strand and etc compatibility

[neilalexrose]

C:\shows is stored inside a virtual hard disk image (the freedos image). You can exit out to the command prompt from within qemu, then do the following:

 

c:
cd \shows
copy * d:\

 

 

Thansk Mac. I tried the code, but what is the * in the syntax? DOS doesn't recognise it (when I've got there coming out of the strand OLE). I've somehow managed to copy the contents of the D:\ drive to the virtual C:\shows folder! My DOS programming isn't great, so what am I missing?.

 

Thanks.

 

Neil

[mac.calder]

* normally acts as a wildcard for all files. It has been a while since I have worked in freedos' command line try

copy /?

 

That should print out the syntax that freedos' version of copy uses. There are a couple of other ways to perform the copy command - you could try these two:

 

c:
cd \
copy shows D:\

 

or

 

c:
cd \shows
copy .\* d:\

[themadhippy]

shouldn't it be

copy *.*

, as in copy all files with all extensions.

[Ynot]

shouldn't it be

copy *.*

, as in copy all files with all extensions.

Beat me to it.

DOS still likes to see the wildcard in the name AND extension...

[groggy]

Another thing to bear in mind is how light will react differently dependant on the venue and kit. I would assume if your not touring a desk then your not touring any lighting gear?

 

In my opinion knowing the show well and having a comprehensive cue / cheat sheet would as valuble as having a 'universal show file.'

 

I would consider a paper plot or story board of all the key states and work from that. Also download the manuals of the consoles you're not confident with.... If however it is a show which is too complicated to re plot in each venue. Then good luck with trying to convert show files!

[neilalexrose]

Another thing to bear in mind is how light will react differently dependant on the venue and kit. I would assume if your not touring a desk then your not touring any lighting gear?

 

In my opinion knowing the show well and having a comprehensive cue / cheat sheet would as valuble as having a 'universal show file.'

 

I would consider a paper plot or story board of all the key states and work from that. Also download the manuals of the consoles you're not confident with.... If however it is a show which is too complicated to re plot in each venue. Then good luck with trying to convert show files!

 

All of these points are very valid of course, and you are correct when you say that paperwork and pictures are vitally important. However in the world of one day up and in touring theatre, with possibly 100+ cues, and 60 units in your overhead rig to focus, and with current tallescope practices what they are across the country, the reality is you might get an hour at most to look at all the cues/update moving light groups before the cast are on stage to do their health and safety talk and familiarisation. I personally wouldn't want to be plotting from scratch on a busy day, when lots of other things can and will go wrong. Having the cues and cue list in the desk, are a small comfort, that even if you don't get the chance to fully look through the show before opening night, you know that the show will happen, albeit a bit rough around the edges, and you can look in more detail at the show during the notes session the next day.

 

Back on topic, I'm still struggling with the Strand OLE and the dos commands. Nothing seems to be copying to the fake D drive in the dos prompt. I'm actually convinced it has something to do with NTFS/FAT32, as when it boots up the software seems to be emulating a FAT32 partition. As I said my bootcamp partition (on my mac) is formatted to NTFS, which I don't think is helping. Also my USB stick shows up as an E drive in the OLE, but still can't write to it with the message "disk is write protected". My stick is FAT32.

 

Neil

[neilalexrose]

So update on all of my dealings with Mac.Calders WinXP OLE....... Well not a lot to update really, all of the DOS commands detailed above seemed to be working, but no files were turning up in the fake D drive folder on my hard drive. The QEMU image would say they were there when copying/overwriting etc, but they weren't visible to me. Long and the short, I could get files into the OLE, but not out again. Not much use if I want to work on a show file, and then load it into a console later.

So, no disrespect to Mac, I've given up on that one, and have just this minute managed to successfully load up a verion of the Strand 500 series OLE on my Mac, using Dosbox and the C5 (non I series) software from the strand website! I even have a show saved from the OLE in a folder on my mac, and I can see it! Still working through the quirks, like I've just dragged an existing show file into the folder, and the program hasn't picked it up yet, so forcing me to restart the whole shebang. But you can automate the Dosbox startup commands, and I have just automated the boot straight into the strand software. Exciting times ahead!

 

Should probably add that I had to use the C5 install as the CI install threw up some fatal memory errors when booting. I haven't delved further into dosbox to work out how to solve these issues, but I have a working solution, which is the main thing!

 

Neil

[David Parsons]

Can anyone tell me how to convert an ETC EOS show file to something that a Strand 530 can read?

[rossmck]

If it's just generics you should be able to get away with an ASCII export which is run through ShowPort to convert to SSF -it doesn't work perfectly though, especially if you're using moving light, you'll only get the basic patch and cues

 

Personally I'd look at hiring a smaller ETC desk (like the Ion) and taking it to the venue with the 530..

[neilalexrose]

Can anyone tell me how to convert an ETC EOS show file to something that a Strand 530 can read?

 

Read this current topic here that asks the same question. , and I know because I asked it too. Short answer is yes you can, but moving lights and other attributes aren't easy.

 

Neil

[mac.calder]

No disrespect felt ;-) It was a solution I knocked up in a couple of hours to solve a recurring problem, that to be honest I have not had to touch in a number of years now. I don't even have a copy on any of the machines I currently own (which is why I could not be more help).

[paulears]

Moderation: two topics merged

[Just Some Bloke]

From an LD's point of view, I'd be much happier, when someone was re-lighting one of my designs, if they sat there and recreated each state to look the same as it was before, rather than spending hours translating in software from ION to 500 then loading it up and walking away. As mentioned above, every venue is different so every rig is different so every plot is different. If you're putting the same kit into the same place in every venue, then go ahead and load the same showfile, but if you're doing that then you're probably taking your own board anyway. Otherwise then you may find that the Source 4s on the FOH side rail were 8m away at yesterday's venue and only 4m away at this venue and so all your intensities will be wrong. The more of that sort of thing you've got going on then the more you end up thinking "I may as well just start from scratch". This is why a good relight technician is so important to a tour.