Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: DMX Software

  1. #1

    DMX Software

    My lighting consists of pretty basic efx lighting and some wash. I am wanting to start looking at some more intelligent lighting, but will do slowly.

    I currently use a obey 40 but mostly still sound active modes

    Are there dmx software options where you can tell it what fixtures you have and it has preprogrammed scenes based on your fixtures?

    I don't have the knowledge or talent to make super great light shows nor is my current equipment capable of greatness. However, I'm hoping to make it a little better.

    Thanks.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Ottawa Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    2,035
    Quote Originally Posted by HBL Entertainment View Post
    Are there dmx software options where you can tell it what fixtures you have and it has preprogrammed scenes based on your fixtures?
    No.. you're going to have to put some effort into it.
    What fixtures do you have now and what are you looking at buying?
    How many fixtures are you prepared to carry?
    Paul O'Brien
    Old Tech Guy
    www.Techott.com

  3. #3
    I have a single tree with a revo 3, 2 Chauvet Intimidator Scan LED 100s, another effect light similar to the revo, and a full LED bar. All are only RGB.

    I was hoping to get some newer effect fixtures with white or Amber, and some better wash lighting. I would love to get some movers but they are out of my price range.

    I don't mind learning how to create some scenes but feel it's not worth it with current limited setup.

    Is software typically easier with a lower learning curve than hardware DMX?

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Ottawa Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    2,035
    Quote Originally Posted by HBL Entertainment View Post
    I don't mind learning how to create some scenes but feel it's not worth it with current limited setup.

    Is software typically easier with a lower learning curve than hardware DMX?
    No unfortunately software typically has a steeper learning curve but it can also do more complicated things. But you do have some movers already so I think the biggest weakness you have is with the controller. With everything running sound active your system is pretty busy looking I bet and you can't do anything simple like a solid color wash with some slow moving white spots from the scanners.... a good first dance look.
    With this controller you could do this, on the surface it doesn't look a lot different than the one you have but trust me... it is a lot more powerful. The main things that make this unit so much better are..
    - Built-in movement macros that can be editied and saved into scenes and chases.
    - Fixture mapping
    - Multiple scenes and chases can run at the same time

    Movement macros are preprogrammed movements for heads or scanners such as figure 8, circle, etc... something that would take a lot of work and consume most of the memory in the basic fixture to generate. With your scanners setup correctly you have 1 button access to these movements and you can change the speed they move, the area they cover, and the amount of offset there is from one to the next.

    Fixture mapping is another neat feature and this is a key to getting a diverse selection of fixture to behave uniformly. What this does is allow you to put any channel of a fixture on any fader of the controller. The reason you want be able to do this is to for example get the channels that control X and Y mirror movement for your scanners on the controller channels that are designed for movement control(17 & 18), or for example to get the red, green and blue for all your fixtures on the same controller channels(1,2,3). With this done when programming you just select the fixtures you want to control and move one slider to get red on all of them.

    And with the ability to run several chases or scenes together programming is easier and you can easily generate a continuously varying look because each chase can be run at different speeds. So for example you could have 3 chases setup for the movers, 1 chase does nothing but a series of movements, the next chase just does gobos, and the third just does colors. You could have the movements changing every 15 seconds, the gobos every 10 seconds, and the colors every 5 seconds. Your color washes can run on another chase too, and you could punch in a scene with the Revos in sound active mode here and there as desired. You can also program a scene that does nothing but strobe on the scanners for example and turn that on occasionally for another effect.

    Your color wash fixtures can also generate an amber although that may be something else you would consider upgrading, many fixtures now have 4, 5, or 6 primary colors and much higher output.
    Last edited by conanski; 10-09-2019 at 10:23 PM.
    Paul O'Brien
    Old Tech Guy
    www.Techott.com

  5. #5
    Thank you. I appreciate the detailed response. I will look into that controller. I also have an Obey 70 that was given to me but haven't used it due to my simple setup.

    I usually only use one fixture at a time so the "business" is minimal but also quite boring.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Member Daniel S's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Sweden Booyaka
    Posts
    802
    Well, there sort of is what you're looking for, but there's a big but involved; It's basically a feature of Pioneer Rekordbox, so if you don't use that, it's of no use to you.

    It would be cool if there was a stand alone product that does the same thing as this:


  7. #7
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Tulsa, OK
    Posts
    144
    I've played with controllers, and software.

    You can do a lot with a controller, it takes time and effort to program the scenes. Software isn't that much different, and there tends to be a steeper learning curve as indicated.

    I find that the controller is easy, and works well. You can use multiple fixtures in a scene, run those in a chase in sound active mode and it is pretty impressive. Honestly, 99% of the people are happy with just a stand alone fixture in sound active mode, IMO.

    Also realize that software implies another machine(PC) to run it, you have the expense of the interface and software, plus a dedicated machine, and backup machine if you are so inclined.
    Last edited by shoot summ; 10-11-2019 at 08:44 AM.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by shoot summ View Post
    I've played with controllers, and software.

    You can do a lot with a controller, it takes time and effort to program the scenes. Software isn't that much different, and there tends to be a steeper learning curve as indicated.

    I find that the controller is easy, and works well. You can use multiple fixtures in a scene, run those in a chase in sound active mode and it is pretty impressive. Honestly, 99% of the people are happy with just a stand alone fixture in sound active mode, IMO.

    Also realize that software implies another machine(PC) to run it, you have the expense of the interface and software, plus a dedicated machine, and backup machine if you are so inclined.
    Those are good points. Thank you for the advice.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
a