Switching your lights on and off?

Yes and no. It CAN be done, but it may not be as convenient as you would like. Even so, it's not necessarily all that difficult depending on what you want to do and what you have available to help you get it done.

First, as you know, you can't "overlap" or run multiple scene in MyDMX. So, you bring up the very valid and usable idea of copying the scene and then adding some single or multiple elements to a copied scene. Keep in mind a scene can have many steps. Even so, in your example, you want to throw in some strobe, which sounds like is not used a lot but needs to be available. This is NOT a big deal.

You need to select the channels that you want to manually override in either HTP or LTP mode(either is fine, but you may want to discover which works best for you on a per channel basis). By doing this, you are allowed to grab that fader in MyDMX and move it.

Now, you can also use a MIDI controller that provides CC controllers(Such as the Korg nanoKontrol, which is an inexpensive fader/knob controler surface). You can assign a channel to a fader or knob and control it that way. There are many other controllers. Akai makes some similar controllers, and Behringer makes fader and knob controllers that can be used for the same purposes. Akai also makes some Ableton-oriented controllers, but I only warn you against those ones only because that surface of buttons would have to be configured for note on triggers, which would be for triggering scenes and not for individual channel control. But, if you wanted scene triggering, I'd say these might be ideal units and I'm even considering one for that purpose.

Depending on other stuff you may want to do, you can assign the SAME SINGLE fader or KNOB to multiple DMX channels. Like, for example, I have 8 ADJ 64 LED Pros in 7 channel mode, but each uses their own unique 7 DMX channels. I assigned all the red channels to Fader 1, Green to Fader 2, Blue to Fader 3 and Dimmer to Fader 4. There are three other channels on the fixtures that I have decided I don't want to mess with in this manner so I didn't assign them that way. Now, should I want to(and right now I don't), I can set any of those channels to HTP/LTP.

With my follow spots, I do use HTP/LTP because I find I need to be able to over-ride what I may have(or may not have) programmed(such as leaving scenes without spots). Yes, I have operators pointing them, but I have control over the color wheel and dimming. As the light show is still "in progress" in some areas(follow spots mainly), I need to note what I am doing while doing it.

So, it's not really an additional preset, it's more of enabling yourself the option to make changes on the fly.

Hopefully this is sufficient to get you to where you need to be. The MIDI controller might be the best solution since you can quickly and easily grab something and move it.

Hi Chris,

Is there a way of using multiple instances of mydmx, and grouping fixtures within each instance so as to allow overlapping and fixture independance of scenes as long as they don't use the same fixtures?

I think it would be a worthwhile enhancement to allow the sliders you wish to change in a scene to be identified, and then only those sliders will be affected. This would allow fixtures or groups of fixtures to be controlled by a scene as well as all fixtures. I would like to be able to turn smoke on and off without affecting all the other fixtures, and then perhaps change a pattern on a laser, while leaving some moving heads on strobing or a pan/tilt scene.

Would such a functionality be considered?

Does the "Universe" come into play at all for this? I can't find any information about how different "Universes" are used, setup etc.

Many Thanks
Robin.

You lost me somewhere.

Issue 1: No, you can't have multiple instances of MyDMX running, at least not on the same machine at the same time. So, that might be somewhat of a problem for you, but perhaps not.

What ideally you'd want is to go ahead and make your scenes with MyDMX, then have some sort of controller of some sort(knob or fader or both) to have over-ride control of the channels you wish to be able to manually control.

Say, for example, I am running a show. I DO NOT have the foggers(fog, ground fog and hazer) assigned any values in the show. I choose to manually controll them during the show using a korg nanoKONTROL USB MIDI controller. I also have the ability to use this same controller to do the same thing for other fixtures of my choosing. You have to first assign the DMX channel to something on the controller(knob or fader), then ensure the DMX channel is set to LTP or HTP, whichever is most applicable to what you need to accomplish for the DMX channel. Trial and error will tell you how you need to se tthese channels, so do some runs at home to test.

So, I think what you want to do is totally obtainable.

Universe: This is a collection of 512 DMX channels and the fixtures associated with them. Some devices(consoles and software) support multiple universes, which means the device has multiple DMX outputs. Just be sure that whatever you're working with that has multiple DMX outputs that those outputs do in fact are for different universes. I've been told some consoles with more than 1 DMX output is merely multiple outputs for the same universe. The Elation Compu software has hardware interfaces that that have multiple DMX outputs AND do in fact support multiple universes.

So, when you're setting up MyDMX with your fixtures assigned to channels, that is your universe that you're setting up.

Is this making any sense? Please note I'm not questioning you. I've had a rough few nights and I'm running past empty and even less sleep. So, what may make sense to me, you may be thinking "WTF is he talking about", because perhaps I'm not making any sense. I think I am, but I need an outside source to "check my work".

Sorry for the lateness of a reply. I've been super busy.

Sounds like you are looking for more then one scene/cue list to run at a time. That is something that I believe is on the new CompuCue and CompuShow. Jingles can comment more on that.

When I run shows live, I layer stuff so each thing is its own scene and nothing is dependent on anything else. However, this only works on console/software that can run more then one scene/cue list at a time.

robin sounds like you want to do something my dmx was not designed to do. time to upgrade. Look into our Compu live software. Also be aware we are releasing a new generation of compu live called Compu Show later this year.
Sincerely,

I can't say I completely agree or disagree with Serra Ava or Jingles. While Jingles works for both ADJ and Elation, there's no sales motivation for him to recommend anything other than the product that sounds like a better match. So while the Compu products may be a better match based on what I'm assuming is an incomplete description, it may be the better choice.

Serra Ava doens't work for ADJ or Elation, and neither do I, so again, there's no sales motivation incentive for any recommendation.

Now, I like MyDMX, but I have a great example of how MyDMX was a pain in the butt and how a better solution would have been a major time saver.

In this big show I work on, I had a scene that had MOVEMENT on the movers(Well, 1, but I won't go into why both are moving around right now), and then under it was a side lit 100% via wash lights. During this scene, the movement still goes on, but now the one side is brought to 50% while the other side comes from 0% to 100%. With MyDMX's step-based logic, this meant over 1600 changes(8 wash lights and over 200 steps) As I'm doing this "Cross stage" arrangement for lighting, attention to detail is CRITICAL or I screw myself like fast!! This was realy the only complicated scene in the entire show, although there are other's I'd like more control over.

With Compu, layering scenes would have been not only more effective, but more efficient and ideal for my example.

But in Skinhead's example, I just see a need for intermittant over-riding, which makes MyDMX an ideal option should it respond properly to MIDI(which I am having issues with now).

Three opinions. Download the software, learn, try and play and see which works best.

Gents,

Many thanks for your considered opinions. I will look at Compu Live and see if it the right answer for my needs, or whether I really do need such functionality in reality.

Many thanks again guys.

Robin.

Whatever you do, just make sure you thoroughly examine all the options available. As much as you can, try to think "how would this work in the intended environment".

Thank goodness Elation and ADJ let you try and evaluate fully before you even have to consider buying. I wish more companies had their attitude.

Go have fun!!

Thanks again for your advise gents.

One last question then. If I download Compu Live, will it work with the MyDmx usb-DMX dongle, or do I need to buy new hardware as well? Also, how is the "trial" software limited, i.e. time based, functionality restrictions etc.

Ok, that was really 2 questions, but very important ones.

Thanks again.
Robin.

Your welcome. No Compu live requires a new USB to DMX interface that you have to purchase. Compu live will not work with the my dmx interface and my dmx will not work with a compu live interface.
The only limit with the software download is that you cannot control any "Real" lights as you do not have the interface. Everything else works the same. you use the 3D visualizer to program your lights in the 3D. if you want to see some 3D stuff take a look at my you tube channel. (shameless plug )
www.youtube.com/jingles8302
There are some features in the software that require the interface to be connected to the PC to be unlocked but i would say 99% of the functionality is there ready to go for you to evaluate.
P.s. Let me add we have a new generation software due for release later this year (compu Show). so if your looking to buy let me know i can let you know which one to purchase.
Sincerely,