DMX Lighting Controller

[dfs04]

Hi,

Im rather new to DMX, just learning what it's all about. Am thinking of buying 8 Prolight LED64 Cans, 2 Acme Color Fusion CF-804 LED panels and 2 iSolution iM-250w Moving Washes for a new local theatre we are opening. However I've been reading up on DMX controllers. Some say that they take up to 12 scanners (each scanner can take up to 16 channels - http://www.ebdj.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?product_id=12054) and some say that you can hook up to 12 scanners and 8 parcans (http://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_light_desk_pro_136.htm). Is that the maximum? I thought you could daisychain as may as you want. Could someone please explain this?

 

Many thanks & regards,

Daniel

[richardtank]

The limits that are stated will most likely relate to the amount of DMX addresses the controller can handle, as well as the amount of scenes you can save.

You are correct that you daisy-chain DMX, however, their is a limit to the amount of fixtures you can have in a chain before the signal degrades.

 

I suggest that you search the forums, as you will probably find a lot of threads with information you'll find useful!

[prolightdesigner]

Hi

 

Basically, DMX is DMX. Not matter which controller you use, it will transmit the same signal as the next. It's just a matter of finding a board that will do what you want it to. The first board you present is designed mostly for use with moving lights. Yes, you can control simple PARs with it, but the features you're paying for will be generally designed for use with moving lights. The second board is a sort of 'morph' between a standard light board designed for conventionals and one designed for movers. As far as what you can assign to certain parts of the board, you can put whatever you want where ever you want, so long as you don't exceed the number of channels that certain part of the board can handle. It's just that you may only be able to access certain functions of the board if you have the lights patched in how the designers intended it.

 

In the case of 12, 16 channel scanners, you could take four 4 channel dimmer packs and call that '1 scanner', if that makes what you want to do work.

 

-Jeff

[Aaron-Hill07]

The one keyword I've picked out of your topic is 'theatre' none of the lighting you have suggested fits into the theatre lighting sector. I'd definately re-think if its a theatre your opening, or a venue that you'll be using for other things.

 

If your thinking of doing theatre for proper productions then I'd scrap anything like LED lights as their too dull, and don't even start thinking about moving lights. If its a new theatre, and you sound like your new to the industry, don't throw yourself into the 'cool' looking stuff like moving heads and the flashy colour changing LED stuff, it really is a waste of time.

 

I suggest, re-think what your trying to achieve in the end, learn about lighting a bit more first and if you are going for theatre, then invest in some proper stage lighting like fresnels, profiles and some descent dimmers and a nice theatre style desk.

 

Sorry to stop you in your tracks on this one, but your original post doesn't add up, ''new theatre'' & ''LED parcans'' doesnt make sense to me, invest in the stuff you need, not the stuff you 'want'.

 

 

hope that helps a bit!

[dfs04]

The one keyword I've picked out of your topic is 'theatre' none of the lighting you have suggested fits into the theatre lighting sector. I'd definately re-think if its a theatre your opening, or a venue that you'll be using for other things.

 

If your thinking of doing theatre for proper productions then I'd scrap anything like LED lights as their too dull, and don't even start thinking about moving lights. If its a new theatre, and you sound like your new to the industry, don't throw yourself into the 'cool' looking stuff like moving heads and the flashy colour changing LED stuff, it really is a waste of time.

 

I suggest, re-think what your trying to achieve in the end, learn about lighting a bit more first and if you are going for theatre, then invest in some proper stage lighting like fresnels, profiles and some descent dimmers and a nice theatre style desk.

 

Sorry to stop you in your tracks on this one, but your original post doesn't add up, ''new theatre'' & ''LED parcans'' doesnt make sense to me, invest in the stuff you need, not the stuff you 'want'.

 

 

 

hope that helps a bit!

 

Yep you're absolutly right Aaron-Hill, I think I used theatre as too much of a generic term and I didnt mention that we have some freshnels and 2 profiles which I plan to hook up to a DMX dimmer and hence control them by DMX. The venue will be used more by bands than by actors to be honest, there might be a few plays however mostly small concerts as there seem to be quite a fair bit of musical talent here. Thank you, however for your advice. I just presumed LED pars would be better for mixing colours etc instead of playing around with gels, and they also last longer. Its true I have only worked with DMX twice before and those were with moving heads so im abit green on the whole LED par, ive been trying to get as much advice as possible so as not to waste my money. My primary goal is to try and get a controller under 400 pounds if possible that will be able to handle quite a few lights, including mostly dimmer packs to hook up the stage lighting and a few moving lights when needed. I'm currently looking at hardware at the moment as I'm not too sure about the software.... Any more advice would be greatly appreciated,

 

Thanks all

 

Daniel

[Aaron-Hill07]

Yes, LED parcans are definately better for colour mixing, but in comparison to anything in stage lighting they're nowhere near as bright. I suggest saving the money that you'd spend on the LED's and moving heads and invest in lots of parcans, some colour scrollers and some descent stage light. Use the Fresnels and the Profiles you have as a nice stage frontlight to see the performers, then parcans on top of that for a nice colour wash and effect to cut the edge from the whitelight from the Fresnels.

 

Obviously, you'll probably need some more dimmers for these parcans too, but its definately a better thing to do than throwing in loads of intelligent lighting and hoping that'll look good. Start of using the basics, and make something amazing out of them, then add amazing lighting and add to the amazing show you've already got.

 

Moving lights are great, but they're too advanced for you at the moment, as I said above make your show look good using nice beam angles, good choice of colours and lights rather than investing in budget lights that will probably cause you more problems than they're worth. If it's really neccesary to use moving heads etc, hire them.

 

What is your overall budget? Also what's the theatre your working in, have you got any dimensions etc? What kit do you already have? What power do you have available?

 

We need a bit more information to shed some more light on the situation and offer more accurate help, a console for under £400 is usually a bit of a challenge, but if we have some more information then I'm sure we can suggest something for you.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Aaron.

[dfs04]

Yes, LED parcans are definately better for colour mixing, but in comparison to anything in stage lighting they're nowhere near as bright. I suggest saving the money that you'd spend on the LED's and moving heads and invest in lots of parcans, some colour scrollers and some descent stage light. Use the Fresnels and the Profiles you have as a nice stage frontlight to see the performers, then parcans on top of that for a nice colour wash and effect to cut the edge from the whitelight from the Fresnels.

 

Obviously, you'll probably need some more dimmers for these parcans too, but its definately a better thing to do than throwing in loads of intelligent lighting and hoping that'll look good. Start of using the basics, and make something amazing out of them, then add amazing lighting and add to the amazing show you've already got.

 

Moving lights are great, but they're too advanced for you at the moment, as I said above make your show look good using nice beam angles, good choice of colours and lights rather than investing in budget lights that will probably cause you more problems than they're worth. If it's really neccesary to use moving heads etc, hire them.

 

What is your overall budget? Also what's the theatre your working in, have you got any dimensions etc? What kit do you already have? What power do you have available?

 

We need a bit more information to shed some more light on the situation and offer more accurate help, a console for under £400 is usually a bit of a challenge, but if we have some more information then I'm sure we can suggest something for you.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Aaron.

 

Budget dedicated for lighting, as it stands, is around 4000. I don't have the dimensions however it seats around 300. Currently we have 4 freshnels and 2 profiles, and about 8 pars. These are all controlled via 2 powerpacks to a Zero88 Lightmaster XL, which has about 3 dead channels, so I would like to change that. All I know about power is that it's 3 phase. What controller would you recommend, the cheaper the better however would it be better to use software like lumidesk or daslight?

 

Many Thanks

Daniel

[Aaron-Hill07]

It'd be good to find out what you have in ways on how big the stage is, also what there is available for rigging and flying?

 

I'd personally double the lighting you already have, literally double. so 8 FRESNELS, 4 profiles and 16 pars, then some descent dimmers and a nice console with the money left over. If you want me to, send me a PM and I can draw you up a quote of what I think would be best for the venue and the situation your in.

 

Don't lack on money when it comes to consoles, get a good console... go to some local companies and try out some consoles yourself first (don't buy blind) and then base your purchase on that. I'd reccomend spending at least £1000 on a console, quality is much better than buying cheap desks that don't have as many features.

 

Hardware control is always best, software is OK for some applications, although I wouldn't say you should think about software.

 

 

Find out some more information on the venue for us, but until then as I said above, if you want me to draw you up a quote then I will do so more than happily.

 

Aaron.

[smalljoshua]

Ok. This is a band venue mainly, yes?

 

You have £4000 to spend on lighting, yes?

 

Where are you based? Someone on here might be able to take a look at the venue for beer tokens and offer you some advice.

 

Josh