DMX Lighting Control on iPad Round 2
11/02/11 14:34
Recently, I discussed the benefits of a particular DMX controller app for iPad and iPhone. While it is still an excellent product, it does have its limitations. I have recently become acquainted with, and used, a new app called Luminaire. This DMX lighting app works much like the Alcorn-McBride Lighting app, but rather than just controlling individual channels of DMX you can set up groups and control intelligent lighting, including RGB LED lights.
The app is much more expensive than the Alcorn-McBride app. But if you consider the cost of a light board that is equally capable, you will see the value. At a recent Christmas program at our church, we used the device for the entire program. We were able to use one person to activate each preset and control a spotlight from a remote position. Because it is designed for iPad, you can use several options to activate queues. You can even snap a photo of your lighting preset and then use it as an icon in the app itself, making it very easy to know just what you are about to activate.
Luminaire uses the same hardware as the Alcorn-McBride app, in this case the Entec ethernet device. Once you have the device on the same network as your wireless router, Luminaire connects to it automatically each time the app is started and you are ready to go.
Setup of intelligent lights is a little complicated, but no more than for any other lighting board or software program. If you are familiar with DMX controllers you wont have much problem figuring this app out. The freedom to make changes to your queues on the fly and do it all wirelessly comes at a fairly low price. This is definitely worth a look if you need or are looking into DMX control with iPad.
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DMX Lighting Control on the iPad or iPhone
12/12/10 16:22
Lighting control has always been a little bit of a thorn in my side. When it comes to DMX hardware and software controllers, the range of products and prices is almost too much. When it comes to working with no or few intelligent lights (such as moving head spots and scanners) you can save a lot of money by staying away from the high end lighting consoles, but you still have to choose from desks that cost from $100 to $10,000. Personally I have always preferred the software approach, which consists of software with a USB controller that connects to your DMX port. Most are fairly similar, but require a little knowledge of how your lighting is set up and how to patch fixtures and on and on. Once you have everything set up then you can start creating scenes. Unfortunately this is often overkill. Many commercial buildings, not just churches, use DMX controlled architectural lighting. YOu simply need a few set scenes most of the time, but you want the ability to occasionally make some new scenes and add time based transitions. This week I installed a solution that is working great, is incredibly easy to use, and is very cost efficient. Enter the ENNTEC DMX to Ethernet controller and Alcorn McBride LightingPad software for you iPad or other iOS device.
Setup is as straight forward as it gets. Once the controller is plugged into you DMX port and you set up the IP address to work with your local network (make sure your wireless DHCP addresses are on the same subnet) then it works without fail. You can pretty much get a complete set up for less than $300. As long as you have wireless signal with your device, you can adjust the lights by channel, set up new scenes (including fade times) and change your current scene or go to blackout. Its incredibly handy, works great, and doesnt cost much. Plus it works great for setting up stage lighting for cameras!
Presentation Software Isnt Just for Churches
05/12/10 08:47
The Mac vs. PC debate is ongoing, but in one industry it is more fierce than any other, the house of worship (church) sector. Whether it is simply displaying lyrics on an overhead screen or elaborate picture in picture video images with lyrics spread across multiple plasmas, today’s presentation software is becoming so advanced that there is little need for much of the hardware that once dominated the video production for image magnification solutions. Two in particular, though definitely not the only two, are particularly popular and I have a considerable amount of experience in not only installing, but using, both EasyWorship (WIndows) and Renewed Vision’s ProPresenter 4 shown below (Mac and recently Windows).
I have done a few speaking engagements here and there, and I am finding that the vast features available with either of these softwares are not only well suited for the church service but also for business presentation. Using video clips is fairly common in presentations, and while Power Point can do this, it can’t do it as smooth and beautifully as software specifically designed to do video. Switching from static slide to static slide is a piece of cake for these high end applications, and you can import your Power Point and Keynote presentations with ease. You cant import them with fancy (annoying) animations, but I see that as a good thing. Want to toss in a background audio track, no problem. Need to span across multiple projectors as one large image, ProPresenter has that function built in.
Each of these applications can do just about anything you want done during a presentation regardless of the audience. If you are looking to wow your crowd, you can definitely put together a first class production with either of these. For more information on the two applications mentioned there is a tremendous amount of data on their websites, each with tech supported boards that you can ask questions on, and even see various setups that others have used for presentations. Don’t limit your self to Power Point, do something wow!
ProPresenter 4 for Mac and PC
Easyworship for PC
I have done a few speaking engagements here and there, and I am finding that the vast features available with either of these softwares are not only well suited for the church service but also for business presentation. Using video clips is fairly common in presentations, and while Power Point can do this, it can’t do it as smooth and beautifully as software specifically designed to do video. Switching from static slide to static slide is a piece of cake for these high end applications, and you can import your Power Point and Keynote presentations with ease. You cant import them with fancy (annoying) animations, but I see that as a good thing. Want to toss in a background audio track, no problem. Need to span across multiple projectors as one large image, ProPresenter has that function built in.
Each of these applications can do just about anything you want done during a presentation regardless of the audience. If you are looking to wow your crowd, you can definitely put together a first class production with either of these. For more information on the two applications mentioned there is a tremendous amount of data on their websites, each with tech supported boards that you can ask questions on, and even see various setups that others have used for presentations. Don’t limit your self to Power Point, do something wow!
ProPresenter 4 for Mac and PC
Easyworship for PC
Dropbox in the Workplace
26/11/10 17:02
By now most people have either used dropbox or signed up for it and currently don’t realize what they are missing, but many still fail to realize what a wonderful application and service this is. Free (up to 2 GB) file back up, file sharing and syncing to ALL devices (iPhone, Android, Blackberry included), and file versioning.
A couple of weeks ago I took the leap and spent a half day or so and re-arranged all of my files (minus those massive media files such as videos that aren’t exactly critical or can be backed up to a USB drive) to fit into my dropbox. I have been living in bliss since. All files available on any machine, PC or Mac, mobile or workstation, and even those I don’t want to share the files to I can simply log on to dropbox.com and see, edit, create, and restore files online. While 2 GB doesn’t seem like much, if you are a business only kind of person and you can leave your photos and videos on a home machine, then it would take quite a few excel docs and word docs to fill up 2 GB. Even at that, I wanted all of my files, sites, documents, EVERYTHING, available so I jumped for the yearly 50 GB plan. Next to my iPad, this was one of my smartest purchases of the year.
Whats really worked out nice is so many iOS apps now feature dropbox integration, including docs-to-go, so that I can edit my spreadsheets rather than just view them. I dont have just one backup of these files either. With dropbox on my work PC and Mac and both my home Macbook and Macbook Pro, plus the set on dropbox’s servers, I have 5 backups completely synced at all times. Doesn’t get much better than that. The 50 GB plan will run you $9.99/month or $99/year and the Pro 100 GB account will be $19.99 or $199/year. I also use Mozy to back up my larger media files so that dropbox limits aren’t exceeded, but my files are extra safe, and quintuply backed up!
A couple of weeks ago I took the leap and spent a half day or so and re-arranged all of my files (minus those massive media files such as videos that aren’t exactly critical or can be backed up to a USB drive) to fit into my dropbox. I have been living in bliss since. All files available on any machine, PC or Mac, mobile or workstation, and even those I don’t want to share the files to I can simply log on to dropbox.com and see, edit, create, and restore files online. While 2 GB doesn’t seem like much, if you are a business only kind of person and you can leave your photos and videos on a home machine, then it would take quite a few excel docs and word docs to fill up 2 GB. Even at that, I wanted all of my files, sites, documents, EVERYTHING, available so I jumped for the yearly 50 GB plan. Next to my iPad, this was one of my smartest purchases of the year.
Whats really worked out nice is so many iOS apps now feature dropbox integration, including docs-to-go, so that I can edit my spreadsheets rather than just view them. I dont have just one backup of these files either. With dropbox on my work PC and Mac and both my home Macbook and Macbook Pro, plus the set on dropbox’s servers, I have 5 backups completely synced at all times. Doesn’t get much better than that. The 50 GB plan will run you $9.99/month or $99/year and the Pro 100 GB account will be $19.99 or $199/year. I also use Mozy to back up my larger media files so that dropbox limits aren’t exceeded, but my files are extra safe, and quintuply backed up!