Getting Started with Nomad

Guy Holt

Member
I’m a total Newbie with some questions. I just completed ETC’s four day intensive board operating workshop and now need to get some board time, so I was thinking of getting Nomad for my 2013 Macbook Pro with Retina display to practice with. To simulate the experience of working on a console I was thinking of also getting a couple of Dell 16x9 Touchscreens and the lxkey for Eos keyboard (http://www.lxkey.co.uk/#features); and so that I can test the operability of the Magic Sheets I build I was also planning on getting the ETC Gadget to output dmx to fixtures. Do you think this covers all the bases for a system to practice on or am I missing something I will need to interface this gear with my Mac?
 
I think it depends on what your goal is.

Do you want to become proficient Enough to quickly cue shows with the nomad, or do you want to be able to efficiently cue on a console with lots of buttons?

If all you want to do is to be able to write cues using the nomad ( not a bad way to go IMHO). You probably don’t need the lxkey. If you already know how to touch type, you will probably not have an issue with just using the regular keyboard.

I have touch screens for my ion, and I find myself usually just using the mouse, so I would consider just getting regular monitors.
 
I know folks that use the lxkey and xkey https://support.etcconnect.com/ETC/...nd_Programming/X_Keys_and_Eos_Family_Consoles setups, but I am personally partial to my homebrew version. If you search Amazon for 'Cherry SPOS'-- such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012FGA9W/?tag=controlbooth-20 , you will find programmable keyboards where you can customize each key to suit your needs. I have my keyboard layout mirrored to the EOS facepanel design, and I find that it suits my needs. If you are willing to spend a little time setting up the design yourself, you can save a serious amount of $. FWIW, the Cherry keyboards seem to go on sale from time to time, and I picked up 3 of them for $40 apiece when I first started messing around with them. As far as touchscreens go, I have 2 and rarely use them, but definitely get some sort of external display. Lastly, the Nomad software can be operated for free, as you only need the license to output dmx.

Hope this helps!
--Matt
 
If you want to output DMX you'll also need a license dongle. The gadget on its own doesn't unlock the software. Without the license dongle you can output to a visualizer over the network, but it will flash every so often to stop you from using the unlicensed product to run a show.

I thought that you needed the license dongle to output to a Gateway or Node from Nomad, where as the Gadget enables DMX for a universe direct from Nomad ?.
 
Nope, the dongle is required to output "clean" DMX however you do it, whether through a gadget or a network node/gateway. The dongle is your license. Without the dongle you only have offline or offline with viz, which does output DMX over the network, but with periodic "interference".

Perhaps there is some confusion with the chamsys DMX dongles, which unlock the software to varying degrees and do output usable show DMX.
 
I'm so glad to hear someone else say this. I have touchscreens at work and rarely use them. I thought I was behind the curve somehow. I just like the mouse.

It could I am wierd, but I also put a full size keyboard on my audience desk just below the bottom of the console. I find it easier to use the ascii keys and touch type for a lot of what I do.

Now if ETC would make some reasonable GUI controls for movers I would be happy as a pig in s**t.
 
I’m a total Newbie with some questions. I just completed ETC’s four day intensive board operating workshop and now need to get some board time, so I was thinking of getting Nomad for my 2013 Macbook Pro with Retina display to practice with. To simulate the experience of working on a console I was thinking of also getting a couple of Dell 16x9 Touchscreens and the lxkey for Eos keyboard (http://www.lxkey.co.uk/#features); and so that I can test the operability of the Magic Sheets I build I was also planning on getting the ETC Gadget to output dmx to fixtures. Do you think this covers all the bases for a system to practice on or am I missing something I will need to interface this gear with my Mac?
Touchscreens are questionable with Macs I think, and the Cherry keyboard is Windows or Linus only. LxKey(UK) or cmd_key(US) are pricey alternatives.
 
Can you provide some specifics? I'm curious what "reasonable" looks like.
Have you had a look at Augment3d yet?

Sorry to take so long to reply.
I have not seen Augment3d before. I will take a look.

But for my money here are some of the things a reasonable GUI control for movers would be.

Give me a reasonable way to use a mouse to focus the mover. One way would be to provide a target on the screen that I could click and hold. The fixture would move pan and tilt as I move my mouse. Give me the ability to select how fine / coarse I want the movement to be.
Provide a way that I could select gobo, color, etc without having to make so many clicks. IE give me a color picker and gobo picker (etc) that would just be there whenever I have selected a light with those attributes.
Give me a way to adjust things like gobo position ( IE Index) that is not Coarse ( what it does by default) and Too Fine To Be Useful ( what it does if you hold the shift key)

That said - I like the design of the shutter control that ETC has ( although I find that it jumps around a bit as I use it), and it does not work well to adjust shutters on multiple fixtures.
 
Can you provide some specifics? I'm curious what "reasonable" looks like.
Have you had a look at Augment3d yet?

As near as I can tell - Augment3D is not yet released ( it is version 3.0) Lots of pretty youtube videos - but not a real product as yet.

Note - if I am wrong about this release - please correct me. I would like to be able to play with it.
 
@JChenault Augment3d is still in development, and like most things will be released with some subset of the all the features on the roadmap. The initial offering looks like it will help with focusing a moving light rig quickly and pre-visualizing a stage look in blind when busking. FWIW, the youtube videos are built using the real yet-to-be product.
 

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