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Desks, controllers and how the lights are run

Something has to send the instructions

DMX is the language lighting uses: every fixture has an address and listens for values on it, 512 channels to a universe. The control is whatever sends those values — a controller with faders, a console with a screen, or software on a computer with a key that unlocks its output. The fixtures here are all three-pin DMX, so the control and the cabling have to match.

Which kind of control suits the job

• A few fixtures and one person: a controller such as the Chauvet Obey 70, with faders and preset banks and no computer to boot.
• A show with scenes and cues: a console such as the Avolites T3, or grandMA3 onPC on a laptop of your own.
• Software on your own machine: the grandMA3 onPC DMX key unlocks the output, and the mini PC is the machine to run it on if you would rather not use yours.
• A rig spread around a room: an Art-Net node carries eight universes over network cable, which is easier to run than eight separate DMX lines.

What to tell us

• How many fixtures, and roughly how many channels each one uses — the total decides whether the control has room.
• Whether you want scenes built in advance. We can programme speeches, first dance and party and leave one button to press.
• Who is operating it, and whether they have used a console before. A simple controller is usually the kinder answer.
• Where the control sits: at the side of the stage, or at the back of the room with a long data run to the rig.
• A laptop running console software wants mains power and a screen someone can actually see from the operating position.

Common questions

Can I run the lights from a laptop?

Yes, with console software, a key that unlocks its DMX output and a route to the fixtures — either an Art-Net node on network cable or a USB DMX interface. The Avolites T3 is the same idea without the laptop.

What is a DMX universe?

One run of 512 channels. A par can might use four or five, a moving head a dozen or more, so a small rig fits comfortably in one universe and a large one is split across several.

Do I need a terminator on the end of the run?

It is worth it on any run of more than a few fixtures. An unterminated chain often behaves until the rig warms up, then flickers, and the terminator is cheaper than the fault-finding.