DMX controller for stage lights - talk to me as if I was a bit simple

[mcnach]

 

Sometimes we could use a few lights to add a little bit of colour.

 

We're not looking for anything big or complicated, so at the moment we've just got 4 LED lights that we can attach to various stands/contraptions. Unlikely we'll ever expand beyond another 4, at most.

 

They can work with DMX, wired, and I'm thinking that it would be great to be able to have some better control than just letting them do their thing on their "auto" or "sound" modes. The problem is I have zero idea about this.

 

I see some pretty budget-friendly small controllers, anything from £30 to £60, that look like they might work... but I only say that because they have 6-8 faders, and a bunch of buttons to save/recall scenes and programs, but I really do not know if those would be ok or not.

 

What do I want to achieve?

I would like to be able to sync perhaps two lights at the back and two at the front, separately. Or all 4 together. I would like to be able to trigger programs easily from stage. Also turn off/on manually. 

Can they work with footswitches at all?

 

I don't expect anybody to write a tutorial just for me, but the range of videos and other material online is quite daunting, so if anybody has some suggestions about particular videos/sites/docs that could educate me (and recommendations for a controller), I would really appreciate it. Some of the stuff I've seen seem directed to people who already have a clue.

 

Thank you, you colourful beautiful people. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Norris]

It's been a few years since I bought my kit so there will probably be stuff that is much easier to set up now. I went over to DMX mainly to keep the lights synchronised. The controller is not the cheapest either as I wanted something that was versatile and would last a while. In fact I've replaced the first set of lights I had with much better ones but am still using the same controller, which will handle most lights.

 

https://www.thomann.co.uk/stairville_dmxmaster_i.htm

 

The thing is that it will take time to set things up. You'll need the manuals that came with your lights because you'll not only need to put them into DMX mode, but also set a base address for each one. This will be via pressing buttons on more modern lights, or setting tiny little DIP switches on older ones. For each light you'll need to set the colour's red, green and blue (and perhaps white) levels - for every step in the sequence. A notepad will be handy.

 

Once you've set it all up though it's very easy to operate. The controller has buttons to select the colour sequence, whether it's time or music switched, and a couple of sliders to control the speed and cross-fade duration. And of course a blackout button. The one thing it lacks is the ability to dim the lights - the brightness is set to how you programmed the colours.

 

In our setup I have a pair of 4-way RGBA lights, so that's 8 lights to set up per sequence step. I've set up 3 or 4 sequences, one of which is a dim single colour wash to light the stage between sets. I also have a couple of "derby" lights that are not DMX controlled, they just do their own thing. It's also worth investing in some decent DMX leads (they are different spec to instrument cables, even though they use the same plugs!) and a terminator plug.

 

Hope that helps. It will be an investment in both time and money to set up, but easy to use.

[Dad3353]

52 minutes ago, mcnach said:

... if anybody has some suggestions ...

 

Good evening...

 

Not easy in words of less than one syllable, but I'll try. Disclaimer : I did the lights for Kiemsa (pop/rock/ska originals, toured all over France...) for several years. I used a laptop with a Sunlite DMX controller; it worked a treat, but I was the dedicated 'lighter'. It can't be done that way piloted by anyone playing.
If your requirements are modest, a simple DMX controller with a four-button footswitch would do. Look at the Stairville Stage TRI LED Bundle Remote (Thomann...), which works with several Stairville lighting rigs. It's all decent enough stuff for pub gigs, and there's not much available for lower budgets that that. If your needs are more sophisticated, the budget goes up exponentially. A Stairville rig (or equivalent...) will suffice, though, to do what you describe. You may have to invest in a compatible rig, and sell you current system (or keep your rig as 'extra' Fx; in lighting, less is not necessarily more...). Look at the Thomann stuff, and get back with questions if need be. Hope this helps.

 

Douglas

 

Edit : Norris (above ^^...) is on the money, too. I concur with my learned colleague. 

Edited Friday at 23:58 by Dad3353

[Norris]

There are cheaper and simpler systems than the one I'm using. The main thing for me is that I'm playing bass, so need something that runs itself while I'm doing so. Also I'm a computer programmer by trade so am not phased by some technical details, and I wanted something that could control any light I throw at it. It's a solution that suits me but may not suit everyone

 

Edit: Dad3353's suggestion of a more simple foot controller might be more suited to your needs. Have a read up of what they can do

Edited Saturday at 00:15 by Norris

[Steve Browning]

This is a journey I have been on. I have a pair of lighting bars (of 4 lights) and two other lights. These are controlled by a foot controller. 

 

Dmx is actually fairly simple. The lighting bars allow 4 different functions and so channels 1 to 4 are assigned on the light bar. The same 4 channels are assigned on the foot controller and I can control the amount of red on 1, blue on 2, green on 3 and overall brightness on 4. The other lights have 5 available channels and are assigned channels 5 to 9. The 5th channel is for white light. 

 

The bars are fixture 1 and the other 2 are fixture 2.

 

This enables me to create scenes that are selected by the foot controller. 

 

It took a bit of a sharp intake of breath to jump in but it turned out to be pretty straightforward if a little tedious. 

 

Hope that helps. 

[Rosie C]

9 hours ago, Norris said:

 

It's also worth investing in some decent DMX leads (they are different spec to instrument cables, even though they use the same plugs!) and a terminator plug.

 

 

I second this! We renovated a little barn into a practice space, including DMX wiring so we could feel like rock stars. But the cables were duff and it never worked reliably.  

 

[pete.young]

Has anyone tried the wireless DMX adaptors instead of using cables? Reduces the amount of clutter, but something else to remember to charge up before the gig I'd guess.

[Steve Browning]

6 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Has anyone tried the wireless DMX adaptors instead of using cables? Reduces the amount of clutter, but something else to remember to charge up before the gig I'd guess.

Yes. My lighting bars are wireless. I originally used both with one controller but that wasn't bombproof. Then I tried master/slave with the master wireless and a cable to the slave. That wasn't too bad but you are stuck with the options on the bar itself. I wanted a bit more control and went wired with a foot controller.

 

My bars can operate with 20 channels (5 for each lamp) and so I intend (because of the limitations of the foot controller) to be able able to program lights 1 and 4, and 2 and 3 separately (so that the lighting is symetrical on stage). I want to make things a bit more sophisticated and have 3 fixtures instead of 2. Lamps 1 and 4 will be fixture 1 and lamps 2 and 3 will be fixture 2. The other two will become fixture 3 and will need to be assigned to channels 21 to 25.

 

I believe it will work but we'll see!

Edited Saturday at 10:16 by Steve Browning

[Steve Browning]

It occurs to me that each dmx channel is like a mic in a PA mixer and the lamp unit itself is a separate sub group (comprising those channels). You set each channels level and the sub group is the fixture (whether a single light or all those using the same channel numbers).

Edited Saturday at 10:22 by Steve Browning

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, pete.young said:

Has anyone tried the wireless DMX adaptors instead of using cables? Reduces the amount of clutter, but something else to remember to charge up before the gig I'd guess.

 

At a cost of several hundred pounds, it would have to be a serious investment to justify this expense. Probably worth considering where great distances are involved, or where cabling is prohibitive (an outdoor event across water, for instance, or lighting an ancient monument..?). I know that decent Dmx cables are not cheap, either, but I doubt their value for money for most venues. An option, but not a low-budget one. 

[redbandit599]

2 hours ago, pete.young said:

Has anyone tried the wireless DMX adaptors instead of using cables? Reduces the amount of clutter, but something else to remember to charge up before the gig I'd guess.

I use the Donner Wireless DMX dongles. They work well, but you do have to remember to charge them!

 

I also use a Bigfoot DMX foot  controller.  Like all manual controllers it's tedious to program but once done you can operate the lights with your feet.

 

We also use some external coloured led floodlights as general uplighting. They aren't DMX 

 

[mikegatward]

I set up a dmx controller (ADJ) for 3 light units so that they all do same thing at the same time.

 

Just solid colours or fading a colour in and out  - nothing fancy 

 

I then run them via the Morningstar midi controller which also runs by HX Stomp

 

i wrote an idiots guide for the other band members that I’m happy to share  

[Dad3353]

If you have a laptop available (even a very modest one, with Windows...), this Usb-Dmx interface is excellent.

 

Sunlite Suite 2 FC 1536 channels DMX512 Stage Lighting Controller...

 

I have an older version which has worked faithfully for a couple of decades, and permits extremely simple, or extremely powerful, Dmx control of multiple lighting fixtures, included moving heads, strobes etc. Programming can be done at home, with a virtual stage 3D display. Highly recommended for those willing and able to do more than just switching on and off. This was done using it (plus a 'manual' lighting desk. We were two to operate the lights...)...

 

 

(That's Our Eldest on guitar, in black T-shirt ...)

Edited Saturday at 15:20 by Dad3353

[pete.young]

On 22/03/2025 at 11:50, Dad3353 said:

 

At a cost of several hundred pounds, it would have to be a serious investment to justify this expense.

I can get 1 transmitter and 7 recievers for £150 from Amazon, and that's without even looking for a cheaper option from AliExpress.

[Dad3353]

3 hours ago, pete.young said:

I can get 1 transmitter and 7 recievers for £150 from Amazon, and that's without even looking for a cheaper option from AliExpress.

 

Indeed, but that's still three times the cost of the cables required. Is it worth it for a pub stage..? Maybe. We all make our choices. 

[pete.young]

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Edited Monday at 15:21 by pete.young

[JapanAxe]

A friend of mine is a solo guitarist/singer with backing tracks and all his kit is linked up wirelessly. His only cables are for mains, and he covers these with hefty rubber mats. The benefits to him are (1) quicker setup, (2) less stuff for drunken feckwits, sorry punters, to trip over.