I may not make it through this season ( RGB's )

[Livermore-Dad]

So last year was my first show, 36+ channels, and was able to do some chasing, fades, make the house dance a bit and while it as certainly time consuming, I felt I was making progress and things were progressing. I did 7 songs I think.

This year I've got the tools to do RGB's but I'll tell you what, I'm not having fun. Vixen as I've commented elsewhere in it's current state doesn't seem to be very user friendly when dealing with RGB's (the plugin is meh).. LSP has many more tools but it is giving me such a fit to get basic stuff working, it's not a very friendly tool, unlike Vixen.

I'm starting to get that dreaded feeling, like oh crap, this is not going to work, what have I done...

Just a rant, looking for support: ) I know this will take much more patience, but the end result should be better, but at this time it's starting to feel like too much, kind of stalling here.

Tory

[kychristmas]

Been there. Pick a goal you can reach, get your display up and then add things if you can. I decided a long time ago, if I don't enjoy it, its not worth it. My display changed a bit between Nov 27th and Dec 10th last year. Nothing wrong with that.

[Skunberg]

Put off the RGB till next year. I know you have plenty to keep yourself busy without it. Plus it'll give the RGB field more time to mature, just like it has the last two years. It's just exploding and everything about it gets easyier every year. And it won't hurt that your experience will have grown and your time frame takes the pressure off.
I'm still waiting on them.

Brian

[Matt_Edwards]

no doubt about RGBs a wonderful devices but damn complecated to program in Vixen.
Try this:
Treat each colour as a separate lamp. sort your channel layout so all the REDs are together, the BLUEs are together and the GREENs are together. You will be amased at how good is looks just programming in a single colour.
mix things around by changing colours for different lines or versus, etc.
Random effect is easy to use but make sure you don't use 100% intensity, try 40% as the maximum.

As has already been stated, pick an achievable goal and make it happen, then do another, and another etc.

[djulien]

There are some threads with descriptions of additional tools to make RGB life a little easier. Depending on the props you have and effects that you want, those might help.

don

[griffixdc]

haha bud, you will do fine you just have a lot on your plate especially with your home repair :) ... find a similar goal and make it wonderful. allow your self more time to not stress and concentrate on finer details that will usually bug once its too late or more stressful.

...i have been programming the same stupid song now for 4 weeks, i am about 2 weeks behind my goal on that song, but i will make it happen and that's the type of motivation you have to keep it going! good luck and if you need any help you know who to ask :)

[toodle_pipsky]

First year I was frantic because I set the bar too high. The funny thing was I was the only one who thought my display was hopeless - everone else was just blown away with what I had done. Same thing has happened each year, you become your own worst critic. Since the family love the display I've gained helpers too so that goes a long way to reaching my goals. Just remember no matter what you get to put out everyone will enjoy, hopefully you'll get to enjoy it with them. :D When I'm feeling pushed I just chuck together 2 sequences to songs that I can always use as a "backup". They aren't really in time to the music, but at least it's blinky time filled in with music and they are my fall back if my proper sequences don't work or aren't ready to air. Again, no one else really cares that they aren't your "real" sequences, they will just be impressed by all your lights! Good luck and I hope you can find the fun in your lights!

[DIY Sparks]

Dread, pressure, and having "no fun" makes a lousy hobby. Livermore, read your own post as if someone else had written it, and think of the advice and support YOU'D give.
From your other posts, I judge you are a smart person and know how to handle this.

[Livermore-Dad]

Dread, pressure, and having "no fun" makes a lousy hobby. Livermore, read your own post as if someone else had written it, and think of the advice and support YOU'D give.
From your other posts, I judge you are a smart person and know how to handle this.

Yes you and everyone else is right. I'm just used to making forward progress and I hit a wall, kind of hard (so it felt):))) I usually don't rant but figured I would get some good advice and a few slaps, so all were welcome.

I made some progress thanks to some ideas in here. I went outside of vixen and did some quick work to break my roof line 189 channels, into 3 groups, Red, Green, Blue and have them totally separated in my latest vix. So I'll create other channel orders (I guess), that will make it easier to do things that I want to do.

I'm beyond doing any type of reorders in Vixen. I will just do it with scripts in the back end and reinsert into my vix files. Way too many channels to do anything with point and click.

so I made some progress and will continue with the help fo the forum!

And smart? Your either being kind, or I've got you fooled :) hahahaha thanks :)

Tory

[Livermore-Dad]

Update I'm making progress. Due to some smarts on this board, I'm making progress. Thanks to Grid Editor, it really does help in adding pixels to one's display. It adds color to the channel for visuals etc. So I'm making forward progress with Vixen.

[chesterspot]

I'm in the same boat but for different reasons. School and work have be stressed out. Getting blinky flashy up is just another to do, or thats how it feels. But it's the little things. I got all new controllers this year and had big plans but currently I'm just re-sequencing last years show for the new channels. Stay positive. Remember that no one truly knows how much effort goes into these things and that we are the 1% of people who put up Christmas lights. Last year everyone told me that it was awesome and I said, "Yea, but it doesn't dim, this sequence is off a bit..."

Just remember that if it feels like just a job then you need to step back and re-evaluate your view of this hobby. (I'm talking more to myself than anyone...)

[erm213]

You can try this plugin as well:

http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?15859-Vixen-Display-Visualizer

Erik