Help me learn DMX lighting

[AbjectEvolution]

Today I purchased these from Guitar Center...

Two of these - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Chauvet-COLORpalette-DMX-LED-Color-Bank-System?sku=801332

One of these - http://www.zzounds.com/item--ELASTAGEPACK except my dimmers have 8 inputs each

And two stands kinda like this - http://www.zzounds.com/item--ODYLTP6 except mine have 2 extra side bars

As of right now, I have zero clue how to set this stuff up and use it. The controller has a DMX in and out on the back, and so do each of the dimmers. The lights I got say that you shouldn't plug them in via dimmers for power.

So for starters, how exactly do I hook the lights up to the controller so that I can controll and program them?

[ian-s]

The dimmer packs are redundant unless you get 16 conventional spotlights or cans.

The Led Lights will respond directly to DMX commands to vary brightness so do not require dimmers.

Unless the DMX controller can output more than 16 channels (bank switching?) you will probably come up a bit short. Are you planning to have someone operate the controller in real time? In the hands of a good operator, it could still do some pretty good stuff. The midi to DMX feature might be worth looking into if you use midi sequencing and want complete synchronized automation.

[AbjectEvolution]

Alright, that's fine I didn't really pay for the dimmers... they came with the controller. I'm sure I will use them at some point though because I want more lights later on down the road.

As far as I can tell, the controller only has one DMX IN and one OUT. Does this mean I can only hook one light up to it?

I was planning on automating the the lights so that no one has to controll them in real time.

[ian-s]

[AbjectEvolution]

Alright. I hooked one of the lights into the "out" on the back of the controller. I plugged in the light and it immediatly turned on. I then turned on the controller and messed around to see if I could controll the light. Nothing seems to be working. I'm going to read through the manuals again... I think I read something about having to set an address for the light or something.

[AbjectEvolution]

I am so lost.

I hooked one light into the DMX controller and chained the light into the other one. They are both on the same address because I'm pretty sure I want them to both do the same thing. I set the modes on the lights to DMX so now they stay off unless I mess with the controller, which is good.

The thing is, I cannot figure out this controller for the life of me. I have messed with every fader and button that I can, and I can't seem to get the lights to do anything. If I press the "full on" button then both of them turn on with all the LEDs displaying one color... yet I cannot change the color or do anything at all. I'm sure I am missing something very important here.

[EdisonRex]

[AbjectEvolution]

Well I assigned the lights to an address... the address is "1". The DMX controller does see it and I can kinda do some things like press the "full on" button and it will make the light do something. But that's it. I don't know how to controll the individual color of each LED's, I don't know how to create patterns, I don't know how to chose wether it fades or strobes or whatever.

[EdisonRex]

each colour is a channel. That's what I was trying to say earlier.

in more complicated lighting instruments, each function is a channel. You have to set these up.

[AbjectEvolution]

It just doesn't seem like there is any way to set anything up on this controller. Maybe I'm just being stupid.

Can anyone recomend a good forum that revolves around DMX lighting? Somewhere devoted to this sort of thing so I can get some help?

....

I have figured out a few more things. If I chose bump button one, both lights will come on. I am guessing this is because I have the addresses on the lights set to one. In the X faders, I can move the first 3 or 4 up and down and they will cause the lights to do things... but only those first few faders. I would think that all 16 faders would affect the lights. So far, it is very limiting as to what I can do with the light. None of the sliders change the colors, they just chose different designs... and they are very sensitive.

[ian-s]

you could try here (link to discussion on your pannel)

[AbjectEvolution]

Ok... I have an update. Problems abound.

I found out through someone on another forum that if I set fader 1 to 85 and fader 2 to max, that it will enable the sound activated mode. So I do this... and nothing happens. Now there are these buttons at the bottom called "bump" buttons that are under each set of faders so if I press bump buttons 1 and 2 to corespond with the faders and I hold the bump buttons down... the lights go into sound activated mode. This only works if I hold the buttons down though. If I let them go, the lights just sit there doing nothing.

Ok so I sit back down to my computer to read some stuff, and bam... out of no where, the lights start flashing to the music on their own. That's strange. Does this mean that it takes a few min for the mode to kick in or something? So they start working, yet I notice that they aren't in sync. They are chained together and are both set to the same adress and they are both moving to the music, but they aren't doing the same thing. Each of them has a different pattern and a different color. I could have sworn I set them up correctly to work together and do the same thing in sync.

I leave them on and do some interent stuff and about 10 min later or so... they just stop working. They stop responding to the music. I didn't press anything on the controller or anything, they just stopped responding to the music. I went over and held the bump buttons down, and like before... they only work with the buttons held down.

I'm not very familure with this stuff, but something tells me that my controller is screwed up or something. I would think that simply pressing the bump buttons once would activate the faders and make the lights work. They shouldn't just randomly start and stop on their own, right? And how come when they DO work, they aren't in sync?

[ian-s]

[AbjectEvolution]

Yeah there is a master/slave mode but I think those modes are for when you aren't using the lights with a DMX controller. There is a seperate mode especialy for DMX use which is what I am using them for.

I really need someone to read my last message and tell me wether or not you think my controller is defective. I'm leaving soon and will be able to take it back and replace it if that's the case.

[EdisonRex]

I don't have enough data to determine if your board is faulty.

The way to determine if it is faulty is to understand how it works and then to test it using known parameters, against devices that you understand the parameters of as well.

I am afraid I don't see that this is the case.

If we know more, we can help. Increasing frustration is likely if we don't know more info (well, probably increased frustration has already occurred).

[AbjectEvolution]

I can't think of any more info to give other than the stuff I've said.

I talked to a friend about all of this and he convinced me to try programming the lights via midi since my board can use it. I have a dealing that it will be rather complicated because these lights can do so much, but hey if it works then I am Definatly willing to do it that way.

[Danno Gee Ray]

Why not go to guitar center and see if they can help you figure this out? You might get lucky and find someone there who has received vendor training or has experience using these type of systems. Then, you could verify that your systems are operating properly, or if more reading / customer training is required. It is sometimes amazing how much help you can get when a retailer is looking at the prospect of product returns. It costs them too much not to take the time with you to make sure the equipment works.

[AbjectEvolution]

Tried that. Apparently out of all the people that work at Guitar Center, only one person understands DMX lighting, and wont be in until Wed. They are more willing to simply replace it without even knowing if it's defective than they are willing to help me figure this out.

[Danno Gee Ray]

That is sad.

[soundwave106]

[blue hell]

http://www.pangolin.com/LD2000/dmx-cautions.htm any good?