building up a small rig console ?

[McCready00]

I am looking for a cheap but efficient ( yep, please don't judge that comment ! ) console I could build up in order to carry it with me in places where they are badly equipped.

2 DMX universes/outlets, 1x touchscreen, 1x keyboard and around 10 faders and 20 buttons (for actions and console quickkeys). Also, which software did you use ? Which midi controllers did you use? Price?

Any of you did the exercice and made it successful ?

Thank you

 

[porkchop]

I'm not sure what your definition of cheap is, but both the Martim M series and Avolites have small consoles that have a pretty full feature set. You're still talking in the thousands of dollars brand new, but they're significantly more capable than something like a two scene preset that can be had for $200 these days.

 

[Pie4Weebl]

I love my avo quartz, have been enjoying the Martin M touch a bit too.

 

[lightman02]

I'm a big Chamsys guy, the wing is $2,800 with two direct DMX universes or 64 using artnet, etc. I built a small setup I take around with me, I like not having a full console this way I can go as small or as large as I need. The software is very light, runs on anything without issues, the GUI is not as nice as others however. It also has a built in 8 layer media server which does work well for what it's intended for.

 

[dbaxter]

This may get an "Are you nuts?" reaction, but I'm really curious why most folks seem to think a fader wing is necessary? Especially for a portable setup like this? Now it is true I do mostly theater cue-to-cue shows.

 

[porkchop]

This may get an "Are you nuts?" reaction, but I'm really curious why most folks seem to think a fader wing is necessary? Especially for a portable setup like this? Now it is true I do mostly theater cue-to-cue shows.

Makes busking well much, much easier. Can also be nice to have your atmospherics on a fader, especially if you're not familiar with the room and it's airflow. I also have used inhibit faders to prevent effects (like confetti cannons) from going off accidentally.

 

[Judge]

Because tactile controls are better. Always.
As for the question raised by OP, cheapest options in order are:
1. Martin M-touch
2. ChamSys MagicQ PC wing
3. Avolites Titan Mobile

These all require a laptop to run as they are just control surfaces. If its just you running it then thats fine and by far the most cost effective way of getting your hands on capable and sophisticated software.

The cheapest integrated console will be the ChamSys MQ40N which is a great little desk that runs the full software and is just limited to 4 universes,

 

[EdSavoie]

In the interest of the word "build" I've been contemplating how much it would be to DIY one's own board for awhile now. If you have the knowledge to physically build and program it, you can get something easy to repair and very capable for a small amount of money. The price of a scene setter would have you DIY a console of incredible power that is as dependable as you make it.

You can easily find faders mounted on PCBs with screw holes for under $2 each, and MCU controllable touch screens between $15 - $50 for varying size and resolution. If one goes the microcontroller route, it is possible to get anything between an 8-bit ATMega and a 32-bit powerhouse with relatively little cost.

 

[soundlight]

Martin M-Touch & M-Play (they're designed to sit next to each other, connections on opposite ends), and a small X-Keys keypad for programming (you'll really want those hard keys that aren't on the M-Touch). Add a 20"+ touch screen all in one and you're good to go. Martin M-Series software is fantastic and very easy to busk on, and the hardware is dedicated. (This recommendation is made based on a live situation, if a theater situation, get the ETC Nomad dongle and a Gadget, a full size X-Keys, and run your playbacks on the touchscreen).

 

[Colin Bishop]

I second an M-Touch and possibly an M-Play. The mtouch gives you 10 faders and 10 buttons. The M-Play gives you a keypad to program on and 10 faders and 24 buttons when in playback mode. At my portable church we run an mtouch and a dell Inspiron 5000 24" all in one, great fast touchscreen computer. The stand comes off and it can all fit in a road case. Figure about $450 for an mtouch, $450 for an M-Play, the computer we got was $630 and for about $1500 total.

Here is our computer and mtouch setup:

 

[Chris Pflieger]

What about a Jands S3?

 

[McCready00]

I second an M-Touch and possibly an M-Play. The mtouch gives you 10 faders and 10 buttons. The M-Play gives you a keypad to program on and 10 faders and 24 buttons when in playback mode. At my portable church we run an mtouch and a dell Inspiron 5000 24" all in one, great fast touchscreen computer. The stand comes off and it can all fit in a road case. Figure about $450 for an mtouch, $450 for an M-Play, the computer we got was $630 and for about $1500 total.

Here is our computer and mtouch setup:

Honestly, my idea to creating a setup that I could move around with me came from an experience with the M-Touch ! I never had a worse experience than being on that console. Don't take it personally, although, those faders are crap ! I never been able to perform a natural fade-in from 0%. If it was not for the faders, that would be a really good option though..

 

[McCready00]

I am also keeping my eyes on a MidiCon-2, and a MA-1 node 2ports node.. which would be used under GrandMA2onPC using artnet.
I have not found any ma1 2ports node to sell yet, but depending of the price, I think it could be an interesting option.

 

[Colin Bishop]

Honestly, my idea to creating a setup that I could move around with me came from an experience with the M-Touch ! I never had a worse experience than being on that console. Don't take it personally, although, those faders are crap ! I never been able to perform a natural fade-in from 0%. If it was not for the faders, that would be a really good option though..

I have to give you that, the faders aren't the most accurate a lot of times, kinda jumpy. Although sometimes if you use your fingernail you can get precise, but your point still stands. I love mine though.

 

[Rob]

Our Cognito2 console is sub $3000. It's not a PC based thing, but easily fits in a carry on. See more about it here and video about its operation here.

 

[porkchop]

You can easily find faders mounted on PCBs with screw holes for under $2 each, and MCU controllable touch screens between $15 - $50 for varying size and resolution. If one goes the microcontroller route, it is possible to get anything between an 8-bit ATMega and a 32-bit powerhouse with relatively little cost.

I disagree.

I started this reply with a much longer, detailed caveat about performance of an AVR MCU vs the full size CPU used in most commercially available consoles, but it's an unnecessary tangent. In a world where a 66 MHz 32-bit MCU can process your show and still send DMX at the 44 frames per second that is normal for consoles to put out (A world I have serious doubts is the one we are living in) the amount of work and optimization required to get all of the physical input devices talking while maintaining a reasonable feature set is unreasonable for someone who wants their primary focus to be on anything other than engineering the lighting console you've described.

 

[porkchop]

I have to give you that, the faders aren't the most accurate a lot of times, kinda jumpy. Although sometimes if you use your fingernail you can get precise, but your point still stands. I love mine though.

The trick from when my old employer decided to upgrade the the M1 was to increase the resolution on the rotary encoders and use that, had to spin them a lot faster, but when a full revolution is only 10% a few missed steps here and there in the rotation didn't effect the overall appearance. Also made focusing a lot less of a maddening experience.

 

[EdSavoie]

Challenge accepted porkchop!

Heh heh, you're right about the MCU struggling with some more advanced work, however I've used an ESP8266 to decode and then generate a WS2812b signal for 2700 DMX adresses at about 25hz, so probably not as much as you might think. Especially given that a console of cheaper type would likely be outputting few universes anyways.

I was going to add a paragraph about offloading varying levels of work to a spare computer, but decided against it in my initial post.

 

[soundlight]

The Elation MIDIcon Pro & MIDIcon 2 are solid pieces of hardware. Haven't ever used them personally, but I've seen a MIDIcon Pro and it's bigger, beefier, and nicer than I thought it would be. That would be a good option for running MA if that's what you want to do, and it seems like that's what you want to do.

 

[porkchop]

Challenge accepted porkchop!

Heh heh, you're right about the MCU struggling with some more advanced work, however I've used an ESP8266 to decode and then generate a WS2812b signal for 2700 DMX adresses at about 25hz, so probably not as much as you might think. Especially given that a console of cheaper type would likely be outputting few universes anyways.

I was going to add a paragraph about offloading varying levels of work to a spare computer, but decided against it in my initial post.

Doing one thing and doing it well is exactly what that type of hardware is made for. Running multiple cue stacks and an effects engine while evaluating several physical inputs and driving a touchscreen in a useful way all at the same time is not.

Admittedly, I'm a bit impressed you got all the way to 2700 I/O channels. I knew you could blow right past a single universe, but hadn't had the time or equipment to test maximum capacity.