midi question

You don't need to buy ANY fancy software to control your lights by Midi. Virtually any midi sequencer will do - even a freeware or Palm Pilot MIDI sequencer. The Operator only responds to NOTE ON messages - you may have to filter off the other signals (note off, aftertouch) and you should also set the note lengths to a fixed amount.

If you buy the Elation Compu-ware - it, and the connection box it comes with - will replace your DMX operator completely. This is expensive software, but a LOT more flexible than any hardware-based board. This sofware will also respond to MIDI triggers - but they will probably have to come from another source than the computer running the lighting.

Thanks for the great info, I guess i'm more of a novice than i thought, with a midi sequencer how do you get it to control all the channels of my might scans? IE speed, pan tilt etc? Is there any reading material out there that anyone could recommend?

MIDI doesn't directly control DMX lights - like your mightys, it can control a DMX controller - like the operator, etc... the controller dictates how it will respond to certain midi messages - for instance, the operator will only respond to "note on" to choose scenes or chases, not control the channels directly, get it?

Thanks again, one last question on the subject. In your personal opionion, is there any benefit to using Midi? also, can i still manually control the show from the board? and if i use Midi, do the lights still work in Music mode where they cycle through the scenes to the beat? and the last think...does midi allow me to queue up certain scenes for for differetn parts of a song..for instance, if i have a song that has a fast beat then suddenly slows to a mellow section, currenty i have to quicky cycle thorugh 15 banks to go from a fast moving scene to a slow one, would midi allow me to do that with a push of a button? sorry for all the questions. If htere is any reading material out there or a program anyone could recomend it would be great!

As far as the Operator is concerned, MIDI is best thought of as a SCENE or CHASE selector - Scenes in banks 1-15 can be selected DIRECTLY (without any scrolling) so you can create chases which are the result of MIDI recalling scenes from these banks as the MIDI sequence plays. Yes, the Operator will still respond to your button-presses. You cannot start or stop Music mode via MIDI - you will have to do that yourself. If you want to control your Operator via MIDI in realtime, you'll need a keyboard or other device that sends "note on" messages. What is it you are trying to do? Is it for a band, DJ, theatre?

Don knows his stuff! I've used midi in a variety of band situations. I've used it as a simple scene selector using a foot pedal to select bank/program steps. It's OK but you have to really think out your bank setups. I ended up with about 6 or 7 standard programs (e.g. slow chase, fast chase, blue show, red show, etc). My current band is using a sequencer for drums and background parts. Now I'm moving to designing midi controlled shows for each song - because the sequencer can drive everything. To get more control with midi, you need to step up to something like the Show Designer. As Don said, the Operator can only do scene/chase selection. The Show Designer can do programed fades, do timed sequences, etc. It also has more scene memory than many other controllers.
The only real advantage to midi control of an Operator is a) if you are already using a sequencer or b) you need to have "hands free" scene/chase selection (using a midi foot controller or something).

Thanks alot! slowly i'm getting a handle on how midi works...I just wanted to see if it was worth investing the time or money into it right now. As for what it's used for, its a private set-up, mainly hobby. I entertain alot and people love the full dance floor. Although, ive been approached by 3 of the bars on town asking me to redo their lighting system because they were impressed with mine...maybe i can start making some money :-)..
Thanks again