Just what I was about to say. One other hint: I was looking into this a while ago, and there's lots of programs on sourceforge for controlling DMX. Since there's no Pd external for DMX (that I'm aware of), and it is very likely one of the SF projects includes OSC support, your control chain would look like this:

PD -> OSC -> SF DMX Program -> USB to DMX adapter -> Rockstar Lights

Cheers, Ian

Malte Steiner wrote:

Alexandre Quessy wrote:

...

Hi list !

I am looking for a way to control 3 lights (red, green and blue) with Pd. I first thought of using variable resistances with the spots, but then I thought a digital lighting console could do the job better and easier.

Did someone have a succesful experience with this ? Is it the best way to do it ? If not, what else should I use. And if so, do I need an external or an other software to control the console ?

just some hint dropping:

The light protocol is called DMX, its the Midi in the light world. There are USB/DMX adapters out so I guess google is your friend.

on the otherhand there are also light consoles which also takes Midi/in so you can control lights direct or by program/change settings. That is the easier way I guess because it doesn't include a possible DMX / external of which I dont know if it exists.

Cheers,

Malte

Le 7 Février 2005 14:44, Frank Barknecht a écrit :

http://test.pilot.fm/pd/externs/dmx-0.0.1a.tar.gz

That's great! But in order to compile it (with make), I had to do that:

• install the dmx4linux development kit: http://llg.cubic.org/dmx4linux/ There's a new version (2.5), but i used the one for Debian (2.4)
• comment out line 13 in dmx.c : // typedef unsigned char dmx_t;

There's not that many interfaces supported (http://llg.cubic.org/dmx4linux/interfaces.html), but some important ones are! (the free ones) :-) -- Marc

Also check out : http://www.doepfer.de/mtc.htm http://www.doepfer.de/mtc_power.htm

MIDI!!!!!!!

Tom

----- Original Message ----- From: "Marc Lavallée" marc@hacklava.net To: pd-list@iem.at Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 7:40 PM Subject: Re: [PD] Pd & a lighting console

Le 7 Février 2005 11:03, Alexandre Quessy a écrit :

I am looking for a way to control 3 lights (red, green and blue) with Pd. I first thought of using variable resistances with the spots, but then I thought a digital lighting console could do the job better and easier.

Did someone have a succesful experience with this ? Is it the best way to do it ? If not, what else should I use. And if so, do I need an external or an other software to control the console ?

Salut Alexandre!

I did control a few incandescent dimmers with PD. Go to http://www.velleman.be/ search for k8000 (the control board) and k8003 (for the dimmers). These are electronic kits, but are easy (and fun) to build.

To control the board from PD, I programmed my own external, using this library: http://home.wanadoo.nl/hihihi/libk8000.htm

Maybe it's time for a short demo in Montréal. All this cool stuff has been collecting dust for 2 years...

There's also many other ways to do the same.

Marc

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Le 8 Février 2005 06:45, vincent rioux a écrit :

you might also want to check

http://www.enttec.com/dmxusb.php http://www.akustische-kunst.org/puredata/index.html http://members.optusnet.com.au/~rowanmac/opendmx.html

Interesting; in this case, the hardware is open but the software is close...

Using DMX to drive three lights might be overkill, more expensive and not simpler than using a a micro-controller with voltage controlled dimmers.

-- Marc

Hi, This all sounds good. Really interesting !

I find that Marc's way to do it with dimmer boards must be the most efficient one. But it would take quite a few days to implement. (I don't want to cross the street and borrow your dusty stuff : it's for a portfolio...) I wish I could use a micro-controller yet, but I am still not a assembly programmer !

There is http://semitone.sourceforge.net/diamond/ that could be quite interesting in this spirit. A perl script in the semitone software utilities at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80137 could allow Pd to send messages from the shell. Perhaps we could even pipe the Pd sound output to [g]mplayer and then to their perl script dimplayer. Would you think it could work ?

As I am currently "only" running on OS X, the USB to DMX solution would be ok, even though I would need to hack my kernel. Not too bad. The dmxusb external looks all right. I would just need this Open DMX USB device. (100$USD)

I think that the quickest way to realize this would be to use a midi out. Then, I just need a midi-compatible lighting console. It would also be quick, as in CPU-time. This (a compatible console) must be possible to find somewhere around. To get things simple, I even thought about displaying colors with a simple projector, but then, there wouldn't be much fun left...

aalex

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Le 05-02-08, à 15:05, cutterlonia a écrit :

vincent rioux wrote:

...

you might also want to check

http://www.enttec.com/dmxusb.php http://www.akustische-kunst.org/puredata/index.html http://members.optusnet.com.au/~rowanmac/opendmx.html

yes, and also: peperoni-light.de they got a usb2dmx interface called rodin (512 out-chn) (there might be also a DIY project on dmx4linux...) I took part in a art-exibition-project, where we controled 72 channels, or else 24 RGB-Devices (vossloh-schwabe, led-dimmer ca. 1A/chn) with this interface... they got linux-drivers for it and I have some flex-code ready (which I could give you...) for interacting with pd (there is an dmxdevice and a dmxRGB object for controling the interface.)

peace martin

...

vincent

Alexandre Quessy wrote:

...

Hi list !

I am looking for a way to control 3 lights (red, green and blue) with Pd. I first thought of using variable resistances with the spots, but then I thought a digital lighting console could do the job better and easier.

Did someone have a succesful experience with this ? Is it the best way to do it ? If not, what else should I use. And if so, do I need an external or an other software to control the console ?

Thanks for your mutual support,

Alexandre Quessy Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Le 10 Février 2005 01:14, Alexandre Quessy a écrit :

I find that Marc's way to do it with dimmer boards must be the most efficient one.

That's only one example.

But it would take quite a few days to implement. (I don't want to cross the street and borrow your dusty stuff : it's for a portfolio...)

I don't know much about the esthetic of art portfolios... Building a kit might not be very sexy, but it has more esthetic value to me than any black box.

I wish I could use a micro-controller yet, but I am still not a assembly programmer !

They are much easier to use than you think. No assembler required.

There is http://semitone.sourceforge.net/diamond/ that could be quite interesting in this spirit.

That's neat. But it's a very complex device. You already have a computer, all you need is an interface.

As I am currently "only" running on OS X, the USB to DMX solution would be ok, even though I would need to hack my kernel. Not too bad. The dmxusb external looks all right. I would just need this Open DMX USB device. (100$USD)

Is it possible to hack a OSX kernel? Anyway, that would be a pain.

I think that the quickest way to realize this would be to use a midi out. Then, I just need a midi-compatible lighting console. It would also be quick, as in CPU-time. This (a compatible console) must be possible to find somewhere around.

A lighting console is also a complex computer, which is not trivial to program as a dumb MIDI to DMX interface . Again, you already have a computer. If you want to go with DMX, you need a DMX interface and a few DMX faders. But there's also dumb MIDI faders; if you can find some, that would be the easiest way.

-- Marc