amc85 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Hi, I am wanting to create a very simple setup of just a single, small moving head light. The setup will form part of a prototype to demonstrate the features of a linked technology. All I need for this is a single light that I can programme with my own sequence of movements, so that once I press 'go', it carries out that sequence on its own. I am a total beginner with DMX and I want to spend as little as I can get away with at this stage, so I am after some basic advice on what kind of kit and expense I am looking at to get this basic setup running. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Hello, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to do - are you wanting a setup with a DMX controller plugged into a moving head light? Or a stand-alone system where the light itself can be programmed (but if so where would the "Go" button be?) What is the "linked technology" and how would it be connecting to your test light setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc85 Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Ok , all very good questions. I'll expand a bit on what I am trying to do. So I am wanting to copy the movements, colour change, intensity etc of a real light, with a light I create inside 3D animation software. So what I would like to do, whether it is with DMX or via some other lower tech method, is to have a light that I can pre-programme so that I can copy that movement via an animated light inside my 3D software. When synced, the two would play their sequences copying one another 1 to 1. The two systems don't have to talk to each other, all I am after really is the illusion that they are linked. I can use a known sequence at the beginning of the physical lights main sequence to trigger the animated light. I have just been looking in to super low tech solutions such as light timers but they obviously don't give too much control, just to say I'm open to any light control solution that will offer me some degree of pre-programmable control Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 OK I would suggest you get a cheap LED moving head like this (item is just an example, there are lots similar) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112299402671 Then buy the £10 Magic-DMX dongle from Chamsys and install the MagicQ PC softwarehttps://secure.chamsys.co.uk/magicdmx This will allow you to program up a lighting sequence on the MagicQ PC software which you can trigger using a (simulated) fader. It will control the light down the DMX cable.I'm not sure what the purpose of the 3D animation is, but MagicQ has a built in 3D simulator/visualiser which will do that for you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc85 Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Thats absolutely perfect. Just to clarify, I would plug the dongle in to my pc and the DMX connector to the light then I would be able to programme and trigger using the installed software? Thats it?Is this setup expandable? If I wanted to, could I add more lights? Like I say I have very limited understanding of DMX so I might be wrong on some of this but, the dongle says it is a single universe. This is 512 channels of control, right? So I'm not sure how many channels the light you sent needs but I assume its at least 5 (2 rotation and 3 colour intensity)? This leaves many more available. Would I then be able to add more using more DMX cables and would they be daisy chained together?Thanks again for the solution! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitlane Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Have you looked at lighting visualisation software? Products such as 'WYSIWYG' and 'Capture' allow a lighting controller to control in real time a simulation of a lighting rig. It is a trivial task to have the same control signal control a real light at the same time. The software I mentioned is not cheap but there are possible alternatives such as 'Chamsys MagicVis' which you can download for free. (timsabre beat me to it!) It is not clear if the 3D animation software is a product you are already using. If so I think you can still get a system to work. For example, there are plugins for Blender that can receive lighting control via ArtNet. Thats absolutely perfect. Just to clarify, I would plug the dongle in to my pc and the DMX connector to the light then I would be able to programme and trigger using the installed software? Thats it? Is this setup expandable? If I wanted to, could I add more lights? Like I say I have very limited understanding of DMX so I might be wrong on some of this but, the dongle says it is a single universe. This is 512 channels of control, right? So I'm not sure how many channels the light you sent needs but I assume its at least 5 (2 rotation and 3 colour intensity)? This leaves many more available. Would I then be able to add more using more DMX cables and would they be daisy chained together? Thanks again for the solution! Yes, you will have plenty of channels for more lights. If you need more Universes you pay a fairly small amount for a more professional DMX interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc85 Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 It is not clear if the 3D animation software is a product you are already using. If so I think you can still get a system to work. For example, there are plugins for Blender that can receive lighting control via ArtNet. Oooh, thats interesting. I'm using Unity. Just done a quick search for plugins but so far only come up with results relating to using Unity to control lights and not the other way around. I'll have to do some more digging. Thanks for the info though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjadingle Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Moving heads such as the one timsabre has linked to usually have anything up to 16 channels of DMX - 4 for Pan and Tilt (Coarse and Fine for both), dimmer, colour wheel, gobo wheel... They add up quite quickly. That said 1 universe of 512 channels will be plenty. I've run small festival rigs using the Full Chamsys dongle - the £10 one should be fine for your needs. Also using Chamsys own visualisation software means you can easily show the 3D visuals as well as output the DMX. There's plenty of tutorials on how to setup Chamsys on YouTube, if not there's a wealth of knowledge available here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 I should say that the £10 MagicDMX dongle has a time-out of 5 hours, after which you have to unplug and replug it and restart the software. So if you need something that runs continuously you need to pay for the full dongle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc85 Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Dongle purchased and software downloaded. I will spend a few more days getting familiar with it before I get the light. I can't seem to find the manufacturer of the light you linked to Tim so I'm not sure if it will be supported in the MagicQ software. I found this Lixada one on Amazon which looks to be supported. It seems ok to me but I just wanted to check with you guys in case you could see any reason why I shouldn't go ahead with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 I found this Lixada one on Amazon which looks to be supported. It seems ok to me but I just wanted to check with you guys in case you could see any reason why I shouldn't go ahead with this one. That one looks like a beam light, ie does not have gobos (projection patterns) in it, just a pencil beam type effect. If that's what you need then fine.A lot of the chinese ebay lights have the same "Personality" (DMX mapping) so it's normally just a case of identifying something that looks similar and using that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonemorf Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Whereabouts are you in the world/Country AMS? My son is heavily "in" to Unity, and him and my daughter (the lighting enthusiast of the two) have been trying to get our lighting desk (GrandMA) to work with Unity instead of the MA Visualiser. They seem like remarkably similiar projects/challenges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc85 Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 Thanks for the feedback Tim, I don't think a beam would be right for my purposes so I think this spot light will probably better suit my needs. I've got a few slight concerns though, I was wondering if anyone would be able to put my mind to rest before I go ahead. Has anyone ever bought any lights from china before? Last time I imported a package from over there I was whacked with some kind of import tax. The other concern, possibly unfounded, is that it will not work with the MagicQ software. I get the impression that these lights from china are copies of actual branded lights, hence the fact there is no brand name or logo on the fixture itself. Would that affect its compatibility? Does anyone have any idea which light this is a copy of if this is the case? lonemorf - Yes they do sound like very similar projects, I'm near Manchester, UK. I'd be interested to hear how they are getting on with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes that one looks more like it. There will be some import tax to pay. It depends how they declare it on the documents, often they will declare a low value so the import tax is not very much.This looks like the same thing but a UK seller so probably safer. MagicQ can be made to work with anything, you just need a personality. There is a big list of personalities under the manufacturer name "generic" and you can often find something there which will work. Otherwise it is not hard to create a personality, if you post the channel listing here we can probably help do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABlackmore Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Has anyone ever bought any lights from china before? Last time I imported a package from over there I was whacked with some kind of import tax. You'll risk having to pay import tax on any purchases coming into the UK from outside of the EU. Sometimes you'll get lucky and things will slip through (usually smaller low value items) and you won't have to pay, but you shouldn't rely on that - always assume you'll have to pay it just to be safe. More info here: https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/overview The other concern, possibly unfounded, is that it will not work with the MagicQ software. I get the impression that these lights from china are copies of actual branded lights, hence the fact there is no brand name or logo on the fixture itself. Would that affect its compatibility? Does anyone have any idea which light this is a copy of if this is the case? Cheap Chinese heads tend to change their configuration quite a lot - even between different batches of the same head, so even if it is a copy of another head there's no guarantee it'll use the same personality. That having been said, even if it doesn't have a pre-existing one you can create a custom one in MagicQ so I shouldn't worry too much.If you're having trouble Chamsys have an excellent support team and forum that includes a specific sub-forum for fixture personality requests/help: https://secure.chamsys.co.uk/forum/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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