How to program DMX lights for beginners (simple lesson)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- A very simple introduction to DMX programming using two PAR 64 lights and a Chauvet Obey 40 controller.
--These exact lights are no longer available but you can buy similar ones here:
amzn.to/2Mgmpvl
(they have DMX functions like the ones in the video as well as sound active mode and a remote)
--You can also buy the Obey 40 and 2 DMX cables here:
amzn.to/3jWoSpZ
I watched this video over 6 years ago, and it almost singlehandedly got me into lighting. I just found it again today and looking back, this is the best basic lesson I ever got. I've designed full shows on ETC consoles with over 500 intelligent fixtures, but it all started with this. Thank you for inspiring me those years ago.
Oh wow- I can't tell you how good that makes me feel. Thank you SO much for those kind words and for sharing on this channel! Thats so awesome about your success as a show designer. I am inspired :)
hey i just got one ..your story is very encouraging to my old analog head..well see how it goes for me ..do these things save the settings when powered off? ..or do you have to do it every time ?
Dude, good on you for comoing back and saying thank you.. I'm not the mod but damn, you even made me happy..
I'm an audio guy that knows nothing about lighting, but I love lighting deign. Your video really explains a lot. GREAT JOB!
Thanks so much for the compliment! On the Obey 40 you can group scenes into "Banks" which can contain up to 8 scenes. The reason this is relevant is that you can call up a bank and have a cycle (chase) through the 8 scenes automatically. Its an easy way to make chases without having to program them scene by scene.
Thank you very much from Russia. I watched your video about basics of DMX. And now it all makes sence to me. I found it a bit confusing at the beginning, but thanks to your video where you explain everything in detail and really show the simple basics on how to start making scenes and programm the controller. It makes me want to make something like your video in russian language, so that people will learn the basics in just 10 minutes, like I did watching your vide. Thansk again and keep up the good work!!! Good luck to you!
Really appreciate all the positive comments! FYI- My par lights are 36 x 3W RGB PAR 64 lights that I bought on eBay. (from a seller in Southern California called "musicsupply" They are from China and were inexpensive (4 for $265) So far I have been very happy with them.
+LearnLizard My question is, what about different types of fixtures? Does everything daisy chain together and you assign the addresses, or does there need to be some kind of splitter to send each model its own lead?
DMX512 is just a protocol, and doesn't care what fixtures or dimmers you use. You can daisychain up to 512 channels on one universe (a set of 512 addresses is called a universe). On large boards you have multiple universes, that means you use one DMX output per universe.
LearnLizard Love you're work, you inspired me and I scored myself a beginner dmx controller hat does 192 control channel for 12 projectors with up to 16 channels
16 bit resolution for fine Pan/Tilt movements 6 programmable chases with up to 240 scenes 8 Preset Scenes from New Zealand's equivalent of Ebay for $40nzd with roadcase, now just need some fixtures and a stand.
LearnLizard Love you're work, you inspired me and I scored myself a beginner dmx controller hat does 192 control channel for 12 projectors with up to 16 channels
16 bit resolution for fine Pan/Tilt movements 6 programmable chases with up to 240 scenes 8 Preset Scenes from New Zealand's equivalent of Ebay for $40nzd with roadcase, now just need some fixtures and a stand.
LearnLizard
Plzzz respond to me plzzzz
I was lost and now I'm found! I bought gear last year and could not figure out how to do what you just showed.. I can now get it back out and make it work. THANK YOU for such an informative video. It was VERY WELL MADE!!!!!!
Really appreciate those kind words and glad it was helpful- thanks for watching and good luck with your programming!
very clear explained, i really learned more in this 10 minutes, than in the last 10 years. (+)
+Uğur Akgöz
Thank you- that is such a nice thing to say!
me too!!!
Sir how to delete program on dmx?
@@LearnLizard do you have a video on how to create a moving head chase that will move the lights fast then slow in between transitions. I'm learning the basics but this would be what I'm aiming for.
I've done live events for decades. (Multiscreen live video projection.) And the presenter here looks like every professional lighting guy I've ever worked with! :-) That's why I chose this video first. Sure enough, he's competent and explains it all clearly. Thanks!
If only all other tutorials on YT were like this!
Easy to understand, follow, educational, interesting and not pushing some random advert crap.
Also, this was posted in 2013 and so much better than a lot of 'tutorials' out there today!
Wow- I really appreciate those kind words and so glad it was helpful. Its interesting that most simple DMX fixtures are programmed pretty much the same way in 2020!
What a great intro to the world of DMX! I just got a Chauvet 70 with no background in light or controllers, and this video was tremendous to kick things off for starters. Well done Steve, thanks and looking forward to going through your tutorials for more insight
Wow- thanks for those kind words and really glad the video helped. Have fun with your Obey 70 and appreciate you watching!
ingilizce bilmeyen birisi olarak anlaşılır teşekkür ederim 🙏
out of all the video tutorial i've seen, this is the only tutorial i learned a lot about using dmx...
As a complete novice with two ADJ z7 beams and an Ayra DMX controller in front of me (and a growing mood of confusion/rage) this is exactly what I needed to see. Thank you!
thank you so much ... its a very big help for me .. ive been using dmx for more than a year .. but havent figure out how to save a program light ... thank you so much for this .. God bless
Great video. This is a great lesson for beginners like myself. With your instructions I feel like i can take it to the next level.
Appreciate the kind words and thanks for watching!
I remember this exact same controller in the 90’s, Thankyou for the memories!!!! And great video
Ha ha- yeah, the Obey 40's have been around forever, but they still get the job done-- and built like tanks :)
Great vid.. thanks for the help ... I've been DJing 25 years but never programmed DMX b4..
I can't explain how much I appreciate these videos!
Thanks so much for those positive words. I really appreciate you watching!
Thanks so much for this, helped me understand the fixture values. Was having terrible trouble understanding that, and now I have managed to programme some scenes with my new lights! Tomorrow I will programme some chases!! I was panicking because I'm only just getting back into all this, received my stuff today and have a halloween gig on Saturday night so my stress levels have now gone from 100% down to a mild 20% thanks to your video which doesn't seem to age at all. Amazing how this technology just doesn't change apart from becoming wireless. Thanks again!
I'm glad to hear it was helpful! Good luck with the Halloween gig and appreciate you watching.
Oh my my my. made 9 years ago. I am watching in 2022. I hope all is well with you Mr Lizard. Thank you for these tutorials.
Thanks for the comment and appreciate you taking another watch after all these years!!
An amazing explanation in plain language that is invaluable to anyone interested in getting into lighting for any field of stage lighting.
Appreciate the kind words and thanks for watching!
The Obey 40 is set up with fixed starting addresses. The first fixture is address 1-16, the second fixture is address 17-32, the third 33-48, and so on. That way you can use up to a 16 channel fixture if you need to.
this is exactly what I was looking for. thanks for all the knowledge.
12 years ago I couldn't find videos about this. I have to learn from scratch
I had to learn by scratch too, so I figured this video might help people. Thanks for watching.
Steve, thank you so much for creating this very easy to understand lesson. I finally invested in a controller for my lights and found your lesson to be the easiest to understand. Great instruction technique!
Really appreciate those kind words and so glad it helped!
quick question, I noticed your not using a terminator, do you not need it ? when should a terminator be used?
+Danny Finch
I have not been using a terminator (although it is good practice to) as my cables are under 30 feet long. The longer your cables, the more necessary they become to avoid signal transmission problems. Thanks for watching!
I got a terminator, they're only about $5. Plus, couldn't resist buying something as cool sounding as that.
good ole serial networking basics...good catch.
more good practice in using terminators is when you are using a larger number of fixtures in the chain. me personally as a general rule if i have 2 or more fixtures in the chain i use a terminator. save yourself some money buying a ready made one if you have a little bit of tech knowledge is a waste of money. make your own for a fraction of the price ( i make mine for about $1.70AUD). take a male XLR connector, remove the casing and solder a 120ohm 0.5W resistor between pins 2 and 3 (looking at rear view thats the left hand side and bottom pins). replace the casing and you're good to go just connect it in your final fixture on the chain
holy crap... like others have said... 10 minutes with you simplified 10 months of headache
Wow- thanks so much for those kind words! Really glad the video was helpful :)
iam looking for this video for long time, and finally i found it... thanks learnlizard.. i really want to learn more about lighthing programe
Hey Steve! Thanks a lot. We're working on an original Christmas musical, and I wanted to finally figure out how to do theatrical lighting. Thanks for the help! :-)
Thanks for those kind words and glad the video was helpful. Hope your musical goes well!
Where's the Chauvet tutorial on how to use their damn controllers?
I cant find any except for this guy. His videos helped me to be honest.
It is the same as shown. He is even using one. The controller he is using is probably the most cloned model unlike the Obey 70.
The Chauvet manual sucks. They dont care about you. Thank goodness for people like this
Thanks and really understood basics of DMX Control
I've got a few par cans and effects, and I thoroughly enjoyed your video here! I bought a very expensive DMX-PC interface and software back in 2007 for £499 (!) but it's great knowing that it can be replaced now for $70. Didn't realise there was free software too like Freestyler.
I usually do not leave comments but this is great tutorial
Thanks for leaving that comment! (and I appreciate you watching)
6 years old and still getting views... you need to get some affiliate links in this description! Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching and thanks for that suggestion! (I have some links in some of my other videos but not this one- I should definitely add some)
Thank you!! Being a new DJ I was totally confused! Not anymore!!
Cheers got only some hours before party starts. You Saved my A :)
Glad it helped! Appreciate the comment and thanks for watching :)
Is this guy high or what?
Thanks for making this video. I now know how I can do what I want to do via DMX (and that controller you demonstrated should fit the bill)
Thank you so much for posting this as well as your other DMX videos. Legit, you do great work.
Nice explanation, was able to digest all the info, thanks!
Glad it was helpful. Thanks so much for watching!
Thanks for this video my world makes much more sense now. God Bless
Thanks this video helped so much I do the various concerts and shows at my school and this helped so much.
Very clear introduction. Thanks!
Appreciate the kind words!
Well presented man, simple, concise.
The simplest and clearest explanation I've seen, thank you. :o)
Great clear explanation of the basics! Thank you!
Appreciate the kind words and thanks for watching!
i was struggling till i saw this video..many thanks!!!
Thank you so much! this tutorial made me understand all what you need to know when you start with DMX programming!
So useful.. Back for a second look!
Appreciate you watching!
The theater just installed new ADJ lights: Specifically four ADJ PAR Z120 RGBW units. The setup on the board is as follows:
Light 1 -> Assigned to Fixture 1 (channel 8, address 1) -> Faders 1-4 on the operator board are RGBW.
Light 2 -> Assigned to Figure 2 (channel 8, address 17) -> Faders 1-4 on the operator board are RGBW
Light 3 -> Assigned to Figure 3 (channel 8, address 33) -> Faders 1-4 on the operator board are RGBW
Light 4 -> Assigned to Figure 4 (channel 8, address 49) -> Faders 1-4 on the operator board are RGBW
You can see the problem with this setup. While I have individual lighting control as individual fixtures, I cannot have Red on light 1/figure 1 and Green on light 2/figure 2 as sliders 1-4 on channel selection A on the DMX operator board have the same assignments.
I would like to setup the DMX board to have the following setup:
Light 1 -> Assigned to Fixture 1 (channel 8, address 1) -> Faders 1-4 on the DMX Operator Board (Page Select A) on the operator board are RGBW.
Light 2 -> Assigned to Figure 2 (channel 8, address 17) -> Faders 5-8 on the DMX Operator Board (Page Select A) on the operator board are RGBW
Light 3 -> Assigned to Figure 3 (channel 8, address 33) -> Faders 1-4 on the DMX Operator Board (Page Select B) on the operator board are RGBW
Light 4 -> Assigned to Figure 4 (channel 8, address 49) -> Faders 5-8 on the DMX Operator Board (Page Select B)on the operator board are RGBW
This way I can have individual colors on all four lights at different times.
I just have 0 understanding of how to program the lights to be assigned to different faders/page selects on the DMX Operator.
this guy's left and right eyes has different colors. kewl.
akkaadadimana I thought it was only me trippin😂
Thank you 🙏 Sir you made my day .
thanks for this video ! it's really help a beginner .
Greta video thanks, you explain things very well
Appreciate those kind words and thanks for watching!
I was wondering if your instructions on the Obey 40 would be the same instructions for the Obey 10. I am about to purchase one.
Very well explained! Thank you so much!
Thanks for the kind words and appreciate you watching!
Helpful video, thank you.
Thank you for watching!
thank you so much! this helped me so much
Glad it helped!
This is fantastic, thanks so much!
Appreciate you watching!
Thanks this has helped a lot thanks sir.....
Very helpful. Thank you !
Thanks for watching!
nice video thank you the tutorial..and god bless sir.
PERFECT !!! THANK YOU VEEEERY VERY MUCH ! ! ! ! CLEAR AND SHORT ! ! I suppose if we work with 8 lights I have to program each one in d001, d009, d017, d025, d033, etc, etc, isn't it ? (Could you confirm it to me ? Thank you very much )
Thanks a lot for this video, really helped me!
Worth mentioning: In my experience I have to shut off the power to the lights and turn them back on again before they will work on a new fixture.
Watching this in 2020., wondering why Chauvet couldn't have made a video like this 15 years ago.
Their motto seemed to be: "If they can't figure it out themselves, they just need to leave it on sound-activated mode."
(Besides, we're going to start making out lights more "user friendly" for mobile DJs, who don't travel with their own
lighting engineer; introducing: IR-6 Remote control and BT app controlled,
T12 BT, Q12 BT & T3 BT SlimPR).
Funny you should say that. Sometimes I used to wonder how many Obey 40 controllers this video helped Chauvet sell LOL! (and they STILL sell them after all these years)
@@LearnLizard For sure! You should have been selling these on eBay and Amazon, with your link in the description. Not too late! Video is still getting views. Thanks for all your effort put into these educational videos. Well done, sir.... well done.
thanks !! the video was very useful!! :)
Thank you so much! needed this!
A great tutorial. Setting up the scenes was simple. The only thing I miss is how to set up a single fade from scene 1 to scene 2. On the other hand it is probably easy once I get the lights and controllers. They are still in the mail... Thanks for the tutorial.
Trying to use this w the R1 mover, I can only select DMX 15/19 channel setup
I’ve done this exact thing
We’re only using 2R1’s fixtures are communicating as moving but not lamps aren’t coming on
Great Video!
Thanks for watching!
Let's say that have the lights strobing and every now and then I want the lights in front to just be solid colors while the ones in the back still strobing. Would I need another dmx?
Thank you for this!
wow! this is so informative
What would be the starting address for fixture 2 on an obey 06? Do you know? the very un informative manual doesn't give much info. Te funny thing is I work in a theatre and we have an ETC ion and many state of the art LED fixtures and I have no problem figuring that stuff out but this club lighting for some reason gives me fits. I'm using an ADJ mega par profile bar of 4 RGB as fixture one and have some RGBW fixtures that I can't for some reason seem to get to work as fixture two. Drives me nuts every time I play with them to try to figure it out.
How does connection of fixtures to a DMX controller work when you can't select the starting channel on the fixture? We have RGB LED lights that have the DMX inputs and outputs for daisychaining but do not have an interface for selecting the starting channel..
Very helpful
Good job bro...
Hi I have an Obey 4 and 4 par 64 leds. They only have the 10 dipswitches that you can have on or off. . I don't seem to be able to get the Obey to operate them. They haven't got the visual window in them to be able to have each on a different fixture. I would just like to be able to run them as one colour but be able to manually change that colour. I have all the mic cables etc.
when assigning fixtures do you go from left to right or start in the center and assign with fixture types?
very helpful!!
Hi, brilliant video for idiots like me! Lol.. Just one thing, once you set scenes etc when you disconnect it all and pack it away, the next time you set it back up will the scenes still be programmed or will it need to be set up again? Thanks!! Great video!
Thanks for the great videos, its especially helpful when your brand new to the world of lighting. Was getting frustrated searching for good instructional videos on the Obey 40, when by chance i came across yours. Learn so much from your videos keep them coming. Do you have any videos on setup using Freedom Par Hex4 using the Obey 40 D-Fi 2.4. Thanks again
Does each light need a power source or is it all powered from the controller unit. Sorry I'm looking to set up some lights.
Yes- each light needs to plug in to AC power (as do most DMX fixtures) so you need to take that into account when you set up your rig. Thanks for watching!
Thanks again
I have this controller & (2) brand new Vesuvio II's fog effect machines, plus the D-fi wireless hub. I plan to use this whole system for Bride & Groom entrances. Do you have any tutorials on using this controller with d-fi hub and programming simple scenes with the fog button
very helpful, thank you man!
thank you for the tutorial
Hi Steve. Great video....real sanity saver.
I was wondering if could advise me about triggering chases using a Behringer FCB1010 midi pedal.
thanks again for great videos
Chris
Hopefully you can help me with a question, we have 24 dmx fixtures, can we running 4 fixtures on 1 channel, say 4 fixtures with d0001 setting and 4 fixtures with d0002 setting or even all 24 on 1 channel like d0001 so we can run them all, with same settings, is this possible or do we actually need to buy a super large controller?
Is it possible to do a video on how to program the OBEY 6? Thanks
Perfect... Onpoint, Thanks
What are the benefits of buying the Obey 40 (or any other of these systems) over the fancy cheap cable that converts DMX to USB? And have a computer do the job?
Waooooo I have understood everything
Before programming a scene do i have to press the program button?
Is the fade time between scenes and speed also saved so when I call on Chase 1 for example. it will be the same every time for chase 1? OR does that have to be manually set? Thank You and awesome tutorial!
Thanks so much!!
Appreciate you watching!
can you do one on programming something like the Chauvet Intimidator Spot Duo on the Obey 40? Not sure if you can do it on that or not. (And thanks for your channel.)
With this board, can you set a scene that would have effects on it?
Thanks Lizard👍
Thank you it was very helpfull
Hey can you do a video on how to use this with 4 lights and have them “moving” from side to side? Like have one light on at a time then the next one and so forth
Hi- It sounds like you want to program a chase. I show exactly how to do that with 4 lights in this video: th-cam.com/video/nVbVl4s_pQ4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for watching!
Hi' Thanks for your info just wondered if you may be able to advise us. We run a Ledj S1 Controller with Ledj stratos LED Panels we us them on automatic button settings on the controller . I have an unbranded Panel light dmx 512 and don't know if I can get it to work with the other panels and controller? it has a 4 button address unlike the Ledj which is 3 can I somehow get them to work together to operate the same colour program? Hope this makes sense.Ledj panel address is 00.1