DMX Lighting Controller for Multi Purpose Use

[pauljarvis]

Dear All,

 

We have just purchased a new truss rigging system with a variety of lights, moving heads, lasers, strobes, etc..

 

I am looking to purchase a lighting controller around £500, but might be able to push a little more if necessarry.

 

The lighting rig will me mainly used for DJ/Club, however it will also be used for bands, stage performace etc.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on what they think would be a good purchase for us?

 

Regards

 

Dr. Paul Jarvis

The University of Manchester

[themadhippy]

so youve spent a fair few quid on toys and aint got nought left to make it work,slightly over budget but chamsys magicq (free) running on a cheap laptop/pc with the basic fader wing will run it all nicely,however to make the most of it you realy need a touch screen.

[musht]

Welcome and a few questions If I may:

 

What do you use currently?

 

What did the supplier of your other equipment recommend?

 

Whats the skill level of the average user, motivated and trained and few of them to anyone who gets the keys to the room needs a `light switch`?

 

Its a tight budget for a dedicated hardware controller but PC based options not always `light switch` level user friendly.

 

Bit more info will help.

[abstractavr]

A sunlite dongle & cheap laptop/pc would be ideal for this. It would require programming to however.

 

We supply it usually with our LED dance floor tiles and mood lighting systems.

 

PM if you would like further information.

 

 

 

Dear All,

 

We have just purchased a new truss rigging system with a variety of lights, moving heads, lasers, strobes, etc..

 

I am looking to purchase a lighting controller around £500, but might be able to push a little more if necessarry.

 

The lighting rig will me mainly used for DJ/Club, however it will also be used for bands, stage performace etc.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on what they think would be a good purchase for us?

 

Regards

 

Dr. Paul Jarvis

The University of Manchester

[nickjones]

If it's anything under a grand and you want moving light control, Enttek USB-DMX Pro, and one of the many software packages out there, Freestyler is one of my favorites, purely for it's simplicity, download it and see how you feel. Others swear by MagicQ, but it all depends on the application and the user's level of skill.

[Modge]

LimeLIGHT is now abailable to buy. If you look at all the software based desks out there then by the time you make your mind up the webshop to let you buy our DMX to USB will be online as well... (because we're generally in favour of making it easy for people to give us money!)

As with all the software desk recomended above limeLIGHT is a free download, so I'd suggest you download all the software you've been recomended have a play and then get which ever hardware you need for the one you want. With regards a laptop to run it on: At least two of our beta testers used laptops choosen mostly for being very cheap second hand on ebay - really the spec of the hardware need only be comensorate with the size of the rig you're running.

[rossmck]

If you're looking for simple software-based lighting control LimeLIGHT is definitely worth a look. Good support behind it too (had a good opportunity to talk to the developers at Plasa) - Anyone familiar with a 'normal' PC application would be able to use LimeLIGHT (or Freestyler) whereas the user interface of MagicQ is better suited to those with a background of real consoles.

 

MagicQ is infinitely more useful if you add a wing, but these may bring the cost of the control system outwith your intended budget.

 

As in all multi-purpose spaces bear in mind you'll often have users of the space (particularly for bands/stage shows) who already have their own 'preferred' system and will bring in their own (or a hired) lighting desk or software-based solution so pick something that's simple and suits your own use best.