Avatar) (*.ild) and ilda RGB (16 mio. colors) (*.ild). Closed program and restarted. Checked to see the size of the files, the 256 color one is just 1mb, the RGB 26 million color one is 1.5mb. Tried to open as a "Show from ILDA framlist" and got something that is over a minute long but all frames are empty. Tried to open framlist and I get 416 frames of nothing. It will then crash.

    So you can understand that I am a little mythed by all of this.

    Thanks everyone who has tried to help, I think I will have to email Medialas.

    Onge

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