Advanced DMX suggestions

[pyrotech]

I'm looking for some suggestions on how to go about solving a fairly advanced DMX / signal flow question.

I am currently running a fairly large show with over 100 universes, talking via E1.31 (sACN) to about 15 different pixel controllers.  

This year, I am planning to add about 20 various moving head lights.  To control these lights, I actually have a professional lighting console.  Because it is almost impossible to program moving heads with LOR, I plan to program these lights on this console and my question is...how do I integrate both the light-o-rama show control and the playback of cues on my console?

Here's what I was thinking...

- at the beginning of every song, turn on a unique DMX channel in LOR to trigger the appropriate cue list on my lighting console.

- take a DMX universe out of one of my Xmas light controllers, and go into the DMX input on the lighting console.

- when my lighting console sees the appropriate DMX channel go high, I play the appropriate cue list.

- Now, the pixels will run off my LOR software, and my moving heads will run off of my lighting console

 

Any suggestions?  Is there another way to "trigger" the lighting console?  Do I have to hard DMX out from a pixel controller, to DMX in on the lighting console, or can I stream it over the network sACN?  Is there a way to have LOR "capture" all the DMX data from my moving light console and then embed it into the show, in order to remove the console?

 

Any suggestions will be welcome!

Thanks,

Tim

 

[k6ccc]

Sounds like you have a pretty decent way to do it - as long as the lighting console can start a programmed sequence based on a DMX input.  Presumably, it would be a separate DMX channel or level setting for each sequence.

22 minutes ago, pyrotech said:

Do I have to hard DMX out from a pixel controller, to DMX in on the lighting console, or can I stream it over the network sACN? 

That would depend on the capabilities of your lighting console.  If it can watch for DMX command that is E1.31 imbedded, that would likely be easier than taking a DMX universe out of a pixel controller and feeding an RS-485 DMX universe into the console.  Obviously if the lighting console does not have that E1.31 input capability, you will have to use an RS-485 DMX universe out of a pixel controller (or directly out of your show computer via a separate DMX output).

26 minutes ago, pyrotech said:

Is there a way to have LOR "capture" all the DMX data from my moving light console and then embed it into the show, in order to remove the console?

Not directly.  You might be able to write or find a piece of software that can capture the DMX commands from the lighting console and convert it to something LOR can understand (most likely as a sub-sequence).

 

[pyrotech]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply!  

As I look into the specs of my lighting console, I don't think it can receive e1.31 data, only transmit.  I think I'm going to have to find a way to hardwire a DMX line into it.  

Thanks,

Tim

[PhilMassey]

Yes, Programming DMX fixtures is a pain and quite tedious but it can be done and with practice it gets pretty quick. You can use copy and paste and functions like matching fill to speed things up a lot. 

The benefit is precise synchronization with everything else. My moving heads and lasers are in all my sequences from beginning to end and one laser has 34 channels. 

I keep a  breakdown of all the channel values for every function in a spreadsheet open on a third monitor for quick reference.

Of course, I have no life............

[pyrotech]

Wow...that's dedication.  

I looked into doing it through the sequencer, and I thought it was just about impossible.  I cannot even comprehend how you manage just moving (pan / tilt) a fixture.  

I'm impressed!

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Douglas]

Dmx Help what do u mean by copy Paste