DonkiDonki Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I would highly recommend that anyone who is looking to throw themselves in at the lighting deep end with little or no prior experience should attempt to find someone who IS experienced locally to show them the basics. This will make it far easier to understand what you really need and narrow down your choice of kit. Some of us would entertain lending a hand if we don't have to travel too far out of our way and it can be done at a convenient time. The promise of a few pints usually helps too.http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif Another route is to find a lighting or AV company near you and see if they would mind you coming in a for a few hours to get some pointers from their lighting guys. This has the useful bonus of seeing what others are using and you could keep an eye out for any fun toys you might consider hiring if you get some one-off larger scale gigs. Good luck with your venture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 You know Joe? - I seem to remember somebody recommending a certain brand of lighting control to anyone who would listen a while back? True, how's the "use a Compulite Vector for everything" brigade going these days? ;) I'm with most of the others in this thread: The OP seems to be fairly computer literate. If he doesn't want to spend lots of money, give MagicQ a go. Otherwise, the DMXis is a good option too. Either way provides more functionality for when they want to upgrade in the future. 2cDavid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bleasdale Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Probably better than the "lets rape MagicQ for everything brigade" What would I recommend..? As I said... A basic foot controller with pre-programmed states that the OP can easily recall without farting around with a computer during the show. PC controllers have their place - this time I just think the OP would be served better with another solution. Is that so hard to agree with? The OP isn't a lighting guy, if he wants a steep learning curve with a few days banging his head against a brick wall then fair enough. The foot controller solution just seems more logical for a band?? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldofdavep Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 If your up for a challenge http://qlc.sourceforge.net/ the advantage over magicq is it works with 3rd party control surfaces out the box,the disadvantage is it can be a bit of a steep learning curve I did a rock festival with qlc having found it the night before (I was up til 4am programming though). It wasn't xfactor grade but I put the main things I wanted assigned to keyboard keys, and it will do midi so a little usb keyboard could be used to trigger chases or presets. You could have the laptop on a table next to your setup. But I agree getting a friend to help rig it and op it will make a better show. It's like clubs when the dj is the lj, great when they have 30 seconds to do a blinding light routine but somewhat dull for the rest of the show/set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Have you heard of the Manfrotto Autopole? http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/lighting-autopoles They clamp from floor to ceiling and take up little space, they also have a low safe working load BUT you may find a way to support some lights for your rig. Look at packages from Terralec. I've used an old PII laptop for music before, the important bit is a clean install, no web connection and nothing scheduled, maybe no anti virus - if you have no connectivity you cannot catch malware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I really cannot understand people saying that magicq is difficult. The issue (for it is not really a problem) is that MagicQ isn't a PC based lighting control system; its a lighting console that will run on a PC. Whats the difference and why is it important? Its only important if you don't have substantive console experience. It is that all that experience your hands have of operating PCs means nothing once you load up a console product. There are very few software tools that run on PCs (or Macs, or Linux) that don't use the human interface tools in the way that leverages your previous experience of those tools. You have to learn an entire new user interface from scratch. That's why for those without console experience MagicQ on a PC is difficult. And because MagicQ is the mandatorially recommended product on the Blue Room it gets the heat; if HogPC was the go to product then that would get the heat, as in reality, it has a similar approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMcQueen Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Hi guys, thanks again for all your replies. I think I'm going to get the MagicDMX Basic interface and an Icon G-Board USB MIDI floor controller. That gives me eight footswitches for £53 total. I had a quick look at the MagicQ software and I have to say it looked completely baffling, but then the first time I used Cubase (audio production software) I was pretty baffled and now I can record and mix an album. If I get properly stuck with MagicQ I could get DMXIS; it looks more user-friendly, just a shame is costs fifteen times more than the basic MagicQ set-up. I also have a look for some stand-alone DMX foot controllers but they didn't seem very flexible, though I appreciate the simplicity and robustness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wol Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Like any bit of software, idly prodding random buttons hoping that it'll do stuff without having anything to go on isn't a great start! We've got the quick start guide which is available from the same download page as MagicQ which should provide enough info to program basic cues into a cuestack. There are also some good tutorials over at OnStageLighting.co.uk as well for the basics of MagicQ as well. We've also got the 24/7 support phone number as well so if you do get stuck, then just give us a ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 USB MIDI floor controller To use a foot controller with Chamsys, it either needs to be a USB one triggering key strokes that are linked to macros in the sofware, or a Midi one connected to their Midi interface. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMcQueen Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Cool, thanks Wol http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif To use a foot controller with Chamsys, it either needs to be a USB one triggering key strokes that are linked to macros in the sofware, or a Midi one connected to their Midi interface. So no MIDI-over-USB? Aww http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modge Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 So no MIDI-over-USB? Aww http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif It's a largely pricing decision; we've gone down a (slightly) different route - if you buy our higher end output hardware then you can use MIDI over USB with LimeLIGHT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMcQueen Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 It's a largely pricing decision; we've gone down a (slightly) different route - if you buy our higher end output hardware then you can use MIDI over USB with LimeLIGHT. Thanks. I hadn't read the FAQ closely enough and didn't realise I would need different hardware to do MIDI or audio interfacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMcQueen Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Hi again. I've had a bit of a think and now I'm planning to get a couple of the Showtec Pixel Bar 12 bars as they aren't too expensive and have the tri-colour LEDs that KidRay recommended. For controlling them I'm looking at using Enttec DMXIS on my netbook and using my keyboard footswitch to step through scenes (the songs in our sets are always in the same order). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrboo Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Have you seen Chauvet Freedom units? they are all wireless great for bands. that dont want to run DMX. http://www.chauvetli...edom-strip-mini Video there Controler £89 http://www.chauvetli...4-d-fi-2-4.html you can run 4 lights or clone more.use there DMX to wireless unit and your own desk £100 Freedom™ Strip Mini £239 http://www.chauvetli...strip-mini.htmlFreedom™ Par floor standing £250 http://www.chauvetli...reedom-par.html They cost a bit but you get freedom to not need to plug them in as they have battery packs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMcQueen Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 They cost a bit but you get freedom to not need to plug them in as they have battery packs I hadn't seen them, though I have seen the American DJ Mega Go Bar, which is also battery powered. Interesting idea but if the LED bar wasn't close to me I'd worry about someone in the audience damaging it (or even walking off with it) - I've had previous gigs where people have walked into mic stands, walked into a full-size stage keyboard, etc. Even had a wedding gig where a guy thought he'd have a go on my bass while I was taking a break. And if the LED bars are right next to the band there's not much advantage in running them off batteries as we already have (at a minimum) three amps, two lots of effects pedals and a powered mixer to plug in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.