The Future Of MY DMX.

I can't say I'm surprised.

For what you get with MyDMX and what you pay for it, you're getting a really good package.

Imagine, buying an OK but mainly starter-type DMX console, or getting what amounts to a rather expensive console that you can run yon your laptop should you so desire.

I'm pleased with my purchase of MyDMX. It does what I want and still leaves me room to grow.

I do think it is necessary for ADJ to take this sort of position. There is a BIG gap between prices of Compu Live and MyDMX. We(end users) have to think: we aren't buying this stuff for the heck of it. We're expecting to purchase tools and expect to make our investment back. A carpenter buys a hammer, and he can then build things(OK, he needs saws and screwdrivers and all sorts of other stuff, but you get my point). Buy the RIGHT product to do the job. OTo many users are buying the wrong product for the job and then crying that MyDMX screwed them. No, it didn't. MyDMX does what MyDMX is supposed to do. End users need to take responsibility for their purchases.

While MyDMX can't deliver everything to everyone, it delivers a LOT in a very affordable package. Killer value, killer product. Well done, ADJ! I'm pleased.

Hi Jingles & The ADJ Team,

Thank you for clarifying the future of MyDMX. I am both disappointed and pleased with the reply.

Firstly, I am happy to see that there will be ongoing support for the fixing of bugs etc. As users become more competent with the program, bugs may become apparent that are not yet seen. The fact that we can report these and have them fixed is good.

Secondly, I am sad to see that such a new product with a potentially long life has effectively been killed off so soon. The fact that no new features will be added, even minor ones, means that there is no compulsion for someone to purchase the package. This will encourage potential customers to choose the open source interfaces and use the various (and equally well supported) freeware & shareware applications to go with them. I as saddened by this as I believe that MyDMX had the chance to take market share FROM that area of the market.
I could understand the reluctance to develop the application further if it was just short of encroaching on your other software solutions, but there is a big gap between this and CompuLive.

Here is a suggestion. If the software is no longer going to be developed further, why don't you make the hardware specs available to the developers of the open source software (Freestyler etc), so that they can incorporate the hardware control into their applications. This will not damage the ADJ software, but it will open up another market for the MyDMX hardware. Just a thought.

I am still very much a novice with the program and will continue to use it and learn it. I am sure it will give me many years of service. Its a shame I didn't know it would have such a short development life.

Thanks once again for the insight.

Regards,

Ah, the hazards of licensing arrangements and rampant pirating.

If ADJ said "that's it, we're done, no more support", it's a dead product. What ADJ is saying is:

This is the product. We still stand by and support it. We will provided fixes(most likely due to Windows updates) to ensure it remains reliable, but other than that, this is what it is.

Think about this: When a product is released, there may be three teams involved. Usually 2 for a new product and then 3 when a new version comes out. There is the development team(who writes it) and the support team who deals with it after it is released, often including updates and fixes.

When a new version comes out, then we have to add in the legacy ongoing support team, while development and support already moved forward.

That's a lot of people at this point.

One of the issues with making the hardware accessible is that now we all have to agree on a standard interface. Think ProTools. For the longest time, only ProTools SW worked with ProTools hardware. Now that's broken down a bit, thank goodness.

I see your argument for not enhancing MyDMX because it would in fact encroach on Compu Live. If they kept improving and adding features to MyDMX, we have problems.
Why?

I bought relatively early. What, I'm gonna get nickel and dimed for enhancements. Enhancements increase price. Features increase pricing.

I think the same thing is true with consoles though. There are unfortunately some BIG gaps between certain levels. You've got your intro consoles, then you have some semi-pro stuff which is a big leap in cost, then your big boys toys, which can get obscenely expensive. But you do get what you pay for.

MyDMX was designed to be an easy to use and cost-effective option to those considering a controller or those wanting to break into computer controlled lighting. It's the right product at the right price. The problems are those who want MORE than what the software was designed for.

I'm not totally in favor of "proprietary" stuff, but sometimes, you get better control and quality.

Anyhow, I gotta scoot. Get paid and what not.

Alright, I have my Hog, costs more then the average person's car. Hog III OS has been out since around 2004. Now, the Hog III OS hasn't really added a lot of features in the 5 or so years it has been out. The current version is 3.0.3, previous was 3.0.2. So basically, 2 major revisions and the minor updates fix bugs mainly. The major revisions generally add new features and/or change key strokes. In fact, I think I am going to go back to 3.0.2 since the new version has been locking up fairly often and actually had my console stop sending DMX commands while I was pre-programing the other day. They also added a key stroke to a command I use all the time. To open the cue list directory, I use to hit 'List, Open'. Now I have to hit 'List, Cue, Open'. Drives me insane.

Now, other programs I use, like WYSIWYG and Vector Works Spotlight, I have to renew my memberships once a year to get updates. These programs generally release major revisions once a year though and the revisions add major features.

Moral of the story, you want constant adding of features, the end client pays for it. You want bug fixes and minor updates/additional features every couple years or so, you don't pay for it. I bought the Hog, knew how much it costs, and wasn't expecting major features to be added once a year. With WYSIWYG and Vector Works, since I pay yearly for those, I expect major updates and overhauls once a year. To expect something as inexpensive as MyDMX to be held to standards beyond a Hog, I am sorry to say, is just plain crazy (no offense).

I see AMDJ is now giving MyDMX away with a purchase of the X-Scan LED pack. That's funny considering the news that MyDMX is being frozen (sorry, I said End of Life'd, but that hasn't been announced at this time).

How about giving customers that own MyDMX and multiple X-Scan LED's something that will have ongoing support, like Elation Compu Live

My DMX will have ongoing support. There will be profile updates, new profiles added. There will be updated versions of the software. I will always be available for questions about my dmx. This software is still supported by ADJ. It is not dead.
Sincerely,

Best there could be is a competitive upgrade or trade-up discount. As I understand it, Elation and ADJ are tied together, they aren't run by the same people.

Technically speaking, ADJ is a competing brand with Elation and vice versa, despite the fact that the two companies are catering to different markets. ADJ is to the small guys and small budgets, where Elation is dealing with those who have more to spend, but also need more bang for that buck.

A product not being "constantly upgraded" is NOT the same as being frozen. Frozen is "Dead". ADJ can't continue to keep adding features to MyDMX without it incurring additional costs for current owners, and increasing that intial cost to own purchase price for new users.

Sounds to me like the product is in an ongoing support position. Just because a new version isn't coming ot doesn't mean the product is frozen.

Jingles,
I have been waiting, for the 64 bit os update, before I purchase. The last time I called ADJ they were out of stock. Do you know are they in stock, and would it be better to purchase from ADJ or another third party. I need stuff from third party anyway.
Thanks,
Brent

I like MyDMX because it's simple and all contained in one screen as well as the ability to have override faders at the bottom.

HOWEVER

I wouild really like to see the ability to run multiple scenes/chases simultaneouly. A DJ (and other shows)would normally program each set of lights independently (scanners, pars, LED's, etc) and then want to combine them "live" depending on the song. It takes too much planning to pre plan combinations. Lighting configurations change with each show and as equipment changes.

I will tell you that Chauvet's ShowExpress, can do this. In it's cheapest form (priced equivalent to myDMX, it can do more. (Their only limitation on the DMX Dongle is 10 fixtures and 100 channels -- but still more than a DJ should need).

If nothing else is added, please add the ability to run multiple scenes/chases simultaneously.

Synimagic Welcome to the forums. I appreciate your support of my dmx but like i said before....

quote:

will not be upgraded with any new features.

sincerely,

Don't expect people to listen.

You can say "It won't be done in Orange" and then you'll get 20 people saying "Sheesh, I wanted it in orange..."

Then they will find someone else to do it in Orange. If you can't service your clients with a basic request, then someone else will.

Typical American DJ, release a product and then drop it.

So what you are saying is that we shouldn't invest time or money in MyDMX if we want this basic operation-- I will spend more money and time on Chauvet or a competitor product. I only suggested one feature -- (and MyDMX is a relatively young product

What's the point of having multiple universes if you can't pile on multiple scenes - that's a lot of programming and preplanning I just don't have time for. I believe this feature is more important than 3D visualation, multiple universes, image and video or the effects generators. Even the DMX Operator Pro can run multiple chases simultaneously. It's a basic feature and shouldn't cost much to produce.

I was planning to acquire more of MyDMX's for other systems but can't see the point now. Thanks for the heads up that it has no future.

Guess I should sell my Hog then? No new features in years. Basically the same when it came out around 2004. I feel really bad for those Avo guys though, those consoles have basically been the same since sometime in the 90s. Even worse, ETC Express line anyone? 1992 I believe is when the last revision was done. Those consoles are still in very high demand. Consoles, be it software or hardware, isn't something you just keep adding features to. This school of thought is like saying I shouldn't buy a DMX Operator because no new features have been released for it since it came out.

As for many scenes/cuelists at once, that is something higher end consoles do. The logic in used in programing these types of consoles (the software and show programing) is far more advanced. Adding something like this to MyDMX would turn it into a different product and then raise cost and learning curve substantially. Also, this will add to software complexity and make crashes much more common.

They can do what they want.

All I am saying is myDMX's direct and popular competitor - SHOWEXPRESS is much older and releases an upgrade/update every few months and can play multiple scenes.

MyDMX has multiple universes -- something of higher systems, and in my opinion, totally unnecessary on an "entry level" system.

Another program that I used to use - Omnirush (a CRM add in) decided it didn't want to bother being Vista compatible. We have paid maintenance costs and they still won't. We are stopping use and I bet that company will go out of business soon.

My guess is that AMDJ is phasing out it's myDMX for something new.

Show Xpress costs more then MyDMX. Show Xpress costs along the lines of Compu Live, which much more powerful then MyDMX. Apples to apples. Unless you count the dumb down 100.

As for more then one universe, more handy then you give it credit for. I have lights on the right side of the room and lights on the left, control setup in the middle. Send one universe to the left, one to the right instead of having to run a massive DMX loop around the whole room, costing more time and more money. Also remember DMX can only control 32 fixtures on one universe which can be useful to do now-a-days since it seems everything is DMX controllable now. Two universes can be a blessing real quick.

I Just want to clarify something, MY DMX does not have multiple universes. If you look at the my dmx interface you will see only ONE dmx output. only one set of 512 dmx channels. not mulitple universes. The thing with my dmx is it allows you to create one show at a time on those 512 channels. This is equivalent to adding or taking fixtures out of your hardware console and reprogramming or modifying those scenes. Maks sense?
Sincerely,

wow, lotts going on here... im new to all this. i have 32 par 56 and 16 par 38's. so other than assigning dimmer packs to the proper start address ive never messed around much with moving heads. somewhere along the line we aquired 2 A.DJ 250 spots and 4 Chauvet 1.0 intimidaters.this is a pretty good lil' group of fixtures for me to begin with along with the MyDMX software. last night i opened the software, installed it and simply gained controll of my fixtures... thats a huge step for me but shows just how far i have to go... i consider the purchase a beginners course into the world of DMX control. those of you complaining about no upgrades should have checked out the software (via, freee download) before buying it. if you want more, pay for more. i could have easily spent more money... but i would have thrown my laptop across the room trying to figure it out. i have many questions so who do i ask...

The person to ask would be me. Start a new thread and ask all your questions. I will do my best to get back to you.
Sincerely,

I do believe having the program function normally while in the background would be considered a bug fix and not an extra feature no? Please let me know if I'm dreaming, by thinking this will be addressed. Thanks