MJC7000 wrote: Ouch. That hurts. So are we wasting our time adding LOR functionality to HLD?
Sorry. I didn't mean that to sound like HLD doesn't have it use or anything. I just did not spend enough time tinkering with it to find out since LOR2 has the ability to use a photo for the animator, it is just easier for me to learn LOR right now rather than trying to learn 2 programs.
I'm sure that HLD ver. 4 (from what I have read) will have significant improvements in it that will make it not only easier to use, but with its integration to LOR should be a fine product.
I'm just starting out with animation, so I have my hands full just figuring out LOR .
And I, like everybody else, am waiting for HLD's new version to release so that I can see what it has to offer. Any program has its uses and HLD is pretty clever although I also didn't like having to drop a bulb and then try to get a straight line of them. Should have a "point to point" snap feature to allow that for sure.
And in fairness, if it already does (I didn't find it in ver. 3) then my apology. As I said, I did not spend much time trying out the program. When I have some free time, I will probably go back and look at it and learn more about it.
MJC7000 wrote: Ouch. That hurts. So are we wasting our time adding LOR functionality to HLD?
If you're representing HLD, it's probably a bit pre-mature to ask if it's a waste of time.
I think users would probably like to see ver 4 of HLD before making judgements like that.
Personally, I found the interface for HLD 3 to be pretty frustrating and not very intuitive, and the app itself seems to be a memory hog... I can't imagine running it in tandem with LOR.
I'd like to see what improvements have been made to HLD 4.
MJC7000 wrote: I agree HLD is not for everyone. It's nice to get feedback however. Version 4 will be better than version 3, but not as good as version 5 or 6.
It's the same as George Lucas says about making movies: "A movie is never finished, only abandoned".
Are there any known dates for version 4 or LOR compatibility? There are many people here who would like to check it out and see if it is worth the spend. I hope there will be demo that will show the LOR capability. It might be a hard sell otherwise since the LOR visualizer has seen some good improvements.
If you are part of HLD, you should consider signing up for a name that represents your company, unless you don't want to officially represent HLD. There will certainly be LOR users who buy HLD looking for support in this forum. Perhaps you should check with LOR/Dan first, but HLD vendor support here could be a great value add not to mention great PR for your company.
OK, I just re-visited the HolidaySoft web site and they now have their own forum where they've posted a few preview vids of HLD 4.0. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the direction they're going.
4.0 seems to be an vast improvement over 3.0 and it completely blows the LOR II Animator out of the water. They fixed my #1 complaint, which was drawing strands with an invisible line (the line is now visible). Plus a host of other new features. Not only will it interact with LOR II (either connected between two PC's over a network, or on the same PC) but if I understand correctly they're adding functionality to support Mega and Mini Trees and Spotlights.
If it's really as easy as the videos represent, I think they have a winner.
RickMosher wrote: OK, I just re-visited the HolidaySoft web site and they now have their own forum where they've posted a few preview vids of HLD 4.0. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the direction they're going.
4.0 seems to be an vast improvement over 3.0 and it completely blows the LOR II Animator out of the water. They fixed my #1 complaint, which was drawing strands with an invisible line (the line is now visible). Plus a host of other new features. Not only will it interact with LOR II (either connected between two PC's over a network, or on the same PC) but if I understand correctly they're adding functionality to support Mega and Mini Trees and Spotlights.
If it's really as easy as the videos represent, I think they have a winner.
Wow! That is sounding really cool. I might have to start changing my ways. I use S2 and drew the entire 2008 design in the old animator format without a picture.
I tried the Version 4 trial download. Sure had a lot of neat features, but there were some glitches which made it a challange to use. The worst was attempting to make a 'mega-tree' (small, with 2 colors). The light strings would not always place, and when you rotated the image to add more strings, the tree was centered on the imported picture, which blocked the guide lines from each side.
I too can not seem to be able to draw strings around windows and get them square, is there a trick to it?
RickMosher wrote: I downloaded the demo of Holiday Lights Designer and found it pretty frustrating.
I would expect that drawing strings of lights would be like drawing lines in PowerPoint (or any other drawing or photo software). When you click to start a string, the line should follow the mouse pointer until you release the mouse button. Instead, you click, it drops a light and you have to guess where a straight line is from that point and click again for the string to be drawn.
I tried drawing strings of lights around the windows of my house and could never get a square shape, it was always skewed.
You have to use the buttons on the screen to move the view or zoom which is lame too.
Didn't play with it much because it was too frustrating. Might try again in a few days.
Click the view animation button (to the right of the ramp). On the left side of the animation window, labeled drawing, click the draw button. From the drop down, select the channel. Now click away. If you make a mistake, click erase.
You can import a picture of your house using the background image section. I think 800 x 600 but do a search. The info is out there.
The animation is part of the configuration (channels, labels, etc.) Export the configuration that import the configuration for your new sequences.
Its a bit more complicated than that and it takes some time but that is the quick and dirty.
Ricky Parker wrote: I can't get my picture at the right size.
An image size of 800 x 600 pixels works pretty well. When I load the picture I increase the resolution of the grid two or three times (by pressing the + button).
Also, if you hide the controls on the animation window the image will resize to fit the window. You hide the controls by pressing the green double left arrow in the upper left corner.
Yes you can. Bring up the animation and at the bottom on the left it has background image. Choose select, go to your picture file, and it will bring the picture in.
Last edited on Thu Oct 1st, 2009 01:29 pm by ainsworth
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