Help for a starter

adude23

Active Member
Right so here goes,
I've only really used conventional fixtures in our current theater and for a dance show coming up I'm planning some LED par 56's to light a cyc. I'll be using a strand 300 and i want to know step by step how to do this so I don't do it wrong! Basically can someone guide me setting the things up connecting them etc plus linking all the DMX up and then setting the addresses etc on the actually console e.g. putting the different colors on faders in the live panel. I have a basic idea of how to do this but as these things are a first for me i wanner double check :grin:
cheers,
~Adude23~
 
By the way the fixture's address is set by the standard dip switches and also they use three pin XLR /DMX output's but i have adapters for all of them to convert them into five pin
sorry forgot to add this in the post above
cheers,
~Ash~
 
By the way the fixture's address is set by the standard dip switches and also they use three pin XLR /DMX output's but i have adapters for all of them to convert them into five pin
sorry forgot to add this in the post above
cheers,
~Ash~

Alright well let's start with addressing them.

Take however many channels you have used so far in your console and add one to that and now you have your first address for your first par LED.

Now, is there a link to these par LEDs anywhere? We're going to need how many channels they use, how many of these units you're using...etc.

:)
 
I don't think you need adaptors for all your lights only the first one than use 3pin for the rest.
 
Right, Yeh I'll use a 5-3 pin adapter for the first fixture in the chain and then I'll use 3-pin jumpers between all the pars in the chain. I'm also not worried whether they are all on separate addresses or not,
Because it's lighting the cyc It would actually be quite handy to put them all on the same address so i can control them all in unison if you get me (forgive me if I'm not making sense anywhere lol) Right the following is a link to the fixtures I've got,
http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=SHO42422&browsemode=category
I've got five of them but as i said i don't mind them all being all on the same channel, they take up six channels each the first three being RGB colour mixing and the other three for strobing/colour mixes
cheers guys,
~Ash~
 
Alright Adude...last channel that you use...add one to that...set all the dipswitches the same (with D-funk's helpful guide)...hang...get non-dimmer power to them...enjoy(?)

:)

hit me up on my aim I'll be up a little later, you must be an early riser or a west coast kid if you're still online @ 4:30 mountain time.
 
Alright Adude...last channel that you use...add one to that...set all the dipswitches the same (with D-funk's helpful guide)...hang...get non-dimmer power to them...
D-funk! ?!? As in Bring in D-noise, Bring in... I believe you meant to say "dimmer", or more accurately, "DMX address number."

hit me up on my aim I'll be up a little later, you must be an early riser or a west coast kid if you're still online @ 4:30 mountain time.
I suspect adude23 resides in Great Britain, you Ohio-centrist!

adude23, I hope your cyc is no greater than 3m high by 5m wide, as those fixtures look pretty weak. Before we go further, we may require a http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/glossary/7679-lighting-concept-lighting-statement.html from you. After all, it's the painter, not his brushes. I remember seeing a H.S. production of Grease; being it was the student LD's first time using RGB FarCyc fixtures, it became a show about a cyclorama. He had no http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/glossary/7679-lighting-concept-lighting-statement.html. Good stage lighting is way more about the results than the tools.
 
Yeh I am in the UK :) lol
erm about the size of the cyc, well it's about 4 meters high by about 8 meters wide, but the desired effect i want is not to light the whole cyc, They're gona be placed on the floor and facing toward the cyc, I'm not to fussed about an even sort of coverage It's quite a modern show with a sort of street dance set and basically if you can see the seperate beams on the cyc I think it wouldn't spoil it if you get me
cheers
~Adude~
 
Yeh I am in the UK :) lol
erm about the size of the cyc, well it's about 4 meters high by about 8 meters wide, but the desired effect i want is not to light the whole cyc, They're gona be placed on the floor and facing toward the cyc, I'm not to fussed about an even sort of coverage It's quite a modern show with a sort of street dance set and basically if you can see the seperate beams on the cyc I think it wouldn't spoil it if you get me
cheers
~Adude~
A famous Lighting Designer used to lisp: "A cyc is not a football field!," meaning that a cyc does not always have to be evenly flooded with one color of light to the same uniform intensity across its entire surface. Texture adds visual interest, and doesn't have to be done only with gobos.
 
Alright Adude...last channel that you use...add one to that...set all the dipswitches the same (with D-funk's helpful guide)...hang...get non-dimmer power to them...enjoy(?)

:)

hit me up on my aim I'll be up a little later, you must be an early riser or a west coast kid if you're still online @ 4:30 mountain time.

What about using attributes?

Icewolf can speak more on attributes and Strand.

Right, so lets try this all again.

First off, connecting up all your fixtures. First of all I would suggest that unless you have more than one universe of dimmers you use output one for your dimmers and set it to be universe 1 and then use output two for your intelligent/LED fixtures set to universe 2. Why? This helps keep everything straight, and it isn't like you are using every single address. To set up your outputs you need to go to console setup and turn on DMX1 to 1-512 and DMX2 to 513-1024. I would also suggest going into setup and turning on tracker mode so that you can easily see what you are doing when you program the LEDs.

Now, cabling. From the back of the console you will have one DMX cable that comes from DMX1 and goes out to your dimmers. Then add a second cable from DMX2 out to your fixtures. Adapt to 3-pin as needed.

Addressing. Disregard what was quoted above, as a stickler for terminology it is incorrect. When setting up the way that I described above your first fixture would have the address of 1. Then each subsequent fixture you would have to increment by the number of DMX Addresses the fixture needs. For example, if your LED fixture has a red, green, blue, and dimmer channel then each fixture needs 4 DMX Addresses. So the first fixture would be 1 and the next would be 5, then 10, etc.

Patching. In the two universe setup while your fixtures may be addressed at 1, 5, 10, etc., the board thinks of them a little differently. The easiest way to call them up is using universe format. In the patch screen you would hit "2.1" to call the output that is universe 2 output 1. You could also hit 513, but those numbers are often harder to remember/figure out. Let me give you the quick and dirty patching method, unless you really want to write a profile for these fixtures, in which case, let me know and I can tell you how to do that.

So, to start off, the Strand 300/500 likes the RGB attributes to be numbers 14-16 respectively. The intensity channel is always attribute 1. If your LEDs have a strobe channel that would be 41. Start by going to the PATCH screen. For the purposes of this lets assume that you want the fixtures patched to channels 25-29, and your fixture DMX table is (modify these instructions as needed):
1-Intensity
2-Red
3-Green
4-Blue
5-Strobe
So, for the first fixture you would type 2.1[@]25[*] this gets your intensity channel in. Then 2.2[@]25.14[*] for red, 2.3[@]25.15[*] for green, and 2.4[@]25.16[*] for blue. Lastly 2.5[@]25.41[*] for the strobe channel. repeat this for each fixture, incrementing channels and outputs as you go.

On the channel screen you should see a white channel number for this fixture. When you call up the fixture the screen should change to Tracker mode with the channel numbers across the top and the attributes down the side. Since you are using a 300, you will benefit greatly from having a multibutton mouse with a scroll wheel, as you can use the scroll wheel to roll up and down attribute values, while the mouse buttons will switch between attributes. The current controllable attribute is indicated by the grey arrow next to it's number. If you don't have a mouse then the easiest way to adjust attribute levels is to call them by number, so if you want the red up you might hit: 25.14[@]50[*]. You can also assign the attributes to submasters so that you can use your fader wing (if you have one) to control the colors.

Now, backing up for one minute. If you don't want to go the two universe route, you can either use a splitter or daisy chain your fixtures off your dimmers. In this case, your starting address for your fixtures would be the number of dimmers you have plus one. So if you have 96 dimmers then the starting address of your fixtures has to be 97 or higher. I would start at something like 101 as it makes the math easier. You would then adjust your patching to be in universe 1 and not universe 2.

If there is anything else you need, let me know.
 
OR... simply get one of these.
proxy.php

Problem solved.;)
 
Patching. In the two universe setup while your fixtures may be addressed at 1, 5, 10, etc., the board thinks of them a little differently. The easiest way to call them up is using universe format. In the patch screen you would hit "2.1" to call the output that is universe 2 output 1. You could also hit 513, but those numbers are often harder to remember/figure out. Let me give you the quick and dirty patching method, unless you really want to write a profile for these fixtures, in which case, let me know and I can tell you how to do that.

So, to start off, the Strand 300/500 likes the RGB attributes to be numbers 14-16 respectively. The intensity channel is always attribute 1. If your LEDs have a strobe channel that would be 41. Start by going to the PATCH screen. For the purposes of this lets assume that you want the fixtures patched to channels 25-29, and your fixture DMX table is (modify these instructions as needed):
1-Intensity
2-Red
3-Green
4-Blue
5-Strobe
So, for the first fixture you would type 2.1[@]25[*] this gets your intensity channel in. Then 2.2[@]25.14[*] for red, 2.3[@]25.15[*] for green, and 2.4[@]25.16[*] for blue. Lastly 2.5[@]25.41[*] for the strobe channel. repeat this for each fixture, incrementing channels and outputs as you go.

On the channel screen you should see a white channel number for this fixture. When you call up the fixture the screen should change to Tracker mode with the channel numbers across the top and the attributes down the side. Since you are using a 300, you will benefit greatly from having a multibutton mouse with a scroll wheel, as you can use the scroll wheel to roll up and down attribute values, while the mouse buttons will switch between attributes. The current controllable attribute is indicated by the grey arrow next to it's number. If you don't have a mouse then the easiest way to adjust attribute levels is to call them by number, so if you want the red up you might hit: 25.14[@]50[*]. You can also assign the attributes to submasters so that you can use your fader wing (if you have one) to control the colors.

That way will work just fine, its just a bit slow. Alternativly, you can do the same thing that is easily repeatable. If you are going to have the fixtures around for more shows, this is the way to go. First, go read this... Tiny URL - create a shorter link

What you will do is go into the Fixt Library page and set up a personality/profile for your LED light. You will use the same numbers Alex put above, but use them differently. This will allow you to quickly patch the fixtures. Alexs way will work just fine, but its the longhand way.

Making a profile I know looks daunting, but really, it does not need to be much. Read that guide, it will get you to where you need to be.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back