jack2609

Here is the latest information on Vista by Chroma-Q if you want to download the latest software and take a look at it for yourself:

https://vistabychromaq.com/

As others have mentioned, Vista was designed so that you could use 100% of it on just a PC or Mac. The supporting physical console hardware then complimented that software design with physical faders and buttons. This is one of the primary reasons why the original consoles used a stylus instead of a touch screen, it allowed the accurate control of that same pointing device (mouse).

Vista was one of the first lighting consoles to offer GUI based lighting control, which is everywhere in some form today. Vista has progressed a lot in the last couple of decades but these core concepts are still at the foundations of its ethos.

Let me know if you have any further questions about it.

What are the benefits of the two processing engines if the unit only has one DMX output? I get that it is "future proofing" for when DMX isn't required, but in that situation, plugging lights directly into a network removes the need for nodes entirely, so what would the process engines be required for exactly?

A good question.

You could be outputting DMX on the physical DMX port (which would use 1 engine), but you could also (for example) be converting Artnet to sACN on the second.

If and when it ever gets to the point where entire rigs are connected by Ethernet I think there will still be a place for products such as Luminodes. These boxes will be doing things like handling multiple data sources and offering really sophisticated merging and cross fading policies (as currently implemented). For example crossfading between Lighting console and media server for just a number of DMX channels within a universe. Of course, some lighting consoles can do this internally but a lot of them also can not, at least at this level of this of sophistication or ease of use.

Luminex Luminode 1 would be perfect for this.

It would even give you another Ethernet port on your PC, as well as being a swiss army knife of other converters. Artnet to sACN, DMX to sACN. Artnet/sACN to DMX.... etc etc.

It actually has two processing engines inside it.

I have never used the Chauvet units but I chose to install a relatively large number of the Prolights Diamond 7's in a multi-purpose venue used predominantly for touring bands after comparing in situe with similar offerings from other fixture manufacturer's. My decision was based on there being very little (if any) noticable difference in intensity, colour or beam definition compared to equivalent (but more expensive) fixtures; that they had a wide zoom range; that I could purchase significantly more units within budget providing much greater flexibility along with the luxury of some spare units; that I had a good long-standing relationship with the distributor (A.C. Entertainment Technologies) and knew I could rely on fast support in the event of any problems and that I separately had (and continue to have) frequent contact with Prolights technical department which gave me confidence that they would be well supported from the manufacturer end. I did also consider the individual pixel control which was a bonus and not available on many of the equivalent fixtures (including the Chauvet) but in reality it would have pushed us over 4 universes which may have proved problematic for some of the touring productions and, perhaps more importantly, the individual RGBW pixel controls in the Diamond 7 and 19 fixtures are only on/off switches which rather limits options and compatibility with console functions such as colour pickers so we didn't use this (IMO they would probably have been better implemented as single colour macro controls). They were well received with good feedback from freelancers and I think we had one failure in the 2 years or so I was there after install that was fixed under warranty via AC (LVPSU). I felt I had made the right decision. They are small and move very quickly - I can't imagine I would need or expect anything to move much faster. I would be surprised if there was much difference in intensity compared to the Chauvet units - they both use 7x15W RGBW emitters although at the minimum zoom the Prolights would theoretically be more concentrated but I would happily recommend Prolights in general.

Just to add to Nic's comments - The Prolights diamond series do actually have "FX" macro channels. There are 4 of them, namely foreground colour, background colour, pattern (of which there is a mixture of static virtual gobos and moving animated ones) and then a pattern speed channel.

The channel count per fixture here would only be 20 channels. As Nic mentions the foreground and background macro colors are red,green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow and white (due to the on/off nature of how the individual LEDs are driven). In normal wash mode though you of course get the usual colour mixing.

I think the macros are fine though, most of the time you likely want to use saturated colours anyway to be able to get the contrast between the pixels. At the tightest zoom the focus is actually on the individual LED breakdown, so you can get some nice in air effects (assuming you can use haze/smoke). All in all its a pretty solid fixture.

It's also nice that Prolights don't seem to rush to discontinue or replace a product in their portfolio. The diamond series has been around for at least 4 years now and is still current and going strong. I would suggest this is largely down to the Osram Ostar LED chip. Its still a great chip and suitable for most applications.

I have never used the Chauvet units but I chose to install a relatively large number of the Prolights Diamond 7's in a multi-purpose venue used predominantly for touring bands after comparing in situe with similar offerings from other fixture manufacturer's. My decision was based on there being very little (if any) noticable difference in intensity, colour or beam definition compared to equivalent (but more expensive) fixtures; that they had a wide zoom range; that I could purchase significantly more units within budget providing much greater flexibility along with the luxury of some spare units; that I had a good long-standing relationship with the distributor (A.C. Entertainment Technologies) and knew I could rely on fast support in the event of any problems and that I separately had (and continue to have) frequent contact with Prolights technical department which gave me confidence that they would be well supported from the manufacturer end. I did also consider the individual pixel control which was a bonus and not available on many of the equivalent fixtures (including the Chauvet) but in reality it would have pushed us over 4 universes which may have proved problematic for some of the touring productions and, perhaps more importantly, the individual RGBW pixel controls in the Diamond 7 and 19 fixtures are only on/off switches which rather limits options and compatibility with console functions such as colour pickers so we didn't use this (IMO they would probably have been better implemented as single colour macro controls). They were well received with good feedback from freelancers and I think we had one failure in the 2 years or so I was there after install that was fixed under warranty via AC (LVPSU). I felt I had made the right decision. They are small and move very quickly - I can't imagine I would need or expect anything to move much faster. I would be surprised if there was much difference in intensity compared to the Chauvet units - they both use 7x15W RGBW emitters although at the minimum zoom the Prolights would theoretically be more concentrated but I would happily recommend Prolights in general.

Just to add to Nic's comments - The Prolights diamond series do actually have "FX" macro channels. There are 4 of them, namely foreground colour, background colour, pattern (of which there is a mixture of static virtual gobos and moving animated ones) and then a pattern speed channel.

The channel count per fixture here would only be 20 channels. As Nic mentions the foreground and background macro colors are red,green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow and white (due to the on/off nature of how the individual LEDs are driven). In normal wash mode though you of course get the usual colour mixing.

I think the macros are fine though, most of the time you likely want to use saturated colours anyway to be able to get the contrast between the pixels. At the tightest zoom the focus is actually on the individual LED breakdown, so you can get some nice in air effects (assuming you can use haze/smoke). All in all its a pretty solid fixture.

It's also nice that Prolights don't seem to rush to discontinue or replace a product in their portfolio. The diamond series has been around for at least 4 years now and is still current and going strong. I would suggest this is largely down to the Osram Ostar LED chip. Its still a great chip and suitable for most applications.

Afternoon everyone,

 

I've got half an idea about a creating some light up costumes which can be controlled through DMX. Obviously that means no cables.

 

I can't seem to find anything on the market that does wireless DMX that is battery powered. Everything seems to need a power cable.

 

Does anyone know of anything that I can use to transmit wireless DMX, with a battery powered receiver, that's not specific to a particular brand (like the ADJ WiFLY kit only controls ADJ products as far as I can see).

 

Thanks

 

Matt

Hi Matt,

Take a look into Lumen Radio's latest product, Moonlite

This is designed to do exactly this sort of thing, with all the robustness of Lumen's wireless communication.