DMX Software vs DMX Desks

[richardc1983]

Excuse the questions tonight but you lot know ur stuff and wud rather get advice from the real people rather than salesman trying to hit their targets so do excuse me.

 

What would you recommend pc software or something like the above?

 

Ive seen this on ebay Ebay link software

it comes supplied with software. Obviously advantages of these is that u can see the show without the lights on whereas with a desk you have to do it live.

 

What would you recommend.

 

baring in mind budget and all that. I have nothing at present no software or anything so starting with just fixtures that work sound to light at present. Cant stress the fact my budget is prob £130.

 

It would be good to have it on the computer but in your opinions what is the best option??? and do these packages work? The price is £70 inc software??? HMMM?

 

Ive checked the supplied software and it says my fixtures are supported.

 

REally dont know what to do, im in the leeds area, I would like someone to come over and show me it all. I would take your advice and buy what you recommend, would be great if someone could come over and show me.

[themadhippy]

if you go the software/dongle route do a search for the chamsy magicq software,nice and cheep at £0.00, fully functional and works with the entec £50 dongle

[richardc1983]

Can u find me a link ive done a google nothing coming up>?

 

Whats this entec dongle as I got one from maplins once and it was just like a circuit board but no protection or covers and I broke it.

 

I guess its like the one in the ebay link.

[dbuckley]

Please, lets not do this again...

 

Try clicking on this saved search. Not all the results are appropriate, but the topic titles are a good clue...

 

If that link doesn't work, click on the search in the top right (not the google search, the native search), enter dongle, sit back, and relax...

 

Of course, I would reccome#:"@$

 

NO CARRIER

[Modge]

There are indeed a couple of good threads here discussing this however to put my 2 penny worth in:

For the price of a software desk with out any form of input aside from that provided by the PC upon which it runs you will be lucky to get a 2 preset physical desk second hand. Whilst that sort of thing does have it's place (teaching school kids lighting is the only one I can think of though...) even a striate play with no moving lights would be better served by something with a cuelist and a go button, which couldn't be had for that little money. On top of that software desks are likely (this differs greatly from program to program) to have a selection of features that will make it a great deal quicker and easier to program than anything at a comparable price point (or even at all). If you're doing anything beyond pure drama the extra features offered by (some) software desks, be it for programming of generics or moving heads / LED's become very relevant. For £130 it's unlikely you'll be able afford an input surface as well however with a software desk you can buy an input surface at a later date, when you have the money. A DMX desk with some sort of input surface is essentially the same as a non software desk (and generally cheaper). The advantage that a console offers is that it's a closed system - PC problems don't tend to apply to them where as with a software desk it's down the stability of the PC it's run on (which has been discussed many times on here with the important conclusion that you shouldn't run your show on an unstable machine that spends most of it's time downloading things from p2p networks - use a pc at least semi dedicated to the task)

 

To declare my interest: The company in my signature (trace lighting as opposed to the stage bus) is going to be beta testing a software desk in the fairly near future, with both a hardware input wing, then a full console to follow it. I own a share of trace lighting.