Automated Fixtures New to Moving Lights - Need HELP!!

[Brian553]

Set Number of Channels to 125.
Set Number of Dimmers to 1024.
Set DMX Out 1 to 1-512.
Set DMX Out 2 to 513-1024. [-](If you can't find this setting, let us know and we can rework the chart for you.)[/-]
EDIT: From page 13-1 of MillenniumML V2.05 and later.pdf :

Delete dimmers 1>1024. Patch as below. You'll have to figure out the patching of dimmers 1>72 into channels (1>50) by yourself.


Here's how I would patch and address the fixtures. I don't know the Millenium console, but suspect it is similar to an Express/ion.
View attachment 6293
The 3 MAC700s (make sure they are in "16-bit Basic Mode") are addressed as 1, 24, 47 and are on Universe#2. The scrollers are addressed 70-75, also on Universe#2.

The Millennium ML probably allows you to call up a unit by "Fixture 1" or some similar name, and then populates its encoders with the parameters, so you don't have to keep referring to my cheat sheet.

Very detailed post, thanks!!
Using the first 50 channels as desk channels will definitely work. Thanks for the work and the image. This is definitely going to be saved and used if needed. I'm going to try Xander's approach first (just because I'm lazy and it may be a little bit easier).
If that doesn't work, yours definitely will!

 

[xander]

Very detailed post, thanks!!
Using the first 50 channels as desk channels will definitely work. Thanks for the work and the image. This is definitely going to be saved and used if needed. I'm going to try Xander's approach first (just because I'm lazy and it may be a little bit easier).
If that doesn't work, yours definitely will!

While Derek's approach will work, patching the MLs as regular desk channels will eat up your 125 channel limit.

 

[xander]

It is indeed a stupid board.

So I assume that Port 2, starting at channel 513, would essentially be
Universe 2, Channel 001??
The fixtures don't populate addresses above 512.
I may have tried this, don't remember. Its definitely on the list to try again tomorrow however! If the two DMX out ports are mirrors then essentially this might bypass the issue since the BOARD will think its turning on dimmer 513, while the FIXTURE thinks its listening to channel 001.
Thanks for the advice!

Yes, you are correct. "Dimmer" 513 is the same as Port 2 dimmer 1. Why your board chooses to use the DMX addresses over 512 for it's port setup but then uses Port/Address notation in patch is beyond me!

 

[bishopthomas]

Brian, where in New Jersey are you?

 

[Brian553]

Brian, where in New Jersey are you?

I'm in Ocean Co - just South of Toms River.

Update, in case someone else finds this thread years from now and has the same issue -

The trick suggested above worked. I set DMX Port 1 to start at channel 1, DMX Port 2 to start at Channel 513.
I have the fixtures set at DMX starting channel 1, plugged into Port 2.
(513 is Channel 1 of the 2nd universe streaming out of DMX Port 2)
The fixtures are added in the moving lights "virtual channels", which do not eat up the 125 "memory channels" that the board has.

Finally, after hours of headache, and input from everyone on this thread, and reading the manual forwards and backwards and even calling Lehigh for some clarification, I got them to work. Mainly because of the people on this page!
Thanks all for your help!!!!!

Final advice - NEVER buy a LEHIGH!!!!

 

[bishopthomas]

Glad you got it working! If you find you need a console I have a Pearl I could probably lend you. Also, if you ever need anything else, my warehouse is in Monroe but I live in Howell, so we're practically neighbors! Have fun.

Thomas

 

[avkid]

Also, if you ever need anything else, my warehouse is in Monroe but I live in Howell, so we're practically neighbors! Have fun.

The world keeps getting smaller. The shop I work out of is 1/2 mile from the Monmouth Executive Airport.

 

[Naimad]

I'm in Ocean Co - just South of Toms River.

Update, in case someone else finds this thread years from now and has the same issue -

The trick suggested above worked. I set DMX Port 1 to start at channel 1, DMX Port 2 to start at Channel 513.
I have the fixtures set at DMX starting channel 1, plugged into Port 2.
(513 is Channel 1 of the 2nd universe streaming out of DMX Port 2)
The fixtures are added in the moving lights "virtual channels", which do not eat up the 125 "memory channels" that the board has.

Finally, after hours of headache, and input from everyone on this thread, and reading the manual forwards and backwards and even calling Lehigh for some clarification, I got them to work. Mainly because of the people on this page!
Thanks all for your help!!!!!

Final advice - NEVER buy a LEHIGH!!!!

Brian,
I apologize for not checking into Control Booth a little more frequently, I missed this conversation about your Millennium Console. However, I think that is terrible advice, given the fact that you knew almost nothing about the console. Most of the other contributors to this string changed their tune a little bit when they found out a little more. Millennium, FYI, was the 1st Windows based Stage Lighting Control Console in the industry. As for almost no information being online, did you try the Lehigh website? Even though Millennium has been replaced by not 1 but 2 generations of Rendition and Rendition Pro a better equipped ML board, you can easily find the following on the Lehigh website: Manual XP, Manual ML, Manual v1.48 and earlier, specification, installation guide, software, and release notes. In addition, you could have called Lehigh and asked for help. In fact, I invite you to visit the factory at 6265 Hamilton Blvd., Allentown, PA. You can sit down with the console designer and learn all that you can absorb. In fact, we'll take you to lunch. Millennium was several generations ago, but hopefully your console was purchased with the Moving Light Controls Option to make life a little easier. And yes, that is correct when someone said it sounds a little like Express/Eos. Most ETC Dealers that have played with the board say it is very much like Express. Just wish you would call the next time. Hope things are running alright for you now. But feel free to take me up on my offer to visit the factory.
Best Regards,
Damian Delaney
Regional Sales Manager
Lehigh Electric Products Co.

 

[searnold]

Damian, The OP did call Lehigh for assistance.

 

[tk2k]

Damian,

This is one of the least tactful posts I've seen by someone know also acknowledges they work for/own a company. Attacking the customer is really not the best way to make me, as an outsider reading this form, consider Lehigh as a company I would purchase from.

 

[Les]

I didn't see anything that led me to believe that Damian was 'attacking' anybody. Defending his product, yes. Attacking, no.

Yes, OP did call Lehigh eventually, but apparently as a last resort. He didn't exactly say they ended up being unhelpful. Had he called Lehigh first, we probably could have avoided citing the manual and assuming how his console worked. Then again maybe not - I'm not one to judge, and I don't mean disrespect to anyone. Just pointing out that it is usually better to try the source first.

In this economy, everyone is hurting. Lehigh certainly doesn't need us poo-pooing them over the Internet. Their customer support can't be too terrible, as they were able to be reached.

Disclaimer: I am not an employee at Lehigh nor do I play one on tv.

 

[Naimad]

I didn't see anything that led me to believe that Damian was 'attacking' anybody. Defending his product, yes. Attacking, no.

Yes, OP did call Lehigh eventually, but apparently as a last resort. He didn't exactly say they ended up being unhelpful. Had he called Lehigh first, we probably could have avoided citing the manual and assuming how his console worked. Then again maybe not - I'm not one to judge, and I don't mean disrespect to anyone. Just pointing out that it is usually better to try the source first.

In this economy, everyone is hurting. Lehigh certainly doesn't need us poo-pooing them over the Internet. Their customer support can't be too terrible, as they were able to be reached.

Disclaimer: I am not an employee at Lehigh nor do I play one on tv.

Thank you Les. That's all we ask, just be fair and even-handed. There was no intention to attack Brian and I think he knows that. In fact, I understand he is now in touch with the Lehigh factory, and I have no doubt he will receive the support he needs. But like anyone else, we can't help if we don't know about an issue.

I would also like to say that I agree with Les, this is a very tough economy. Recently we lost a great competitor, EDI. So as your choices get fewer and fewer, please consider spreading your support around a little. You are the guys that drive the industry, and if you only want one supplier, that may be what we get in the end. And that would be very, very hard to reverse.

Damian

 

[StNic54]

What a volatile read! With no intention of offending anyone, I will say that moving light consoles and programs are not always as simple as newcomers may expect them to be, and the OP is an admitted newcomer. Much of this discussion is a simple how-to for moving lights in general, no matter which console you choose. Damian is clearly taking a fair position in defending his product, and my advice to any readers who are dealing with the similar situations is to always check the website first. If the website doesn't offer enough help, and the manual isn't clear, then call the manufacturer, or the dealer, and grill them to no end - after all you did buy their product, and you may just help them clarify their products and we'd all benefit from that. We all get trained on many types of equipment in this industry, and the gear changes and improves as competition ramps up, and so should the tech support. Finally, using phrases like "Never buy a Lehigh" should indeed draw a defense, and Damian's response was actually quite tactful, to say the least. I would say this forum has succeeded well with a post like this - someone needed assistance, they found it here after some deliberation, and in the end the lights turned on like they are supposed to. Just ease up on the random bullets - we're all in this industry together.

I don't work for Lehigh, either, but Damian is going to buy us all lunch.