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[Mal Brown]

This is for me in my band, running sound, doing lights, playing bass and singing...

I'm thinking Midi in for footswitch control of scene swapping.
Would like to be able to handle 24 8 channel intelligent fixtures plus a 2 to 4 14 or 16 channel moving heads.  Those will be inverted pairs.

The Blizzard ProKontrol is sooo close.  No midi in and I really want a foot switch for black out and then scene 1 which is the between songs scene.

so...what's the best you've found for this sort of thing.

Thanks!

[duane massey]

Elation/ADJ Showdesigner 1. Nothing else compares in the price range. Not for a novice, but incredibly powerful for an experienced programmer.
(edit) Actually, the Showdesgner 2. Just re-read your post and realized how many fixtures you want to operate. The SD 1 would work, although programming would be slightly more challenging if you want individual control over each fixture.

[Jeff Lelko]

So...what's the best you've found for this sort of thing.

A professional-grade light console.  Assuming that you’re not looking to make that sort of investment though, I’d look towards the ChamSys QuickQ or similar (model dependent on output capability).  I’ve gone on this tangent in other threads, but I cannot stress enough the importance of getting a proper console when looking to really step up in lighting.  The cheap sub-$1000 boards are great until they’re not.  While they can often be shoehorned if needed, having the right programming tools at your fingertips is so much nicer and makes the lighting design process substantially easier.  My ETC Congo Kid would run that rig without breaking a sweat, but sadly it’s a discontinued product.  What’s your budget?

[Mal Brown]

I have an M-Touch, laptop and Onyx rig for sound co use.  so far it doesn't do Midi so no foot switch...  I am not overly versed in Onyx p, yet... getting there but it's kinda big and bulky.  really assumes that a user already speaks theater as well...

I'm really looking for the best bang for the buck under say $500.  If I could do it in $300 that would be even better...  The Prokontrol is $320 ... only thing it lacks is of course the midi...

[Jeff Lelko]

I honestly can’t think of any hardware boards under $500 worth owning with the intention of driving a 28 fixture rig with short of getting very lucky on the used market.  Heck, there are even very few boards under $5000 that I’d want to use!  DMXIS can do MIDI and is under $500, but it’s not hardware.  Not to repeat myself, but given the complexity of even the “average” fixtures on the market these days, having a quality controller/console is really a must in my opinion to get the most from your investment. 

[Mal Brown]

well this is a band that is basically a winery, second time around wedding band. mUsic for drinking yuppies...  Most of my fixtures are 8 channel.  just a few movers that go beyond that.  for the band, I am heavily scene dependent... The proKontrol allows you to set the dmx address  of a fixture  button ... more fixtures  and scenes on the top layer.

[duane massey]

well this is a band that is basically a winery, second time around wedding band. mUsic for drinking yuppies...  Most of my fixtures are 8 channel.  just a few movers that go beyond that.  for the band, I am heavily scene dependent... The proKontrol allows you to set the dmx address  of a fixture  button ... more fixtures  and scenes on the top layer.

For $700 you can get a Showdesigner 1. 99 pages with 16 scenes per page. Each scene can include chases, and the speed(s) of each chase can be stored as part of the scene. You can have more than 16 fixtures by using the "multi" function which allows you to have control over 2 or more fixtures, which would be very simple with the 8-channel fixtures you have. Although it does not contain any "automatic" features for LED par fixtures it is very easy to build your own from scratch. You can call up 99 scenes via midi note.

[Tim Weaver]

The ETC Smartfade ML will do what you want *I THINK*.

I'm not a user of the SFML. but I have one here at the church (That I would be willing to sell) and I found this online....

From the above info you will see that you can only control the fader masters of MEMORY channels, change memory fader banks, Memory bumps,  master control faders (Live Next Bump & Grand Master), go to a step in the Stack or reset, start or pause the Stack or activate Blackout.

This means that if you want to control just a single DMX CHANNEL via midi you will first need to record that single channel to a memory location, then activate that memory by the memory bank and fader midi messages. 

Upshot is that you still need to do all your programming on the SFML, then trigger those memories or the stack via MIDI messages.

You may find this interesting:

http://community.etcconnect.com/wikis/products/smartfade-touchosc-layouts.aspx

I made this layout for Touch OSC more as a wireless remote for SFML - it works entirely on midi m

The Smartfade consoles are getting cheap on the used market. I would make you a good deal.

For anyone else watching this, I have a Smartfade ML, and a non-ML. I'll sell either for cheap money. If you need a "pro-ish" light board, hit me up.

[Jeff Lelko]

Mal, I’d highly consider taking Tim up on his offer.  The Smartfade is a decent board that’s far better than most boards at its price point - especially used.  The Smartfade can also work with a computer to aid in programming, which really makes it hit above its weight.  Barring something else turning up I think this is definitely your best option.  Good luck!

[Mal Brown]

Thanks!  PM sent to Tim.  Seems like an interesting board from what I'm reading

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