Control/Dimming Need help buying board!

[dev]

Hello, i need help buying a light board. I need a solid new or used board that can handle up two twelve moving fixtures. I will use mac 250 entours and mac 700 profiles if that helps. i dont really need anything too fancy and I only need 1 dmx out. msc would be nice. anyways what would be the best option, i have a budget of less than $1000, and i will use this as a secondary board to control moving lights during a theatrical performance and i will use it to control light shows for bands. a physical board would be nice but i guess i can use software also. THANKS!

 

[Studio]

The Smartfade ML sounds like what you want. I have not used it but ETC has great products. Lighting solutions for Theatre, Film & Television Studios and Architectural spaces : ETC There are a series of videos on YouTube about it by ETC YouTube - ETCVideoLibrary's Channel

 

[millamber]

The Smartfade ML sells for about 1500 USD. Slightly above the price range.

You could most likely do a small Jands Vista 128 channel software dongle. List price is 1100ish, but buy it through a dealer and you can save off of that. There is also the Chamsys software option, but I haven't used it, so I can't say anything else about it.

I had a guy in from Applied to the office early last week and he was showing off a controller from LSC Lighting call Clarity. The software was designed by the same guy who worked on Hog 2 and on the Jands Vista. Compact, powerful enough to handle LED matrix pixel mapping and media servers, but also small 1 and 2 fixture shows as well. The interface was interesting, very visual, but what I found very interesting is that you can download the software for free from the website.

The demonstration package operates as an unlimited version (128 Universes) however the intensity levels of any fixtures patched will often drop to zero (DBO) randomly for a few seconds. At the same time a warning message will be displayed on your monitor.
A free version key can be obtained to allow Clarity to operate without the blackout described above however the free version is restricted.

If I have just a few fixtures and need something to control them with and don't need all the bells and whistles, I'd jump on a free working version of software where all I need is a USB to DMX converter to get started.

 

[lukejoyner]

I have used both the chamsys system and the clarity system and can recommend both.

The restriction on the free version of clarity is a maximum of 32 fixtures (1 dimmer channel is 1 fixture, 1 ML is 1 fixture), and a maximum of 128 DMX channels. An enntec USB-dmx pro can be used as an output.

Price on clarity for a license isn't too bad either. A 1 universe dongle and a VX20 (the program/playback wing) set us back about $5k (aud). Check with your local dealer, you might be able to pick up a 1 universe license in your budget. Not really sure on the us pricing.

The chamsys system is free to download and is fully functional with an enntec USB-dmx pro. The biggest problem I have with the chamsys system us using a mouse to activate playbacks, as it is essentially a software version of the console with faders on screen.

Personally, is you don't have playback hardware, clarity is much easier to use and very easy to learn.

The lsc forum is a great place to get help with the system, and I imagine chamsys will have a forum as well.

Of course this all assumes you have a computer to run it. Both system run on either windows or Mac.

Both are free to download, so have a look and see if one might suit.

Regards

Luke


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[Studio]

The Smartfade ML sells for about 1500 USD. Slightly above the price range.

I read Moving Lights and small and instantly thought of the Smartfade ML without looking at the budget. It looks to be good but out of your price range Sorry!

 

[JChenault]

You might want to check out mLight. This is a software only system for controlling moving lights that is extremely easy to learn, and quite powerful. At your size ( assuming you have a computer you can dedicate) it would be an inexpensive alternative. I use it in conjunction with a conventional console in my theatre, and have customers that do a limited amount of busking for concert type work. Feel free to PM me with any quesitons.

Here's a link.

Welcome to OSF Solutions inGenius mLight

 

[dev]

I have used both the chamsys system and the clarity system and can recommend both.

The restriction on the free version of clarity is a maximum of 32 fixtures (1 dimmer channel is 1 fixture, 1 ML is 1 fixture), and a maximum of 128 DMX channels. An enntec USB-dmx pro can be used as an output.

Price on clarity for a license isn't too bad either. A 1 universe dongle and a VX20 (the program/playback wing) set us back about $5k (aud). Check with your local dealer, you might be able to pick up a 1 universe license in your budget. Not really sure on the us pricing.

The chamsys system is free to download and is fully functional with an enntec USB-dmx pro. The biggest problem I have with the chamsys system us using a mouse to activate playbacks, as it is essentially a software version of the console with faders on screen.

Personally, is you don't have playback hardware, clarity is much easier to use and very easy to learn.

The lsc forum is a great place to get help with the system, and I imagine chamsys will have a forum as well.

Of course this all assumes you have a computer to run it. Both system run on either windows or Mac.

Both are free to download, so have a look and see if one might suit.

Regards

Luke


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Thanks i think i will go with this method.

 

[gcpsoundlight]

Clarity is definately one of the better options. If you were to spend say $200 on the USB dongle, you could then get a licenced version, with more slots, fixtures etc. It is easily the best PC based software I have used.

 

[gcpsoundlight]

A 1 universe dongle and a VX20 (the program/playback wing) set us back about $5k (aud). Check with your local dealer, you might be able to pick up a 1 universe license in your budget. Not really sure on the us pricing.

But if you get the VX20 (or the VX10 for that matter) you don't need a dongle. The VX10 has 2 DMX outs, the VX 20 has 4

 

[lukejoyner]

But if you get the VX20 (or the VX10 for that matter) you don't need a dongle. The VX10 has 2 DMX outs, the VX 20 has 4

Sorry, I should clarify. The dongle was a 512 ch license (1u). I didn't mean an actual output. It comes as a USB HASP key.


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[dev]

Clarity is definately one of the better options. If you were to spend say $200 on the USB dongle, you could then get a licenced version, with more slots, fixtures etc. It is easily the best PC based software I have used.

what dongle works with clarity for $200? thanks!