DMX Stage Lighting Controllers

smr · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:29

Hi all,

Bit of a long shot but I was wondering if anyone here knows a thing or two about DMX Controlling methods / DMX interfaces or software...

I've bought a moving head light and am wondering how best and cheap to get it controlled... either software with a DMX to USB adapter or to go for a DMX interface and which is the best method. Thanks if anyone can help.

ash_scotland88 · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:37

I wish I could help, worked as a lighting techie, but have no desk experience.
What was the moving head and what for, out of curiosity.

smr · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:53

ash_scotland88 said:
I wish I could help, worked as a lighting techie, but have no desk experience.
What was the moving head and what for, out of curiosity.

Futurelight MH-660 for home use... ie. me pretending I'm a professional DJ haha!

flibbage0 · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:55

X gonna good give it to ya?

ash_scotland88 · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:56

I would say no point in buying a desk then, USB to dmx and software might just be the best. There should be a techie forum, can't remember the name of it.

Messiah Khan · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:59

ChromaKinetics MiniStageConsole
http://www.chromakinetics.com/DMX/

could be an option for you. You would still need a DMX>USB interface, but there are some suggestions on the ChromaKinetics website. What power does your light take? Does it require 15 amp dimmable power?

J.B · 16 Mar 2012 at 22:05

Try the blue room forums but you can get USB to DMX controllers pretty cheap if you just want it to move.
its worth mentioning that DMX isn't an interface its a protocol so make sure you get the right connections, most common is XLR 5. Afraid I only really know about static lights, never had any experiance with moving lights

ash_scotland88 · 16 Mar 2012 at 22:15

that's news for me, thought dmx was a different name for xlr5

Caged · 17 Mar 2012 at 01:32

ChamSys MagicDMX is cheap enough and pretty powerful.

Philtor · 17 Mar 2012 at 01:49

Most lights these days 'dance' to the sound through a built in speaker. It has taken me years to learn this so leave off

Oh by the way Strobes are dangerous to some people. Best put a disclaimer about that on your tickets!

R0Z4G · 17 Mar 2012 at 02:15

I know quite a bit about lighting.
Something like that your best to use a computer controlled software. you can get the manual controllers but it takes a lot longer to create scenes e.t.c. but it depends what you want to use it for really.

a cheap alternative I setup about 8 x martin mac250 moving heads and 4 x martin mx4's a while back and I used american DJ MY DMX its about £120 for the kit and is really easy to setup.

If you want something a bit more advanced your best bet is Sunlite Suite. its quite a bit more but you can do so much with it.

If you just want to spend about £60 max get yourself a manual controller. but beware you will need to spend some time setting up scenees on it,

anything else just give me a shout

If you want