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Title: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 10, 2017, 10:35:13 AM
Hi
I'm considering a Lanbox LCX DMX controller and I've concluded that this with my Yamaha MFC10 would be the easiest lighting setup for my band.
The Lanbox has way more capability than I'd ever need but the small size and easy setup is key.
We have 2 ADJ 12P Hex lights as main side floods plus 4 ADJ Mega TriPar Profiles that we add depending on the gig.
For really easy operation I just use the small RF remote control for the 12P Hex's but as I play keys, it's not easy to have any kind of light timing.

I also have a Transcension DC1224 DMX desk which runs the lights fine but doesn't get taken out much as it's a bit large in it's case. Plus I take 2 keyboards and most of the PA so the Lanbox
would be ideal.
From what I've read online, the LCedit software takes a bit of getting used to. I'm not using any movers and just need a few static scenes, a couple of chases, blackout, strobe and to activate sound to light on the 12Ps.
Any advice on using LCedit would be welcome before I make a purchase.



Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Scott Hofmann on September 10, 2017, 01:41:32 PM
Hi
I'm considering a Lanbox LCX DMX controller and I've concluded that this with my Yamaha MFC10 would be the easiest lighting setup for my band.
The Lanbox has way more capability than I'd ever need but the small size and easy setup is key.
We have 2 ADJ 12P Hex lights as main side floods plus 4 ADJ Mega TriPar Profiles that we add depending on the gig.
For really easy operation I just use the small RF remote control for the 12P Hex's but as I play keys, it's not easy to have any kind of light timing.

I also have a Transcension DC1224 DMX desk which runs the lights fine but doesn't get taken out much as it's a bit large in it's case. Plus I take 2 keyboards and most of the PA so the Lanbox
would be ideal.
From what I've read online, the LCedit software takes a bit of getting used to. I'm not using any movers and just need a few static scenes, a couple of chases, blackout, strobe and to activate sound to light on the 12Ps.
Any advice on using LCedit would be welcome before I make a purchase.
So you've chosen this approach because you do not want to have a laptop present running things during your show? Because there are $90 USB/DMX dongles for a laptop that will accomplish the same thing a lot cheaper otherwise.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 10, 2017, 03:37:29 PM
So you've chosen this approach because you do not want to have a laptop present running things during your show? Because there are $90 USB/DMX dongles for a laptop that will accomplish the same thing a lot cheaper otherwise.

Yes that's correct.
I really only want to have to plug in one pedal board to operate the lighting but these tend to be
quite limited in channels and features.
The keyboard area on stage can get quite cluttered with the band mixer behind me so I need a minimal but fully featured lighting solution.

However there seems to be very little info and user experience available online for the Lanbox
and there are no similar units available from other companies.
You're right, there are USB DMX interfaces and free lighting software available. If I go down that route, I'd probably get a small 10.1" Netbook running Freestyler plus an Entec OpenDMX or one of the Pro ones.
Then use the Roland UM-1 USB to DMX cable to connect the MFC10.
If the Netbook and dongle can go in a small case it wouldn't take up much room onstage.


Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: David Buckley on September 10, 2017, 04:55:46 PM
The Lanbox is a unique product.  You use LCEdit to program the thing, and then at the shows you use just the box - no LCEdit - and "indicate" to the box what you want to do by one of the interface options.

So editing the LANBox with LCEdit is a infrequent activity.

The interesting bit is, without a dedicated lighting operator, how to indicate to the box you'd like it to do something so you can have a dynamic light show without paying an operator.  This is not a problem unique to the lanbox but is common to any operator-less setup.  The lanbox offers more options in this space than most alternatives.

As a keys player, you can do a split on your keyboard so the last few keys at one or other end of the keyboard go out a different MIDI channel and trigger changes in the LANBox through MIDI.  You have feet, a couple of switches in a box wired to the box contact inputs.  Its been a while, but I seem to recall that you can even wire a switch as a "tap" to get on-beat chases.  And/or give the drummer a MIDI pad, and let him share lighting duties.

You can do these things with most laptop based packages and some real consoles too, with caveats, for example MagicQ on laptop, which you can get into for just a a few bucks, needs an external expensive interface box to respond to MIDI.  And MIDI implementations vary in quality, and ease of interfacing with from the musical instrument world.

Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 10, 2017, 07:07:52 PM

As a keys player, you can do a split on your keyboard so the last few keys at one or other end of the keyboard go out a different MIDI channel and trigger changes in the LANBox through MIDI. 

Thanks. Yes, that would be a very easy setup. The Lanbox would probably fit in my tool/accessories case.
With no user forum or reviews, I'm not sure sure how popular it is but it looks just the thing
for my situation.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bill McKelvey on September 10, 2017, 07:27:48 PM
Thanks. Yes, that would be a very easy setup. The Lanbox would probably fit in my tool/accessories case.
With no user forum or reviews, I'm not sure sure how popular it is but it looks just the thing
for my situation.
Have you been to the main site?
http://www.lanbox.com
They used to be very good about answering questions. I have an older version, LCE, and it took quite a while to wrap my head around the programming. There used to be an example manual on the site on how to set-up/program things.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 11, 2017, 06:07:47 AM
Thanks.
Yes have been on the site.
Doesn't seem to be a fact or spec sheet with size, weight etc.. but found
one at MidiLite.
Manuals for the LCX and LCedit are on the Lanbox site so that's ok and I've had a read of the LCedit manual and it does explain things well. 
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: John L Nobile on September 11, 2017, 11:09:01 AM
I used one for years to run a show as it was the only Mac Based controller I could find at the time. Very powerful but that was years ago. I don't know if it's been updated but it doesn't looks pretty much the same and the guy that started it died a few years ago.
I found it a real time consuming pain to program. I had outside LD's come in to program it every year and they swore the whole time.

I was however able to sync it over midi with Logic and run the show.

Lanbox strength seems to be the ability to run as a standalone controller that is highly programmable if you know your stuff. It even has a command line interface if you can learn how to use it. I don't know how many lights you need to operate but I'm sure that there are many programs out there that are much easier to use.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bob Charest on September 11, 2017, 02:06:59 PM
Yes that's correct.
I really only want to have to plug in one pedal board to operate the lighting but these tend to be
quite limited in channels and features.
The keyboard area on stage can get quite cluttered with the band mixer behind me so I need a minimal but fully featured lighting solution.

However there seems to be very little info and user experience available online for the Lanbox
and there are no similar units available from other companies.
You're right, there are USB DMX interfaces and free lighting software available. If I go down that route, I'd probably get a small 10.1" Netbook running Freestyler plus an Entec OpenDMX or one of the Pro ones.
Then use the Roland UM-1 USB to DMX cable to connect the MFC10.
If the Netbook and dongle can go in a small case it wouldn't take up much room onstage.
Hi Dan,

I've done what you're describing and posted about it on PSW and a DJ chat thread.

I'd be happy to either email or talk with you about my setup.

I modified a Behringer FCB1010 so that the power supply and pedals were removed. I ran power back to the pedalboard utilizing the two unused MIDI leads.

I also had help from a user who had learned the layer structure of the lanbox.

Feel free to get it touch.

Best regards,
Bob Charest


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bob Charest on September 11, 2017, 02:09:34 PM
Have you been to the main site?
http://www.lanbox.com
They used to be very good about answering questions. I have an older version, LCE, and it took quite a while to wrap my head around the programming. There used to be an example manual on the site on how to set-up/program things.
One of the founders (Fokko van Duin) passed away a few years ago. The activity level for the site has not been kept up since.

He provided wonderful support for the product when I first started.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 11, 2017, 05:31:00 PM

I found it a real time consuming pain to program.


That's my only reservation really. I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it.







Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 11, 2017, 05:42:20 PM
Hi Dan,

I've done what you're describing and posted about it on PSW and a DJ chat thread.

I'd be happy to either email or talk with you about my setup.

I modified a Behringer FCB1010 so that the power supply and pedals were removed. I ran power back to the pedalboard utilizing the two unused MIDI leads.

I also had help from a user who had learned the layer structure of the lanbox.

Feel free to get it touch.

Best regards,
Bob Charest


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, that would be useful. Do you still use the Lanbox?

 
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bob Charest on September 11, 2017, 07:43:44 PM
Thanks, that would be useful. Do you still use the Lanbox?
Every gig! :-)

I've got the LCM.

Programming for me was t too bad, but I only have two trees (stage left & right) and a row of up lights.

I only use 10 scenes, so likely much more simple than most.

I'll send a pm with my contact info when I'm back at my desk.

Best regards,
Bob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 12, 2017, 08:53:14 AM

Every gig! :-)

I've got the LCM.

Programming for me was t too bad, but I only have two trees (stage left & right) and a row of up lights.

I only use 10 scenes, so likely much more simple than most.

I'll send a pm with my contact info when I'm back at my desk.

Best regards,
Bob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks.
That's all I have, a stand each side of the stage.
A basic quick setup is an ADJ 12p Hex each side and maybe a couple of ADJ Mega TriPar Profiles as rear uplighters.
I then use the 12p RF remote for on/off and sound to light or fade.
On larger gigs I link 2 12P's and 4 Mega TriPars  together which gives plenty of light.
No movers as this would simply be too much gear to setup and most of the band aren't technically minded.

I could do much more with a Lanbox and it takes up hardly any space on stage.
I'll have a go at triggering it from the keyboard but may use my Yamaha MFC10 for hands free control.
It's a bit larger than I'd like but there's not much else other than the Behringer FCB1010  that outputs midi note.

The Yamaha can send up to 4 notes simultaneously which is useful.


Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: John L Nobile on September 12, 2017, 10:51:25 AM
That's my only reservation really. I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it.

Thought I needed to point out that we were running a large light rig. 80 to 100 Pars, Lekos, Fresnels and ACL's. 12 LED's, 4 movers and some rope lighting. The program was able to store plenty of scenes. We had between 2- 800 scenes depending on which show.

But your needs look very different from mine.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: veditor78 on September 12, 2017, 12:05:59 PM
The Chauvet Show Xpress 512 Plus has 4 contact closure inputs on it. You can use those inputs to select 4 scenes that are stored in the box itself. Would that suffice? The Show Xpress software is simple enough to learn quickly.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 12, 2017, 01:25:38 PM
Thought I needed to point out that we were running a large light rig. 80 to 100 Pars, Lekos, Fresnels and ACL's. 12 LED's, 4 movers and some rope lighting. The program was able to store plenty of scenes. We had between 2- 800 scenes depending on which show.

But your needs look very different from mine.

Thanks, good to know.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Scott Holtzman on September 12, 2017, 04:17:40 PM
The Chauvet Show Xpress 512 Plus has 4 contact closure inputs on it. You can use those inputs to select 4 scenes that are stored in the box itself. Would that suffice? The Show Xpress software is simple enough to learn quickly.

To be clear those 4 inputs can select 16 scenes if binary mapped 2^4 gives 16 states

Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on September 13, 2017, 06:06:04 AM
The Chauvet Show Xpress 512 Plus has 4 contact closure inputs on it. You can use those inputs to select 4 scenes that are stored in the box itself. Would that suffice? The Show Xpress software is simple enough to learn quickly.

Thanks. It's more expensive but maybe easier to program. I guess an adaptor would be needed for a midi connection.
I think I'd need more than 4 scenes.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: David Buckley on September 13, 2017, 04:48:12 PM
I think I'd need more than 4 scenes.

I've not looked, but my guess would be one of those inputs can be "next", so you can click through to scene after scene.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on March 15, 2018, 08:19:33 AM
Hi
I realize that it’s been several months since I started this post and haven’t yet resolved the lighting control for my band.
Moving house and band funds has held things up.
Really need to sort it now as last gig with our tribute band, I was trying to run the intro music on my phone and once that had finished, kick in the lights whilst playing keys 😠
I use a small RF hand held remote and whilst convenient, I can’t get any decent light timing if playing keys.
I did think of going down the DMXIS route and cost wise will probably work out the same as the Lanbox.
It was mentioned in an earlier post that the Lanbox LCX would best suit my situation and I’m inclined to agree.
Ideally all I want, have room for and time to setup is a foot controller.
These are quite limited so my Yamaha MFC10 and a Lanbox LCX would
be a capable and compact solution.

What I need to program is really quite basic.
1. A handful of scenes, some with a slow fade up. Programmable fade is important and is something I cannot achieve remotely with my Transcension 1224 DMX desk. Have to manually adjust the slider.
2. Activation of strobe and sound to light features on my ADJ 12P Hex lights. These are triggered by selecting a particular DMX range between 0 and 255.
3. Blackout

Hoping that this won’t be too difficult to program into the Lanbox LCX. Any pointers here would be appeciated.
I have a quote from the UK supplier so will probably order
soon.



Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bob Charest on March 15, 2018, 10:41:30 AM
Hi
I realize that it’s been several months since I started this post and haven’t yet resolved the lighting control for my band.
Moving house and band funds has held things up.
Really need to sort it now as last gig with our tribute band, I was trying to run the intro music on my phone and once that had finished, kick in the lights whilst playing keys
I use a small RF hand held remote and whilst convenient, I can’t get any decent light timing if playing keys.
I did think of going down the DMXIS route and cost wise will probably work out the same as the Lanbox.
It was mentioned in an earlier post that the Lanbox LCX would best suit my situation and I’m inclined to agree.
Ideally all I want, have room for and time to setup is a foot controller.
These are quite limited so my Yamaha MFC10 and a Lanbox LCX would
be a capable and compact solution.

What I need to program is really quite basic.
1. A handful of scenes, some with a slow fade up. Programmable fade is important and is something I cannot achieve remotely with my Transcension 1224 DMX desk. Have to manually adjust the slider.
2. Activation of strobe and sound to light features on my ADJ 12P Hex lights. These are triggered by selecting a particular DMX range between 0 and 255.
3. Blackout

Hoping that this won’t be too difficult to program into the Lanbox LCX. Any pointers here would be appeciated.
I have a quote from the UK supplier so will probably order
soon.
Hi Dan,

I’ll send some stuff to your email, but a phone call would likely be helpful as well.

Stand by...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bob Charest on March 15, 2018, 11:06:46 AM
Hi Dan,

I don't seem to have your email address - could you send it to me either via PM or to my email:

info at bob charest music dot com
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on March 15, 2018, 12:21:02 PM
Hi
Have sent email.
Thanks.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Dan Reavey on November 26, 2018, 07:27:12 AM
It’s been a while but just following up on my light controller dilemma.
I ended up getting an ADJ DMX Operator One desk to use with my Yamaha MFC10 midi foot controller.
More compact than my Transcension DC1224 Scene Setter.
The Operator easily handles what I need to do. I get round the non programmable fade time by triggering the programs on the ADJ Hex 12p’s.
What the Operator does do that the DC 1224 didn’t is that
when selecting scenes via the board or midi, they cancel
the previous one (instant switch).
With the DC 1224, the scenes don’t switch like that unless you ‘step’ through a chase in Show Mode. You have to turn them off before selecting another.
It meant that with a midi foot controller, changing scenes
was a two button press whereas now I can jump to any scene or program with just one press.

Thanks to all and to Bob Charest for the help and info on the Lanbox LCX. Would have liked one for the programming possibilities and size but the Operator One was much cheaper and does what I need.
Title: Re: Lanbox LCX advice
Post by: Bob Charest on November 26, 2018, 07:46:55 AM
It’s been a while but just following up on my light controller dilemma.
I ended up getting a ADJ DMX Operator One desk to use with my Yamaha MFC10 midi foot controller.
More compact than my Transcension DC1224 Scene Setter.
The Operator easily handles what I need to do. I get round the non programmable fade time by triggering the programs on the ADJ Hex 12p’s.
What the Operator does do that the DC 1224 didn’t is that
when selecting scenes via the board or midi, they cancel
the previous one (instant switch).
With the DC 1224, the scenes don’t switch like that unless you ‘step’ through a chase in Show Mode. You have to turn them off before selecting another.
It meant that with a midi foot controller, changing scenes
was a two button press whereas now I can jump to any scene or program with just one press.

Thanks to all and to Bob Charest for the help and info on the Lanbox LCX. Would have liked one for the programming possibilities and size but the Operator One was much cheaper and does what I need.
Hi Dan,

I'm glad you got it sorted out!

Best regards,
Bob