touring dmx control from the stage

[dandeacon]

hi,

this is my first post to this board so i'm sorry if this has been covered or is a stupid question. i'm a musician and when i perform i normally do all my own simple lights. its a 6 outlet power strip with each outlet having on/off switches. so its like colored flood lights, a (skull) strobe light, and some led color bar chasers.

now that i am playing large venues and festivals i have been working on upgrading. i have a lanbox and i've been reading up on dmx. i would still like to control the lights myself, from where i am performing. since i tour, i would need to be able to control the lights of each venues different setup. so my quesitons are:

1. is it possible for me to hook my lanbox (or other dmx interface) into a venues system without having to reconfigure their system and have me control their lights?

2. if so, could this be done by just adding my stuff to their signal chain?

i am hoping to not have to have the venue/festival do change anything in their system other than to fed me a line so then i can control all their lights.

i realize if this is possible i would need configure my system to their assignments and make my controller match their setup.

i am very new and ignorant to this so any advice or ideas you have would be greatly appreciated! thanks so much!

dan

 

[Edrick]

1. is it possible for me to hook my lanbox (or other dmx interface) into a venues system without having to reconfigure their system and have me control their lights?

The short version is yes, it's possible. But depending on how each venue is setup there might not be easy access to the DMX Line that's used to control their system. It's possible they have a connection off stage for a lighting console to be connected to. But more than likely it's in the back or in a booth of some sort. This all depends on a venue to venue basis. As for the programming part usually anything you do is specific to the console. So if their console has their own patching programmed and settings it's specific to the lighting console its self. So if it was swapped out with yours it'd be a clean slate. This could pose issues depending on if they do have a special patch that you'd need to mimic on your system.

2. if so, could this be done by just adding my stuff to their signal chain?

Someone else might have a better idea on this one, but I believe technically it is possible. But again that depends on how their wiring is setup. You might not have access to the connection where their system connects in.

Basically most venues probably wont let you do what you're looking for anyways. They'll allow you to bring someone in to run the console that they have possibly, or they would let you setup one at the location where the lighting op would sit.

 

[CSCTech]

I am assuming you have all DMX lighing fixtures?
You might want to note that some venues may not have any DMX fixtures and only a dimmer rack for conventional lighting. So, if you wanted to connect your DMX fixtures to a venues conventional fixtures, you would need to have a lighting controler with two DMX 'universe', or, two DMX outputs, one would go to the venues dimmer rack, and the other would go to your DMX fixtures.
But also note that there might not be a connection to a venues dimmer rack on stage, there may only be one in a booth or control position.

If a venue does have a mix of DMX and Conventional lighting, you would have to still have a controller with two universes, you would then have to add your fixtures to the venues DMX chain, and on the other universe to the houses dimmer rack like before. Assuming your not in an all DMX or ETCNet etc. house.

So what you want to do is pretty time consuming if not impossible in some venues.

Like Edrick said though, most venues will allow you to bring in someone else to use the venues lighting desk and setup. And usually also bring in your own lighting desk for someone else to control for you.

If you did this it would be much simpler, You would have connections to the house' dimming system aswell as their DMX fixtures, assuming they have any, right there.

I am not sure what to say as for your original question, but if you did what I described, it might save your some money aswell. However if you wanted to purchase your won light board to travel with in case a venue does not have a board with two+ DMX universes, I would suggest an ETC Express 125, however many people will have their own comments on a controller. I only said the 125 because it is somewhat simple to use and has two DMX Universes.

 

[soundman]

It is very possible and easy to do in most situations. Some venues will not use DMX to control there dimmers and if they don't have any converters it will not be possible to use your lanbox. I would say of the theatres I have toured in (30 +) only 2 fit into this category.

If the venue has DMX controlled dimmers you will then need a way to get your signal to the dimmers. Most buildings have several ports around the building for this. It never hurts to travel with more DMX cables than you think you need for this reason. Sometimes they have ports in the oddest spots.

After you get control of their dimmers you will then have to figure out what each channel of the rack controls. Rarely will channels 1 > 12 be the red front wash most of the time it will be 205,209,213,217,222, 225, and so on. You will have to patch the lights into your board so your cues will work the same. I was only using house front light and on occasion cyc lights. What I did to make my life easy was make a few sets of channels, IE 1-6 were my optimal angle front lights, out of the dancers eyes and not on the drops. 301-306 would be used if all I could get would be a balcony rail. This would bother the dancers and look like hell on the drops in some scenes. The levels would have to be significantly lower than the channels 1-6. As far as cyc lights we traveled with an amber a lav and a blue. If I had to use the house lights and could not re gel them I had three sets of cyc channels, one for the tour rig, another for RGB and another for RGBA.

Worked great and meant I only had to change the show once to be prepared for an simuler situations in other venues. I was on a Hog so having extra channels in the show wasn't an issue. I dont think it slows the processor down as long as they are not patched.

As for needing two universes, you will be able to avoid having address conflicts between your gear and the houses so that will be nice. If the money isn't there to add another universe you can get away with one but it might come back to bite you.

 

[GageStryker]

Thanks for the question, dandeacon. The big issue here you're looking at is not DMX vs. some other protocol, it's about how well your programming and ideas mesh with whatever setup is being used, as well as how much time you have at each venue to troubleshoot and work with their rig, as well as how friendly and helpful the venue staff (if any) are.

For instance, I work at a large (2300 seats) venue, and we bring in professional people all the time, either with their own board or using ours. I have both digital and physical paperwork that's extremely accurate, I respond promptly to phone calls and other issues regarding advancing the show, and I'm willing to work with practically anyone that comes in.

Not all venues are as complex or as organized as we are here. And if you've programmed a show, you have no guarantee that what's available in one venue is available in another. Even then, the amount of programming time required to "add" a house plot to your programming is immense - days sometimes depending on the size of the rig and the complexity of the cues and the quality of your lighting controller. If you're doing all that and then performing as well, it's going to be extremely taxing.

What I'd recommend is touring with the lighting that you feel is absolutely crucial to your show (that has to be on time, that effect you need for just that one moment) and control it however you'd like - I'd recommend DMX, as you'll probably head that direction as you upgrade your gear anyways. Then have a preprinted sheet with directions for the more general (and less crucial) elements to hand off to the venue tech (i.e. Song #6 has dark blue tops and is dark until the chorus when blinders are up on "yeah yeah yeah"). If the venue's large enough, you'll have a tech who's familiar with their systems and can run the lighting cues you recommend - they won't be perfect, but they don't have to be. If the venue's too small to have a tech who knows what's going on, they're probably not going to have a system of any significant size for you to bother about integrating.

Keep in mind, most lighting guys and techs are guys that used to do what you did - playing music or doing drama and loving the tech part - they love being given creative freedom and they love to help you put on a good show. If you work with them, 9 times out of 10 your show will look better as a result. And for that tenth time? That's when you earn your stripes as a performer - because at the end of the day, the crowd came to see you, not the lighting.

 

[LightingTechie]

This might not be the best solution, but it would be much easier to just use a RFU if the venue has one?
Most memory consoles have these.