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Automated Sequencing: The Easy Button for Animated Displays. Alan Sielbeck – Lipton Lights. Who Are You? Why do I care?. Owner of Safe Network Solutions IT Background Seek repeatable, teachable processes Can we replace manual efforts with automated ones? Video Editing / Audio background
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Automated Sequencing:The Easy Button forAnimated Displays Alan Sielbeck – Lipton Lights
Who Are You? Why do I care? • Owner of Safe Network Solutions • IT Background • Seek repeatable, teachable processes • Can we replace manual efforts with automated ones? • Video Editing / Audio background • Started mixing sound at church when I was 10 (1989ish) • Worked with NLE systems since 1997
So show me this video… • http://www.liptonlights.com/Pages/2011TechnicalVids.aspx
IT Dork, Have you even made a display? • First display in 2008 – 32 channels • Found lots of frustration with current solutions – Used LOR initially • Lots of things missing in light animation that have existed for years in NLE • Display in 2009 was “Holdman Enhanced” – 224 channels? • Display in 2010 was my last non-pixel-based show – 256 channels? • 2011 was 4,166 channels and I was in TROUBLE!
Why go to automated processes? • As channel counts grow, available time does not • Current sequencing techniques do NOT scale • Practical limit of < 1,024 channels prior to pixel based lighting?? • Display size is generally linear in terms of time to sequence…
Why go to automated processes? • I found when sequencing using traditional methods, the following formula held true: • seconds X channels = time to sequence • 3 minute song is 180 seconds • Show with 256 channels is 46,080 seconds to complete (12.8 hours) • I jumped from 256 to 4,166 channels when I moved to pixel-based display elements
Not a perfect solution… • Even with the advanced editing features of LSP… • LSP is being aggressively developed – there are occasional hiccups • I struggled with copy and paste with HIGH channel counts • Even the advanced features cannot overcome thousands of channels • I found that automating video to the LSP timeline was INCREDIBLY powerful and REPEATABLE!
What’s Needed? • Light Show Pro ($79? REQUIRED) • Video Editing Software (I used Vegas) ($79?) • Audio editing software (NOT required, but HIGHLY recommended) Audacity $0, Sound Forge $59? • Divx Pro (Not required, but HIGHLY recommended) ($30?) • Xlights (Free) • Creativity (luckily Vegas Video can help!) ** Audio editing – 8 of my 10 songs were shortened to run 2 – 3 minutes on average. Most audience members would prefer a couple minutes of each song, and you’re probably tired of editing that 5 minute song at the 3 minute mark!
Come on, what are the pitfalls? • The latest version of LSP can still struggle with large shows and LOTS of timing marks • There are workarounds – myself and others can help • Don’t be afraid to push the envelope • Grouped pixels for SSCs will help GREATLY • LSP will sometimes use funny math if you aren’t careful with your transition settings • Verify your video frame count / transition frame count • Make sure transitions start at the VERY beginning of your sequence if piecing together multiple sequence files to one Xlights file • Make sure transitions start at the VERY end of the previous transition if you are not having to piece together multiple sequence files
Come on, what are the pitfalls? • LSP Transition Limitations: • 500 frames MAX – this means you’ll render multiple transition files for your video • The more timing marks, the longer the render will take (transition number 3 will take longer than number 2) • Match the number of frames in your source video to the transition!! • Learning video editing skills will take a little practice • No matter what, the quantity of channels can exceed design specifications of all editors, lsp included • Sequencing with video CAN be less precise
So that video earlier… not exactly Christmas Lights. • http://www.liptonlights.com/Pages/2011TechnicalVids.aspx
How do I do it? • Create custom Video(s) • Automate the video(s) to your LSP timeline • Splice the sequence files together (if necessary) • Playback / Export to Xlights / Conductor / LOR
Change Project Settings • Click Project • Click Properties • Video: 640 x 480 • Frame Rate: 20 • Field Order: None • Save the template
Ok, good start, but let’s soften the into… • The music sort of fades in / ramps up. • I like to match the visuals to the music… • We could just fade up the whole frame from black to simulate a smooth fade in of all colors
Let’s Soften the Intro… • Position Mouse at upper-left corner of meda • Click and drag to the right to fade in…
We’re cooking with Gas now… • We’ve created a 5 second clip we can use with animated clouds • The colors in use are black and white • The clouds fade at a moderate speed from the upper right to the bottom left • We’ve also added a fade-in to match the music • Let’s add that special something…
Let’s add something else… • Let’s add a burst of color on the drum hits • Let’s also have that color burst fade out very quickly
Select Sony Solid Color • Choose Red • Close the box
Position the color burst • The clip is 5 seconds – shorten it • Position to last for 1 drum hit…
Copy the color burst • Click on the first color clip and hit Ctrl-C • Click Cursor where you want to paste – Ctrl-V • Create a new copy of the source media
Adjust the color bursts… • Adjust duration • Add Fades…
The library is powerful… • Each piece of generated media we created has been added to our media library • We can copy and paste “new instances” of EVERYTHING • You don’t have to recreate those soft clouds from scratch • You can change the color combinations of your generated media for Brand New effects!
The library is powerful… • You can layer effects on top of each other… • There is a difference between “Black” and “Transparent” • What if your clouds were transparent with a Black Background? • Combine this with the solid colors we created earlier…
Transitions are powerful… • Consider using transitions to generate some truly complex patters • Take a simple solid color • Combine with a clock wipe • Generated effect could be a wipe that changes color in a circular pattern across your entire show…
A second look… • Watch the source video again • See how many of these effects you could create yourself after the short demo • Which effects are duplicated with only the colors modified? • Which effects do you think you could find in Vegas? • What do you think is the most challenging part? • (Hint, 100% of this video is done with generated effects in Vegas)
The Full Source Video… • This is not posted, but a link to the technical videos will show you the idea / source in a PIP window • http://www.liptonlights.com/Pages/2011TechnicalVids.aspx
Your masterpiece is complete in Vegas Video, now what??? • We need to render it into an LSP friendly format • Remember 500 frames MAX! • 450 frames is 30 seconds at 15 fps • I chose DIVX as this was the format of all of the other transition videos in LSP • Render it with the project frame size and speed
Let’s look at my render settings… • Note “Render loop region only is checked • We’re not saving any metadata • We don’t want to stretch the video…