Martin Light Jockey Effects Engine

[jeffheart08]

I recently downloaded the Lightjockey software and am debating buying it. I looked at the preset movements and only saw like 4 or 5. Is there a place or places to download new patterns?

[lee weathers]

before you buy this download the evaluation of showcad artist..

 

www.showcad.com

 

I have used both and found showcad far superior in most ways

 

weathers

[Zak]

My first instinct is to tell you to run away from Lightjockey as fast as you can, but... what are you using it for?

[jeffheart08]

My first instinct is to tell you to run away from Lightjockey as fast as you can, but... what are you using it for?

 

Using it for raves. Underground parties. No theatre events or anything. Simply for dance music events and perhaps some nightclub events. WHat are some of the things you don't like this program for?

[Zak]

Using it for raves. Underground parties. No theatre events or anything. Simply for dance music events and perhaps some nightclub events. WHat are some of the things you don't like this program for?

Well, that is exactly what LJ was intended for. I've had to use it for a couple concerts; it's terrible for that.

 

What don't I like about it? The user interface drives me nuts. There's no coherent way to view what attributes are in a cue and edit them; selecting each fixture/group and looking at all of the palette windows to see what's active and what's not is not what I'd call coherent. For a good example of what I consider the "right thing" here, try a Scancommander[1]. Assigning a cue to a keyboard key is another good example of the bad UI. I'd expect to find the option to assign a cue to a hotkey somewhere in the parameters for the cue, or at least a global "assign hotkeys" menu item. Ideally, it would have both. Instead, hotkeys are buried several levels deep in the preferences. I'm sure I could find a lot more examples if I sat down with a copy of LJ and played with it, but I'm not inclined to do that unless somebody's paying me a lot of money.

 

So that opens the question: what *should* you use? I haven't done any dance party type lighting to speak of, but my first thought would be Chamsys MagicQ. The software is free, it lets you control one universe with any of several cheap 3rd-party USB widgets and I think their full-size input wing with two DMX outputs costs little more than a Lightjockey widget. On top of that, their support is excellent. They've given me prompt and useful answers by email on several occasions, and I haven't even bought anything from them.

 

You might also want to look at GrandMA onPC. Again, the software is free but I think it requires their widget, which I'm pretty sure costs less than the LJ widget.

 

This thread will probably get closed, as this isn't intended to be a DJ/disco forum, but I hope this gives you some better options to consider.

 

[1] I am not suggesting that you use a Scancommander for this application, just that its attribute matrix is a coherent, though overly simplistic way to see and change what attributes will be stored in a cue.

[jeffheart08]

thanks for the input zak. I am taking it all into consideration for my final decisions.

 

Using it for raves. Underground parties. No theatre events or anything. Simply for dance music events and perhaps some nightclub events. WHat are some of the things you don't like this program for?

Well, that is exactly what LJ was intended for. I've had to use it for a couple concerts; it's terrible for that.

 

What don't I like about it? The user interface drives me nuts. There's no coherent way to view what attributes are in a cue and edit them; selecting each fixture/group and looking at all of the palette windows to see what's active and what's not is not what I'd call coherent. For a good example of what I consider the "right thing" here, try a Scancommander[1]. Assigning a cue to a keyboard key is another good example of the bad UI. I'd expect to find the option to assign a cue to a hotkey somewhere in the parameters for the cue, or at least a global "assign hotkeys" menu item. Ideally, it would have both. Instead, hotkeys are buried several levels deep in the preferences. I'm sure I could find a lot more examples if I sat down with a copy of LJ and played with it, but I'm not inclined to do that unless somebody's paying me a lot of money.

 

So that opens the question: what *should* you use? I haven't done any dance party type lighting to speak of, but my first thought would be Chamsys MagicQ. The software is free, it lets you control one universe with any of several cheap 3rd-party USB widgets and I think their full-size input wing with two DMX outputs costs little more than a Lightjockey widget. On top of that, their support is excellent. They've given me prompt and useful answers by email on several occasions, and I haven't even bought anything from them.

 

You might also want to look at GrandMA onPC. Again, the software is free but I think it requires their widget, which I'm pretty sure costs less than the LJ widget.

 

This thread will probably get closed, as this isn't intended to be a DJ/disco forum, but I hope this gives you some better options to consider.

 

[1] I am not suggesting that you use a Scancommander for this application, just that its attribute matrix is a coherent, though overly simplistic way to see and change what attributes will be stored in a cue.