I bought two generic 'OPPSK 120w' light fixtures from Amazon, as well as Show Buddy Active and an Enttec DMX USB Pro box. The problem I'm running into is that the light plugged directly into the Enttec box is working great with Show Buddy Active, but the other light which is plugged in/routed correctly, is not working in slave mode. It DOES work in slave mode when the master light is unplugged from the DMX box and it is set to any of its auto functions. I'm not exactly sure what the workaround is for this.
I’ve considered maybe it’s an issue of the DMX address of both fixtures (which I know very little about), but I’m not sure if that’s the case being that the first fixture kind of automatically knew what to do.
These are the lights in question: OPPSK Light
It seems like I'm doing everything correctly, but I'm fairly new to this.. Any ideas?
Controlling multiple lights - beginner question
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zachlikestodrum
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2023 1:01 am
Re: Controlling multiple lights - beginner question
In general, DMX Lighting has a few different operating modes:
Auto - operates without a controller and cycles through some internal preset patterns.
Master/Slave - One fixture (Master) runs through preset patterns, while other connected fixtures (Slaves) follow what the master is doing. No controller is needed for this.
DMX512 - The fixture is assigned an address (a number anywhere from 1 to 512) and an external controller (DMXIS) sends commands to the fixture.
Lighting fixtures can be set to different Modes. These will be defined in the manual for the product. These Modes correspond to how many different things you want to control in the light. The higher the Mode number, the more things you can control.
If you want to control lights independently, you have to know what Mode they are in. Let's say you have two lights and they are both set to 13 Ch Mode. If you set the first light to 001, then the next light must set to something higher than 1+(Mode), or in this case Ch 14 or higher. If you want the lights to both do the same thing, then set them both to the same number.
The Faders in DMXIS correspond to the Channel number. When to move the fader it will control the light parameter according to the Mode defined in the manual.
I know this must be a lot to take in. It's hard to condense ALL of DMX lighting control in one paragraph. There are a lot of good videos at Learn Stage Lighting that can help you get started.
https://learnstagelighting.com/how-to-p ... -with-dmx/
Auto - operates without a controller and cycles through some internal preset patterns.
Master/Slave - One fixture (Master) runs through preset patterns, while other connected fixtures (Slaves) follow what the master is doing. No controller is needed for this.
DMX512 - The fixture is assigned an address (a number anywhere from 1 to 512) and an external controller (DMXIS) sends commands to the fixture.
Lighting fixtures can be set to different Modes. These will be defined in the manual for the product. These Modes correspond to how many different things you want to control in the light. The higher the Mode number, the more things you can control.
If you want to control lights independently, you have to know what Mode they are in. Let's say you have two lights and they are both set to 13 Ch Mode. If you set the first light to 001, then the next light must set to something higher than 1+(Mode), or in this case Ch 14 or higher. If you want the lights to both do the same thing, then set them both to the same number.
The Faders in DMXIS correspond to the Channel number. When to move the fader it will control the light parameter according to the Mode defined in the manual.
I know this must be a lot to take in. It's hard to condense ALL of DMX lighting control in one paragraph. There are a lot of good videos at Learn Stage Lighting that can help you get started.
https://learnstagelighting.com/how-to-p ... -with-dmx/
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zachlikestodrum
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2023 1:01 am
Re: Controlling multiple lights - beginner question
I really appreciate your response Rich! As it turns out, the one light I was dealing with just wasn't receiving DMX info. I'd just bought it but it arrived defective.