Lighting: DMX and sound active possible?

[wattersb]

Hey DJTT, so I am awaiting the arrival of my led motionfacade and drape from chauvet. I am getting into lighting and still get confused at some of the terms/technicalities (hence the below question).

Here is the manual for the drape
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...4fX98w&cad=rja

If you look at the DMX modes they give you a ton of choices, but none of which say sound active.

Is there anyway to use DMX to control sound active modes with this light or any other lighting fixture? If so, what should I look for in the manuals before buying lights to assure they will do everything I need?

Thanks in advance!!!

[mixhipster]

What is it exactly that you need? All you should need to do is set the DMX channel, get a good lighting board or software like martin lightjockey and just go from there. Standalone or sound activated is a much easier option also.

From the looks of the manual, the fixture is either sound activated via the menu, or set to a pre-programmed cycle that can be set on the unit or via dmx. Or you can just control it manually with dmx.

[wattersb]

My goal is to run dmxis (a midi contollable lighting software) to launch scenes of lights. So I'd want to trigger my drape and some led pars and strobes in sound active mode, all from the dmx midi controller

[Virtual Unknown]

The speed function on the DMX mode is what you would have to match up to the beat of the music manually by ear. Otherwise what mixhipster said they are 2 different modes and sound activated is standalone page 10.

[mixhipster]

i think i get at what you are trying to do, but it's difficult. you have a few choices of achieving sound activated lights it seems.

1:you can leave the fixture on sound activated mode, but won't be able to change that program without manually changing it on the device itself. that is probably your least desirable setup.

2: dmxis doesn't seem to support dmx output that is sound activated. you will have to find another software solution that can analyze sound and appropriately change the program or control all the parameters based on sound. i don't know of any off hand.

3: what virtual unknown said, use dmxis and set it up so that each button/knob whatever on your midi controller launches a different program, and most importantly have a knob/lever/whatever that is set to control the speed so that you can "beatmatch" lights with sound yourself.

[Virtual Unknown]

Im not sure what the specs are on the software your using but there are some advanced pieces of software that will activate via wav or sound files in your computer. But they are expensive!

[wattersb]

Thanks for the replies guys!

You guys both get the idea of what I am looking for. I am interested in beatmatching the lights just through the dmx controller (like you stated, i do not want to use the included controller).

Do you guys have any experience with beat matching the lights? Other then just adjusting the speed of the lights, are there any other techniques or tricks?

[mixhipster]

Sound activation and a more advanced use of it can be found in page 22 of the manual. The oscillator function apparently works based on the speed of the music and how many bars you select for it. also, the master tempo looks like it could actually be a bpm value. you could just adjust that throughout the night as you change tempo on your decks.

from the manual of dmxis page 22:
SOUND TRACKER
The sound tracker lets you “sound activate”
selected channels to track the input audio. There
are 5 controls to play with...
Level: controls the amount of sound tracking.
Band: the range of frequencies to track (Sub | Lo | Mid | Hi).
Attack & Release: controls how quickly the tracker responds to the audio.
Dir: controls the direction in which the fader moves in response to the audio.
Sound tracking is the quickest way to get some dynamic movement into your light show.
BUT, it is not the most effective way in DMXIS! Sound tracking as a technique can be
rather unpredictable - the results will vary wildly depending upon the level and type of
the music. A MUCH better way to add excitement and movement to your light show is the
DMXIS Oscillator, coming up next!