Control/Dimming Inexpensive DMX controller for classroom

dpak

Active Member
I’d like my tech theater class next year to learn how to set up and operate DMX fixtures. We have an ETC Element in the theater, but it’s not practical to get 30 students in the control booth – or to leave students alone there. I’m looking for something the students could use in my room (and maybe something we could set up for dances in he gym).

For the fixtures they would use, I might take a few Colorado Tri-Tours down from the theater, but the students would mainly be using some ChauvetDJ effects lights that we have (4Play, Swarm, Colorail, Radius).

The goal is for students to know how to link everything together, set up the DMX addresses, and control the various aspects of the fixtures. $500 is the max I’m willing to spend, though cheaper would be better. If it helps, there is a PC running Windows 7 in the room.

Any suggestions?
 
Seeing as you have an Eos product already, I feel I should mention that the Eos offline software is free and you can use it to build a show (you just can't output without the $500 dongle).

If your theater has nodes, all you would need to spend is $500 to be able to output from a laptop. Eos Offline/Nomad works on both Windows and Mac computers, so if your school has a rolling computer lab, everyone could get a chance to do some patching and programming and then load the files onto either a single computer to show off or the Element.
 
Check out any of the USB-DMX interfaces from DMXKing and/or Enttec. The least expensive DMXKing model is around $79, I think. Both of those sites have lists of software, some free, some not, that will allow you to use that Windows computer to send out DMX control signals.
 
Check out ADJ's MyDMX on Youtube. It has good featues, a constantly updated fixture library, and places icons over a fader for an intelligent device, indicating its function (beam, color, focus, gobo, etc.) Retails for $299, though a school may be able to get it cheaper.
 
Thanks for the responses!
Goatman - I'm really looking for something that is stand-alone and can be used to control lights in the classroom, separately from the main board, though it would be nice for my techiues to be able to up shows on their own.
Wheezy and dbaxter - I'll look into those.
 
An older or used light board might be suitable. I recommend something without memory for as much hands on work as possible. That would make a good intro to the vastly more complex Element.
I've done many a simple and not so simple show with a 2 scene preset. Under 200! http://www.pssl.com/Used/Lighting-Control/Behringer-LC2412-24-Channel-DMX-Light-Controller or http://www.stagelightingstore.com/Elation-Stage-Setter-24-Channel-Stage-Dimmer-Consolehttp://www.stagelightingstore.com/Elation-Stage-Setter-24-Channel-Stage-Dimmer-Console
 
Seeing as you have an Eos product already, I feel I should mention that the Eos offline software is free and you can use it to build a show (you just can't output without the $500 dongle).

If your theater has nodes, all you would need to spend is $500 to be able to output from a laptop. Eos Offline/Nomad works on both Windows and Mac computers, so if your school has a rolling computer lab, everyone could get a chance to do some patching and programming and then load the files onto either a single computer to show off or the Element.

I believe that Nomad can output to actual fixtures without a dongle, but it homes everything for a few seconds every 20 minutes or so. This was meant for visualizers, and to cripple its ability to actually run a show. For a teaching environment, this limitation would be completely acceptable.
 
I believe that Nomad can output to actual fixtures without a dongle, but it homes everything for a few seconds every 20 minutes or so. This was meant for visualizers, and to cripple its ability to actually run a show. For a teaching environment, this limitation would be completely acceptable.

Nope. Sorry, that is simply incorrect.
 
Nope. Sorry, that is simply incorrect.
Ah, so turns out it's a bit more invasive than what I had thought.
From a thread over on the ETC forums a while back:

"The OLE 'offline output' will flash all 'lights' in your rig to Full periodically (about every minute or so I think) as a protection to stop it being used as a live output software. It is only intended for use in pre-viz situations, not to run your show, as obviously that's why there's the consoles! So, as long as you can put up with a rig flash every so often, happy days in pre-viz land! Otherwise, it's wheel your console out and hook it up to your preferred visualisation software."

Other than this quite annoying side-effect, I can't see any way that Nomad could tell the difference between outputting to previs software vs outputting to a node.
That being said, getting a dongle is the real way to go (plus you get client capabilities). I was just trying to offer what I thought at the time might be a possible alternative.
 
An older or used light board might be suitable. I recommend something without memory for as much hands on work as possible. That would make a good intro to the vastly more complex Element.
I've done many a simple and not so simple show with a 2 scene preset. Under 200! http://www.pssl.com/Used/Lighting-Control/Behringer-LC2412-24-Channel-DMX-Light-Controller or http://www.stagelightingstore.com/Elation-Stage-Setter-24-Channel-Stage-Dimmer-Console

I wouldn't even recommend the Behringer LC2412 as a paper-weight. Just sayin'.
 
mine gets used on my work bench for testing DMX controlled items that I am repairing or building. The rest of the time it makes and excellent paperweight.
 
I spent the day playing around with ADJ's myDMX and I love it! Partly because the program itself is free, so I could bring to entire class to the computer lab and they could work on it individually. Also, I think the interface is fairly user friendly, so kids should be able to grasp it easily. It won't completely prepare them to use the big board in the auditorium, but it should give them a clear idea on how DMX works, how to set up fixtures, and how to create cues.
 
mydmx dongle is 300 for one universe? I suggest an enttec and Martin MPC, 1 universe and for less than 200. OR the Martin Mbox is 2 universes. Or a 10 dollar DIY USB DMX dongle and QLC+ :). There are more otions to consider before next year.. I do think that an actual board would be fun to mess with for kids. labeling faders, pages, etc. more hands on is fun. A cheap board and using faders to control parameters would teach the kids more than just fixture profiles and effects generators (BUT- thats actually what the fancy boards do though, so it depends on how you want to teach the class).

good luck. just wanted to chime in.
 

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