MIDI Triggering of Lighting

rob_keeling · Post by **rob_keeling** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 4:55 am

I am about to run my first show with SCS, and my inital thoughts are great bit of software. As long as the computer does`t crash our january panto should be much easier.

I am looking at trying to control my behringer LC2412 lighting desk and a midi to voltage card to control colour scrollers.

Currently I can send snap changes to both devices with out a problem. However, if it were possible to output more than one note in a cue (maybe by allowing the text box at the bottom of the page to become editable) One scs cue could become a scene (in my case selecting the colours in say 4 scrollers).

The other really useful thing would be adding the concept of a fade time. So a cue transmits cc messages say starting at 127 finishing at 0 over 30 secs. Which on my desk could be the fadeing out of a memory in 30 secs, triggered 30 secs before the end of the sound cue.

The only way I can thing of doing this is by adding 127 cues with each level and making them auto start after the last.

Mike Daniell · Post by **Mike Daniell** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:32 pm

Rob,

I've had requests for multiple MIDI messages per cue before, but an idea occurred to me on reading your post and that is to provide an option for a free format MIDI message. I'll look into providing this.

Regarding the fade time, that is certainly a possibility, but I would have thought it would be preferable to program the fade into the lighting desk and just have SCS send a MIDI message to commence the fade. Or am I missing something here?

rob_keeling · Post by **rob_keeling** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:14 pm

The fade time issue came from the fact that most of the equipment I am using is very low end. One device outputs levels directly to dimmers via a midi note on command, the lighting desk allows all faders to be "moved" via midi, but doesn`t really have a proper scene recall. So I can trigger blackouts etc, but a fade up on a sub master would need multiple cues.

I agree that on a proper LX desk triggering a scene recall would be ideal.

I could see things like reverb delay times etc being useful to be able to fade over time though.