Well, throughout the course of 3 rehearsal run-throughs and 1 show, MyDMX had basically screwed up 100% of the time. Ever scene had an issue.
New issues that cropped up thanks to installing September 2010 MyDMX:
MORE scenes freaking out. Through the course of those runs, each scene had an issue UNLESS it was a blackout, and even some of those were screwed up too. Virtually every scene had some sort of issue, not on each run, it was very inconsistent.
Couple that with my ground foggering going off in blackout scenes that I know there are no values for it in, as well as a few blackouts where the 64 LED UV was going off as well.
I have only made MINOR changes to the show since the August 28th version, and I made out of necessity some changes on Saturday(spot operators were VERY helpful in their feedback in making suggestions in order to improve the show, which I implemented as much as possible). Notable changes were adding follow spots to scenes that didn't have them, and then in a series of scenes, having to adjust where one of the movers were pointing. Other than that, no changes.
One interesting "unimprovement" was the following, which often occured during simple scenes: Just flat out crapping out. For example, let's say a scene fades to color, and then holds for a period of time, say , 2 minutes. The scene would continue to run, but then the lighting would just suddently go out. not just ADJ or LED fixtures, but damn near everything. Recoveries were ver difficult.
Whenever something went wrong, all LED's behaved normally, so I couldn't detect anything wrong from that visual check.
I've come to a few conclusions.
1: I know that MyDMX is NOT designed for this type of application, running a big show like this. But I knew that going forward. Even so, the fact that it worked fine for previous shows with earlier MyDMX releases suggests something is wrong with the latest MyDMX releases. Even so, it's time to look at I think Elation's Compu Show product for what I am doing. Why? Well, besides the problems I've been having with MyDMX, it's also a matter of the right tool for the job.
2: A real possibility is that there may be something wrong with my hardware. Too many problems. Or could be software is wonky with the latest batch of Windows updates and hotfixes.
All DMX runs go from the MyDMX hardware to an Elation Opto-Branch/4. All runs are terminated with a DMX terminator. ALL cabling is DMX cabling(accucable)
Trying a different USB port did not yield better results, but it took a buttload of time to let the driver find the hardware again. Using a different USB cable didn't make a difference either.
Is MyDMX leaving my rig? No it's not. But I can't use it for this show anymore. I just simply can't.
I'll be spending some time over the next few weeks discussing my needs and requirements with Jingles to see exactly which way I should go. I have no issues Mac or PC, and I'm not married to any particular software package. So, should it be another Elation offering, I will think about it.
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