Hi Andy,
What's the good word on an update for the OS X toolbar? Key features that still need to be added:
Presets. Without a way to easily call up preset visuals, G-Force is difficult to use in live presentation venues. This is the single biggest need I have.
Better control over sprites. This would include a way to progress through a set of sprites on a specifically timed basis as well as a gradual fade to black capability (rather than a cut to black), a way to leave a preselected sprite on the screen until a new one is selected (at which time the previous sprite should fade to black rather than simply having both on the screen simultaneously).
W/C/F organization. Needs a method to have only the waveshapes, colormaps, and flowfields one wants displayed without having to go to the Finder and delete the ones you don't want to display.
A refresh button so that when new sprites are added to the sprite folder they can appear from within the toolbar without quitting G-Force.
A fade to black button
A way for G-Force to go into "neutral" (i.e. minimal CPU usage) when it is not the front-most application.
A way for the tool bar to come back to the previous state (rather than the default which, among other things, brings up random waveshapes, colormaps, and flowfields each time G-Force is restarted along with the randomize radio buttons activated.)
Control over morph speed.
These are the key features I believe need to be added to make G-
Force fully ready for prime-time in professional presentation/concert venues.
Thanks for any updates you can provide on this.
Toolbar updates?
Moderators: BTT, andy55, b.dwall, juxtiphi
beeblebrox,
Have you tried using scripts? They could solve a few problems for you.
Presets. A script can run any specific wave/flow/color/particle/sprite and flowfield union that you want.
Sprite control. Same thing here. You can script the sprites to come up and for how long that you want. No fade to black but there is a little run thru of the colormap when the sprite is exiting. Perhaps with the right colormap a fade to black could be done.
Organizing. Same complaint about the toolbar here. My script generator allows for wildcards like "E.R./Rovastar/Jaypro" etc. I guess I'll have to put it online somehow....
Refresh. This would be nice when designing new configs. Make a new wave or flow, you gotta exit both G-Force and the toolbar and go back in for the newbie to show.
Fade to Black. Again, script. I have included in my configs a "nothing" wave, flow and colormap.
Nuetral. In Windows a background task will get less CPU than the current foreground. Doesn't matter much if you have 2 CPUs so "no comment" on this one.
Previous State. You'd have to save out a script before exiting with CTRL-Shift-somekey to do that.
Morph Speed. Again, doable in scripts. Should be added to toolbar too.
Check the "news" page for G-Force, Journey has a custom version for their current tour. Don't know how available or affordable that version would be for the average brox. But if you want to do any of the above with scripts, let me know, I'll do what I can to help you out.
Have you tried using scripts? They could solve a few problems for you.
Presets. A script can run any specific wave/flow/color/particle/sprite and flowfield union that you want.
Sprite control. Same thing here. You can script the sprites to come up and for how long that you want. No fade to black but there is a little run thru of the colormap when the sprite is exiting. Perhaps with the right colormap a fade to black could be done.
Organizing. Same complaint about the toolbar here. My script generator allows for wildcards like "E.R./Rovastar/Jaypro" etc. I guess I'll have to put it online somehow....
Refresh. This would be nice when designing new configs. Make a new wave or flow, you gotta exit both G-Force and the toolbar and go back in for the newbie to show.
Fade to Black. Again, script. I have included in my configs a "nothing" wave, flow and colormap.
Nuetral. In Windows a background task will get less CPU than the current foreground. Doesn't matter much if you have 2 CPUs so "no comment" on this one.
Previous State. You'd have to save out a script before exiting with CTRL-Shift-somekey to do that.
Morph Speed. Again, doable in scripts. Should be added to toolbar too.
Check the "news" page for G-Force, Journey has a custom version for their current tour. Don't know how available or affordable that version would be for the average brox. But if you want to do any of the above with scripts, let me know, I'll do what I can to help you out.
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beeblebrox
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:50 pm
Thanks chkman for the response. However, given that my post was regarding the Toolbar, where scripting is a somewhat moot issue (except that I assume that the Toolbar itself reads and writes scripts in order to do its magic) I am hoping that there will be some refinements to the Toolbar itself.
We use G-Force in an environment where a GUI is essential. We used to use G-Force in our live presentation venue prior to the OS X version of the Toolbar was released and it was an unmitigated disaster. I had to abandon the use of G-Force until the Toolbar was released, at which time I was able to put the software back into service. However, we still have problems with it, primarily in trying to get the right set of WS/CM/FF to come up at the right moment as well as get a smooth presentation of Sprites as well as smooth transitions.
Cheers
We use G-Force in an environment where a GUI is essential. We used to use G-Force in our live presentation venue prior to the OS X version of the Toolbar was released and it was an unmitigated disaster. I had to abandon the use of G-Force until the Toolbar was released, at which time I was able to put the software back into service. However, we still have problems with it, primarily in trying to get the right set of WS/CM/FF to come up at the right moment as well as get a smooth presentation of Sprites as well as smooth transitions.
Cheers
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beeblebrox
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:50 pm
chkman,chkman wrote: Check the "news" page for G-Force, Journey has a custom version for their current tour. Don't know how available or affordable that version would be for the average brox. But if you want to do any of the above with scripts, let me know, I'll do what I can to help you out.
If you have any ideas on ways of triggering the scripts you mention from the toolbar (maybe there is a way to mod the toolbar?), I would be grateful!
-B
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beeblebrox
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:50 pm
The issue is that I have different operators at different times handling G-Force. When we had no toolbar we found that people could not just step in and understand what settings were in place, what scripts had been preset, what the name of different things that were running were called, etc.
Operators in a live environment that are playing back G-Force to match with a given song need to run it much like they would run Powerpoint. There is a preset list of patchs that are available, a way to fade to black, a way to bring in or fade out backgrounds, and so on.
Keyboard shortcuts are nice for some things (of course the tool bar does not have them in any case) but they are impractical for live use in a high pressure environment where chosing the wrong script blind can be disastrous.
Cheers,
B
Operators in a live environment that are playing back G-Force to match with a given song need to run it much like they would run Powerpoint. There is a preset list of patchs that are available, a way to fade to black, a way to bring in or fade out backgrounds, and so on.
Keyboard shortcuts are nice for some things (of course the tool bar does not have them in any case) but they are impractical for live use in a high pressure environment where chosing the wrong script blind can be disastrous.
Cheers,
B
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beeblebrox
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:50 pm
Thanks for the offer. Indeed I am on a Mac (G5 Duocore 2.3Ghz). We use this machine with three outboard projectors each running on a DVI output from the G5. The G-Force window is stretched across all three outboard screens for a truly incredible effect. The 4th monitor is for the main GUI screen.chkman wrote:I see. If you're on a PC I might be able to help you, on a Mac I can't do anything unless you have an extra one laying around. Even then, I don't know.
I'm afraid I'm a little short of "extra" Macs however
-B