Running lights from a PC?

[jkowtko]

I'm a sound guy but am asking this on behalf of our theater (and my desire to save on desk space in the booth).

We have an Express 96 board which takes up a lot of space, and I'm wondering if there are PC-based DMX controllers that could be used in place of the board.

Our lighting guy said he knows of one but it's not very good. Are there any good programs and interface cards that would suitably replace the Express 96?

If so, then are there also 8 or 16 channel fader units that can be connected to the PC to give manual fader control?

(In the sound world all this stuff is available -- just don't know about lighting).

Thanks. John

[Hughesie]

depends on how many channels you want, and what type of lighting you are running

chavert showxpress is a nice one for moving lights with a small wysiwig app attached to it, but others who are lighting people will recommend something from the jands range, is it the IPC, or wholehog i think it's the wholehog. anyway i am a sound person too, but it gives you something to look at

[icewolf08]

I would recommend a search on CB because I think this topic has been discussed many times. There are many options out there for you.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by Hughesie89

Chauvet showxpress is a nice one for moving lights with a small wysiwig app attached to it

Gahh...
H.E.S. Hog 3PC

[DHSLXOP]

Chamsys makes a great program called MagicQ...Although it can run moving lights, its designed to work really well with conventional fixtures. I'm using it right now for a production of Oklahoma and it is working great.(knock on wood!!) Its a free download and then you have to buy the adapter from Enttec which you use to connect to your DMX. In my opinion MagicQ is a great value especially when you're only paying $60 for the adapter to go with it!

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by jkowtko

(In the sound world all this stuff is available -- just don't know about lighting).

Yes, smaller footprints are available. Whether they're workable for you is another matter. Programming lights using a dedicated "control surface" is ALWAYS going to be faster than using a keyboard and mouse. The Hog3PC, with all of it's little wings: programming, playback, and fader, is a good, though not inexpensive, solution. Since you're currently using an Express, I would recommend looking into ETC's new console, the Ion, also discussed at length here, and finally "launched" at LDI this week.

[Grog12]

And on top of that pcs are typically unstable.

Though I found out at LDI you can get a MA node for $1900!

((hater of boards on pcs))

[Tyler]

Martin LightJockey 2 is one of the best out there. I've been using it for over a year and it is a really great program to use. I went to the training out in Austin a while back and got a full training on it. You can get it for just over $1000 so it is a really good deal. Let me know if you have any questions.

[len]

Originally Posted by Grog12

And on top of that pcs are typically unstable.

I don't know where that comes from, but in my experience it's just not true. I've run LightJockey on a notebook for over 6 years and it's never crashed, using every OS from Win 98 through ME (which was crap) to XP. I haven't jumped to vista yet, but that's mostly because I don't see the need to spend the money on it. And I've installed it in numerous venues and they never have issues with crashing. I use the same machine to net surf while at shows, used it to play games WHILE LJ was running, used it to run audio software, used it to sync audio files with light cues, and tons of other stuff. And never has it given me problems.

The big flaw with pc lighting control is that unless you have some fader hardware, or you have a lot of presets for chases, looks, etc., it's more difficult to run conventionals.

[Grog12]

Originally Posted by len

I don't know where that comes from, but in my experience it's just not true. I've run LightJockey on a notebook for over 6 years and it's never crashed, using every OS from Win 98 through ME (which was crap) to XP. I haven't jumped to vista yet, but that's mostly because I don't see the need to spend the money on it. And I've installed it in numerous venues and they never have issues with crashing. I use the same machine to net surf while at shows, used it to play games WHILE LJ was running, used it to run audio software, used it to sync audio files with light cues, and tons of other stuff. And never has it given me problems.
The big flaw with pc lighting control is that unless you have some fader hardware, or you have a lot of presets for chases, looks, etc., it's more difficult to run conventionals.

You've been lucky.

Every console on a computer (very different from computer console) I've worked with has crashed. 7 times out of ten because its been loaded up with a bunch of extra crap and hooked up to the internet.