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SAVAIRE
03-07-2012, 09:45 PM
Hey everyone, first post in the new forum!! My old handle was Lytessout.

Anyway, what is the best DMX software out there right now? Our lighting rig is getting up there and the controller we have now just isn't cutting it. Our budget is anywhere from 500-1,500 USD, maybe a bit more. We will be using it primarily for moving heads, par cans, and strobes!

Thanks for the help!

Rob Savaire

Synaxis
03-07-2012, 10:37 PM
Well, you've got a nice budget!

I think your bet is Martin Lightjockey:

http://www.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=lightjockey

I believe it's around $1200, and I've never heard anything negative of the software.

There are some other options for your budget, such as Madrix Plexus and Sunlight Suite:

http://www.madrix.com/home/products/plexus.html

http://www.nicolaudie.com/en/home-show.htm

But I'm personally not familiar with them, so perhaps someone with more experience can chime in.

How many fixtures are you planning on controlling? Or how many channels do you think you will need?

Ryan Ruel
03-08-2012, 08:40 AM
I use LightJockey 2, but have been interested in some other programs as of late. Although LightJockey does everything, it does lack in some areas:

1. Poor midi controller support (no MIDI CC input, supports only one MIDI controller at a time)
2. 100 fixture limit, 12 slots per cue limit
3. No support for "new" things, like Art-Net
4. Isn't being actively developed by Martin

It's still a great program, and you can't really go "wrong" (also, a lot of people know the program), but it seems Martin is getting away from it. I don't know...

Another option that's looked very good to me feature wise is ShowCad Artist 3. It seems to have a very extensive feature set, and is about the same price as LightJockey:

http://www.showcad.com/products.aspx

They seem to have some recent installs at some pretty big venues, which is a good sign (it's also been around a while). It also has integration features for visualization software. In all, it just seems more "up to date" to me than LightJockey. I haven't switched myself because of the re-programming time, learning the new application, etc.

DJ M&M
03-08-2012, 10:41 AM
Light Jockey or Hog iPC (you can get playback wings for it).

Ryan Ruel
03-08-2012, 11:54 AM
The playback wings for Hog 3PC are around $5000.

SAVAIRE
03-08-2012, 02:00 PM
Well, you've got a nice budget!

How many fixtures are you planning on controlling? Or how many channels do you think you will need?

Yep! We just picked up 6 Intimidator Spot 350 LED's from IDJNOW along with an X-Laser XBEAM RGB 1W! <3 Big productions

Anyway, we are controlling 6-10 moving heads for now, 2-4 strobes, X-Laser Xbeam, 4 UVBAR16's, and a few other small lights. The moving heads and x-laser are my main concern. We are learning as we go, but we need to program these lights to get the most out of our show!

Ryan Ruel
03-08-2012, 02:04 PM
LightJockey will do everything you need there, and is easier to use than the console style applications like HOG or Camsys.

Plus there's a good online support community for it.


Yep! We just picked up 6 Intimidator Spot 350 LED's from IDJNOW along with an X-Laser XBEAM RGB 1W! <3 Big productions

Anyway, we are controlling 6-10 moving heads for now, 2-4 strobes, X-Laser Xbeam, 4 UVBAR16's, and a few other small lights. The moving heads and x-laser are my main concern. We are learning as we go, but we need to program these lights to get the most out of our show!