chamsys software help

[RTDesigns]

I have been designing lights for various venues for many years, and have always been a conventionals person. I have now purchased a few of my own intelligent lights, an NSI MLC16 board, etc. I like the MLC, but want to look into a PC control software also. I have downloaded the chamsys magic-q and would like some tips/tricks/help on using it. I have not had any experience on a hog or anything similar. Can someone give me some help on this? How do you get started, How do you assign fixtures, etc? I guess I could read the manual, but figured several of you already use this, and it may be quicker to learn from you. Thanks.

[Esoteric]

It is probably better if you read the manual.

Mike

[tcahall]

RTDesigns

The main screen is the console operating screen. On the top right you will find a button that says patch. That is the starting point for defining where your fixtures are. Int allows you to change the intensity on any fixture.

You basically set the lights for the look that you want and save them in a cue (record). If you save multiple looks in the same cue, you define a chase.

Setup allows you to define your DMX output. Look at the quickstart guide in the manual to get started. It is a console, not a PC software progarm (even though that is what you are running). The main screen is the point from which everything is done. The programmer is where the settings for the current look are stored. You can do a lot directly from the keyboard, but you will find it easier to work from the screens for awhile.

Tim.

[RTDesigns]

Thanks Tim. Any other help/tips/trick would also be appreciated from others.

[james tucker]

Here are a couple of write ups about chamsys:

here

here

Somewhere on the chamsys homepage is a super quick start tutorial pdf.


Hope this helps, good luck.

[tcahall]

The two links provided by james are great. At the bottom of the second one is a primer on working with programmer based consoles that is great.

I spent about a week on and off before I could wrap my head around the concept of these software consoles (Hog, GrandMA, etc all let you download offline programmers). As I had not previously worked with an actual ML console, I kept looking for things that weren't there (banks of faders, etc.). Once you understand that the MagicQ screen that opens is a virtual representation of a physical console (it looks just like the actual console does), it makes more sense. I kept trying to get past the "intro" screen, only to realize that the intro screen is THE screen. There are a lot of windows that pop up within it, but you are basically sitting at a console programming.

Once you get your lights patched and your DMX output configured, you can actually start doing something. If you think in terms of setting all the lights to look the way you want them (a look) and recording that into a cue (a series of cues being a chase), it gets a lot easier. I would stay away from fx for awhile and definitely don't even open up the media server stuff until you are comfortable with the rest.

The only other thing that took me awhile was the cue versus chase settings. In MQ, when you look at your cue stack (cue), it shows the series of looks that are in the stack. If you have them as a chase, they will execute one after another. If you have them as a cue, they will all launch at the same time (think of the difference between a lighting chase and a theatrical scene start where you want all of the different settings to fade in together, based upon their timing).

Once you have a few cues stored (you can put pages and pages of cues in if you want), you can fool with timings, HTP and LTP, fader bumps cue or not, etc. Most of this is done from view options when you have the cue stack up.

It is a great console and well worth the time required to learn it. Once you have mastered the MagicQ, you should be able to transition to any of the ML desks pretty easily, or just step up to a larger setup.

Good luck.

Tim.

[james tucker]

Used chamsys for 2 shows this weekend. One with close to 4000 youth in attendence, the other with 300 people for a worship concert. The software is pretty cool - I am still pondering getting a wing or a used hog 500. Though the software is pretty cool - I miss having real faders and encoder wheels - at this point in my existance I don't see the point of spending $3000 for a console that will control 6-8 trackspots, leds. and some cheap dimmers.

Anywhoo...

has anyone figured out how to modify an effect while its running?

If I have a movement running on a playback stack, I would like to be able to slow it down or speed it up.

[tcahall]

If you open the cue stack when its running, the encoders on the side (A-F X,Y) control various aspects of the effect. size, direction, speed etc. Press and hold the top or bottom of the "encoder" to change the value.

Tim.

[RTDesigns]

Thanks for the input guys, I just haven't had any spare time to work with it, but plan on getting back to it over this coming weekend. I'm sure I will have more questions.

[tatster]

I've just had opportunity to try out a PC Wing attached to MagicQ for a couple of events in our church. We have been evaluating MagicQ recently and were finding that not having some level of hardware interface a bit limiting. Also we were having some stability issues with the Enttec Open USB DMX dongle we had.

Good news though, is that with the wing it was rock solid, SO much more flexible and handled the different needs of our 3 events we had it for with ease.

For the money, I haven't come across many alternatives that provide the flexibility, scalability, ease of use.
One feature I really like is the Remote control option - I used my PDA over wireless to bring up levels while standing on stage to help with plotting and focussing etc - very handy.

Anthony

[james tucker]

Anyone know how much their "maxi-wing" costs? I know PRG is their distributor for the USA - I just want to know the price...

Why is it that companies post prices all day long for cheap gear but you can't get a straight forward price on "nice" gear online unless you call a rep?

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by james tucker

Anyone know how much their "maxi-wing" costs? I know PRG is their distributor for the USA - I just want to know the price...

Why is it that companies post prices all day long for cheap gear but you can't get a straight forward price on "nice" gear online unless you call a rep?

No idea. I don't post any prices online, but my clients don't usually come to the supply side of my business through the website anyway and I am always straight forward with prices.

Mike