Architectural DMX controller?

[Skellyton465]

Hi all,

I've been asked to source and program a controller for an install of about 40 moving lights. Something similar to a Masterpiece Replay unit but newer would be ideal. I need 2 universes of control so it either needs to have 2 universes natively, or be multiple units slaved together. I'd rather not go with a PC based solution as I can only see that being a world of pain for troubleshooting. Ideally I'd like to program it once, set it up at the venue and leave it to run with occaisional maintenance as necessary. Does anybody know of any products available on the market that would be suitable? The simpler the better.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[themadhippy]

How about https://chamsyslighting.com/products/quickq-rack

[Skellyton465]

Is the QuickQ series any good for movers? I was under the impression it was a basic system for a few LEDs and some generics, but I'm not that up to speed with the ChamSys stuff so could be wrong. I haven't gotten on well with the MagicQ software in the past...

 

Just looked up the price of a QuickQ rack and I don't think the client will go for a ~£2k playback solution... I'm thinking more the £100 - £250 price range.

[ImagineerTom]

At that price point you’re looking at a raspberry pi / arduino based product that you might as well code yourself.

[gyro_gearloose]

If they only want to pay a few hundred pounds then you really need to look at a PC based system, based around a secondhand computer. I’ve done something similar for a small local nightclub. I used MagicQ running on a computer with a touchscreen monitor. It was set up to run MagicQ on boot up, and MagicQ was set up to only show a grid of buttons corresponding to different lighting states for some movers and some LED wall panels.

 

I was going to suggest a secondhand Showcad Artist system, but the one on eBay right now is priced at £400!

[themadhippy]

even with magicq on a pc the 2 universe interface is over double the budget without buying a touch screen pc setup

[Skellyton465]

This is for a bar rather than a nightclub. So it really just needs to be a case of switching it on and leaving it do its own thing. Hence my comparison to the Masterpiece Replay. No operator involved at all. I'm looking at 1U DMX recorders on Thomann at the moment, they're sitting around the £150 mark.

[themadhippy]

how are you going to produce the DMX stream the recorder records?

[Skellyton465]

Using my own Avo Pearl. Once it's set up and recorded I can take the Pearl away and leave the recorder running with the show backed up to an SD card for security. Unless I've misunderstood how the recorder functions. Edited October 18, 2020 by Skellyton465

[pscandrett]

Just idly exploring the web on this topic - so I've not used this! - but Thomann have this two-universe Stairville unit for under £200.

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_replay_show.htm

 

Is this the sort of thing you're after? Artnet/dual DMX in, dual DMX out...?

 

I was sort of presuming that you'd checked Thomann (probably the first place to look with your budget, not that that's bad!) - but if you haven't, they have other promising looking products here: https://www.thomann.de/gb/dmx_recorder.html

 

Looks like Chauvet do a single universe version (DMX-RT) for under a hundred pounds, too, so that might be a solution to explore also.

 

Hope that helps.

[Skellyton465]

Just idly exploring the web on this topic - so I've not used this! - but Thomann have this two-universe Stairville unit for under £200.

 

https://www.thomann....replay_show.htm

 

Is this the sort of thing you're after? Artnet/dual DMX in, dual DMX out...?

 

I was sort of presuming that you'd checked Thomann (probably the first place to look with your budget, not that that's bad!) - but if you haven't, they have other promising looking products here: https://www.thomann....x_recorder.html

 

Looks like Chauvet do a single universe version (DMX-RT) for under a hundred pounds, too, so that might be a solution to explore also.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Yes I've seen the selection of kit on Thomann, they seem to be one of few places offering this kind of gear. I guess it's not that common an application when a cheap PC and DMX dongle are available. If it wasn't going to be set up a good distance away from where I'm based perhaps I'd look at that option in more depth. I'm just not confident in a PC's ability to reliably just boot up and start running a show without the end user having to do anything, and I don't want to tie myself to a month's worth of phone calls to troubleshoot issues...

 

It looks like the route I'm going down is to use a single universe StairVille unit. If it's of interest to anyone, I'll post back some results once I have them.