Revo III / Revo II

well do you want physical console or perhaps computer software? for the revo's when controlled you can chose between patterns or chases in the dmx traits but u can have them play back at different speeds by making a bunch of scenes and have them payback fast. or in any order you want.
oh and for centerpieces i like the tempest. check it out HERE.
anything else i didnt mention? sincerely,

Wow, that center piece is very interesting. I will have to check with 123DJ on the price. This is the company that I am currentlt buy your products from because I am just south of Chicago, where they are located.

As for the contoller. I currently run music off the internet to play in my ice rink. deezer.com

However, I am thinking that I will need to up grade my computer systems as well.

I am in the process of also buying two 4000 lumens projectors to post ads and up coming events on my walls. I want both projectors to be independent of each other so I am told I will need to computers to make this work. Is this correct?

Plus, I don't want to have the computer freeze up with lights and music. So will I need to seperate computers for lights and sound?

The current computer that I have freezes up all the time, so I was thinking about up grading this once the lights are in the over head.

However, If I went with a contoller, I wouldn't have to worry about a computer for the lights, is this correct?

Thanks for your help in advanced
Headcoach

A computer is an option for running the lights just as much as a regular DMX lighting controller would be.

I would not recommend running the sound and lights from the same computer. Just in case one crashes, you'll still have the other.

The projectors should probably have their own computer(s) as well. It will just keep things separated enough so that you are not totally relying on one machine to do it all. You may be able to run both projectors off of a single computer depending on what external hardware and software you are running.

You don't have to have expensive machines to do all of this. Just try and find some old P3's or P4's to do the trick. You can land those machines on the cheap these days.

The one thing computers will let you do much easier, assuming you want to undertake the challenge, is programming lightshows to music. It can all be synced-up and all of the changes can happen with the music. It's just an idea though.

I have to agree with what lightTech said. Run each sepparately(sound and lights).

With problems wiht the one computer, chances are, you need to just wipe it and start fresh. Cheaper than getting new or a repair. Trust me on this one. Put Norton Anti-Virus on it and Spybot S&D 1.52 to protect it. The Microsoft and ALL software based firewall solutions on a Windows platform are garbage, so forget those. They don't work, don't argue it.

Of course, playing stuff off the itnernet for your customers isn't a real wise way to go either. Better to get your CD's digitized to .WAV files(not MP3, all formats suck) and have them on a USB 2.0 or 1394 or network attached drive or even shared off a server.

If you go with a computer for lights, you won't have to necessarily worry about a controller, but what if the computer goes down? Might want to have a basic controller with a bunch of scenes programmed into it to keep you running while the computer reboots. It's as simple as "computer crashes, raise house lights, swap DMX signal cable from computer dongle to controller and call up the first chase sequence, then bring down house lights".

And like LightTech said, some old P3's or P4's will do just fine for this application. Playing music, heck, you can get by with a Pentium at 233MHz and Windows 98SE or NT Workstation 4.0 SP 6a with a nice beefy network card if you're going to get your audio from a network server. For the lighting, I'd go a bit beefier, at least a 1.4Mhz P4 with 512MB to 2GIG's of RAM running XP Home or XP Pro. Run them light and lean and optimized for the task at hand and you shouuld have very few problems.

So this means I will need four computer to do the job.

(1) Work Station with a Pentium 4 for Lighting.
(2) Work Station with a Pentium 4 for Projectors.
(1) Work Station with a Pentium 4 for Music.

What kind of program will I need for the lighting?

What kind of program will I need to play the music? Windows Media player? The reason why I ask, is because you are asking me to change files to a .WAV If there a program to change MP3 into a .WAV file and if so, which one should I get? Are there free ones on the market?

As for the projectors, should I run Power Point to display logos and pictures of players? What if I want to display a video on my wall. What program will I need to make sure this will work?

Thanks for your help.
Head coach

If you play your cards right, and use the correct software and hardware, you can run both projectors off of a single computer, which will cut down on the cost a bit.

I would still recommend separating sound, lights, and projectors.

As for lighting software, you can check out American DJ's MYDMX lighting software, or Elation's CompuWare. Those are both software-based DMX controllers that communicate through a proprietary USB widget/dongle to send out the DMX control signal. Likewise, there are certainly other software packages out there, even ones that can be used with a much less expensive dongle, such as Freestyler with something like an Open USB or DMX USB PRO dongle, available online as well.

As for the projectors, you are probably going to want to set up a video system of some sort. The computer would be one part of the system, which would feed into a main video source switch. You could then also feed into the same switcher, a DVD player, a satellite TV feed, etc. Then you could just switch between whatever you wanted to display on each projector. What's even cooler is that with some switchers, you can have multiple outputs on the screens at the same time (split screen or even 4-way outputs on one screen).

There may be some commercial software out there to take care of what you would actually project. You might want something a little fancier than powerpoint, but I suppose it could work if you really wanted it to.

I might be able to get you some information on a system and company I currently work with. There is a product line that pretty much takes care of the computer's output for something like this, and they can likely help out with obtaining and setting up the right sourcing system to go with it. They're located here in Maryland, so feasibility might be an issue.

As for the sound end of things, I'm not really the guy to talk to. There's got to be something more efficient, but even a program like Quicktime can convert MP3 to WAV. Best to consult an audio person though...

If I could run both projector off the same computer, that would be great. However, they would need to be showing two different things. So will that mean that I will have to have to different computers? Here's what I will be doing with the projectors.

1. Advertising of sponsor's logos
2. Projecting hockey players pictures starting line up of each team.
3. Projecting hockey training videos
4. Record players, then do a video analysis of their training.
5. Project up coming events at the facility

So what ever I going to need to make this all work, I will get it.

Is a controller better for lighting than a computer? I'm not very knowledgeable about lighting and sound, I'm a hockey coach.

However, I have had this idea about designing my own night club since I was 21, I would just like to design my Ice Rink with all of the lighting and music instead.

Any help you can give me would be great. For instance, how does DMX really work? I guess I can check on line to see how DMX work. But now that you know the extent of my knowledge as far a lighting goes, you can see what kind of work is cut out for you.

Headcoach

LOL! no worries me and a few others here would be glad to help you out probably. i will tell u this though about DMX.
Digital MutilpleX. see the caps letters, DMX. DMX stands for digital multi plex. basicaly binary code sent from controller to to the fixtures its just that each specific value which is anywhere from 1-255 has a binary code that gets sent out through the DMX cable to the DMX chip inside the fixture which then send the proper code or command to the programming of the fixture to the right motor which creates the effect in the optical path. also what is a mutilplex? it is a series of houses in one central location right? so basically think of the fixtures features and controls as the houses and the post office as the controller. the post office will send out the right info to the right houses. understand? if u did run both programs on the same computer i would recommend getting a second monitor that way u can have your projectors program on one screen and the lighting program on the other screen. if the computer can handle sending out info to both pieces of hardware then i say go for it. sincerely,

quote:

If I could run both projector off the same computer, that would be great. However, they would need to be showing two different things. So will that mean that I will have to have to different computers? Here's what I will be doing with the projectors.

1. Advertising of sponsor's logos
2. Projecting hockey players pictures starting line up of each team.
3. Projecting hockey training videos
4. Record players, then do a video analysis of their training.
5. Project up coming events at the facility

I suppose you haven't priced out large LCD screens yet? Well, hockey... silver screens are cheap compared to an LCD display. Running a projector isn't that big of a deal. You'd probably want a second monitor and a monitor splitter for that channel and send your projected video to that display, which could run something as simple as Windows Media Player. But there are better solutions, just not sure what. I know Nero would tank and Sony Vegas isn't designed for that.

This basically sounds like a single computer thing for that application. What I would do is use something like Windows Movie Maker or Nero or Roxio(or Sony Vegas if you want to spend some bucks) and make your own "slideshows" and make them into AVI's that you could loop endlessly.

Heck, go one better. If your projector has various inputs, you could burn a DVD of your promotion slideshows and use a DVD player for playing your "commercials" while you use that computer to do other things. You can drop in audio too. But that's a whole other discussion.

[QUOTE}
Is a controller better for lighting than a computer? I'm not very knowledgeable about lighting and sound, I'm a hockey coach.

However, I have had this idea about designing my own night club since I was 21, I would just like to design my Ice Rink with all of the lighting and music instead.

[/QUOTE]

Controller vs computer? Sort of a "different strokes for different folks" sort of question. Might want to go computer since the 3D visualizer is really neat in MyDMX. Jingles could direct you if Compu Live would be the better purchase. My thoughts, since I'm a hardcore audio guy: Get a controller for back-up of the computer. Plan your DMX channel assignments to work with both environments and put some basic scenes into the controller. Should one crap out, you've got a back-up.

quote:

Any help you can give me would be great. For instance, how does DMX really work? I guess I can check on line to see how DMX work. But now that you know the extent of my knowledge as far a lighting goes, you can see what kind of work is cut out for you.

Headcoach

Using DMX is very easy. Basically, is's a data protocol that runs over DMX cabling, which looks exactly like microphone cabling. And even though microphone cabling is compatible, don't use it, OK? Good. DMX is a streaming data protocol that, despite it saying "multiplex", by textbook definitions, it is not multiplexing, but again, that's another discussion. Using DMX, you can control movers, scanners, intels and items on dimmer and switching packs. DMX is simple to wire. It can be as easy as "goes into this fixture, then out that fixture and into the next" and so on. Should you have things really spread out, you get a DMX splitter/repeater, which will duplicate that signal over multiple runs. You'll get the hang of it real fast.

You might just want to hire someone to install it all for you then show you basically how it works. After that, have fun playing with it.

You can certainly run both projectors from one computer, and have them displaying different things. You'll just need to install a second video output card into the computer to accomplish this.

The software you use will also dictate how it will function.

DMX consists of 512 channels of communication between your controller and your fixture. You tell your fixtures what channels to 'listen' to via setting their dip switches on the unit. Each of the 512 control channels can be specified to have a value of between 0-255. Each of those channel vales, between 0-255, correspond to individual traits and features that are specific to the unit that you are using.

For example, channel 1 set to a value of 115 may tell your fixture to turn the lamp on at half brightness, whereas a value of 255 may be full brightness.

Each fixture you have will only listen to a distinct number of channels (which correspond to each of the control features the unit is designed to have). So, when you look at the specifications for a DMX fixture, you will see it say something like "4 DMX channels" or "6 DMX channels". So, when you address the units via the dip switches, you are specifying the unit's 'starting channel', which means the unit will only listen to the specific number of control channels above and including the start channel.

So, for example, a 4-channel fixture set to a start channel of 12 will only listen to and respond to commands/values sent to channels 12-15. Any channel commands/values sent for channels 1-11 will have no effect on the unit, and any command/values sent to channels 16-512 will have no effect on that specific unit.

But, as you can see, there are plenty of channels left for talking to other fixtures, which would have the appropriate corresponding DMX addresses (again, set by their dip switches).

In addition, you can have a many individual fixtures under your control that fall under the limit of the 512 channels that you have available. However, you can technically have more fixtures if you 'double-up' on dip switch addressing, which means that when you send a command for, say, that "4-channel" fixture with a start address of 12, you will actually control two units in perfect unison, simultaneously.

Using an actual DMX console/controller instead of DMX software on a computer is purely a matter of personal preference. They both have their 'gives' and 'takes'. Some things will be easier on an actual controller/console, and others will be easier in the software-based controller.

quote:

Originally posted by LighTech:Using an actual DMX console/controller instead of DMX software on a computer is purely a matter of personal preference. They both have their 'gives' and 'takes'. Some things will be easier on an actual controller/console, and others will be easier in the software-based controller.

Wow talking about an education...thanks, I think! My brain is hurting. Anyways, if I were to stick with a computer to control the lights, what's the best software to get that will not break the bank? Are there any out there that are...free? If not, and I have to invest in software, then which one is the best one to make my 6 Revo III and my 4 Quad gems scream?

Plus, I also placed in another thread (disregard) because this lighting is in an Ice rink, I don't want my insurance to go up when some kid gets his finger cut off because we don't have enough lighting. So what I would like to do is add wash lighting on the rink walls outside of the skating surface. The whole goal is to add more light, but not to the actual ice surface floor. This way it doesn't wash out the revos and the quad gems.

Now, I read somewhere that you can only daisy chain like units. Is that correct? So, I will have to daisy chain the revo's and the quad gems seperately...is that correct?

If that is the case, I will have to also daisy chain the wash light seperately as well...correct?

Now here a crazy question (remember, I'm a hockey coach) Will I be able to controll all three different daisy chains off of the same controller? I think yes! If I understand the theory correctly, each daisy chain will go in a different channel. Is that correct?

Thanks for your help in advance.
Head coach

Hey headcoach jingles here. if your gonna want to wash a ice rink go LED that way no heat and nice output. for your concerns about daisy chaining all fixtures with a DMX IN and OUT can be daisy chained. as long as they are 3pin to 3 pin. if you have a 5 pin dmx light you will need a turnaround. so wash lights can be chained together with the rest. so no seperate daisy chain at all can all go on one. let me know if you understand so far and i will elaborate more on DMX and how it works in a DMX line. Sincerely,

jingles, Two years ago you recommend that I go LED's. Here's the results: http://www.passthepuck.net/id1027.htm

Thanks for your help.
Head coach

I dj with my Lunchbox and have over 80,000 songs all in mp3 format. I use this format 3-4 times a week and no one has ever said my music is bad sounding. I would use mp3 and rip them at 256 great sounding, 192 good sounding..

Saves a lot of space.

Hey Coach, glad you like it. Hope i gave you good advice back then. haha.
Sincerely,