Wireless DMX.....where do I start?
OK - simple enough question, but I just know it's going to be a complicated and expensive answer.....
My current set up/tear down time is around 30 minutes of which around 10 minutes of that is running cables. I can't help but think that wireless DMX is the way to go. I'm getting fed up of wrapping cables up at the end of a long night (or being completely lazy....chucking them in a plastic box and sorting them out the next day).
Now - I've been looking around t'interweb and have to admit....I'm completely confussed at the moment.
None of my fixtures have wireless capability (otherwise I wouldn't be asking this question). I can see there's a plethora of dongles available which plug into existing fixtures....so far so good. I understand I need a transmitter plugged into the Open DMX dongle on the laptop and a receiver on the other end.
So...onto the questions....
- Do the receivers really all have to have some sort of power adapter connected? It seems like an awful lot of plugs to add to the PAT schedule let alone plug in every time I set up
- Will a single receiver daisy chain into a pre-wired bar which has the rest of the fixtures connected by old fashioned XLR cable (i.e. dongle in fixture 1 and the rest linked by copper)? (I can't see any reason why not - but there may be a reason for this not to be possible)
- What's the best option/brand to go for?
Not too many questions, but anyone who's got any experience....your input would be well and truly appreciated before I invest in this. I'm getting ever closer to my goal of a 20 minute set up at the moment....and this could help me to achieve just that :)
......and on a similar vein.....(sorry - didn't see the point in starting a separate post)
I have a set of acrylic LOVE letters. Now don't get me wrong, in the right setting these look fantastic (see video below). BUT....they work in S2L mode and my OCD doesn't like it one little bit. I want to do clever things with them rather than have them randomly flashing during the main event.
I haven't had them open yet, but as far as I can tell, they're illuminated by the run of the mill LED strips that you can buy online and control with an IRC. Is there anything I can do to make them DMX addressable (I have basic electronics knowledge and I'm not too bad with a soldering iron), or is there some sort of LED strip you can buy which you can get a DMX kit for? I need to control these things to make them fit with the rest of the show.