We have been on version 2 for many years. New Mac OS seems to be causing issues so it looks like it is time to upgrade to version 3. We have several questions:
Thank you.
Hi and welcome,
What kind of issues are you having?
Make a backup of all your showfiles just incase !
And when loading your showfile into V3 some people have found its easier to make a new blank showfile and then merge everything across from the old one !
Once you are loaded into V3 check all your user preferences etc
And go to patch and make sure your connect universes tab is set up correctly
As Rob said, creating a new blank show and using Merge in the File menu to bring over the data can work quite well. This also lets you do a bit of housekeeping at the same time by choosing to not bring over old cuelists and other unneeded items from the old show.
I’m reluctant to convert to V3 since I don’t see anything useful. Our church has a 2001 ETC Unison dimmer rack with 40 Source Four ellipsoidals and PARs on Universe 1. Universe 2 controls around 30 DMX fixtures, mostly Chauvet Tri Tours and Bar lights with two moving light fixtures added 5 years ago. I looked at the tutorial video for Programming and working within a Worship environment and it was scary. What I saw would require over $100,000 to implement and we don’t have the resources or need to do that.
Can I just download V3 and use my current V2 show file that has hundreds of cue lists for songs and looks and get the same result? I’m running MacOS Mojave and Vista Build 17736 (Aug 16, 2017, 11:22:45) which has been stable for quite a while. I’m fairly busy during the week and don’t have time in the 6 days between worship services to troubleshoot issues that might crop up with the cue lists or our M1 console.
Our IT person is very cybersecurity and backup conscious and is the only one with admin access to the iMac and the network that it’s on. He did agree not to upgrade the OS, but at some point, Apple will quit supporting Mojave.
I am running the same OS/Vista system at home without an M1and set up new cue lists before installing them at the church, so I do have a testbed that I would prefer not to break. Also, my internet speed is only between 1 and 10 MBs so downloads are slow and sometimes timeout.
Hi Bob,
“What I saw would require over $100,000 to implement and we don’t have the resources or need to do that.”
I think you may have seriously miss-understood something. Vista 2 to 3 is a free upgrade and, as you mention, you should be able to just download V3 and use your current V2 showfiles. We would not expect any issues, but good practice is of course to externally back up your data and test before a real show.
I would think you will find something useful if you take the time to familiarize yourself with all of the changes. You are using a 3 year old build, so there are A LOT.
Having said this, if you are happy with V2 and how it is performing for you there is no technical reason right now why you have to make the update.
My advice would be wait for Vista 3 Release 3 to be officially released if you are making the upgrade. Then you can go straight to the very latest and greatest.
Hi Jack,
I like your idea about getting Vista3 R3. Will it run under MacOS 10.14.6 Mojave? Will it run under MacOS 10.15.6 Catalina? Can I keep both Vista2 and Vista3 and run either one on my computer?
Will VIsta3 pick up all my cue lists, presets, groups, and FX templates from my Vista2 show file? If I create a new show file using Vista3 and merge one of my Vista2 show files, will it run under Vista2?
I’m looking for flexibility. Thank you for your insight and suggestions.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Yes Vista 3 will run on 10.12 to 10.15. We are even confident it will run on the upcoming 11.0, based on our beta testing of Big Sur.
If you stick with Vista 2 and later update your Macs, we wont be able to guarantee Vista 2 will work, since it will never have never been designed to run on those operating systems.
You can’t have Vista 2 and Vista 3 installed on the same Mac at the same time, but you could uninstall 3 and install 2 again if you really wanted to. Having said this, I am confident that once you start working with 3 you won’t want or need to go back. 3 is a million times better than 2!
Vista 3 will work with all of your Vista 2 showfiles. It will even ask you if you want to “auto import them” when you first run Vista 3. It’s as simple as that. Install Vista 3 - open your showfiles, just like you would in 2.
One thing to be aware of is showfiles created (or saved in) 3 CAN NOT then be re opened in 2.
So it’s a good idea to always have an external backup of your 2 showfiles, then you can rest easy knowing that everything is safe and you will never loose anything.
Bob,
If you are at all concerned about making the switch then what I would recommend doing it installing Vista 3 on a separate computer first. From Vista 2 you can export your show file and then import it into Vista 3 on the other machine. This will let you take a look at how it works in Vista 3 first before upgrading the original machine.