Scenes vs. Fixtures on DMX controller

wonder

Member
I'm by no means a lighting or theater guy. Excuse my ignorance.

I'm setting up LEDs inside my recording studio for some vibe.

I have 8 basic RGB/uv LED lights hooked up to a DMX controller (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D8G6B7E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Right now I have 3 lights on D001 (let's call these group A), 3 lights on D005 (let's call these group B), 2 lights on D009 (let's call these group C).

So, my DMX controller has 8 faders for channels 1-8 and has a button to flip those switches to 9-16.

The issue is, lets say I have Red up on group A & B (so, faders 1 and 5 up, everything else off).
I want to add BLUE on Group C. When I hit the button to access faders 9-16 to control Group C, whatever faders are up on 1-8 will be added to 9-16. So, automatically Group C will have Red added to them.

I can't figure out a way to, let's say, have RED on Group A, Green on Group B, and Blue on Group C because when I flip the channels to 9-16, whatever faders are up will be added to 9-16.

-OR-

Should i be using the "Fixtures" feature?
Where I'd set Group A to D001, Group B to D017, and Group C to D033.
But I"m finding the same issue when I turn the fixtures On and Off ... I have fixture 1 (Group A) set and will turn that off and turn on fixture 2 (Group B) and whatever was on fixture one gets turned on for fixture 2. :(


I'm attempting to set lighting for each mood/song we're recording and it doesn't seem very intuitive to me the way it's working at the present moment.

ANY tips are appreciated!
 
You should program your looks into the scene buttons.

Switching between channel pages is going to give you the result you are getting. I am surprised you can't control more than one fixture (scanner?).

Without a manual online that I can find I have no idea about programming this generic controller.

But if it were me I would program lights to a fixture then program them each into the same scene and hope it doesn't overwrote the previous scene.
 
Ok, it looks like what you are using is a lot like the Chauvet DMX controllers designed to work with movers and/or scanners. (And LED's)
So, the "fixture" width on this controller is 16 channels. I don't know how many DMX channels each of LED fixtures are, but...
Your first fixture should be set to start at DMX 001, your second fixture should start at 017, your third should start at 035 and so on. Each of your "fixture" buttons will now bring up a fixture to program. You can program more than one at a time if you want.
So, lets say you select fixtures 1, 2, and 3. Moving slider #1 will output to DMX 001, 017, 033. Slider #2 wild output to 002, 018, 034. So, if the first channel on your LEDs is red (for example) Slider #1 will bring up all the reds.
When you get the look you want, you can record it as a scene on one of the scene buttons. You also have a "bank" window. Once you have used up all 8 scenes, you can chose another bank and record another 8 scenes. All told you can record 240 scenes.
Hope this helps.

EDIT: If your fixtures are only 4 channels wide, and you are using more than 12 fixtures, you can fit more than one fixture on to each "fixture" button (technically, 4) but programing gets a little more awkward. So, if you can use the above method, you will stay far more sane. Or, start by using the above system, then once you are used to it, start adding more than one per fixture button.
 
But I"m finding the same issue when I turn the fixtures On and Off ... I have fixture 1 (Group A) set and will turn that off and turn on fixture 2 (Group B) and whatever was on fixture one gets turned on for fixture 2.

One other thing; there are two types of control priority on controllers. HTP (Highest takes priority) and LTP (Latest takes priority) The board you have is a LTP board. When you are done with fixture 1, those settings will still be holding until you move the slider producing a new value. So, program fixture 1, then deselect that fixture and select fixture 2. Fixture 2 will come on at the same values until you move the sliders.
 
Great points. Thanks so much.

I ended up doing just what you said and will be using scenes to get different looks.

I watched a YouTube vid with the chauvet dmx controller. They're almost exactly alike.

I think I'm getting the hang of the basics.

I programmed a simple Chase and it's looking better.

Thanks so much!
 

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