need advice about gear and software for a medium sized venue

[reservoir105]

Hello,
I am a video producer / audio engineer that is starting a new fitness club. Our club will have a 4000 square foot group fitness room and I need help with knowing what kind of equipment to buy.
I will have produced video that will be displayed on two projectors. The instructor's moves are choreographed to music on stage. I will also have lights. Par cans, gobos, strobes, FX lighting, etc.. The music, video and lights need to sync together for the performer on stage.
So my biggest questions are..
What kind of lighting controller or software should I use? How can I sync up program audio, video and lights?
Will I need a video mixer if I am outputting my video from my laptop?
I work a lot with Pro Tools and FCP X.. I understand those software programs.. however, I am wondering if there is a software program that imports audio files, video files and if you automate the lights with cue points and then save all of this as if it were a session, so you can open it up in the software and play it with all of the automation. Basically recalling certain programs..
Any help would be appreciated..
thanks!

 

[DaveySimps]

I am relocating this thread to the proper forum. Hopefully you will get some more replies there.

Welcome to CB!

~Dave

 

[ruinexplorer]

I assume that you currently do not own any equipment for playback. As you seem to be a Mac user, then I would recommend Qlab for control of your playback. This will handle your video and audio, but you will need a separate controller for the lights (Qlab will trigger that controller). I do not recommend running a lighting control program on the same computer that you are running everything else as you will get unpredictable results. It would be better to control a second system for the lights. There are several different programs or hardware that can do this. Do you know the extent of your lighting (total number of instruments)?

 

[reservoir105]

thanks for replying and helping me out. I don't know how many fixtures i will have at this point. maybe 25-30? I am looking into Chauvet equipment. I dig their motorized spots and also the LED epix strips. I will also have Par cans and maybe some chauvet 3x3 panels.
What controller do you think would be good? I also started looking into the chauvet showxpress software. looks pretty good.
I will look into Qlab more as well.. Lighting looks like fun.. but kind of like midi.. can get a little confusing if you equipment doesn't talk to each other. and that is what I have no clue about.. What equipment will talk to each other and put on a great show for me.
thanks again for any advice you might have.

 

[LightingGuy89]

I would suggest going with ETC new Nomad system. You can use the same software that is available on their full lighting consoles, it will support two universes at it's cheapest model and with all of your LED equipment (Chauvet 3x3 as well) you can set up some nice pixel map effects and include them in your programming. The Nomad will run on all new PC and Apple computers ( I suggest a Mac Book Pro). You can then tie the Lighting system into qLab via Midi and have everything in qLab control the whole system. I've set up systems similar to this before for corporate shows and fixed installations and they work great!

 

[Allan]

Chauvet's ShowXpress software will do pixel mapping effects as well as work with MIDI.
It is compatible with both Windows and Apple platforms and you can trigger an unlimited number of scenes wirelessly from your Android or Apple tablet and/or cell phone.
You should definitely look into ShowXpress and you can download a free copy here: http://www.chauvetlighting.com/showXpress-software/

 

[techieman33]

I would suggest going with ETC new Nomad system. You can use the same software that is available on their full lighting consoles, it will support two universes at it's cheapest model and with all of your LED equipment (Chauvet 3x3 as well) you can set up some nice pixel map effects and include them in your programming. The Nomad will run on all new PC and Apple computers ( I suggest a Mac Book Pro). You can then tie the Lighting system into qLab via Midi and have everything in qLab control the whole system. I've set up systems similar to this before for corporate shows and fixed installations and they work great!

You only get half a universe with the cheapest nomad option. 2 universes is pretty pricey.

 

[LightingGuy89]

Yes, but you could program it all on a console and then playback via Nomad. - as much as Chauvet products are great, I'm just not a fan of their programming software. Yes, there are cheaper routes to go. End of the day you need something reliable, MSC/MTC controllable, user friendly and cost effective. It all depends on how much you want to spend on the installation. You could go with ChamSys, Chauvet, M-PC (Which I am a fan of) ETC Nomad, Hog4, GMA on PC, the list is endless. Who's programming it, how many fixtures and what type are you controlling? How in-depth is the programming going to be? I've had to go in and fix other people's programming a year or two after an install on consoles/PC software that was buggy, that was corrupted or just improper/over complicated for no reason and if you have to update things it can cause a huge headache. Why not go with something mainstream and pay a little bit more upfront knowing you have peace of mind and great support from locals, manufacturers and online? To me that's priceless, there's no doubt that ETC and other leading manufacturers have amazing tech support and resources available to their end-users. ... Just my 2Cents worth.

 

[reservoir105]

thanks guys!
As per everything tech, there a ton of options. I am a novice obviously when it comes to lighting. I would like to stay Mac. I know how to troubleshoot a mac computer very well. So if we could eliminate any PC options, that would be great. At this point, I will build all of my videos to be projected in FCP X and mix the program music with the movie file to output. So i really won't need a robust video mixer at this time. Again, coming from an audio background, I know that I can automate certain parameters on a console and in software such as Pro Tools, it recalls all of those parameters in the session. I hope this doesn't sound dumb.. but is there a lighting controller / software that does the same thing that also allows you to import a movie file that has a stereo audio track, where you can place it on a timeline in the software and automate your light show from a controller and save everything as a session or show for recall at a later time? All on a mac.. haha
thanks again for all of your support. BTW.. I dig pixel mapping tech.. However, I want your honest opinions if you think it is too much too soon kind of tech for me. I really just want to make an impact with lighting to the dynamics of the video and music.. (duh) i know..
As far as a budget.. I am thinking 50-60K for my setup.. That doesn't include computers. I have a new mac pro and mac pro laptop.
That will include a truss system tho.. and the stage will probably be 20' W x 16' D x 2' H

 

[wolfman005]

I think chamsys would play back a video file but I've never messed with the media settings it has...
At this point I would suggest hiring a professional. You'll need a licensed rigger at the least.
If you go the Chamsys route you could have whoever programs your stuff make a simple page on the Mac with "buttons" You just click to start each session.

 

[ruinexplorer]

I wouldn't recommend running both the video and the lighting from the same controller. You could easily run Qlab as your main video and audio and it could trigger a lighting console. You would save various shows on Qlab and it would just trigger whichever lighting cues that you want.

 

[James Feenstra]

Given that you're already familiar with timeline based editing software (FCPx and Pro Tools), picking up Vista for lighting control wouldn't be difficult for you, and adding a simple media server (ie. Arkaos) with a single output would take care of your video needs.

Syncing the system together with timecode would be easy enough to set up as well, so that everything runs in time to the music.

 

[wolfman005]

A guy at work is selling some vista dongles. I think they are single universes. If you want pm me your email and I'll put you in touch with him.

 

[ChamSysUSA]

Hi Reservoir105:

Phil at ChamSys USA here. If you are looking for system that does it all and want to experiment before you commit too - Please take a look at our control consoles. You can download the free software which includes a HD media server integrated with professional lighting control. We are not timeline based but our gear is used a lot by film and sound pros. We can playback your video, with audio, synced to the lighting, output to your two projectors, and include pixel mapping.

We talk to all that other gear via MIDI, SMPTE, Serial, Artnet, ACN, Pathport......and more....but only if you need to.

I do an online intro to the software for 20 minutes every Thursday at 3PM EDT. Please follow this link to join me.

Regards

Phil