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[Paul Johnson]

As confirmed Chamsys MagicQ user for many years - I just downloaded it as usual on my new M1 and didn't give a moments thought - it works fine like it always has.

[Mike J Davis]

To quote the announcer from NBA Jams! "Boom Shaka-Laka!"

Just downloaded MagicQ - it has the one fixture I currently own already in the library!  I have an unhealthy affinity for Chauvet fixtures, so it's a very healthy environment for me to get started in.

It looks like I can get started for the price of their cheap usb-to-DMX dongle, and their Mini Wing (which is about as much control as I can use in the short term) opens up all 64 universes.

Thank you all for your help - MagicQ really is exactly what I was looking for.  I can see that the learning curve will be >90^o for a bit, but that's fine - I've got nothing but time on my hands.  Off to order the dongle!

I'll report back as I start getting to grips with actually running the fixture live and adding some more!  Seeing that is has a lot more functionality (including video sync/playback) is really cool, too!  I think I'll need the wing to unlock that, but no big deal there...

[Don T. Williams]

There are quite a few youtube videos on MagicQ and even on line interactive training sessions you can sigh up for.  Their support is very good!

[Jeff Lelko]

I have an unhealthy affinity for Chauvet fixtures, so it's a very healthy environment for me to get started in.

You'll be happy to know then that ChamSys was acquired by Chauvet a few years ago!  At least at face value they seem to maintain a separate entity though compared to when Elation acquired M-PC and rebranded the whole product line...

Definitely read the literature as I know there are a few "gotchas" with MagicQ PC as well such as specific hardware required for MIDI control and whatnot, but otherwise MagicQ PC is very friendly to those needing a low cost of entry for use without excessive restrictions.  I thought they now give you 64 universes for free without needing to buy ChamSys hardware but I could be mistaken.

Since you mention the wings, I'll definitely add that wings really help to open up software to feel more like an actual console.  As mentioned I have a basic fader wing for Nomad just to make playback easier when not using my full console.  Others have made quite elaborate setups with wings, touchscreens, and custom cabinets that rival the look and feel of actual consoles, so you can really play with that to customize the setup to fit your exact needs.  Glad to hear that we were able to help and good luck with your new solution!

[Mike J Davis]

There are quite a few youtube videos on MagicQ and even on line interactive training sessions you can sigh up for.  Their support is very good!

I've started watching them.  I do note that a major "Tutorial" video on YouTube is about 4 hours long, but since these are high-end software packages, you have to expect an associated learning curve.

Regarding support, when I called the Eastern US sales number, I'm pretty sure it rang through to the UK headquarters and someone relatively high-placed answered the phone.  I was very pleasantly surprised to see that kind of responsiveness for "free" software!

(Not So) Patiently waiting for the USB-DMX interface to arrive so I can see how it gets along with my fixture!

[Mike J Davis]

You'll be happy to know then that ChamSys was acquired by Chauvet a few years ago!  At least at face value they seem to maintain a separate entity though compared to when Elation acquired M-PC and rebranded the whole product line...

Definitely read the literature as I know there are a few "gotchas" with MagicQ PC as well such as specific hardware required for MIDI control and whatnot, but otherwise MagicQ PC is very friendly to those needing a low cost of entry for use without excessive restrictions.  I thought they now give you 64 universes for free without needing to buy ChamSys hardware but I could be mistaken.

Since you mention the wings, I'll definitely add that wings really help to open up software to feel more like an actual console.  As mentioned I have a basic fader wing for Nomad just to make playback easier when not using my full console.  Others have made quite elaborate setups with wings, touchscreens, and custom cabinets that rival the look and feel of actual consoles, so you can really play with that to customize the setup to fit your exact needs.  Glad to hear that we were able to help and good luck with your new solution!

I had noted that! Combined with its Mac-friendliness, I think this is the right package for me at the moment.

Regarding the hardware, yes - it seems that the only MIDI control they support is via physical I/O on their hardware.  This is likely to prevent the use of USB-midi fader banks to replace their hardware.

From my understanding, the USB-DMX dongle that I've got on the way only enables 1 universe in "Demo" mode, so some features will not be available.  The Mini Wing enables all software features as well as 64 universes of output.  I believe the free iteration of the software will allow you to Visualize 64 universes worth of fixtures (for offline programming, etc.) but will not allow output of even 1 universe without some hardware.

I definitely see that some kind of wing will be necessary for any form of busking-style use of the software, but again, that is well enough in the future to not be an issue.  I can see, though, that a touchscreen monitor would be a decent analog for the physical programming buttons on the console.  It seems that using it fully In-The-Box relies on using the exact same buttons as the console, just on-screen instead of physical!

[Mike J Davis]

OKAY! Finally getting to grips with the software after receiving my dongle today!

Got some rudimentary chases set up for my lone(ly) fixture and it's all responding well.  The "Basic Tutorial" series really does walk you through everything you need to get basic control of your lights set up and running as you'd like.

Of course, the whole purpose of this exercise was to add some more fixtures and get a more complex show going, and I'll attend to that in the coming weeks.


What I'd like to ask help with now is ArtNet or sACN adapters.  The only one I can find for reasonable money that appears to be in stock is the Chauvet DMX AN2.  I'd like to experiment with DMX-over-ethernet a bit (since I'm not risking anything if I make mistakes at this point,) and I was wondering if anyone would recommend a different/cheaper alternative?  I really don't need two concurrent universes now or even in the future, I would just love to be able to have multiple DMX chains running local to the light themselves so I don't get into transmission line issues with longer DMX runs as I start deploying the lights.

If that DMX AN2 is the bottom of the budget, then I'll happily go that route, but I'd appreciate any advice about this aspect of lighting control.

[Paul Johnson]

The thing with Chamsys is that they get people in on the low cost dongles and then they constantly update things and even add features users ask for. They don't make huge amounts on the hardware either, but people can get in and have the same software on lots of consoles - I've got an MQ80 sitting being used at the moment, but there is also a maxi wing from ten years back sitting there with fader/execute wings - here in the office, the showfile is happy on my macbook. You can get them to build head profiles for you, but once you get used to it, you can simply edit similar ones in the editor. This year we've had people tour through with faulty Avos - and our lighting guy is a bit of a wizz and get's their show working on the MagicQ in a similar way. The odd thing though is that every magicq user sets them up differently - depending on their history and age I think. Me, I like to build up a visual mimic of where the kit actually is - so I tap on the screen the third fixture on bar 2, and it comes on. I don't need to know what it is, or it's head number or DMX channel. My colleague never uses this - he has built a screen full of colours and positions which he finds better.

One thing we did discover is that while the MQ80 will talk to the node we use on stage, MagicQ on windows or IOS cannot. The network nodes Chamsys/Chauvet work, but the random old AVO old one we have will not work. No idea of the technical reason - but having the universes avaiable on the network does depend on what is at the other end. They even do a time limited dirt cheap dongle to experiment with. You get enough time to do all sorts before it times out. Students and amateurs with little money are as happy on magicq bottom end as are the big show people.

[Scott Hofmann]

" I really don't need two concurrent universes now or even in the future, I would just love to be able to have multiple DMX chains running local to the light themselves so I don't get into transmission line issues with longer DMX runs as I start deploying the lights."

I may be jumping to an incorrect conclusion, but I think you are confusing a network node with a DMX splitter. The Chauvet unit takes a Artnet or sACN signal over CAT-type cable which can contain multiple universes (groups of 512 channels) and spits out one or more universes of DMX. To have multiple chains of the same DMX universe, you want a DMX splitter. So one DMX universe in and however many DUPLICATES of that universe out, ie 1 in x 4 out, 1 in x 8 out, etc. They are indeed used to shorten DMX cable runs and keep a fault on one DMX line from corrupting the entire rig. They can range from dirt cheap to very expensive.

[Paul Johnson]

" I really don't need two concurrent universes now or even in the future, I would just love to be able to have multiple DMX chains running local to the light themselves so I don't get into transmission line issues with longer DMX runs as I start deploying the lights."

I may be jumping to an incorrect conclusion, but I think you are confusing a network node with a DMX splitter. The Chauvet unit takes a Artnet or sACN signal over CAT-type cable which can contain multiple universes (groups of 512 channels) and spits out one or more universes of DMX. To have multiple chains of the same DMX universe, you want a DMX splitter. So one DMX universe in and however many DUPLICATES of that universe out, ie 1 in x 4 out, 1 in x 8 out, etc. They are indeed used to shorten DMX cable runs and keep a fault on one DMX line from corrupting the entire rig. They can range from dirt cheap to very expensive.

I thought similar.
The thing with DMX is that everytime new kit comes out, the DMX address count goes up. You can easily discover the lovely fixtures you got need way over 40 channels per unit! Ten of them hired in can be a shock if you have others more frugal. Ten years ago - the summer venue I look after never went above one universe - now every lighting bar and position around the stage is on it's own universe from the node! We still use DMX splitters occasionally - but this season, just one of the six we own is plugged in!

That said - we've had so few faults on long DMX lines it's not as critical as it used to be BUT we have lots of faults when we're patching dimmersand the cables, connectors and even the dimmer sockets get pulled/bent/stood on. With hindsight I should have used one of the splitters there because a DMX fault there messes ALL the dimmers up!

[ProSoundWeb Community]