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    eamon
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ion file to strand 500 series conversion

Hi all

 

I convert shows between strand & etc desks regularly for friends and myself. A friend emailed with a show created in an Ion ( ver is 1.9) and is needing it converted to 500 series.

I am using showport for the feature. I have converted many shows sucessfully but I do believe this is the 1st time I am going from ion to a 520i. I have looked at the text version of the file and there is a lot more information than a "normal" show text file and this is my reasoning as to why showport can not handle it etc.

I am wondering if there are really trick to converting the ascii format to .ssf properly. I know ascii is designed to  be universal but none of the work arounds I have invented are working. I can only assume this has been done before.... I did a search but did not find anything that answered my question.

I also have a nightmare trying to get my eos ole to read/import showfiles. I have ended up putting them on my mobile me account as the console ole does not let me access them on my desk top. I am running the ole on a mac powerbook in tiger. I have not tried this on a PC. When I go to select the option of importing show files or opening them through the CIA, it does not see anything other than eventually getting to my cloud server..? Is this a bug?

 

On a seperate topic, while I do really like the Ion and do think it is a great console, I am curious about the lack of speed in the processor when executing tasks. I am a very fast button pusher and have found the Ion to be sluggish and no where near the responsiveness, I am accustomed too. I have done a deep purge/clear and not noticed a great difference. I have just found it very slow in responding to basic channel and cue entries. I have encountered this on a couple of different desks.

Is it me or is the console not as fast as I want it to be??

cheers for the hopeful replies

many thanks

 

eamon

 

  • 0

    Hi Eamon,

     

    Can't speak to the conversion of strand/ion, but i can hopefully help in getting files into the offline editor.

    The offline browser looks in your show archive, external devices (USB), and your network mounts to find files. I've never noticed, but it makes sort of makes sense that the iDisk is showingin your browser. When I need to get an e-mailed show file into the OLE, i normally toss it on a USB stick as this pops up instantly ion the offline editor. You can also manually drag it to your Show Archive folder which should be located in your Documents folder in your user folder. You should then see the files when you go to Import.

    HTH,

  • 0

    I have translated lots of shows into a Strand 500 series desk, & I have had some issues getting certain ASCII show files to be properly converted using Showport. I think it might have to do with the way the data is written in the file, or other bits of magic that is only known to Strand software developers (that probably don't even work for Strand anymore!). For instance, you can't export a show file from Strand's Light Palette consoles to ASCII, and then import into a 550i using Showport. So it doesn't surprise me that the ION file won't translate.

    You could try deleting any extra data or unneeded info from the text file, save it & try that.

  • 0 in reply to jrgoss

    Hi All,

    The ASCII standard was written a very long time ago, and it only spells out how to export/import conventional dimmer data for patch, cues, groups and submasters.  There was an option to include "manufacturer-specific" data if you wished, but even when this data is present it is not easy to interpret by other manufacturers.  The manufacturer-specific data can be identified by keywords that start with a dollar sign.  If Showport is stumbling over these keywords, I would suggest that you turn off the manufacturer data option when exporting from an Eos family console.  There are four format options (buttons on the right after you select "Export") which are designed to help make the ASCII show readable by other applications.

    I hope this will work for you.

    Ann

  • 0 in reply to jrgoss

    Hi all

     

    Many thanks for the replies.

    I did the most unsuspecting thing and read the manual!

    I found there were 2 elements in my approach that were wrong.

    The first was the lack of the .esf appendage on the file received. I forgot macs tend to ignore this while PC's need this information and it took me a while to remember. Once I renamed the file with the appendage, it appeared.

    The second item of silliness was the source location for saving shows. I just expected to see folders and drives and did not think that you needed to place the show file in the archive folder as specified in the settings option. Again a case of RTFM.

    I found another post after my post here that clued me in and then I just played with the export options and created a suitable text file. I have converted this file to .ssf and my genius pro OLE is reading the show fine. The text file is also easier to read if that helps.

    Anyone find the Ion sluggish in response or is it just me?

    Thanks to all.

     

    eamon

     

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