Flyboy
Member
A few months ago I posted a thread about MIDI linking an ETC Express 48/96 to a Hog 250. First of all, thanks for all the advice (I bought Control Systems for Live Entertainment by John Huntington, and it really is amazing), but I now have another, similar, problem with the same two boards.
I'm the LD/ME for A Little Night Music and I'm using four moving lights in my design (two Technobeam-Hi and two DesingSpot 250), and my conventional dimmers consist of 12 Rosco IPS 6-channel dimmer strips and 5 Rosco IPS 6-channel portable dimmer packs. With the 18 additional dimmers used for house light in the venue, I have a grand total of 130 conventional dimmers and 68 DMX channels for moving attributes. Due to the number of specials and extreme isolation that the director is calling for, I need individual control of as much as I can get away with, and I would like to use both boards for programming.
Here's the problem: the way the venue is wired, there is only one DMX line running through the house from the control station to the dimmers, and since I'm short about 500 feet of DMX to run a second line to my moving lights, I'm limited to only one DMX universe. I'm aware that the Hog 250 has a DMX Input, but the operator's manual is, to say the very least, vague on what exactly it's capable of. Is it possible to start my DMX line from the Express, go out to the Hog, then out from that to the dimmers? If I were to do that, would I be able to control all of my conventional instruments from the Express, and control my movers with the Hog? Or, if this is not possible, does anyone have any ideas as to how I could rig the system so as to use both boards together?
It would be possible to use either of the two boards as the only programming console, but I would really prefer to not program moving lights on the Express just as much as I would prefer to not program conventionals on a Hog. And since both boards are currently tied up with different shows in different venues (and will be until my tech week), I don't have any time to experiment. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I'm the LD/ME for A Little Night Music and I'm using four moving lights in my design (two Technobeam-Hi and two DesingSpot 250), and my conventional dimmers consist of 12 Rosco IPS 6-channel dimmer strips and 5 Rosco IPS 6-channel portable dimmer packs. With the 18 additional dimmers used for house light in the venue, I have a grand total of 130 conventional dimmers and 68 DMX channels for moving attributes. Due to the number of specials and extreme isolation that the director is calling for, I need individual control of as much as I can get away with, and I would like to use both boards for programming.
Here's the problem: the way the venue is wired, there is only one DMX line running through the house from the control station to the dimmers, and since I'm short about 500 feet of DMX to run a second line to my moving lights, I'm limited to only one DMX universe. I'm aware that the Hog 250 has a DMX Input, but the operator's manual is, to say the very least, vague on what exactly it's capable of. Is it possible to start my DMX line from the Express, go out to the Hog, then out from that to the dimmers? If I were to do that, would I be able to control all of my conventional instruments from the Express, and control my movers with the Hog? Or, if this is not possible, does anyone have any ideas as to how I could rig the system so as to use both boards together?
It would be possible to use either of the two boards as the only programming console, but I would really prefer to not program moving lights on the Express just as much as I would prefer to not program conventionals on a Hog. And since both boards are currently tied up with different shows in different venues (and will be until my tech week), I don't have any time to experiment. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.