Stormlab 4.0 Main thread

[J Kinkaid]

I know that some of you were lucky enough to play with stormlab 4.0 at the convention this past weekened. How did you like the product ? WXchat has pics of the new program and some pics from the convention . Does it really blow GR away ?

 

[Jason Boggs]

Don't know anything about stormlab 4.0. DOUBT VERY SERIOUSLY that it will blow GrLevel3 away. If it does, sign me up as I will pay a lot of money for a program that good!

 

[J Kinkaid]

Some pics of Stormlab 4.0 in action at the convention


http://www.wxchat.com/board/index.p...allery&cmd=user&user=1&op=view_album&album=48

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Does Stormlab have a feature like dynamic placefiles in GRx? If you aren't familiar, you can make a placefile to display just about any type of data in GRx, so I'm wondering if StormLab has a feature similar to this? Things like model data, SPC products, coop observations, various mesonets (OK, West Texas, etc), lightning data, NHC forecasts, ham radio / Skywarn repeaters, etc... I assume this is marketed at GR3, since GR2AE has volumetric / "3D" volume explorer that is unrivaled to this date. I like to try anything, but the best I've found to date has been GR3, given it's ease of use, speed, and relative simplicity (e.g. it's not overly-cluttered, etc). This isn't to dog SL4, since I haven't tried it out yet. The support that Mike gives to the users is incredible (bugs are sometimes fixed within a day they are reported, feature requests are often handled very seriously and implemented quickly, etc).

 

[Ben Krelik]

Does Stormlab have a feature like dynamic placefiles in GRx? If you aren't familiar, you can make a placefile to display just about any type of data in GRx, so I'm wondering if StormLab has a feature similar to this? Things like model data, SPC products, coop observations, various mesonets (OK, West Texas, etc), lightning data, NHC forecasts, ham radio / Skywarn repeaters, etc... I assume this is marketed at GR3, since GR2AE has volumetric / "3D" volume explorer that is unrivaled to this date.

Yes these will all be available since Allisonhouse place files will be usable in SL4.

 

[Dan Cook]

meh I gave up on StormLab years ago when I discovered GrLevel3.

 

[Ben Krelik]

meh I gave up on StormLab years ago when I discovered GrLevel3.

Stormlab 4.0 supposedly blows GR out of the water.

 

[Brett Adair]

Stormlab 4.0 supposedly blows GR out of the water.

Given some of the features available in GR....I seriously doubt that will be the case. I own stormlab and will have the new upgrade and will likely use both programs. There are some things I like about each....but the smoothing, IMO, brings more detail to the Base Reflectivity products. This has helped me catch a couple of twisters in iteself. I do believe that SL 4.0 will have some features that I like better than in GR though. We shall soon see...

 

[Robert Dewey]

It wouldn't be hard to blow GRLevelX out of the water... The smoothing is okay, but definitely NOT why I use it (I keep smoothing off 95% of the time). The GRLevel2 AE is a whole different ball game - that's where GR REALLY breaks ahead of everything else. Once I finally switch to AE, everything else will be ditched, including the GRLevelX progs.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Speaking of GRLevel2 AE.... can you pull live radar on it? I was under the assumption that you could only pull old radar images to analyze the storm.

 

[Scott Olson]

Speaking of GRLevel2 AE.... can you pull live radar on it? I was under the assumption that you could only pull old radar images to analyze the storm.

Absolutely, either through Allisonhouse or the ISU free feed. As for Stormlab, I'm certainly curious to see what these new features are. But GR3 is the way it is today because Mike was willing to add the features everyone wanted to the program. GR3 is also a program that is not CPU intensive and it is stable. As Jeff mentioned, Mike has been quick to fix bugs and always has been serious about user requests. Still, I'm glad to see the competition and innovation going on in the radar viewing software industry.

 

[Mike Umscheid]

Regarding "SL4 really blowing away GR3/2" etc... it really depends on how you use the software. As Evan can testify, I am a hard-a$$ when it comes to software design, flexibility, and the ability to have a tremendous amount of adaptable settings, almost to the point that it's like a Linux "open source" software... well... maybe not quite to that point... but when it comes to software, I need the abiliity to change settings, overall graphical display, etc. to meet my needs. GR is a great software, but I feel in areas I'm limited to an extent in user adaptability, with a lot of settings/etc hardcoded that I would rather see "variable". With SL4, I.. and several of his other primary beta testers, are working hard to make this application extremely user-friendly and extremely adaptable for a wide variety of users... but at the same time not being so graphical intensive. Formerly, SL was not extremly "chaser" oriented, with Evan's primary demographic being emergency management community, and really not for storm chasing. With SL4, that will be different, in my opinion... at least that's part of my job as his main "chaser" beta tester. Anyway, there's certainly nothing wrong with a little competition in the radar display software arena.

 

[Tony Laubach]

So any tentative release date yet?

 

[rdale]

It wouldn't be hard to blow GRLevelX out of the water...

Not sure I get it - you say it won't be hard to beat GR software, then say that once you use GR software everything else comes off your system?

It will be very difficult to exceed the volumetric analysis capabilities of GRAE. I look forward to another entry in the market... Never hurts!

 

[John Erwin]

It wouldn't be hard to blow GRLevelX out of the water... The smoothing is okay, but definitely NOT why I use it (I keep smoothing off 95% of the time).

I don't think that's a fair statement at all considering the constant accolades that GRLevelX receives and the huge user base out there. It's not like there hasn't been other programs to use..

This new Stormlab program isn't even out yet so most of us can't make a fair analysis at this time. I'm certain it will be a great program and I look forward to trying it, however there's some big boots to fill. The competition will be great and will only make both products better in the long run and offer the best possible diversity for all users.