Helen-Marie Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I use ShowMagic. Its a great PC based show control system. It can run pre choreographed lightshows to music or it can be used as a 'live' system too, it can control DMX, MIDI, RS232, the dishwasher, the kettle and im sure programmed correctly would also make dinner! ;) Visit www.showmagic.com to read more into it. It can certainly do what you are after, the guys at Showmagic are really friendly and extremely helpful so dont hestitate to contact them with any questions. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredBear Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Thanks Helen-Marie, I've looked at ShowMagic website and user manual. I don't need to manage sound, Power Point, RS232, ... It sounds like too much. I just want a powerful lighting software. Only lighting. Another ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 MagicQ, as mentioned earlier, would also be my choice. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredBear Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yes, MagicQ seems to be a good choice but... I think that they support only their proprietary wings. I don't want to buy a dedicated wing. I've a powerful real-time MIDI controller with up to 50 faders and more of buttons. I just want a software alternative to BlueLite. So the software has to be MIDI controllable. Can you tell me more about MagicQ? EDIT: smalljoshua, in another post you talked about Jands Vista. Do you know their software? Does it accept MIDI control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvi675 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yes, MagicQ seems to be a good choice but... I think that they support only their proprietary wings. I don't want to buy a dedicated wing. I've a powerful real-time MIDI controller with up to 50 faders and more of buttons. I just want a software alternative to BlueLite. So the software has to be MIDI controllable. Correct, we only support our own fader wings as direct control of the software, however we do offer a MIDI Interface to allow you to control the software through your existing MIDI controller. You simply use a text mapping file to map the MIDI commands to commands within the software. Can you tell me more about MagicQ? What would you like to know?! Regards, Matt LemonChamSys Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredBear Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Which parameters could be controlled by MIDI? Can I map my physical faders to MagicQ faders? How long does it take to learn to use MagicQ? I've quite always worked with my BlueLite controller and also sometimes with a Zero 88 Fat Frog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 EDIT: smalljoshua, in another post you talked about Jands Vista. Do you know their software? Does it accept MIDI control?I mentioned Jands Vista because the O/P needed a system with a timeline feature. I don't know the Jands Vista software as this requires a USB dongle to enable any form of output. MagicQ is totally free and is what I use for all of the lighting I do. I haven't played with it's Midi capabilities but I know it is a very powerful Controller. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredBear Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Josh, please tell me more about MagicQ stability. I've discussed some months ago with a light tech which was using MagicQ on a MacBook Pro with a ChamSys Wing. He seemed to be satisfied by this software but told me that sometimes it crashes. Have you add these kind of issue? With which OS and hardware are you working on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I've been using MagicQ on my laptop for nearly a month and it has never crashed on me! I haven't used a MacBook, let alone MagicQ on a Mac so I won't comment about those. What I will say though is that if you want to use any piece of software to run a show your best bet is to run it on a dedicated PC. My laptop that I'm using is running Windows XP, and has a few pieces of sound software, and OpenOfice installed on it and nothing else! Also, it never goes online, does not have a Wi-fi connection, and is only used by me! Many problems with PCs can be caused by installing too many pieces of software which then may interfere with each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredBear Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 gyro_gearloose, I'm also using a dedicated PC for BlueLite running Windows XP. It's very stable. So I agree with you. You're software experience reassure me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvi675 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Which parameters could be controlled by MIDI? Can I map my physical faders to MagicQ faders? How long does it take to learn to use MagicQ? I've quite always worked with my BlueLite controller and also sometimes with a Zero 88 Fat Frog. You can use MIDI to control any of the functions of MagicQ that are available through the macros. Say for instance you wanted to use note on/off to trigger and release cue stacks: 144,36"1t" 128,36"1u" 144,38"2t" 128,38"2u" etc...So note on (144) of note 36 will put playback 1 into test (active at full). Note off (128) of note 36 will untest playback 1 (release at 0), etc I've discussed some months ago with a light tech which was using MagicQ on a MacBook Pro with a ChamSys Wing. He seemed to be satisfied by this software but told me that sometimes it crashes. We'd suggest that he upgrades to the latest version of MagicQ on the Mac. The original releases featured a few bugs that could cause stability issues which have been fixed in the latest releases. Also, as Gyro says, your PC/Mac will only be as stable as you make it. Connect it up to the net, start downloading a few dodgy films, and run the show while watching sitcom re-runs on internet TV, you're asking for trouble! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I have had no problems at all with the stability of MagicQ both on shows and when using it as an OLE. For the show PC, I have it setup with Dual Boot Ubuntu Linux and Win XP Home. I have no problems with either, but for a show environment I have a preference for Ubuntu because Linux IMHO is more stable. I run it on a 1.something GHz Laptop with 256Mb of RAM and a 40Gb HDD. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredBear Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Matt, I've read a short piece of MagicQ user manual. If I understand well, I've to buy the MagicQ MIDI / SMPTE interface? I can control up to 10 playbacks (security reasons limit). Ok, well, it the same number as official Wings. But can you explain me clearly if I can map a real-time hardware fader to a MagicQ fader? Or is it only ON/OFF commands? A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. I have had no problems at all with the stability of MagicQ both on shows and when using it as an OLE. For the show PC, I have it setup with Dual Boot Ubuntu Linux and Win XP Home. I have no problems with either, but for a show environment I have a preference for Ubuntu because Linux IMHO is more stable. I run it on a 1.something GHz Laptop with 256Mb of RAM and a 40Gb HDD. Josh Sorry, what are OLE and IHMO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 OLE = Offline Editor IMHO = In My Honest Opinion Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvi675 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Can you explain me clearly if I can map a real-time hardware fader to a MagicQ fader? Or is it only ON/OFF commands? What MIDI messages are you outputting on the hardware faders? Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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