RHINO DMX-240A Fades

Robert F Jarvis

Well-Known Member
We are looking for a small controller for our (smaller) Pavilion theatre. We don't use many lights and are contemplating using a bigger mix of LED;s etc. This controller really looked very good until we could not find how to fade a scene in or out!!!
This console pops up under a number of name but it has 192 channels distributed in groups of 16 features for each of 12 fixtures. It's a piece of cake to move your sliders and save in a Bank/Scene. Excellent! BUT when it comes time to play back you tap the appropriates Bank/Scene button and everything comes up instantly. Sooooo! we looked at AUTO mode. Here it appears we CAN fade but can only hold the scene for only 10 minutes! Are we wrong? Does anyone have any experience with this little console or similar.

Finding a controller for a little theater has proven a lot tougher then expected. Everything "small" out there seems to be aimed squarely at the DJ/Band scene and though we want to use SOME intelligent lights we still want (at this time) to use single lamps and have the ability to save Scenes (we call 'em "cues") complete with fades. Tough job - your ideas welcome
 
You might do well with a PC based system. You could use a laptop or a $200 refurb desktop. There are several programs listed on the DMX King and Enttec interface pages. Of course, I suspect you can determine my favorite for theater use.
 
I'd recommend looking at the various computer powered options out there. Here's some suggestions from my use - but there are plenty more out there.

1) MA dot2 software on a laptop - it's very approachable, has a great series of training videos online, and you get one universe free via artnet and you can get a simple DMXking eDMX 1 or Enttec ODE for that. With this you will be able to create repeatable lists of cues and also make fade times as long as you want. You can open up a button or fader panel on the screen and use a mouse or touchscreen to trigger cues. I haven't used this much because of its simplicity but maybe that's what you're after.

2) Martin M-PC - 4 free universes via Artnet, so the same interfaces apply. This also works with the Enttec USB-DMX protocol for universe 1 only. Great program, easy to use and make effects on. Again, easy to have touchscreen/mouse playback controls or just make one list of cues and trigger it repeatably and with defined times. Lots of training videos as well. There's an option to put the programming keypad on the screen so that you can interact with that with a touchscreen. Additionally, for around $500 you can get the M-Touch which has programming and playback controls and one universe of DMX out. Incredibly affordable and decent tactile interface (though it does lack physical faders - just has touch strips which work well enough for many things in my experience). Great onscreen parameter interaction pop-up. I've used this a bunch and like it.

3) Chamsys magicQ PC - can't remember what the free universes situation is right now but I know there is some level of free outputs on Enttec or Artnet. They have specific layouts designed for use with computers that have all of the console controls - buttons, encoders, &c - on the screen, and they're very easy to interact with using a mouse or touchscreen - I think they were designed specifically with a touchscreen in mind.

With how cheap computers are these days - especially refurbished or second hand (or from someone in the group who has one they don't use any more) - I really think this is the way to go.
 
You might do well with a PC based system. You could use a laptop or a $200 refurb desktop. There are several programs listed on the DMX King and Enttec interface pages. Of course, I suspect you can determine my favorite for theater use.

Blackfriers Theater! Wow! London? Thank you for your reply Dave and to Steve for his. And of course you are both right! I like the PC and am trying a few programs myself including light and audio (Venue Magic) I have an ENTTEC Pro Dongle and two or three others. The software can be quite different (Freestyler versus MyDMX and others) and some have a steep learning curve. Unfortunately this enquiry is more for a group of volunteers who used to, and want hardware. (Even I must admit I feel a bit more in control at times with solid buttons and sliders).

But - back to the task at hand; The "FADE" issue - well "Duh!" My wife was prattling on about something in the car when the 'ole subconscious jumped in with "Dummy!" Record a scene but leave its Intensity fader DOWN so when you click that SCENE all features are set except intensity. So you bring up that fader, light the scene, and at end fade it down. If you're using multiple fixtures with the intensity feature assigned to different channels you can use the channel re-assignment feature the RHINO supports. As I imagine I'll get most of the plumbing - it doesn't bother me too much. Hey, thanks again guys, nice to know you're out there.
 

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