show director ?

[jasonbeaty]

need help picking out which show director to get the mini or the dc-mp3 .which one is the best one for the money

[Don]

Well, it really depends on what you intend to do with it.

If you were to go on price alone, the mini-director would be least expensive option.

The DC-MP3 (Showtime) can operate on schedules, meaning you can schedule the show to start at 6p and end at 10p. You can also load more than one show on the SD card.

With the mini-director it will only operate when powered. Thus you would need to add power to mini-director. Most of the time this is done by simply connecting to the first controller, but there are other ways to do it.

[Ken Benedict]

The mini-director has choked on a large show above 160 channels and lots of twinkling and shimmers.

DC-MP3 worked great.

If your show is not overly complex, get the mini.

Later on, when your show grows, get the DC-MP3.

Turn the mini-director into a fancy tester like someone did last year.

Search the forums for Mini-Director and look here: http://forums.lightorama.com/view_topic.php?id=19136&forum_id=80&highlight=mini+director

[lightzilla]

Ken Benedict wrote:

The mini-director has choked on a large show above 160 channels and lots of twinkling and shimmers.

Wow I learned something new.

I did not use a lot of twinkling & shimmers in the 2011 show so I guess that is why the 240 channel display ran flawless for the 2011 season.

In 2010 I had 192 channels with more twinkling & shimmer but I guess not enough to effect the mini director because it ran flawless in 2010 as well.

In 2009 I ran 160 channel show which had twinkling & shimmer and it ran flawless here too.

In 2007 & 2008 I was using another brand of controllers so I cannot add them in.

Anyhow, if either director unit is going out doors it needs to be in its own enclosure.

I put all 15 controllers on timers (in groups of 7, 6, & 2)......so 3 timers.
Then I stuck a SD card in the mini director unit & when the controllers came on the show began & when the timers went off the show stopped.

I ran a cat5 cable into the house via the front door. Now that I can get flat cat5 cable that makes closing the front door better.

Remember you would need to have all your controllers on timers because the mini director runs on any controller regardless if the 1st controller you plugged a cat5 cable into is on a timer or not.

Or you add a external timer to the unit as directed by Lor.

I do not use tracks so that might help too. However I do not know how many folks ran into problems using tracks & the mini director.

[lightzilla]

I was going to say if you can afford the better MP3/Director unit then go for it.

No offense but not having a "edit button" may add to the posting counts but other than that it foolishness. It was more than likely removed for another reason but it is a pain. Just my thought.

[Dennis Cherry]

Last year I used both the mini director and DC director with 806 channels.

There was absolutely no difference in the performance between the two in my sequences.

Even changed speeds and found no difference.

You have to watch the MP3 Bit Rate and keep it around the recommended 128K format. I have used up to 192 K Bitrate.

The higher the bit rate the director is spending more time processing the music and less time controlling you lights.

[Dennis Laff]

I have a brand new mini director new in box never used for sale $85.00 Dennis

[Guest guest]

Personal choice as to what you go with.

Mine is the DC-MP3 Showtime Director because I do like having the internal clock to set and run my shows.

I set them up via the Hardware Utility.

Been using mine for 2 years and using 192k MP3 files. So far, have had no issues, but I'm only at 80 channels/5 CTB16PC Controllers (1 V1 and 4 V2 versions).

[Surfing4Dough]

lightzilla wrote:

Ken Benedict wrote:

The mini-director has choked on a large show above 160 channels and lots of twinkling and shimmers.

Wow I learned something new.

I did not use a lot of twinkling & shimmers in the 2011 show so I guess that is why the 240 channel display ran flawless for the 2011 season.

In 2010 I had 192 channels with more twinkling & shimmer but I guess not enough to effect the mini director because it ran flawless in 2010 as well.

In 2009 I ran 160 channel show which had twinkling & shimmer and it ran flawless here too.

In 2007 & 2008 I was using another brand of controllers so I cannot add them in.

Anyhow, if either director unit is going out doors it needs to be in its own enclosure.

I put all 15 controllers on timers (in groups of 7, 6, & 2)......so 3 timers.
Then I stuck a SD card in the mini director unit & when the controllers came on the show began & when the timers went off the show stopped.

I ran a cat5 cable into the house via the front door. Now that I can get flat cat5 cable that makes closing the front door better.

Remember you would need to have all your controllers on timers because the mini director runs on any controller regardless if the 1st controller you plugged a cat5 cable into is on a timer or not.

Or you add a external timer to the unit as directed by Lor.

I do not use tracks so that might help too. However I do not know how many folks ran into problems using tracks & the mini director.

Seems a lot easier/cheaper to just put the mini-director on a single timer and leave all the controllers plugged in (what I do). Eliminates the need to synch the 3 controller timers. When the power for the director kicks on, the show starts. Very easy to add a power cord to the mini-director as described on page 10 of the manual: http://www.lightorama.com/PDF/mDM-MP3_Man_Web.pdf
Plug into a $20 7-day programmable timer, and your good to go for the season.

I have been very pleased with my relatively inexpensive mini-director.