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    Ken White
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Importing Lightwright into Ion

We recently got a newly renovated facility complete with an Ion lighting console. I am trying to import information from LightWright 4 into the Ion, and nothing is working.

The equipment:

  • Lightwiright 4 - Macintosh - OSX 10.5
  • EOS Family Offline 1.7 - Macintosh

Action to Date:

I have found, and read the wiki article on importing information into the EOS, and I would expect it to be the same for the ION, but so far - no success. I have been unable to import anything of any kind regardless of the technique.

  • Only files ending in .txt seem to be found by the software. (ASC and CSV extensions are not displayed.)
  • I have exported the data from LightWright as described in the wiki article (including the order of the fields). The Software indicates "success", but patch is still empty.
  • I tried editing the Device Type values to be "Dimmer" instead of "Light" - same result
  • I tried a comma delimited version of the file - same result.
  • I tried an ASC-II softpatch export - same result
  • As a test, I patched a few channels, and then exported them from the software, then tried to import them again - same result, no channels patched at all.

I am now at a loss. It seems clear from the wiki and forum posts that others are having some success, I would appreciate any help others can offer. A sample file that works for others might be helpful, I could then use it as a test and for comparison.

Thanks,

 

 

 

  • 0

    Hi Ken-

    Are you using the Ion "Import" menu? The open menu will only show .esf (native EosShowFile). I believe that on the Mac, the .asc files should reside in the Showfile Archive folder to be seen. I don't have a Mac here to check, unfortunately.

    There should be no difference between Eos and Ion.

    -luke-

  • 0 in reply to luke.delwiche

    I am using the Files>Import>Lightwright menu. (although, I have tried Files>Import>ASCII.

    I also (just now) tried placing the files in the Showfile Archive folder, and this area seems to be behaving just like the external drive I was using. (TXT files only - no-joy on all techniques.)

    Thanks for the ideas.

  • 0

    I am using ION offline on a PC, but what I just tried worked for me with a show that had only conventionals.

    In lightwright I exported the file as ASCII Soft Patch, but when I saved it to my usb stick I put a .asc after the filename I wanted (it was testpatch.asc). On the ION I then went to Import, USITT ASCII, Import As Library Fixtures, then to my usb stick and the file was shown there. I double clicked it, confirmed I wanted to import, and then the patch was imported.



    [edited by: bosox242 at 11:30 AM (GMT -6) on Mon, Sep 7 2009]
  • 0 in reply to bosox242

    I am having the same problem on a Mac running 10.6.  I can confirm the same things as Ken.  I just tried the method with the ascii patch that bosox242 mentioned.  It worked.  Just add the extesion of .asc to the exported filename and add to the SHOWFILE Archive folder in /user/documents.  Then import and it will load the patch.  it will not import the data for movers and such that I can see.  I wonder if the Lightwright option is for Lightwright 5?

  • 0

    I don't know what all you are trying to export, but I have had success at exporting my patch from Lightwright 4 to ION.

    In Lightwright go to File, export, ASCII Soft Patch.  Select your system then click ok and save your file.

    Then locate this file and add the ".asc" extension to the filename.

    This file should now be readable by EOS, ION, etc.  by going to File, Import, USITT ASCII, and then either "Import as Custom Fixtures" or as "Library Fixtures".

    I just tried it again in the offline editor but know it has worked at the console for me as well.

  • 0 in reply to MarkLNeumann

    I discovered the issue: the text file must have windows style line endings (CR/LF) instead of Mac (CR).  LW will output whatever line endings are standard for your system.  If you have a text editor where you can change line endings (like BBEdit or TextWrangler) you can convert the LW text file to an Eos readable file.

    Interestingly, device type seems to get imported in to text 4 on Eos, and template doesn't get imported at all.

    -Josh

  • 0 in reply to jbenghiat

    RESOLVED!

    I am happy to report that the members of the Forum have found the answer. To sum up:

    • Lightwright ASC-II Softpatch files can be imported via the Files>Import>ASCII><either method>
      Keep in mind that the file must end in ".asc"
    • Lightwright data export works as described in the wiki, however, to be successfully read, line endings will need to be converted to the windows standard of <CR/LF> from the Mac standard of <CR>
    • Only conventional fixtures are imported regardless of the approach, however the Lightwright import seems to import more information than the ASCII approach.

    Many thanks to all who helped me to resolve this confusion.

  • 0 in reply to Ken White

    If you have Lightwright 5.0.2 or later, the Export window has an option to set the line ending. The default is whatever platform you're running LW5 under, the option lets you choose the "other" kind. So if you're using Windows, the option will be to use Macintosh line endings. If you're running Mac, the option will be to use Windows line endings.

    LW5 automated actions will save this setting, no matter which platform you run it under, it will use the line ending recorded into the automated action.

  • 0 in reply to JohnMcSoft

    John, even if you export the LW file in the right format, if you amend the file in Excel or Numbers you still have to save the file from there with correct extension.

    So...Thanks for the tip about text wrangler, Josh. One less reason I need that windows machine.

    -M

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