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Hello all...I am trying to wrap my brain around the MyDmx product. I am trying to find out if I can take a music file and have my lights sync to the music and have the lights do that every time that song is played.

What would even be cooler is a graphical representation of the musical file where I can superimpose list triggers on top of music file and be creative. I am not even sure if MyDmx is what I need to accomplish this.

Thanks.
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Bill welcome to the forums. If this is what your trying to do then I'm sorry but My DMX is not for you. The program does not allow for any of that type of triggering. What your looking for is a Elation Compu Show SD interface using the Compu Show software and Easy show timeline generator. My DMX is not designed to do what your asking. it is not that advanced.
Sincerely,
If you have a music sequencer, I think CakeWalk will do what I am suggesting... You associate your music to a sequence... then you can program scenes to always happen at that point in time... you may be using measures and so many beats into the song, but it does not matter if the tempo is correct, you are more interested in timing...
I guess to further clarify... You need the sequencer and your music on computer A and the myDMX software on computer B. You also need a device like a midiman 2X2 to send data from computer A to computer B...

On myDMX, you will create a multitude of scenes, and each scene you will need to associate with a musical note... for instance all lights set full on in the colors you want could be the note A#1 and a black out could be the note B1....

I don't use CalkWalk, but i think it lets you tie a sequence to an audio file so when you play the sequence, the audio starts and the 2 just run in tandum... at the point in time when the song is playing, you want your scene to come on, you place the note A#1 in the sequence... when you want it to go black out, you put the note B1 in the sequence...

There will be a learning curve here... assigning a midi channel in the sequencer and associate the audio file how to save each song/sequence in a manner that you can pull them up quickly... also in myDMX, how to associate a scene with a note value...

I do this type of thing now. I don't have audio files, but my sequencer plays my drum machine and on a separate track, i have notes that trigger different scenes... works preety well...
As an owner of the MyDMX interface and the Elation SD+ interface, let me say that I've also done EXTENSIVE documentation on the MyDMX and MIDI for "sync" type purposes, and have done a MAJOR show using Compu Show that required extensive sync as well.

Compu Show can be an all-in-one solution. You import the audio file, then start landing your scenes from Compu Show where you need them to be. You can also used something called switches, which are basically "sub-scenes" that you can use to modify existing scenes, or can be a scene in and of itself. Compu Show is a significantly more complex product that MyDMX, and as such, comes with a higher price tag. There is a steep learning curve. Do I recommend Compu Show? ABSOLUTELY!! Also, Compu Show can work with MTC.

MyDMX is much simpler. To effectively do what you think you want to do, you need to use two computers, mostly for the DAW-type functionality of doing a backing track(or tracks) coupled with MIDI. Sonar Home is your cheapest route at around $100, and yes you need a MIDI interface on each computer involved, which can add at least another $60, but most likely you'll go with a 2-bank, and that could skyrocket your costs to around $160 or so for a pair. You don't need top of the line, you just need rugged and reliable.

It ultimately comes down to "what is the right tool for the job". While you CAN do this in MyDMX, really, it's not the right tool for this task. You want Compu Show.

MyDMX is designed more for DJ's who want and need a simple interface for rapid scene calling. I'm not degrading DJ's here. Between queuing and the other stuff they are doing, the last thing they need to throw into their mix is an interface that one could get lost in quickly. While Compu Show is easy to navigate, in the fast and furious world of spinning music, you don't have time to deal with it, and MyDMX works better.

You might be thinking, after hearing prices, that how can one justify such a price for Compu Show? Well, I can, and do it simply.
1: I work on 2 productions that use extensive sync. Couple that with rehearsal stuff and the bouncing around, Compu Show naturally caters to that.
2: If I were to start designing lighting shows for my karaoke library for weddings and what-not(not gonna happen, but bear with me), I could design lighting designs for each song and have a fairly quick recall.

If you're making your playlist sets, you could quickly roll up, set your rig, run it and go hit the bar while the computer does the work. Of course, if you're reading the room, this might break down a bit. But if you're working off a rigid set-list, this can be ideal for you.

Then again, for live shows, I did an event using Compu Show, and if I compare between the two(Compu Show vs. MyDMX), Compu Show needs me to do a bit more work because I did better scenes in MyDMX right now. With practice, Compu Show can rock an event live, provided the lighting designer did a good job.

But for fast and easy access, MyDMX kicks butt. Affordable with TONS of features for the price, but it does have limitations. You can't give it all away at that price.

Hi Martin Light jockey does a great job of syncing mp3 music files to DMX sequences, its uses winamp which is free for time code and its so easy to use. Load up a song, play it and tap the space bar every time you want to trigger something, The time codes are recorded and once you have been through the song you simply allocate a sequence to each time code you stored. Its accurate to a few frames so now you can really programme lights EXACTLY to how you want them to respond to the song. How i wish MYDMX3 would copy this approach...I would pay for this feature, the icing on the cake!!!!

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