dmx controller newby questioon

on this type of dmx controller it is really just for playback. i believe you cannot adjust DMX values on this unit you have to have another controller to adjust the values on and then save the scenes into this controller. this is merely just a playback/edit sequence type controller. also these are discontinued. as far as hooking it up to a PC maybe in some way Compuware if u have it. but if u have it then might as well just use it. peace! jingles. any questions feel free to ask. welcome to the forums!

Since you're starting out, go with a current model controller. It helps from a support point of view.

I have an older DMX Operator and am just really learning to use it. It's not difficult to program lights.

As far as let's say a fade from color 1 to color 2, that's easy. Make a scene of Color 1. Then another scene of Color 2. Use a fade time that feels good for you. When you chance scenes, it will do it smoothly. Honestly, the hardest part will be getting the color right. Use some HEX value charts and convert values to decimal and you should get it through RGB mixing, which is what you're doing with those lights anyways.

I don't have LED anything, so let's say using a bank of 4 Par38's with gels connnected to a DP-DMX20L dimmer page: Red, Green, Blue and Yellow, 1 light each, 1 light per channel, I want to go from each color, but smoothly, like what you want to do. In my case, I set Scene 1 for just the red, then Scene 2 for just the green, then scene 3 for just the Blue, then scene 4 for just yellow. For variety, let's say I use scene 5 for purple, 6 for pink, 7 for orange and 8 for white.(Reality for me: white is 1, but my bad!)

Scenes are programmed. Now, on my DMX Operator, I set a slow fade time, say 4 seconds roughly, then hit the Scene 1 button: RED fades up, from let's say a scene of NOTHING. I hit 2, and I get a transition from red to green as one light fades out while another one fades in. Repeat the process with any scene 1-8, it works the same way, except some of the other colors require multiple ParCans to create the desired color.

In your case, you have a better solution since it's all in the same fixture. The concept is the same, just the method of doing it is much more refined since you're doing it all in one fixture.

I may have to sell all my gear soon due to a recent theft, so perhaps you can get my controller for a good price. But this isn't a marketplace. I just know I'm going to be hungry for a while, and I do mean that in the "there's nothing going in my stomach" kind of way. My wife's been after me to lose weight, so I guess she gets her wish. My new wish my be a burger, an IN-And-Out double double with cheese....

OK, I'm drooling on the keyboard. Go play with your lights and have fun. I have to go eat left-overs.

Thanks gents. The controller is going for a song, which is what drew my attention. I'll give it a body-swerve. Thanks for preventing me wasting some money.
Craig

no problem. is what we are here for. why not look into the dmx operator or magic 260 controllers? also if ur willing to spend a hefty sum look into compuware or even easy stand alone software. peace! jingles.

I'm looking into a majig 260 as we speak. It looks really amazing. I bit much for starting out with nothing but it could be a while before I even think about outgrowing a controller like this for sure!

Craig,

I highly recommend researching what you need to control before you buy it. I bought a controller before I really knew what I needed and it cost me. I relied on those "Experts" from guitar center on their recommendations....last time I'll do that! I really could have saved myself some money. It is expensive with trial and error!

Good luck,
Ric

These days, knowledge is a premium. No single sales person at a music store is going to know everything about everything. Even focusing on one department, that can range from a few dozen products to a few thousand.

Personally, I keep being asked to work at the stores because of my knowledge and knowing how to work with people, but I don't work there because of issues I'd care to not discuss involving my personal live.

There are so many controllers out there for lighting. There is no single right answer, but through discussion, we can rule out some controllers that might not be applicable for your application.

Personally speaking, with lighting controllers, it's best to plan for future expansion rather than go cheap and "bare bones". In my case, my DMX Operator bought in 2002 is still more than sufficient for nearly all my events. I can't complain about this console. I really like it. MyDMX was another smart purchase that will probably be as far as I will need to go for quite some time.

In regards to the 3D Visualizer, for me that is a helpful tool, but not totally necessary. For me, MyDMX is more of a way to easily label scenes and build as many as I need. Not saying that the 3D visualizer is bad, because it's not, it's really great. It's just, we each have our own requirements and needs.

For programming, I just suggest you set up your lights and see what you're doing. Ultimate 3D Visualizer, and the best way to do it with a console.

For how I do things, it's mainly color scenes mixed with some "specials", so you can see why the 3D visualizer isn't as critical in MyDMX. My biggest concern is power management.