Free DMX software

I thought you may be interested in this. George from Chameleon Technology is moving into DMX lighting desks. He has also developed a very powerfull software package for controlling DMX fixtures. The software is downloadable and TOTALLY FREE. You can run this from your PC on its own to control almost anything that is "DMX-able".

If you decide at a later date to add off PC control, you can buy a hardware interface to provide suitable "knobs & sliders", however this isnt essential if you want to do things on the cheap. The software will provide an easy and affordable introduction to DMX control.

Chamsys

Software

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George from Chameleon Technology is moving into DMX lighting desks

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You talk about it like its a new venture....... :D


You may already be talking to the converted....

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...hlight=chamsys

BTW, George is a very nice guy, met him at Plasa in I think 2005 or 6. I think they also built some of the laser control interfaces for a guy called Martin who used to do lasers at some of the shows i worked on, think it was UK laser something or other.... (little union jack logo on his business card)

Ahhh, didnt see that post.:D
I also know Martin, and therefore possibly know you.
But maybe I was drunk and dont remember.:D

George is a top guy, I have a lot of respect for him, I can get good discounts on the hardware if anyone is interested.

I have the Chamsys software and use it with my Enttec USB DMX Pro interfaces. It's quite complicated and not very user friendly as it uses it's own type of GUI that corresponds to their actual lighting desks.

I had the fright of my life when I asked for the prices of their consoles and PC Wings.
The price for their cheapest PC Wing is the MagicQ PC Mini WIng and costs £575.
Their most expensive console the MagicQ MQ300 pro Console is £12,895.

The adavantage of their system is you only have to learn to use one console and all the others operate in exactly the same way. So if you can learn the PC Software which is a representation of the MagicQ MQ100 Pro which itself costs £8,495, then you know how to program and use all their consoles.

I'm from old time Martin Camp. Light Jockey is one of the easiest programs to use. So if next program from someone else is harder there is no reason to even try it. I remember when freestyler was a very complicated. Guess what they've done.....they virtually copied LJ GUI. And guess what. I was able to use it right away. And it's free and it works with virtually all existing DMX boxes.

Problem with Light Jockey is that it is not very friendly towards conventional fixtures, intelligent lighting it is quite good for and the interface costs a fortune about £1200 :(

FreeStyler is good as it's free but has serious limitations regarding universes and number of cues etc. but is a good starting point if you only need to control a few fixtures and as you said works with a lot of interfaces. :)

I actually use Daslight DVC2 at the moment but I have recently purchased LightFactory with add on hardware wings and I am in the middle of re-programming all my cues into that.

Actually I use a fader/button board for lightjockey. This solves a lot of dimmer pack/light cannons etc live control problems.

I agree some of the other software packages may be more user friendly for most hobbyists, but this package was designed for the high end pro user, hence 16 universes and 9000+ DMX channels. This is far more suitable for large shows, but does require some effort to get the best from it.

Again, Chamsys are in the market where users of their desks will likely be existing Pearl, Grand MA, Hog, etc users rather than Freestyler, DASLight, etc, so the interface will be much more familiar

@Quazar - Martin used to do lasers for a party called Antiworld regularly at SE1 (previosly Drome), and Rex out at Stratford, E.London circa 1999 - 2003/4 maybe later. I used to do lighting and some sound on the same parties and part of the chillout room crew at the time.

I also did a couple of the antiworld parties at the rex and put my DPSS in one of the rooms at the SE1 while he put his in the other room.:)
Also used to do Sunny Side Up SW1 and Chunnel club and Coalesce (wherever they managed to hire).

Ah, so do you know Swampy and Liz as well? Hadn't seen them for a few years then bumped into them talking to Martin at Plasa... Lots of happy times with those crew :)