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Author Topic: SmoothSwing  (Read 9900 times)

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Offline Harkat

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SmoothSwing
« on: May 21, 2018, 07:41:47 PM »
Hi all,

I was wondering if you guys at VV have seen what the guys who run the teensysaber boards have been doing with the SmoothSwing sound system, and whether you will be attempting to replicate this feature as personally, I feel this is the next step in the saber industry and I would love to own a saber that reacts to the slightest movement in the most realistic way possible. I implore you to please look into this and try make this just as good as you did with the PlectorPixel blades that are amazing!

Thank you

Offline Dark Lord 4

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2018, 06:36:37 AM »
Interesting. I never heard of smooth swing until I looked it up. I watched a few vids. I will attach the best one I've seen. I would love to see a comparison between VV's current software vs the Smoothswing.

Luke ROTJ Hero Lightaber w Magnetic Blade Connector Smoothswing Update - YouTube

Offline IceSaber

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2018, 06:43:42 AM »
VV use Plecter boards so perhaps it's best asking Erv whether he has any thoughts on implementing a similar feature. None of the current boards would exist without the amount of hard work hes put into the community from the beginning but I agree that Smoothswing seems like a more natural way to go.

Offline Yaraell_Ren

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2018, 08:03:31 AM »
It would be amazing if Erv can implement Smooth Swing into Crystal Focus soundboards. I would rather have Smooth Swing than things that I don't really use such as iSaber or bluetooth etc.

Offline Jediseth

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2018, 11:32:25 AM »
Smooth swing is definitely the future for all soundboards. I predict they eventually will all go that way or be left in the dust.

Offline SA22C

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2018, 04:36:35 PM »
The difference is stark:

Nano Biscotte vs Teensy Saber V3 - YouTube

On the left, we have my trusty Graflex 2.0, equipped with the great little Nano Biscotte v4.

On the right, the LS6, equipped with TeensySaber V3.

Both are running the same colour settings and the Graflex is using Lord Blako’s ROTJ while the LS6 is running KSith’s new smoothswing ROTJ font.

The instant response is so much more immersive, it’s crazy. It’s like in-hilt vs Neopixel, once you’ve crossed that bridge, there’s no going back.


Offline Toad_VII

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2018, 05:00:19 AM »
I've been thinking laps around lightsabers sounding more like the this. My initial idea was running just a stable hum with nothing but effects, so the way you move the hilt would replicate the blade movement. Because the  sound is really just the blade moving, and the sound would change relative to speaker being closer to your ears.

Offline Yaraell_Ren

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2018, 02:25:06 PM »
I feel like even with the existing hardware in CF8 like motion sensor + triple sensor, something similar to Smooth Swing is possible. It just needs an improved software or font layout. CF8 can already change pitches of hum based on angle that a hilt is held on hand.

Offline BradyBunch

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2018, 07:14:28 PM »
Who makes the LS6?  I'm starting to do my research into that saber and love where the tech has come for producing high quality thin necks for that saber.

Offline SharkyMcShark

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2018, 08:07:36 PM »
The LS6 was designed by Park Sabers but is best bought either directly from Korbanth/Sith Planet* or where ever else re-sells them. They're widely re-sold so you shouldn't have an issue finding one.

As this is the Vader's Vault part of this forum it's only right to point out that Vader's Vault has their own model of that saber which they call the Hero. They don't have any in stock right now, but I believe they've got a run of them coming up at some point. Vader's Vault visit this forum very infrequently, but they're active on their facebook fan-group, which is called The Vault:A Custom Lightsaber Community. I mention this because, if you are interested in obtaining a Hero from them, they probably won't post here when they're going to go up for sale on their web store - they've launched several new products and whole new webstore in the last month and not posted about it here.

As for SmoothSwing - you won't get a Vader's Vault saber with it, unfortunately. They're aware of it, but they've been quite dismissive of it in conversations on their facebook page. Also they're Plecter associates so it's not surprising - you won't get a saber from them not installed with a Plecter board, and you won't ever see them talking up soundboards not being put out by Plecter.

*Korbanth/Sith Planet are the same thing - different names for the same person, being Randy Johnson.

Offline JakeSoft

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2018, 07:27:08 PM »
Smooth swing is definitely the future for all soundboards. I predict they eventually will all go that way or be left in the dust.

I would be very surprised if NEC and PL were not already working on motion-reactive dynamic swing effects. They use different hardware than TeensySaber though, so they have to come up with their own solutions that work with what they've got, or release a new hardware design entirely. It's worth mentioning that the SmoothSwing algorithm and code in TeensySaberOS is licensed for public release under GPLv3, so you can't just copy the code and then sell a competing closed-source product using it for profit. Regardless, as it was with NeoPixel blades, what starts in the open source world eventually trickles down to the commercial products if it is well-liked enough by the community. I'd say a SmoothSwing-like feature is a likely candidate.

Offline LUMINARA UNDULI

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #11 on: November 28, 2018, 01:54:52 PM »
The LS6 was designed by Park Sabers but is best bought either directly from Korbanth/Sith Planet* or where ever else re-sells them. They're widely re-sold so you shouldn't have an issue finding one.

As this is the Vader's Vault part of this forum it's only right to point out that Vader's Vault has their own model of that saber which they call the Hero. They don't have any in stock right now, but I believe they've got a run of them coming up at some point. Vader's Vault visit this forum very infrequently, but they're active on their facebook fan-group, which is called The Vault:A Custom Lightsaber Community. I mention this because, if you are interested in obtaining a Hero from them, they probably won't post here when they're going to go up for sale on their web store - they've launched several new products and whole new webstore in the last month and not posted about it here.

As for SmoothSwing - you won't get a Vader's Vault saber with it, unfortunately. They're aware of it, but they've been quite dismissive of it in conversations on their facebook page. Also they're Plecter associates so it's not surprising - you won't get a saber from them not installed with a Plecter board, and you won't ever see them talking up soundboards not being put out by Plecter.

*Korbanth/Sith Planet are the same thing - different names for the same person, being Randy Johnson.

This is not true.  We have in no way been dismissive of smoothswing.  However, it is currently available only on open source boards. We have been researching and testing Teensy and now Proffie since it's inception.  I am amazed and impressed by all that Profezzorn as well at others have brought to the hobby and have the utmost respect for what pioneers out there are doing to move the hobby forward.

Our position is that currently, the boards available, while an excellent choice for a very saavy Diy'er, are not ready for production sabers as they are not user friendly for a broad spectrum of end users and are still buggy and tempermental.  A saavy user can certainly overcome these things, but for the wide spectrum of end users out there we feel they are simply not the best choice currently for what we want to provide to service OUR customers, and keep in mind one great feature doesn't make a soundboard superior to other, much more stable and user friendly products.  This may change, but right now that is why we are not currently offering them.  In addition, I wouldn't be surprised to see other manufacturers of established boards react and come out with their own similar motion detection features, in fact, just last week Electrum posted a teaser of their upcoming D3 board which showed something akin to smoothswing.  NEC and Plecter have yet to show anything but I would not count them out.

As far at the LS6, not our product.  However we will be releasing a phenomenal new version of our Hero on or around the first of the year, so stay tuned :) .



Website: Vader's vault
Facebook: VVFB

Offline SA22C

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2018, 04:41:38 AM »
I love me some Teensy/Proffie and have even dabbled in working on some of the more finicky user-facing issues.  I will say that, overall, it is probably too difficult for the enthusiast who wants to get a cool saber that they can power on and play with at will.  I come from a programming background, so the idea of installing an IDE and uploading code doesn't faze me in the least, but watching the avalanche of issues from folks who bought the board and don't have the faintest clue about programming really gave me pause. 

On the other hand, features are being added regularly (some by myself) and I would never go back to using saber electronics that have a fixed features that can't be improved or changed at will.  From when I started with the TeensySaber to now, countless new bladestyles have been added and the smooth swing experience has been refined so much that I could never go back to fixed-swing fonts and single-colour flicker blades again.

Proffieboard - button event changes - YouTube

Offline JakeSoft

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2018, 06:54:23 PM »
I love me some Teensy/Proffie and have even dabbled in working on some of the more finicky user-facing issues.  I will say that, overall, it is probably too difficult for the enthusiast who wants to get a cool saber that they can power on and play with at will.  I come from a programming background, so the idea of installing an IDE and uploading code doesn't faze me in the least, but watching the avalanche of issues from folks who bought the board and don't have the faintest clue about programming really gave me pause. 

On the other hand, features are being added regularly (some by myself) and I would never go back to using saber electronics that have a fixed features that can't be improved or changed at will.  From when I started with the TeensySaber to now, countless new bladestyles have been added and the smooth swing experience has been refined so much that I could never go back to fixed-swing fonts and single-colour flicker blades again.

Proffieboard - button event changes - YouTube

Having worked a lot with Arduino and the DIYino boards, I'd say this is pretty spot on. For those who know how to use the power an open platform brings, it's great. That power is mostly lost on everyone else though, so it's just hoops they won't want to jump through. I expect as it matures some of the Proffie quirks will have well-known solutions or just go away entirely, but as with any new tech, there is often a price for early adopters, be it money or in this case inconvenience.

Since this was posted, Erv has as much as said he is working on adding some kind of dynamic swing effects to at least one of his products anyway. So, even if VV sticks exclusively with Plecter they'll be able to offer a similar feature in their sabers at some point in the future. I'd go so far as to say that eventually all the top board makers will support something like it. Again, look at what happened with NeoPixel blades. It's all just a matter of how long you want to wait for it.

Offline Darth Brooks

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Re: SmoothSwing
« Reply #14 on: December 05, 2018, 07:01:43 PM »
I personally have had almost every single board that can support neopixel or string blades installed in one of my sabers at some point.

I almost never use the same board in more than one of my sabers and other than old boring MR and Hasbro boards I've never been disappointed with any one of them and said man I'll never use (such and such again)

I love the CS4.5 and I've got a Prizm 5.5 coming in one of my sabers real soon. (Which I'm sure I'll love!?!

But because I want all my hilts to be unique in their own way I don't have a need for any more Plecter boards until Erv releases a new CF-LS which he told me at some point is coming.

All the boards I've had have advantages and disadvantages. Nothing but love for Erv and his boards...

I'm sure some amazing new "swing" sensitivity is right around the corner. "Not that there's anything wrong with it now.

 

retrousse