Moving light and dmx gateway recommendations?

[jgels]

Hi all,
So right now I am working with an ETC Element board. I should have one of the new ETC Ions coming once they are not as on back order.

I have been given license to try and put together an ask up for to 10,000 dollars of stuff for my space. I know I want to do the following:

Some dmx gateways. I have new led lights all over my old school 4 electrics with a ridiculous daisy chain going. I would love to make my life easier by putting a dmx gateway on each electric, preferably that have power too? Not sure if that's a thing. Would love recommendations.

Second thing is I would like to get an led moving spot light that would live in the center of my first electric. If there was a decent one for the right price, perhaps I get two and have them live at the extremes of my first electric for two point lighting.

People who work for vendors here, sorry I have to use an already approved Boston Public School Vendor and don't have time to add someone else to the list.

Thanks all,
Joe

 

[jgels]

It seems like the ETC Colorsource relay may be what I'm looking for with the gateways?

 

[NJLX]

Colorsource Relay will get you dmx controlled power switching, but not network(sACN) to DMX conversion.

A DMX Gateway for each electric, while nice to have, is probably going to eat up a decent amount of your $10k. I'd look for a larger(4-port or 8-port) DMX Gateway that could be located backstage, and run a DMX cable from each electric from there(unless your LEDs use a huge amount of addresses). Do you already have network infrastructure in place to connect a gateway(or gateways) to, or is everything currently hardline DMX out of the console?

Not sure what people are recommending for moving lights these days at that price point, but I've always been partial to the solaframe lineup.



Full disclosure - I work for a BPS approved vendor, and recently completed an install in a brand new BPS building. I assume that whatever vendor is selling you the Ion XE is also your go-to dealer for other gear?

 

[macsound]

I personally really like the DMX King gateways. They're incredibly cheap ($200 4 port) compared to the competition and have been rock solid for me. 2+ year uptime with no issues.
The DIN version is also really nice because it's terminal block, meaning I can put it in a project box with whatever power and DMX connectors I desire. Lately, it's been more RJ45s than XLR5s, so in that sense, you could place this in a rack somewhere, if that's more convenient.

0126-eDMX4 MAX DIN

shop.dmxking.com

Moving lights - get something with framing shutters. But to be honest, I'm not sure of a moving light with shutters that's under $10k. But the usability of a moving light with shutters on your first electric is going to be indispensable for theatrically aligning with everything else in your current hang.

 

[jgels]

Colorsource Relay will get you dmx controlled power switching, but not network(sACN) to DMX conversion.

A DMX Gateway for each electric, while nice to have, is probably going to eat up a decent amount of your $10k. I'd look for a larger(4-port or 8-port) DMX Gateway that could be located backstage, and run a DMX cable from each electric from there(unless your LEDs use a huge amount of addresses). Do you already have network infrastructure in place to connect a gateway(or gateways) to, or is everything currently hardline DMX out of the console?

Not sure what people are recommending for moving lights these days at that price point, but I've always been partial to the solaframe lineup.



Full disclosure - I work for a BPS approved vendor, and recently completed an install in a brand new BPS building. I assume that whatever vendor is selling you the Ion XE is also your go-to dealer for other gear?

Everything is currently hardline dmx cable. We have a black box space so the idea of sticking something backstage and running stuff is sketchy. Something that could be clamped to a pipe and run would be way better.

I don't know what vendor we have for the Ion XE, that is being handled on the district level but would have no effect on who I use as a dealer, as long as they are on the vendor list.

Our LEDs dont use a crazy number of addresses they are just ETC Colorsoucre spots

 

[SteveB]

I cannot recommend a LED head, but my experience with larger LED rigs is they eat DMX addresses in an hurry, thus I would recommend running sACN/Net3 from the console to someplace on stage, maybe a Pathport Octo in that area, or some flavor of 8-12-16 e-net to DMX adapters. Then DMX to electrics. I was setting up as a universe per electric. it was useful to have the DMX headroom on an electric in case the LD wanted to add gear.

 

[jgels]

Colorsource Relay will get you dmx controlled power switching, but not network(sACN) to DMX conversion.

A DMX Gateway for each electric, while nice to have, is probably going to eat up a decent amount of your $10k. I'd look for a larger(4-port or 8-port) DMX Gateway that could be located backstage, and run a DMX cable from each electric from there(unless your LEDs use a huge amount of addresses). Do you already have network infrastructure in place to connect a gateway(or gateways) to, or is everything currently hardline DMX out of the console?

Not sure what people are recommending for moving lights these days at that price point, but I've always been partial to the solaframe lineup.



Full disclosure - I work for a BPS approved vendor, and recently completed an install in a brand new BPS building. I assume that whatever vendor is selling you the Ion XE is also your go-to dealer for other gear?

BTW I quickly googled you and you work for MY preferred vendor.

 

[NJLX]

Any chance you can share a picture of your space? We might be able to give better recommendations after seeing the scale/setup.

DMXKing, Chauvet, Elation, ETC, Pathport, all make gateways that will do what you want, in various price ranges and port counts. While I've found that it's generally more cost effective to buy a larger gateway and run DMX out from there, if you're regularly needing the flexibility it may be worth multiple smaller units.

With everything currently being hardline DMX, you'll also need to include network cable and a switch(preferably PoE, if the gateways support using PoE instead of a wall-wart power adapter) in your budget. Not ridiculously expensive, but something to keep in mind(as well as the cable path for your net cable, if the current DMX cables are run through walls/permanently installed).

Whatever the hive mind comes up with for a moving head, definitely reach out to a vendor(either us or one of the other options in the area) and get a demo before you buy - there's no substitute for seeing it in person. I second @macsound on the recommendation of a model with shutters, and would also say to stay away from the "DJ" lines for theater use - Elation Pro, Chauvet Pro, High End, ETC all have great products, and I'm sure one of them has something in your price range.