Thread: VSA Mini SSC 3 axis skull arrrrrghhhh

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Ok, I have read 70 out of 180 pages of threads. Seen the videos, followed as much as I can. This was always on my to do list and now it is here, I"m gonna dive in.

This is for a single greeter 3 axis prop, start small. I know getting my hands dirty will help I just want to buy the most cost effective and not waste what little $$$$ I have like most of us

I'm leaning towards VSA and Mini SSC
Few questions :

• VSA a good beginner program to use
• Does it hold the sound or is that stored on the computer?
• is there a stand alone instead of the mini ssc to not stay connected to my computer?
• What does a battle switch relay do?
• Mini SSC a easy beginner board?
• No lights or fancy things yet want to make it work 1st lol
• anything else I should have or buy?
• does it have any inputs so I can push a button to start the show as the tots walk up?

I need to start with baby steps, just like I did with pneumatics. Plus I need to buy now before the $$$ is gone on something else
-PB

I just finished nearly 180 pages of thread

Where is the best place to buy a mini ssc and power pack???

I need to start getting the parts for this prop

-PB

Sorry I cant help you, but I think you will get more replies if this was in the props forum.

true your right I found the info I needed in the 180 pages

So many forums, so many areas lol

-PB

After using VSA for 3 years now, I feel very confident with it. In fact I find it easy to use now. It has a mildly intuitive interface but the first time I used it I was lost and I didn't find the online help very useful. This year I had to set up 18 tracks, 7 of which were servos for jaw movement.

When I installed VSA the first time, and launched it and there it was, staring at me with new icons, buttons and terminology. There are many things that I think the program assumes you know. I remember one of my first struggles was what baud rates to use. There are some great short cuts that make things a little less tedious, but I only learned them by trial and error. Perhaps the latest version has a help menu that I would find easier to understand (the version I have is a couple of years old).

VSA is a great candidate for someone to do a youtube tutorial. Hmmm maybe i should upgrade and see if I can't figure out how to video some of the setup and short cut how to's.

In the mean time, if you get VSA and need help setting it up, PM me and I'll help you avoid a lot of the hassles I went through.

I will be hitting up several people on this, you being one of them Thanks. This sounds like the software for my car. Not hard once you know it, but getting to that point a bit troubling.

I would be glad to do a youtube I did it for my car and it helped many people. Seeing it be done is a great help.

Graveyard skulls has a link I bookmarked, no video but good instruction:
VSA Programming tutorial

-PB

* VSA a good beginner program to use

There's only two I know of - the other is Vixen

* Does it hold the sound or is that stored on the computer?
* is there a stand alone instead of the mini ssc to not stay connected to my computer?

Sound comes from the computer. There are some standalone animation units - they're expensive compared to what you're looking at right now.

* What does a battle switch relay do?

If I remember right, it's a high-power switch that's controlled by a servo pulse output (e.g.: from the MiniSSC). You could use this to control any electrical device, but it's only on/off

* Mini SSC a easy beginner board?

As far as using them with VSA goes, most of the servo control boards are relatively similar in setup complexity. (Some other boards have additional modes you can run them in - not applicable for VSA use)

* No lights or fancy things yet want to make it work 1st lol

Awwww.... c'mon.... you've got 12 months!

* anything else I should have or buy?

A computer with a serial port

* does it have any inputs so I can push a button to start the show as the tots walk up?

No. This feature is relatively scarce, compared to all the products available for letting the computer control *other* stuff. Check out DMXorcist and Helmsman. In either case, this will bring more complexity to your setup.

Is there a reason you are going to use the mini ssc rather than something like a ssc32. From what I can tell they are about the same cost but you get 4 times the amount of outputs from the ssc32. Even if you dont plan on using them now you would at least have the option of using them later.

I am also working on 3 axis stuff trying to get a game plan together to work on for the next year.

I just started my first skull as well but I went DMX from the start.

I feel it a good universal bus system that one can take advantage of in vsa, like using dmx light control within vsa. So far my whole lighting system this year was dmx controlled and now to integrate the props. My first controller board is the Board of Chuckee from Skulltronix. It was 90.00 as a do it yourself kit. I will be ordering a Medusa Board because I want relays and service for some animated props I am building and would prefer an "all in one" board for that. But the BOC has got some cool features like programming the servo limits on the board so you cannot drive your servos beyond those limits and software controllable DMX address. The downside is that they use port 1-8 (or something like that) for programming which means you cannot use those address in your DMX chain. I am still trying to figure out all the options on the setup screens as the instructions are very basic and don't really help one understand all the options and how to use them.

ib