stuartglen Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 My school is doing a production of josef and we have way more cues than our strand mx can handle, Des anyone know of a relativly cheap usb DMX dongle that would support DMX out and DMX in from the stand mx so that we still have live faders? and a 'pefferably free' software that supports these features Mostly the stuff we will be using it for is basic lighing with a few timed sequences thrown in, no movers Anyone got any suggestions? I have seen http://www.usbdmx.com and I was woundering if anyone knew of a cheaper interface that did the same ting or knew a windows software package that works with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyFitch Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hey, Ive not had much experience with the strand kit, but if your open to other suggestions, you could run the show entirely from PC... Ive had fantastic results using Enttec's OpenDMX USB module; Tis a nice, small, and cheap little unit. Then I use Chamsys MagicQ PC, as my LX Desk, has cue stack function, and from what ive found, very simple to use. Only thing I found was that either MQ or the OpenDMX, didnt like running on windows X64 edition, granted thats not much of a problem, but if anyones got any thoughts on that.. Cheers.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 This should be a FAQ. Find the software you like first, and then find what interfaces it supports. There are lots of low cost interfaces, and oodles of mediocre software to go with them. What you want to do can be done (in short controlling a PC lighting system from a conventional desk) from PCStage, using the standard interface, the software is free, but the interface you need will cost you 250 quid. You can then use your desk for the hands on bit. You can use the desk faders as subs and also as crossfaders to step through cuelist items, or you could do the go stuff directly on the computer, just using the MX for live subs "on top of" the cuelust driven looks, lots of options and possibilities. Also have a look at this recent thread: Horizon PC Control program any good? which offers a few more suggestions of good quality products. Whereas they are all good products, what I dont know is how many of them can be slaved to an existing desk, so I'll stick to the product I know for commenting on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 This should be a FAQ.What, a bit like this? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMad Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Des anyone know of a relativly cheap usb DMX dongle that would support DMX out and DMX in from the stand mx so that we still have live faders? Small point but I didn't think that the Strand MX supported DMX, is it not a D54 desk ? Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albatross Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Small point but I didn't think that the Strand MX supported DMX, is it not a D54 desk ?Jeff. It definitely does do DMX. I use 2, a 24 & a 48 channel version. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 This should be a FAQ.From the Blue Room's Lighting FAQ :What software can I run a show from and what about USB-DMX Dongles? There are lots of PC based lighting control products, the good, the bad and the ugly. Most are bad or ugly, good to look at are... PCStageLightFactoryHorizonChamsys MagicQBlueLite Dongles comes in all shapes and sizes, from built and tested commercial offerings to 'open source' projects... USB-DMX.comEnttec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkyweb Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Yes the strand does have D54, but as the OP say it also has DMX, AMX & SMX, but very few people in the UK use the other 2 protocols. Slightly OT (sorry) the MX does annoyingly default back to D54 when you reset it!! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartglen Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 do you guys know which software supports using an external DMX board as ovaride/submasters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfitzpat Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 do you guys know which software supports using an external DMX board as ovaride/submasters? We do. That was the primary reason we made a DMX in standard on all our interfaces. But we don't support any of the super cheap 3rd party interfaces. Frankly, none tested up to snuff. But as dbuckley noted above, if the $100-$200 you'd save going with with a discount dongle instead of, say, our mini (1 DMX out, 1 DMX in, SMPTE in/out) is make or break. There are a huge number of terrible to so-so software offerings out there for them. -jjf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewR Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 MagicQ supports merging DMX inputs. Used with some Enttec usb-DMX dongles will do the job, dont recall if it will let you drive playbacks from an external DMX though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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