[ANSWERED] Lighting for beginners ?

[jhoepffner]

Hello,

I completely agree with Fred, Building light and sending information of changing cue can be a chalenge for computer and USB link. Personally I own a lanBox, old light computer but all the cues are inside the box, I send only some "go to cue" and the lanbox manage all the calculation and timing between cues. I think that managing light inside Isadora (or any sound or video software) is interesting only if you have very simple lighting task or if you want to drive LEDs from images played in Isadora. For bigger task I think its much more efficient to use real light desk and find the way to communicate or use dedicated software as QLC+ or D::Light and communicate via OSC, on the same computer or another computer.

[RIL]

@mark thanks a lot ! That is a great starting point.

Best,

[RIL]

@jhoepffner and @Fred I see your point and take notes for more complex set ups. 

 Thank you all !!

Best,

[crystalhorizon]

@ril I have used very succesfully a small device by DMX King. It was always very reliable 

https://dmxking.com/usbdmx/ult...

[RIL]

@crystalhorizon I will check it too. Thanks for share !!

Best,

[bonemap]

@ril

One of the things I absolutely love about Isadora is the ‘all in one package’ approach to projection and lighting. In particular the possibility to develop interactive projection and light shows for non-traditional performance space. This means having the ability to program performances in out of the way places like parklands and car parks, lane ways and abandoned buildings. With Isadora and a dmx interface box (I am still using LanBox) along with a bunch of RGB lights I can augment an ambient environment around an outdoor projection. I can sync light colour to projection and any number of other instances of creative data. So my greatest and most interesting use case for working with dmx protocol inside Isadora is when extending production off the beaten track. In that situation when there is only 8 - 20 RGB lights and no need for dimmer racks, I really appreciate the intimacy of Isadora’s functionality. In fact some of the inspiration for working off-site like that has come from the efficiencies possible with Isadora’s ability to realise many technical protocols in the one package.

Best wishes

Russell

[RIL]

@bonemap yes Thats what we like about Isadora !!

Best,

[mark]

@ril said:

Someone who wants to show/tell some basics between Isadora and lighting?

On the other hand, somewhat more complex to use and understand is ArtNet. We have dedicated actors for this on our Plugins page (64 bit actors for Isadora 3 are here), but you'll need devices that receive ArtNet instead of DMX. This is commong for LED walls, but for actual lighting fixtures you'll need dimmer packs that receive ArtNet or else an ArtNet to DMX converter.

Best Wishes,
Mark

[RIL]

@mark thanks a lot for all of this info !!

Best,

[Woland]

@mark said:

Note that users have had issues with the newer MK2 version because of the serial drivers required to work with it; I'd stick with the one I've listed here.

 Can confirm. My MK2 is now a brick and every time I needed to get it up and running (back when it did work) it was a hassle.

[DillTheKraut]

Hello,

regarding DMX devices, I just bought this ArtNet <-> DMX Converter by Chauvet. I tested the Enttec ODE MK2 ArtNet <-> DMX controler before with QLC+. It worked immediately without any drivers or additional software out of the box. The Chauvet is pretty much the same, but cost less money. I didn't yet try the direct way out of Isadora with the ArtNet actors.

Best
Dill

[DusX]

PS: I have recently added 2 User Actors to the Plugins page, to help with DMX control using Enttec compatible interfaces.

see: https://troikatronix.com/plugi...
and https://troikatronix.com/plugi...

[JJHP3]

Wonderful! Thanks so much for this, and all the other contributions you make!

John

[keftaparty]

@jjhp3

I also suggest going the Artnet node way.

Lighting has a standart ( Artnet ) that is now supported by most of the light manufacturers, and that is compatible with a simple network card on a computer.

There you have no restriction of use, from Raspberry, to MacPro, to Android phone, to 50k$ lightdesk etc... Not so bad I feel !

All usb devices are driver & OS dependant. 

One other big advantage of an Artnet node when working in a venue, is that with a simple wlan acces point, you can go wireless for example during focus. That's not possible with a usb device.

Best

Mehdi

[Michel]

@keftaparty

To make things a bit more complicated there is not only ArtNet there also sACN. At the early days of ArtNet we first used it at our theatre but our network was often overloaded so we switched to sACN. ArtNet is UniCast and sACN is Multicast. But I think ArtNet solved lot of the problems of the early days.

Best Michel

[DusX]

@michel said:

But I think ArtNet solved lot of the problems of the early days

 Yes, I believe artnet 2 addressed these issues.

[Juriaan]

So in my daily practice as an scenographer / Lighting designer I use ETC Nomad, ETC makes great software called EOS that is basically a full light desk on your PC / Mac.

When you are touring and you need to change the patch list to a new setup it makes sense to do that in software that is created to do so. Isadora is fully capable of doing small shows / basic setups, but when you are have enter and have to perform in the evening with an general rehearsal in between is makes sense to use such software to quickly busk between all your different lighting subs / color palette's / Cue's. A basic license for ETC Nomad (Students / Educators) is 250 USD with 2 Universes and an ETC Gadget II (Basically a USB adapter for your PC)

Isadora has some great tools to connect with lighting desks, think about Midi Show Control :)

For some really basic setups I agree with the above, either go with an Enttec USB DMX Pro if you really want something that is relliable and quick to setup with something like QLC+ or go down the ArtNet route and get some Enttec stuff as well :)

[Woland]

@juriaan said:

A basic license for ETC Nomad (Students / Educators) is 250 USD with 2 Universes and an ETC Gadget II

 I need to go back to school or teach at a university so I can afford to get this

[Maximortal]

@woland they just ask for a simple certificate, i'm pretty sure you have some friend still student.... ;-)

[Woland]

@maximortal

I respect ETC too much to not play fair with them.