Controlling DMX Lighting

The DMX Operator must be set to listen to a specific MIDI channel.

After that, I forget ALL the details. I think that it uses MIDI ON notes 0-127(or 1-128 depending on now you look at it, or your hardware) to trigger scenes 1-128. After that, you're done. That's all you can do. It's a 7-bit addressing issue. Scenes 129-240 CANNOT be accessed via MIDI, so don't waste time trying to resolve that.

Your controller is capable of being able to programmed with note numbers starting at 1, you're fine. You can also assign the MIDI channel on a per pad and external trigger basis. So, you're good.

You'll just want to LABEL your scenes on a piece of paper. You do need to convert banks to numbers, which is no big deal. It's basically each bank has 8 scenes and you have 30 banks to get 240 scenes. Bank 1 is scenes 1-8, Bank 2 is scenes 9-16, and so on and so forth.

Find your BLACKOUT scene, and if you want, if it was me, I'd assign an external pad to it.

I'd also program some chases as well. But that's just me. You can't program chases until you program scenes.

Blackout is NOT an option available through MIDI. You MUST program a blackout scene if you want this to work.

Got it. Thanks!

It makes sense, however, the Roland SPD-S midi instructions are pretty intense. I need to figure out how to assign the midi notes etc.

I programmed my Octapad II Pad-80 with no instructions. I can't imagine Roland screwing things up that much on newer hardware.

I'm not a fan of the Roland methodology, but you'll be able to handle this, no problem.

Do you know if the Elation FC-400 will work with my ADJ Par 64 lights? This purchase may just solve my problem.

The FC-400 is a simple 4 DMX channel foot controller. It is ideal for traditional Par 64 cans. Not LED.
Sincerely,

Hey James,

I aquired an FC-400 from a friend for dirt cheap. I know you say it's not really for LED cans, but could I use the MIDI function of the FC-400 in conjunction with my DMX Operator to achieve the simple scene changes I require?

Could you talk a little about how that could be done? How to program both units. I just need a freakin foot pedal!!

Thanks again.

Dan

You'd need to either buy a DMX merger, or do 2 different DMX runs.

Another option might by the Behringer FCB1010, but really, any foodboard that supports sending note ON will suffice.

You might want to get rid of the FC-400 because unless you're doing on/offs for 4 incandescent cans off a dimmer or switching pack, or high-tech FX off a power/switching pack, it's not going to be of much use for you. You can control the dimmer pack from the DMX Operator. And the DMX Operator accepts MIDI Note ON from notes 1-128, which gives you access to the first 128 out of 240 possible available scenes.

There. That's the idea to plant into your head. Now, your next task is to ask more questions!

It worked! I spent 4+ hours today messing with these two crontrollers, and finally got what I wanted. I can change five scenes with my FC-400 using the midi-out into the midi-in on the DMX Operator. I know it's only five scenes, and I am not using these PAR 64 LED lights to their potential, but I am happy (for now.) I just needed some simple scene changes and black outs via pedal. I only get five scene changes because there are only five pedals on the FC-400 and it appears it will only send a total of five midi notes. Even though the DMX Operator will accept more.

A suggestion for ADJ...if I may. Make all your mid to high end controllers have a foot pedal option. I have been trying to make this work for months, buying different gear, asking lots of questions, reading boards, etc. There is not alot of info out there on how to make this work. Or, if the info is there, it's too complicated for the newby user who just wants to change a his lights with a pedal. I was willing to spend some $$ and buy a better controller, but from what I've read, there's not alot of controllers with a pedal option that works. Ok, my rant is over. Thanks for your help.

Dan

Thanks for your suggestion.
Now that I think about it one of our LED controllers has an optional foot pedal. I do not remember which one but I am sure it is on our website.
I can mention to our R&D dept. About more foot control options.
Sincerely,

Well, I can see adding this feature to mid and high-range products can be a useful feature.

There is a problem though, because there are two standards. Neither are better than the other. There's the one where you complete the circuit, and the other where you break the circuit. But some pedals support being switched from one standard to another. In the case of one of my Kord pedals, it has a different set of jacks for each mode(it's a dual pedal, 2 pedals, each are selectable via using the correct port). Some gear can auto-detect and set itself up accordingly on a per boot/start basis. Manufacturers will state which standard they use and what the pedal must support.

So, I think if this were to be implemented, I think ADJ will have to do 1 of three things:
1: Tell the user what type of pedal to get. This only gets complaints if users have low funds and an incompatible pedal. But a pedal should be less than $20, so it's not a deal-breaker.

2: Include a switch. No harm, no foul, just make it easy to use, but not easy to accidentally change. Low profile!

3: Auto-sense. While slightly more expensive, there needs to be a few rules. I think the best rule is to have ot do it's auto-detect when the device is hooked up to USB and/or activated by the driver, especially when we're dealing with a software solution.

The thing is, with the keyboards and the like, they do this detection when you power up, or at least that's how the ones I've worked with have always worked. I'm a bit out of that loop having not bought a new keyboard since I think 1998 or something like that. If I were to plug in a pedal after starting up, it has to be to a certain standard(which all my pedals are anyways), but if I had a different standard pedal, it just wouldn't work until I power cycled.

So, then it might be best to also include a button for "auto-detect" the pedal, to deal with this issue, or else just flat out state "you must have your pedal connected before the hardware is connected." And also have a default standard just in case.

Use of pedals isn't uncommon, as I think many of my FX units(audio) have pedal inputs. I don't use them, but they are there just the same. These often act as a bypass on/off or tap tempo function. Or maybe in the case of software be usable definable!

Most pedals are also durable and compact, so tossing one into a bag shouldn't be a big deal for most users.

Is there a way to use the FC-400 as a controller staight to a dmx light fixture??