I appreciate all the info and responses but as always the way with techs/designers (I'm guilty of this too) the question is getting off topic and the responses are taking on their own form.
I know what needs to be done to make the
system work, what needs to be interfaced between
AMX, controllers, interfaces and what I would
call a production lighting
network.
I was basically asking if anyone has experiences/opinions pro or con with MA networks and integrated
AMX control.
I think the discussion is quite relevant if you understand how an
AMX system works.
AMX and
Crestron control systems are programmable, integrated control systems that are created using any of a number of available components. They typically consist of at least some form of user interface, a
processor and device interfaces. In many cases the
processor and at least some of the device interfaces may be combined in a single box. The
system is then programmed for each specific application, an
AMX or
Crestron system is literally a blank slate until you define the programming and the user interfaces using their proprietary programming tools. At the same time, these systems can, and typically do, interface with a variety of external systems and devices. You could have a control
system communicating with the dimming
system, audiovisual systems,
HVAC systems, motorized rigging and other systems and devices. It could be providing any
level of interface with those systems. It could rely on
manual activation from the control
system interface, trigger actions based on input from external systems or devices, have scheduled events, employ logic that links actions or use any combination of these.
There are numerous ways the existing
AMX system could interface with both the existing dimming
system and any new dimming
system. There are even more ways that it could be programmed to interact with those systems, all of which would rely on code written specifically for that application. Since what an
AMX system is, does and can do is not predefined and specific to each application, what it really comes down to is knowing how the interface between the
AMX system and the dimming
system currently works and how you want it to work, then one can start looking at what may be required to effectively get between those two points.
