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is there any info out there that does a compare/contrast of the different DMX software available??? I'm going to be purchasing some, and as a complete noob, it's difficult to tell what features are important to me wihtout seeing something like a spreadsheet that lists all of the features and indicates which packages include what; the 3 that seem to be at the forefront for me are ADJ MyDMX, Elation CompuLive, Chauvet ShowXpress; I can appreciate why there are different levels and features, and whilst I don't mind paying more for something like CompuLive to get features I want, I don't want to pay more for a product with features I'll never use if a less expensive alternative will suit my needs just fine

the only thing I have now is a Chauvet MinSpot, and a haze machine on order, but I intend to add several more MinSpots, some lasers and some of those LED panels and/or LED par cans

without knowing much about the specifics of what each software package is capable of, some of the things that I find important:

-) design scenes on a desktop with a big monitor and use 3D viewer and actual lights, then use a laptop for gigs; I
think this is supported, given that you can load the software anywhere and control the actual lights based on
the USB/DMX dongle

-) key asign; like F1=verse, F2=chorus, F3=bridge, etc. on a per song (program???) basis for easy switching at a gig;
form what I've read, this appears to be supported

-) easy ability to load a new song (program???)

-) ability to create a setlist for a gig and a single click/key to advance to and load the next song (program???)

-) ability to have some constant keys load a scene for between songs when when the singer is addressing the audience
or introducing band members

-) presets for light movements; like having them all twist in a circle to the center, then twist in reverse back out,
or having the ability to select a couple to sweep forward and some other to sweep backwards, anything to not have to
start from scratch

-) some good example setups to hack on and create your own (like makefiles, no one writes makefiles from scratch,
you just find one close enough, then hack it to suit your needs)

-) flexibility to handle new lights; with Jingles and this group, that appears to be true for MyDMX

-) are all of the setups proprietary; i.e. if I buy MyDMX and later determine that I really need CompuLive, will I have
to re-create all of my scenes/programs/setups from scratch again???

-) quick and easy changes to ajust, for example, where the guitarist is located, at a particular venue, relative to
where the setup was originally designed; the ability to apply these deltas to all programs would be excellent!!!

if there's anything else some of you felt was important in your decision, I'd appreciate hearing about it; thanks for looking
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well, in the immediate future I can see 8-Chauvet MinSpots, 4-Chauvet Color Palette's, 2-ADJ Emerald Scan II's, and a Chauvet Ultimate HZ; past that, I haven't the foggiest idea, though I would suspect it would be sometime (if ever) that I would exceed 512 DMX channels...it would be for bands, primarily my own band Anthem

also, just curious, but any idea what the difference is between the minspot's in the scan library??? there's 3 for the 13 channel and 3 for the 5 channel; and there's no Emerald Scann II, there's an Emerald Scan, but it's showing up white instead of green; does there need to be a different profile for each of the different channel configurations of the Color Pallette??? I assume so; I've seen some posts talk about creating these but haven't gotten that far yet

thanks...
oh that could just be the different people that have made those profiles. i know i made one or two of them. and also in the 3D you will NOT be ableto visualize the laser or any laser or any type of effect like the revo's or the chauvet vues and that sort of thing. the 3D is not that advanced yet. for the color pallete no the different channels are dependent on the value of another channel i believe but you need to have the fader space and addressing right to use the number of channels you are going to be using on the fixture. this is why chauvet frustrates me it is SO confusing to 1) operate one of there lights and b) it is VERY hard ot make those profiles with one channel changing the others. grrr lol. let me know if you have any more questions. Sincerely,
I can live with the fact that the 3D visualizer cannot show that an Emerald Scan II would actually be showing some shape, as long as the programming is correct and the pan/tilt/on/off work in the visualizer; that's a relatively minor issue that can be resolved with the real lights and once I learn the fader-position/shape connection, I can just plan on what shape will be there, until I hook up the real lights (by the way I figured out in the 3D visualizer how to make them appear green)

would an ADJ Mega Panel LED fixture be easier to work with than a Chauvet Color Palette??? a quick glance at the manuals and they look like they operate very similar, just grouping the LED's to reduce the number of DMX channels at the loss of some fine tuning; any suggestions here would be welcome; I'm pretty well set on the Chauvet MinSpots and ADJ Emerald Scan II's, the price/performance seems like a very good fit for me, but as far as the LED fixtures, I'm wide open

any thoughts on my compare/contrast list from my original post??? does MyDMX support these; what are the real differences between ADJ MyDMX and Elation CompuLive???

another thought I had, whilst playing with MyDMX, is there a way, at any point in a program to pseudo-link some moven head lights??? for example, assume I have 8, 4-front, 4 back and I want to have them all sweep from straight down to up and out over the audience, or perhaps have the 4-front sweep from the back to the fron and have the 4-back do just the opposite??? I've downloaded the manual but have not done anything more than glanced through it, so if it's explained in there, feel free to say R.T.F.M.

thanks again...
well after checking out those videos linked on your site In my opinion I would not do a band live using just my dmx. I think for more your purposes I would highly reccommend compu live and if you want to synch lights to a music track then I would say compu 2048fc. Just my personal preference. Dont get me wrong my dmx is a great product but is a basic type of computerized lighting controller. Compu live especially the 2048fc is practically unlimited. With compu live it let's your imagination run free. That's my opinion. Sincerely,
well, thank you very much for your input; guess I'll head over to the Elation site and start looking at CompuLive; probably pick one up in the next week or so

a thought I had; these are expensive little boxes, how durable are they under normal conditions (i.e. not used as a baseball)??? and if they fail, is it rectally painful to get them fixed??? Eeker

just curious, what about the video's made you think that we should go with something more advanced??? again, just curious

thanks again for your input and recommendations...see ya' on the Elation support forum Smiler
they are made of plastic so they can take a decent drop i guess but really try to be careful with them. if it gets messed up and it is under warranty it is not too expensive to ship back cause they are so lightweight. and when i saw the videos it just seemed like a band that could use a well programmed lightshow and i know compu can do that and with more features than MY DMX. but again dont get me wrong my dmx is a great product and we are about to release a new update and a lot of the bugs are worked out and it runs nicely. tell you what download the demo versions of both that way you can decide what is best for you. dont take my word for it try it yourself. if you need help getting the hang of wither one ill be here. work at it and have fun. Sincerely,

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