Control orion 16 channel dmx controller with reaper

[Dannyhubert1986]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the dmx lighting game and I am having issues controlling the scenes in my orion 16 channel dmx controller with reaper via midi. The manual states the controller will only respond to midi commands on the modi channel which is set to full stop. What does this mean? I am trying to control the scenes with reaper via the midi input on the dmx controller. I need this working by September 1st.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Turns out there is no midi function for this controller. I emailed the orion/yorkville and they responed
"We have received word back from the manufacturer about this previously, despite being documented in the manual as to how to change Scenes & Chases via MIDI notes (5-pin MIDI In), this function has not been implemented in the hardware. Therefore, please ignore the MIDI function as a method of control as it does not work. There is no planned firmware update / workaround for this from the supplier and the midi function is simply for transferring data from one controller to another. Especially useful for rental departments."

I've tried using freestyler to control my lights but the fader won't turn my lights on. I'm looking for midi and dmx hardware to program a light show with.
Ill take Any suggestions On what hardware to get or how to get freestyler to talk to my lights. All of the tutorials make this look so easy but nothing works.

 

[almorton]

Hi, Welcome. A Few questions : What fixtures do you have? Are they patched correctly in freestyler? What DMX adapter are you using, and is it selected properly. Did your lights respond with your orion controller?

 

[dbaxter]

The "Interface Setup" screen of Freestyler shows a long list of interfaces to choose from. Do you not see your hardware listed? For our software, we recommend either DMX King or Enttec units, as they've been reliable for our clients. Be aware that "Open" class interfaces do not have an internal timer and may not work with all software packages. I think you're OK with Freestyler on that count. If you're new to DMX in general, there are several tutorials that Goggle will find for you. You may want to start there.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Hi, Welcome. A Few questions : What fixtures do you have? Are they patched correctly in freestyler? What DMX adapter are you using, and is it selected properly. Did your lights respond with your orion controller?

Hello, thank you almorton!
My fixtures are "easydancing 36 led par" purchased on Amazon. I am also using windows 11 since it's a brand new laptop I bought three weeks ago.
A friend who's quite well versed in freestyler made a fixture profile them and he had them turned on with his freestyler on his laptop. I took my lap top over to his place and he set it up the same way he has his set up and it still didn't work.
I am using a "feanteek" dmx USB dongle off of Amazon as well. I have entec open selected and my dongle shows in the dropdown menu.
The lights work wonderfully on my orion controller.

Thank you for your questions, I hope my answers help your pondering.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

The "Interface Setup" screen of Freestyler shows a long list of interfaces to choose from. Do you not see your hardware listed? For our software, we recommend either DMX King or Enttec units, as they've been reliable for our clients. Be aware that "Open" class interfaces do not have an internal timer and may not work with all software packages. I think you're OK with Freestyler on that count. If you're new to DMX in general, there are several tutorials that Goggle will find for you. You may want to start there.

As I just meantioned to almorton, I am using a "feanteek" dmx USB dongle off of Amazo. I have entec open selected and my dongle shows in the dropdown menu. But, no my dongle does not show up on its own in the "Interface setup", I have to select entec open in order to find my dongle.
I've watched many freestyler tutorials and none of the seem to have an answer for me, unless I just don't know what the is while they're showing it which is a possibility.

I've been watching tutorials on this for three months and none of the tips seem to work.

Thank you for your response, cheers.

 

[almorton]

Can you try your DMX adapter on your friend's laptop and their DMX adapter on yours? See if the problem is the adapter.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Can you try your DMX adapter on your friend's laptop and their DMX adapter on yours? See if the problem is the adapter.

We tried that, it worked on neither. We tried his adapter that works and it didn't work on my laptop either, he tried it in udmx as well since that's how he runs his adapter.

 

[dbaxter]

Looking up that adapter shows that it is indeed an "open" class device. So the open setting in Freestyler is what you would use. With your friend running Freestyler successfully and you not with the same software settings and cable is a puzzle. You could try QLC+ as another free software package to see if it works. I can't offer to help with my software as it requires a professional level interface. Could it be a USB 3.x vs 2.x problem? Does your new computer still have a white (not blue) usb socket to use?

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Looking up that adapter shows that it is indeed an "open" class device. So the open setting in Freestyler is what you would use. With your friend running Freestyler successfully and you not with the same software settings and cable is a puzzle. You could try QLC+ as another free software package to see if it works. I can't offer to help with my software as it requires a professional level interface. Could it be a USB 3.x vs 2.x problem? Does your new computer still have a white (not blue) usb socket to use?

My new laptop has both I believe. My friend thinks it's because of windows 11. I looked up QLC+ and it's apparently not compatible with windows 11... boo-urns.

 

[dbaxter]

Windows 11 is more restrictive about writing to the registry. Try running the QLC+ install as Adminisrator. You might have to right click the install exe icon and then 'Run as Administrator'. My users need to do that to register our software, so it'd not uncommon. The QLC forum reports this to be needed for W11.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Windows 11 is more restrictive about writing to the registry. Try running the QLC+ install as Adminisrator. You might have to right click the install exe icon and then 'Run as Administrator'. My users need to do that to register our software, so it'd not uncommon. The QLC forum reports this to be needed for W11.

Okie dokie. Will do when I get home from rehearsal. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Windows 11 is more restrictive about writing to the registry. Try running the QLC+ install as Adminisrator. You might have to right click the install exe icon and then 'Run as Administrator'. My users need to do that to register our software, so it'd not uncommon. The QLC forum reports this to be needed for W11.

Howdy! I hope you've had a great day. So I've downloaded qlc+ and installed as administrator. I've opened as administrator with my dongle plugged in and selected it as it's shown up as USB DMX and my dingle lit us as it connected. I've been watching a tutorial and followed their instructions for creating a scene. I chose generic rgb as my fixture (I have 36 led rgb par lights as I mentioned earlier, I figured generic fixture would work ). In the scene window I selected rgb generic and turned up the faders and no light came on. I suppose I should make a fixture profile and try again.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Windows 11 is more restrictive about writing to the registry. Try running the QLC+ install as Adminisrator. You might have to right click the install exe icon and then 'Run as Administrator'. My users need to do that to register our software, so it'd not uncommon. The QLC forum reports this to be needed for W11.

Ok so I've found and downloaded a fixture profile for my light in the qlc+ forum, but it is not showing up in the fixture models in add fixture. Does the file need to be unzipped somehow? When I click on the file it opens in the fixture definition editor. I have no clue what to do from here lol.

 

[Dannyhubert1986]

Ok, my apologies for the play by play. So I watched a tutorial of hoe to make a fixture and add it to qlc+ and successfully added it. I added the fixture to a scene, smturnedbup the master fader for the light channel 1 and turned up red channel two and my light did not come on. I am thinking of ordering the entec open dmx interface since that's what they're using in the "getting started with qlc+" youtube tutorial. Please let me know your thoughts. Hope you had a great day, cheers.

 

[jonliles]

Ok, my apologies for the play by play. So I watched a tutorial of hoe to make a fixture and add it to qlc+ and successfully added it. I added the fixture to a scene, smturnedbup the master fader for the light channel 1 and turned up red channel two and my light did not come on. I am thinking of ordering the entec open dmx interface since that's what they're using in the "getting started with qlc+" youtube tutorial. Please let me know your thoughts. Hope you had a great day, cheers.

Spring for the full Enttec Pro box. The drivers for it are much more stable. The open platforms can sometimes be persnickety.

 

[TimMc]

Spring for the full Enttec Pro box. The drivers for it are much more stable. The open platforms can sometimes be persnickety.

You are being kind, re: "open source". Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. It's a matter of how much one values ones time as to whether better products are worth the price charged. I'm all for not spending my finite time on stupid crap just because somebody is cheap.