Sorry for my ignorance ... I help with some very basic kids community theater. Up until now we've only been using conventional lights and a basic Elation controller. We are adding some LED wash lights and I'm trying to figure out the best way to control them. I was going to switch to a PC based system, and have been researching software and interfaces, but the person who will be operating them is more comfortable with a console so I've been looking at those.
As I started looking at LED controllers it looks like you typically have a fixture button which controls the base address and then various channels for that fixture. (I forgot that DJ lights can have 16 or more channels for various features beyond RGB.) I guess I could just keep our conventional controller and get a separate LED controller, or I could assign the conventional lights to one of the "LED fixtures" on a normal LED controller, or I see something like the Elation Operator Pro that is specifically designed for both LEDs and conventional.
I definitely want to be able to program colors. Some LED controllers have preset color buttons, some have programmable color buttons, but on others do you use scenes to pre-program colors?
If I do go PC-based, I guess there are two options: use a cheap interface and let the computer do the work, or get an expensive proprietary interface that has it's own processing. I'd prefer the former, but does it take a really powerful computer?
One other thing I've noticed is most only have one DMX output. I don't need more than one universe, but my current controller has two which is handy when you're sitting in the middle and running cables to both sides. It looks like splitters cost more than some entire boards and interfaces.
There are some used controllers near me:
Elation Operator Pro (mentioned above)
Teatronics Producer II (never heard of it, doesn't appear to have any particular LED capability)
Strand 520i (quite a monster, not sure if it can do LEDs)
As I started looking at LED controllers it looks like you typically have a fixture button which controls the base address and then various channels for that fixture. (I forgot that DJ lights can have 16 or more channels for various features beyond RGB.) I guess I could just keep our conventional controller and get a separate LED controller, or I could assign the conventional lights to one of the "LED fixtures" on a normal LED controller, or I see something like the Elation Operator Pro that is specifically designed for both LEDs and conventional.
I definitely want to be able to program colors. Some LED controllers have preset color buttons, some have programmable color buttons, but on others do you use scenes to pre-program colors?
If I do go PC-based, I guess there are two options: use a cheap interface and let the computer do the work, or get an expensive proprietary interface that has it's own processing. I'd prefer the former, but does it take a really powerful computer?
One other thing I've noticed is most only have one DMX output. I don't need more than one universe, but my current controller has two which is handy when you're sitting in the middle and running cables to both sides. It looks like splitters cost more than some entire boards and interfaces.
There are some used controllers near me:
Elation Operator Pro (mentioned above)
Teatronics Producer II (never heard of it, doesn't appear to have any particular LED capability)
Strand 520i (quite a monster, not sure if it can do LEDs)
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