DMX for Dummies

[Tallahassee Dreamer]

I have jumped into DIY blindly. I have the advanced software with LOR which allows me to use DMX which I think Renard has something to do with. I ordered all the BOM needed to build 8 SS24's and would like to run them on LOR since I paid a lot of money for and invested a lot of time in learning the programing, not to mention the 2 controllers I now own. Which makes more sense, using Vixon and integrating my LOR controllers or programming my SS24's to run on LOR.

[budude]

LOR S2 Software cannot control Renard or DMX hardware natively - you will need to purchase the iDMX adaptor which converts LOR protocol to DMX. This will allow you to run both from LOR SW - - however - it's a pricey option at $260...

An alternative is to do all the sequencing with LOR SW and then convert the sequence to Vixen, restructure them all using DMX plug-ins and then run them - OR - import the sequences into LSP and run both LOR and Renard natively.

[jeffl]

LOR is supposed to have a native inexpensive DMX adapter with full function 512 channels out in about 3 months according to Dan. From what I can tell unless you are using a current DC MP3 player the iDMX could be a dead end product. I ran 35 LOR controllers native and 4 LE DMX in 2010 and it worked just fine. Who knows if I will add DMX units this year but I'm not moving off of S2.

[mschell]

I have been recommending folks start out by choosing the software to run their show, and then choosing the hardware. Some choices of Software (SW) will allow you more flexibility in what hardware you can use, or not. Some folks like the fact that they can get their hardware and software from the same place, like LOR.

Some software, like LSP or Vixen, will allow you the widest choices in hardware, in that they support multiple protocols (DMX, LOR, AL, Renard, etc..) right out fo the box. Other software is more friendly to just one or two protocols, like LOR S2. It talks LOR protocol, and with a translator like the iDMX, to DMX.

DMX is somewhat of a general purpose, works with lots of software, more flexible protocol to use. And LOR controllers can talk DMX in addition to LOR protocol, right out of the box. That's a benefit of the HW, regardless of what software you choose.

Today, LOR S2 does alot, but doesn't handle RGB that well, and requires an iDMX (or hopefully something cheaper to take it's place) to talk to a DMX controller, and would require multiple dongles to talk lots of channels (>1000). For folks with lots of channels, and the advent of pixel strings and other large channel configurations, it's not easy to do that with S2. In fact, it's rather hard with most of the software available today. LSP does a better job with RGB, but it's still not easy.

Just laying out some thots for folks to consider.

[jbullard]

Today, LOR S2 does alot, but doesn't handle RGB that well, and requires an iDMX (or hopefully something cheaper to take it's place) to talk to a DMX controller, and would require multiple dongles to talk lots of channels (>1000). For folks with lots of channels, and the advent of pixel strings and other large channel configurations, it's not easy to do that with S2. In fact, it's rather hard with most of the software available today. LSP does a better job with RGB, but it's still not easy.

Quote from Dan Baldwin, president of LOR on Jan 10, 2011
We will also have a multi port DMX/LOR output device which will support a number of DMX universes. Dan

This statement tells me that LOR will be able to talk to 1000's of channels without the need for multiple dongles or the iDMX in 2011

[DynamoBen]

Quote from Dan Baldwin, president of LOR on Jan 10, 2011
We will also have a multi port DMX/LOR output device which will support a number of DMX universes. Dan

This statement tells me that LOR will be able to talk to 1000's of channels without the need for multiple dongles or the iDMX in 2011

The only bummer is you need to run multiple sets of cables. I suspect it will be a couple of years before they go to ethernet.

[mschell]

Quote from Dan Baldwin, president of LOR on Jan 10, 2011
We will also have a multi port DMX/LOR output device which will support a number of DMX universes. Dan

This statement tells me that LOR will be able to talk to 1000's of channels without the need for multiple dongles or the iDMX in 2011

John,
While I understand that Dan has said he will have a way to talk to lots of channels, I'm from the "show me" state. It's not here yet. The ECG line and several other projects here are much farther along in proving that they are real and work now. There's also the issue of S2 and how it will handle 1000s of channels and how easy RGB will be to do with it.

Note, I'm not trying to run down S2 or LOR products. The key to getting all of this to work AND easy-to-use is still on the software side. I spent too much time last year building boards or attaching lights to frames/fixtures. My show wasn't as good as I wanted because I didn't spend enough time programming, and even with something like LSP, I still didn't get enough songs done for the show. Hardware to turn lights on and off is great, but the software to make it easier to program is where the breakthough needs to come. RGB pixels just make the need greater for better software, or a different approach to how we make the lights go blinky-flashy.

[jbullard]

Mark,

I totally agree on the software. I'm really hoping that Cas has the Prancer sequenching software ready in time for the 2011 season.

I also recognize and appreciate that this is a DIY forum and what that means.

As a LOR Beta Tester, we have been having discusions regarding the LOR software and hardware that is scheduled for release this year. Lot's of improvements for the RGB sequenching in the software, as well as discussions regarding the Art-Net and E1.31 in both software and hardware for this year as well.

The DIY community will always be ahead of the commercial vendors when it comes to implementing and pioneering new technology applications as the commercial vendor has to be sure that there is a big enough market to sell the products to.

Several of us are making strong arguments in favor of support for Ed (joshua1 sys) boards.

[griffixdc]

Mark,

I totally agree on the software. I'm really hoping that Cas has the Prancer sequenching software ready in time for the 2011 season.

I also recognize and appreciate that this is a DIY forum and what that means.

As a LOR Beta Tester, we have been having discusions regarding the LOR software and hardware that is scheduled for release this year. Lot's of improvements for the RGB sequenching in the software, as well as discussions regarding the Art-Net and E1.31 in both software and hardware for this year as well.

The DIY community will always be ahead of the commercial vendors when it comes to implementing and pioneering new technology applications as the commercial vendor has to be sure that there is a big enough market to sell the products to.

Several of us are making strong arguments in favor of support for Ed (joshua1 sys) boards.

Does this mean you work for LOR or just Use a lot of LOR boards? What does the Ed Joshia1 sys boards do?

[Entropy]

Does this mean you work for LOR or just Use a lot of LOR boards? What does the Ed Joshia1 sys boards do?

Ed's boards are VERY similar in high-level concept to jstjohnz's pixel controllers - E1.31-to-something-else protocol bridges.

[jbullard]

Does this mean you work for LOR or just Use a lot of LOR boards? What does the Ed Joshia1 sys boards do?

No, do not work for LOR. Just a user with 30 LOR boards and 480 LOR channels. I also have the Lynx Express boards I built, but didn't get them into my display, (so I do understand the fun of DIY also)

[griffixdc]

No, do not work for LOR. Just a user with 30 LOR boards and 480 LOR channels. I also have the Lynx Express boards I built, but didn't get them into my display, (so I do understand the fun of DIY also)

Holy crap 30!!!! that must of cost a pretty penny. i mean its about $100 for just the board and electronics to populate it about 180 for everything else per 16 channels this is at the DIY pricing level

[Tallahassee Dreamer]

Ok guys lots of great stuff here. Since I started this post I have built and tested 1 SS24 and I must say it was a lot of fun because I did it, a guy with little money, no electronics experience, so soldering experience, but I did this. I am into DIY for ever but I do agree that we need better software. I can obviously read or I wouldn't be here nor would I been able to populate a board. I say that to say the forums are helpful but it is still somewhat of a foreign language. I still do not understand the layman's term of DMX, RGB and many other terms. What is RGB? and how does it apply to software.

[michaelc]

The wiki is your friend, but to answer your question. RGB refers to Red/Green/Blue. When you buy LED's you can buy Red ones, Green Ones, Blue ones, or other colors. You can also purchase an RGB led that has all the colors in it. As to software, in order to control RGB lighting, you would have a channel for each color (RGB). Through color mixing you can achieve any number of colors of the rainbow. As you might imagine as you multiply the number of RGB items out, the channel count get very high, very quickly. Basic software requires you to program each channel individually. RGB enabled software 'combines' the channels and allows you to pick from a color wheel and then just set the intensity you are looking for. LOR has started to allow an "RGB" channel which is really just a summary of 3 distinct channels. I believe LightShow Pro currently handles RGB the best of all the home animation code.

I use LOR to sequence then convert to Vixen for the shows. I also use a Free DMX software package called Freestyler to test out new fixtures. It allows me to define a fixture (ex. Rainbow Flood). I then have access to color wheels to test out the fixtures. Once I find a color I like I can record the values of each of the channels and use them in the sequencing.

[DynamoBen]

I may have covered this before in this thread but just in case I will say it again. KC (the developer of Vixen) is very aware of the changes needed for the new technologies that have and are coming available. To that end he announced that v3.0 of Vixen was in the works, because this is a volunteer project its unclear when it will release but he is very interested in getting it done as soon as possible.

So long story short, its in the works.