pallette

[strand600X]

 

Hi All

 

I am trying to convert strand ssf files to pallette spf files

according to what I have read it can be done

but I don't seem to be able to do it

has anyone done it ?

can you help

thanx

 

baz

 

opera north

:wacko:

[eamon]

HI baz

 

you are not currently able to convert ssf to spf. Strand have not yet got over that bug. They are still looking at what to do with the mover and other "advanced" show information. In fairness a cumbersmome task. Having to make sense of large groups/macros and put them into logic that the pallete understands is not something for the faint hearted.

The cues etc would transfer over normally but until that solution opportunity is workable I don't think they are releasing the ability to convert shows to spf.

 

Also (at the moment) you can only import the full show. There is not an option to import parts of a show.

 

This could have all changed since I last spoke to some one about this but this seems to be the reasoning.

 

 

I must say the new desks are pretty fanstastic. Had a demo when they were launched in Dublin last month. Want 4 of them and that is just for my bedroom!!

 

hope that helps

[gareth]

Well, that's a great pity - I was under the impression that the new Palettes could import showfiles from old 500-series intact. Apparently not, and I think that's going to dissuade an awful lot of people from taking the plunge (until they can sort it out). I'm trying to get my "man from Strand" to bring us a Palette to have a play with - but the trouble is, I just know that one of the very first things my boss will do is give him a disk of one of our current show files and ask him to load it into the Palette .... when the response is "I can't", it doesn't matter how much 'wow factor' the rest of the demo contains, he'll have blown it.

[eamon]

In defence of Strand, the new desks are in their infancy. In my opinion they would convert the show straight off if possible with ye olde/newe showport etc. I am no computer programmer here but with the larger shows there are still bugs to be worked out. it was said that this was not far off & in fairness I do believe it. Ireland has started to inherit a large amount of new palettes and this will/would proove a great annoyance forthwith especially with ETC desks out there.

Not underestimating the value of the local retailer/users of strand, but to release versions of the software that converted/not converted the full shows of ssf range earlier than anticpated would probably result in more bugs than we could count.

 

Although I think the 500 range of desks are without doubt my favourites, I am very much looking forward to getting into the pallete. I have a 520i and do not wish to replace it but the palette VL has started to pull my attention. Still early days but am all there. I do think that when they sort out the issue of ssf v spf, it will lift the bar in what we want from "control" desks. especially in the era of multi-tasking & media control & theatre.

 

 

and to think I sacrificed a classic palette to allow for a new sound system!!!!! ;) :blink: :blink:

 

what was I thinking!?!!?!?

 

 

eamon

[strand600X]

Thank you for all your help boys

Im with Gareth though. We are about to buy two desks one for us to tour and use in the main house and one in a rehersal studio and until they sort out the issues with show disks it looks like it's going to be the congo and the congo jr which is a great shame. I have been a strand man for 25 years now.

[paulears]

Blown it does seem apt.

 

FOr many people with 300/500 series controls waiting to upgrade, there was a difficult choice. Go for something totally new from the other manufacturers, or stick with a product that is a simple upgrade path, and as Gareth says, you just save the show, say goodby to the 500 and load it into the the pallette, and carry on - learning the new syntax and method as you go. This, for many is the key selling feature - a seamless transition fro old to new. Without this, the new Strand offering is a totally new product - and if you want a totally new one, then the choice is quite wide. All the blurb I've seen suggests that it can read the old .ssf files - if it can read them but not comprehend them, that is somewhat pointless. I can't imagine a unique selling point being "It can read your old show disks and will make sense of some of them".

 

I don't accept that writing the code is difficult. I can't do it, but I'm not a programmer. The person who decided to make the thing read .ssf files should simply have done it properly. After all, people re-write or write new software every week - look at the speed of new driver production for the new Microsoft offering.

[mpjones]

Writing code is easy, making it work to a show safe standard is far far harder.

Most lighting desks through history have taken 2 years to evolve into some thing most users would be happy with.

 

The strand software and its ssf files have been around for a long time, for them to move forward and compete against the likes of the Grand MA and the Congo, plus the slow change in how operators want to input information has ment that they will have had to start from scratch probably for the long term good of all you strand operators out there,

 

so its not just a matter of reading the file, its about translating it, and making sure that it does so 100 percent right every time.

 

I congo does have a very different syntax to the strand and would take some time to make a transition, what I would say is that any one who buys a desk less than 2 years old is acting as sort of beta tester.

[b1nuzz]

Everyone is being too fast to judge.

 

yes at the moment you are correct, the show files wont cross between the two desks. Infact, the pallette just crashes when you try to do it.

 

But hardly anyone has the desk yet and the people who do, are touring shows mainly who are programming from scratch. Strand say that they are working on making the files convert properly, but it is taking longer than they had hoped.

 

But the story is, they are trying to make it work, and soon enough, im sure it will work.

[strand600X]

I have no doubt your right but the question has to be how long do we wait

until they get it right or until we can't repair or current desks or until we fall way behind the technology

I'd love them to say tomorrow, that the problem is solved but it aint going to happen. ;) so do we wait 6 months, a year?????

Baz

[heffie512]

In North America ETC has released EOS check it out at the North American ETC web site.

 

http://www.etcconnect.com/

 

 

It is on my list of lighting consoles to look at.

 

 

The pallet GUI is very nice. . .

 

But I can understand your frustration about unfinished software features.

 

 

It seems that Strand is taking the Martin Maxxyz way of developing a lighting console.

[strand600X]

a bit of heart warming news. I have it on good authority that there is a beta version of the file conversion. the bit they are working on is the DMX values for the moving lights to the abstract that the pallette needs. So maybe it is worth waiting for

Baz

:)

It makes me smile

[JMC]

The pallet GUI is very nice. . .

 

YYyyyeeeuuchh... IMO it's horrible... lacks finesse... Graphics looks like they were knocked up in MS Paint.