DMX Control form a laptop?

[LX-88]

I have an Apple laptop that I want to use as a lighting board. I want to run shows from the laptop with cues programmed just like I would on a standard board.

Is this my only option for an Apple computer to DMX interface?
http://www.lanbox.com/

Have you tried it? Did you like it? Are there any other alternatives except buying a dedicated light board?

[hollinj]

Look at Rosco's Horizon I dont know if it supports Macs, but we use it on a dell laptop. Its not great, but it works....

[Danny]

HighEnd Systems makes a computer to DMX control product:

http://www.highend.com/products/cont...holehog3pc.asp

[SketchyCroftPpl]

Take a look back in the posts there are a few topics about this which you should look at. I believe you would also need a USB dongle which is for going from USB --> DMX. Its not as much as a new light board but its prob around $1000 bucks ... or at least it was when I was reading stuff about this a good while ago. Other than that you still need to buy the software with all the licences and everything which may be another few hundred. Consider also the fact that its a really cool thing to do, but if people get out of practice of using the board what will they do when you graduate? And then you're the only one who can control the show and do everything for it which I find its also better and you get better ideas and material if you have a few people able to build it and run it.

~Nick

[moojoe]

HogPC from Highend Systems doesnt work on macs. also, that link goes to HogIIIPC, which hasnt even been released yet. if your still interested in it though, look here:
http://www.highend.com/products/cont...holehog2pc.asp

[len]

There's a lot of PC DMX control, but I believe you have the only one for Apple. As for the PC control systems, they way it's typically done is to sell you the dongle and give you the software free. Most of them, Martin, High End, Elation, Sunlite, Axis, have a link somewhere to download the software, but again, it can only be used on PC. One Martin user I believe has figured out a way to use it on his Apple with Windows, but it took him awhile.

[tbeck]

you can get an app that will run windows inside mac os... its roughly 500 bucks though... then you will need smoe sort of usb > dmx interface, such as hogIIpc from high end... software is free but the widget (usb>dmx interface) is roughly $1800.. its pricey, i know ive looked into it... but i would recommend a traditional board or a pc.. mac might be too expencive unless you have a large gudget... then i would just spring for a ETC board then


there are pros and cons of everything

High end recommends you get their whole system to take advatage of all the features. and in the long run if you dont have intelligent lighting then go for a traditional lighting console

thats just my two cents though (i know i was rambling)

if you need any mopre info email me

[jfitzpat]

Originally Posted by tbeck

you can get an app that will run windows inside mac os... its roughly 500 bucks though... then you will need smoe sort of usb > dmx interface, such as hogIIpc from high end... software is free but the widget (usb>dmx interface) is roughly $1800.. its pricey, i know ive looked into it... but i would recommend a traditional board or a pc.. mac might be too expencive unless you have a large gudget... then i would just spring for a ETC board then


there are pros and cons of everything

High end recommends you get their whole system to take advatage of all the features. and in the long run if you dont have intelligent lighting then go for a traditional lighting console

thats just my two cents though (i know i was rambling)

if you need any mopre info email me

Unfortunately, it is usually not quite as simple as just running one of the Windows emulators. The Windows Driver Model and USB stack is not really emulated.

Early this year I wrote a a driver and hook to get our system running under an emulator. With the Mac offerings so slim it was tempting to release but we finally decided not to. Bottom line, running under an emulator was a little quirky and it broke our 'rule of 4'. Basically, we've been trying to stick with two basic principles with all our products. They have to be rock solid and they either have to offer 4 times the capacity or be 1/4 the price. Sort of a variation on the old 'twice the features at half the price' philosophy.

The emulator broke both these. It wasn't seriously unstable, but it was possible to crash it. And, once you add $500-$600 for emulation software even our entry level dongle (1 DMX In, 1 DMX Out, SMPTE in, SMPTE out), at $300 street price, starts pushing into the Light Jockey and Hog PC 1 DMX out pricing. When you factor in needing a more powerful Mac computer because you are emulating another processor and OS and the gap vanishes. Sure, we think we have more powerful software, but what vendor doesn't? Price is tangible and stability and reliability are testable.

The 'whole system' recommendation from Flying Pig is very understandable. Remember that Hog PC isn't really a software product designed from the ground up to control lighting from a PC. It is an emulation of a popular console. Pictures of knobs, buttons, and faders, is great for emulation. It let's users already familiar with the 'real' item get right to work. But it does not always make for the most efficient user interface. Can you program a Hog PC system without a wing? Of course, but it is dramatically more efficient to plug in a controller with the actual knobs and switches being emulated.

These systems can serve an important purpose. For example, I think that MaxxyzPC, when it is released, will be a big value addition to the Maxxyz console. Leveraging Maxxyz popularity into applications that cannot handle the Maxxyz capitol investment. But I also think that application specific products, as well as emulations (or 'knobless' consoles) are important as well. That is why I hope that Martin moves forward with a Light Jockey 3 (I've seen public comments from at least one Martin person that the decision is still up in the air).

Some LJ fans would be surprised to hear that (I definately rub some of them the wrong way). But I really mean it. Having a big player continue to push something other than an emulation helps grow the market and makes niches for smaller players like us to exploit.

Back on the original question, it is possible to run a decent show solely from a laptop computer. We've even tried to push this further with a new screen in our latest version. But, there are still many times when tactile controls are a huge asset. We approached this by supporting MIDI and always including a DMX-in on our dongles. Or thinking was that this gives the user a lot of options and it also provides mortals with rational backup. If I'm on a major tour, I can carry an extra Hog, GrandMA, or whatever. If I'm on the sort of budget that the majority of shows operate, this isn't an option. $5-10K in spare 'wings' or even $700-800 for a spare 'fingers' is a capitol investment I really can't afford unless I absolutely have to. By trying to get the most out of existing tactile surfaces we hoped that we had put emergency salvation a Guitar Center away.

One unexpected side effect of this approach is that it allows a laptop to be used as a cost effective 'lighting system upgrade'. We've actually seen this quite a bit. A theatre wants to start dabling in intelligent fixtures and they don't want to invest in a massive upgrade. Buy us and point and click your looks for your rented intelligent fixtures. Then use the DMX-in to drive us from your existing console. Since we decouple time from cues/scenes and automatically handle in-betweening (basically, go between any two scenes at any speed and get a nice transition) you can almost treat whole intelligent fixture looks like dimmer channels on your existing console.

Personally, it does not matter to me if a user keeps running this way or eventually migrates everything to us and then uses the existing console only as a tactile surface or an emergency backup. I'm just glad they are getting good use out of the system. In fact, I think we will see some features pop up in other systems that make them friendlier to this sort of hybrid usage in the future.

-jjf
Innovate Show Controls

[SketchyCroftPpl]

Hello

A not totally related question but what exactly is SMPTE? Our board has functions to save that and load that but we wern't actually sure at all what it did so we didn't touch it at all.

Thanks, Nick

[soundlight]

I believe that it is one of the audio control protocols. Vaguely related to MIDI, it can be used with SMPTE sound boards to fire cues on the light board without even touching it. I've never really done this, but when I was visiting bucknell, that was how the tech director said that it worked.