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Showtime Director output to DMX


Eric walls

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With the new update it looks like the Showtime Director can output one of it's ports to DMX?  Does that mean that I can run a CAT5 cable from that port directly to a Holiday Coro DMX controller without a bridge?

How many universes can it output?

 

Do I just program that in the network preferences and add the DMX controller in the Sequence Editor?

 

I'm very curious about this.  If I can do it I'd like to add the Holiday Coro candy canes next season.

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions, this is my first season.

 

Eric

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  • 2 months later...

I would also like to know as Holiday Coro stated their products are NOT compatible with LOR G3 Director.

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I am a newbie in the DMX world and there are experts in this forum who will probably correct everything I say, but I will share what I have learn so far from this forum and materials that HolidayCoro provides on his site and via him answering my email questions.  I will answer the question you ask and give a more broader background on the subject.

 

I believe the reason for LOR G3 Director not being compatiable with SOME of the contollers being sold by Holiday Coro is due to the protocol the G3 can communicate (LOR and DMX512) to what some of the Coro controllers are designed to use, either E1.11 (DMX512-A) vs. E1.31/Artnet (note - E1.31 and Artnet are not one and the same, but are both based on ethernet).  If you are going with the Pixlite or AlphaPix contollers sold on Coro, they are E1.31.  I do not know about the Coro candy canes, but you want to find what DMX protocol they are aligned with to see if you can run them with a G3 director.

 

There is a RJ45 port on our computer, G3 Directors, LOR controllers, and these Coro sold controllers, but the RJ45 port is leveraged by many protocols.  The protocols below can be communicated out an RJ45 port

 

LOR Protocol - RS485

E1.11 (DMX) - RS485

E1.31 (DMX) - Ethernet

 

The G3 Directors are aligned with RS485 and the LOR and DMX512 protocols (old Director units only handled LOR).  Pixlite and AlphaPix controllers are aligned with ethernet, thus E1.31 protocol.

 

The LOR S3 Advance software allows me to configure which one of the above protocols I going to use to communicate out a port, so I can sequence, LOR controllers/devices, DMX512 controllers/devices, and E1.31 controllers.  I choose my protocol based on the devices I plan use in the network (what they are compatible with), how many channels I need to control in that network and/or what effects I need those channels to do.

 

The channel count is important part to picking one of the above protocols.  LOR can handle up to 3840 channels over the wire (out one port).  E1.11 can distribute I believe 1 DMX universe (512 channels) over the wire (meaning out one port).  E1.31 can distribute many, many DMX universes over the same wire (512 x you do not need to even worry).  E1.31 can handle so many channels, you have many other problems to be concerned with before you run out of channels.  Now, on effects is where the LOR splits from the DMX protocols.  LOR natively handles twinkle and shimmer effects, but DMX does not.

 

The G3 Director has two RJ45 ports, so you can get two DMX512 universe out of it.  I do not know if you can make the G3 Director run a LOR network out of one RJ45 port and DMX512 out the other.

 

One thing that helps me visualize the different protocol/network setups is - LOR and DMX512 is the "dongle/daisy-chaining setup with controllers" and E1.31/Artnet is the "ethernet switch/hub-spoke setup to controllers"

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If the G3 Director can run a LOR network out of one port and DMX512 out of the other, then I can use "some" Coro devices? Specifically, wire new "smart pixel" devices to one port and existing LOR stuff in the other?

 

Please advise.

 

Thanks

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Argh, after finishing a detailed response on my desktop, my IP connectivity died, so here is the short version via my phone.... As far as I know, the director can only output a RS-485 signal so it would NOT be able to send commands to an Ethernet (E1.31) based controller. I am not aware of any RS-485 based smart pixel controllers.

Edited by k6ccc
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G3 Directors can output DMX or LOR protocol, or for dual network directors one, the other, or a combination of both on separate ports.  (See table here: http://www.lightorama.com/help/light-o-rama_mp3_directors.htm)

 

LOR and DMX are protocols.  Both ride on RS485 which is a transport.  Please do NOT confuse protocol (LOR/DMX) with transport (RS485/Ethernet).

 

If you want to know if something can be controlled by a G3 MP3 director, the question you need to ask is very simple:  Does this device accept a DMX512 input?  If the device accepts A DMX512 input, then a G3 director CAN and WILL control it.  If your device accepts a DIFFERENT input (say Ethernet) it will not.

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Remember there is always San Device's Elor. Elor is still around for those who still use Showtime MP 3 Director Units to run the show. Via the Elor you can run Ethernet . 

 

Elor...... the sometimes forgotten by-pass   

Edited by lightzilla
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Ok. Pretty cool. May have to just buy some, leave them spooled up and hang 'em out front. The spiraling effects were pretty amazing.

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  • 3 months later...

So if I get a SanDevices ELOR I can run smart pixels from my LOR G3-MP3. Correct?

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So if I get a SanDevices ELOR I can run smart pixels from my LOR G3-MP3. Correct?

Based n the video yes. I personally never tried it only because I have been using Lor C. C. Devises. .Bare in mind that one E-Lor can run around 680 pixels without lag (give or take).

 

http://www.sandevices.com/documents/ELOR_ver1_Operating_Manual.pdf     

 

 Notice this statement.......  "For users who need the ability to run pixels or wired DMX channels in a stand-alone (PC-less) system, using a LOR show controller for example"

Edited by lightzilla
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LIghtzilla, what are Lor C. C. Devices?

I think he's saying he uses CCR's, CCP's and CCB's, LORs pixel products.

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I think he's saying he uses CCR's, CCP's and CCB's, LORs pixel products.

You got it.  I read where some folks couldn't run 12 ccrs with lag & so they used their computers. To may commands (I am guessing lots of morphs & what not). Wherein I had a lot of Animation, words, & hand drawn words.  In 2013 I had a 12 ccr Matrix & 9 controllers, last year I had a 12 ccr Matrix , 7 controllers, & 4 ccp controllers & I still had no lag. However two ccp controllers were on the house simply changing colours, from red, to green, to blue when the sequence called for that. This year I am going either with a 16 ccr tree, or a 16 string ccp tree. I think I have more command this time but we shall see.

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