Chauvet ShowXpress/Sweetlight Users

[OllieJames]

Hi all,

Instead of buying the show director and case (for around £160) I've found a sweetlight DMX dongle (same as Chauvet ShowXpress) for £140, so am more inclined to buy that.

My question is though, do you think it'll run okay on a laptop with the following specs?

Intel Pentium M 1.6GHz processor
752mb RAM (however that works... )

The laptop would have nothing else on it apart from the DMX software, and would not be using 3D rendering whilst running live shows.

Thanks!
Ollie

[yourdj]

im starting to think about this. I have been looking at the my dmx stuff

http://www.djkit.com/product.php?id=4202

But i only have four Led lights and a laser so this is quite expensive for me. are there any cheaper dongles?

i would ideally like wireless transmission too but spending £250 on this seems a bit too much as my lighting is ok as it is.

[OllieJames]

It depends what you want to do, but I'm after ShowXpress as you can run multiple scenes simultaneously. MyDMX isn't as flexible. £114 is good for a software DMX controller, don't think you can get much cheaper at all.

Before buying anything, I wanted to make sure the laptop that I have is powerful enough to run the software without freezing. If not, I won't bother buying the interface.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

It depends what you want to do, but I'm after ShowXpress as you can run multiple scenes simultaneously. MyDMX isn't as flexible. £114 is good for a software DMX controller, don't think you can get much cheaper at all.

Before buying anything, I wanted to make sure the laptop that I have is powerful enough to run the software without freezing. If not, I won't bother buying the interface.

surely any software package comes with a list of computer spec required to run?

[Gareth]

Hi all,

Instead of buying the show director and case (for around £160) I've found a sweetlight DMX dongle (same as Chauvet ShowXpress) for £140, so am more inclined to buy that.

My question is though, do you think it'll run okay on a laptop with the following specs?

Intel Pentium M 1.6GHz processor
752mb RAM (however that works... )

The laptop would have nothing else on it apart from the DMX software, and would not be using 3D rendering whilst running live shows.

Thanks!
Ollie

As long as it meets up to the specs of the software then yes. If you are using the laptop for only that purpose there will be no problems. If you try running visuliation software at the same time you may experience some lag but apart from that there should be no issues. It is only a USB sending a signal (using the program) to another USB controller.

Gareth

[OllieJames]

Thanks guys.
I will check out the requirements when i'm home. Do you think the usb dongle will require much power from the laptop? If so, would it be worth me buying the 'one up' that has mains power?

Ollie

[DJ James Lake]

It depends what you want to do, but I'm after ShowXpress as you can run multiple scenes simultaneously. MyDMX isn't as flexible. £114 is good for a software DMX controller, don't think you can get much cheaper at all.

Before buying anything, I wanted to make sure the laptop that I have is powerful enough to run the software without freezing. If not, I won't bother buying the interface.

Ollie make sure if your going for ShowXpress you get the proper dongle (the little usb cable one will be more than enough for you) your computer will run it easily the resources are minimal the only thing that stresses the CPU is the 3d viewer which to be honest you dont really need and even that can be set low enough to run on nearly any pc. This is only used for offline programming anyway so would not effect a live show. I would highly recommend showxpress it will run multiple scenes at the same time no problem at all. I have been using it for over a year now and its one of the easiest and most powerful out there. I spent ages looking for the right package and this was the only one that would do what I wanted at a sensible price. The support is also brilliant.

Since i saw you last I actually went up a step with it and got the top of the range version with the 19" rack mount unit.

Go for it, i promise you wont regret it and if you need a hand setting it up (which is a doddle) just give me shout.

If you go on youtube and do a search there are a set of 5 videos that once watched you will know exactly what to do, it really is easy.

If you want to try it you can always bring your computer over to me and plug it into my interface to be totally sure.

[OllieJames]

Ollie make sure if your going for ShowXpress you get the proper dongle (the little usb cable one will be more than enough for you) your computer will run it easily the resources are minimal the only thing that stresses the CPU is the 3d viewer which to be honest you dont really need and even that can be set low enough to run on nearly any pc. This is only used for offline programming anyway so would not effect a live show. I would highly recommend showxpress it will run multiple scenes at the same time no problem at all. I have been using it for over a year now and its one of the easiest and most powerful out there. I spent ages looking for the right package and this was the only one that would do what I wanted at a sensible price. The support is also brilliant.

Since i saw you last I actually went up a step with it and got the top of the range version with the 19" rack mount unit.

Go for it, i promise you wont regret it and if you need a hand setting it up (which is a doddle) just give me shout.

If you go on youtube and do a search there are a set of 5 videos that once watched you will know exactly what to do, it really is easy.

If you want to try it you can always bring your computer over to me and plug it into my interface to be totally sure.

Hey James,

I've checked out the specs, and my laptop could run it okay. I've also looked at the YouTube videos and had a play with the software and I'm getting to grips with it already! Think i'll go for the dongle on DJ Kit (£141) and see how I get on. The Dynamos aren't the smoothest lights in the world, but I think it would take my lighting to that next step with being DMX.

I've got your phone number now, so should I get into any difficulties, I'll give you a call!

Thanks a lot,
Ollie

[DJ James Lake]

No problems Ollie. One thing i would say when your setting the channels on the fixtures leave a space of a few dmx addresses between fixtures.

[OllieJames]

No problems Ollie. One thing i would say when your setting the channels on the fixtures leave a space of a few dmx addresses between fixtures.

Thanks for the tip James! Just ordered it!