TorontoAlchemy
Member
Hi,
First off, thanks to everyone for the wisdom and experience that is shared so graciously here.
THE BACKGROUND
I manage a small rented blackbox theatre and presently operate lights with a Colortran Status 24/48 board and 32 dimmers.
The venue was not built as a theatre, is somewhat irregularly shaped with vertical support beams on stage, and the breakers are domestic 110v/15amps.
We use satellite DMX daisy chained dimmer packs, 4 dimmers per pack. Each dimmer pack (family of 4 dimmers) is powered by a single domestic breaker. (ie the breaker blows at 110vX15 amps = 1600 watts)
THE QUESTION
I am considering moving from our console to a PC based system. As such my questions are:
1. Can the PC based system give me realtime feedback on the watts in use per "family of 4 dimmers"?
If so, can I set an override so that the control will never allow a dumb operater to go over capacity and blow the breaker?
2. Do the various PC based systems integrate smoothly with the design PC software available on the market? (ie can I design in my design software and then smoothly load into my PC controller?)
3. Do PC systems allow me to integrate sound cues with the lighting cue? ie a lighting/sound cue for thunder+lightning flash, etc?
4. Realistically my budget is in the lower range of $1000-$4000 for the PC control + the PC design. Any suggestions?
Many thanks for any advice or input.
Simon
First off, thanks to everyone for the wisdom and experience that is shared so graciously here.
THE BACKGROUND
I manage a small rented blackbox theatre and presently operate lights with a Colortran Status 24/48 board and 32 dimmers.
The venue was not built as a theatre, is somewhat irregularly shaped with vertical support beams on stage, and the breakers are domestic 110v/15amps.
We use satellite DMX daisy chained dimmer packs, 4 dimmers per pack. Each dimmer pack (family of 4 dimmers) is powered by a single domestic breaker. (ie the breaker blows at 110vX15 amps = 1600 watts)
THE QUESTION
I am considering moving from our console to a PC based system. As such my questions are:
1. Can the PC based system give me realtime feedback on the watts in use per "family of 4 dimmers"?
If so, can I set an override so that the control will never allow a dumb operater to go over capacity and blow the breaker?
2. Do the various PC based systems integrate smoothly with the design PC software available on the market? (ie can I design in my design software and then smoothly load into my PC controller?)
3. Do PC systems allow me to integrate sound cues with the lighting cue? ie a lighting/sound cue for thunder+lightning flash, etc?
4. Realistically my budget is in the lower range of $1000-$4000 for the PC control + the PC design. Any suggestions?
Many thanks for any advice or input.
Simon