Simple DMX Programming (part 2)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- Learn simple DMX Programming using four PAR 64 lights and a Chauvet Obey 40 controller. This is a follow up to the first “How to program DMX lights for beginners” tutorial that explains the basic terms and concepts of DMX.
--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 Controller and 2 DMX cables here:
amzn.to/3jWoSpZ
~ten years later and this is useful still. Thank you!
Ten years?!!! How time flies (but glad it's still helpful)
I learned more from this video than an entire semester of stage tech. Excellent Work!
Thank you SO much!
IMO, the best step by step tutorial so far. I am a sound engineer with dmx programing skills thanks to you.
+fv3video
Thank you for watching!
Your welcome and thank you again. With what you explained I was able to use that knowledge for the OBEY 70 which has 32 channels per fixture.
Wow..... Thanks for the sound , clearer and understandable tutorial.....with this ,I believe I can be able to start from nowhere to somewhere.
I was thrown into doing lightwork for my mother this weekend and the interface has become a lot clearer now!
I'm putting on rave a want to have my moving heads to piont facing away from the stage to the dance floor moving heads on stage floor a want loads of senses is there any short cuts automode swings everywhere
What you're doing here is taking me from cable wrangler to developing my board op. I'm primarily a multi-instrumentalist/ sound engineer that finally broke into the local crew. With you're navigation tutorials and thought orientation I will be on the road and out of this little town. I'm very happy I stumbled across your class, now I can approach the board I have access to with confidence. I'm on it! Thanks! - CJ
I’ve watched several of your tutorials and they are the best I’ve found so far. I’m now getting my controller and am going to start the programming process,so I’ll be going back through all of your videos. I appreciate that you have taken the time and effort to share your knowledge in such a clear and concise fashion. I hope all is well with you and yours in these crazy times.
I really appreciate such a supportive and positive comment, and thanks for watching my videos. Good luck with your new rig and hope the programming goes well!
I added DMX lights to my home gym and now my workouts are a lot more fun. Thanks, LearnLizard.
That a great idea! Thanks for sharing and appreciate you watching
What a great teacher!
Thanks for taking the time and energy to do these.
You rock Steve!
Ive watched about 5 other videos. Got a rough Concept. But I Finally have a solid understanding watching these and your's are by far the best. Thank you!
Stevie! Boy!!! you made my day! so happy to finally have the dmx controller figured out, thanks to you! Keep it up in the real world! Cheers!
I love reading comments from people like you that have their setup all figured out. Appreciate you watching!
Dude, what a patience you have explaining this. Thank You!
Thank you so much for these tutorials!! I'm getting back into DJing after about a 15 year hiatus and before, DMX was outrageously expensive and not feasible for me to play with... With your help and the prices that have come down, it's GAME ON now! :)
Where were you when I bought this controller a few years ago? I came here just to brush up on the Chase feature, and I'm amazing by how everything was taught.
You have a gift for videos. You don’t waste time with worthless information and you are simple enough for everyone to grasp!! It’s a joy watching your videos.
I do not speak English, and it is the video where I have better understood the operation of the DMX table. Thank you
Hey! I'm UK based and just getting into mobile djing. Have found your videos very helpful. Thank you very much ☺
Quality minutes of learning just added to my life watching this. My house party will be ❤️🔥❤️🔥
Thanks for those kind words of support! Have an awesome party and appreciate you watching!
This is awesome I had no idea this controller can do all of this I was just about to drop $400 and buy the chauvet show X press but I'm so glad I ran across this video because I already own this exact controller!
You are a boss, thank you so much. I have always had to hire someone to program my lights and they charged a fortune. During covid I decided to get the lights and learn how to do it by myself. Its because of you that this is possible.
I love your vibe and your positive energy to be able to help others.
Thank you so much and I wish you and your family the best in 2021
Thanks so much for telling me that! I really appreciate positive feedback and am very happy that the videos could be some help. Best wishes to you for the coming year- I hope you program some great light shows!
@@LearnLizard Hey! I am a sound engineer and new to lighting. Thanks for making this understandable. I think I missed something though. On this unit, it has 12 set fixtures, and I see that the chauvet 50 48 channel, doesn't have set fixture points. On that model, I am limited to the number of lights based on the number of channels (24 faders x 2). Meaning that if I have lights with say eight channels per light, am I limited to six individual fixtures?? Also, if I only want to use 3 of the eight channels available on a given light, can I just simply start the address of the [second light ] at channel "4", and not use the other 5 channels on fixture one?? Thanks and again I appreciate how you bring your experience down to level where a beginner can understand it. Carl
Haven't seen such great lessons on TH-cam in a long time. Its refreshing
Steve. I have learned a great deal from this video being that I'm new to the wonderful world of LED and DMX. I have 8 slimpar 64 and will add 4 more soon. Thanks for your very helpful videos.
I really appreciate those kind words and glad the video was helpful. Thanks for watching!
Teaching is an art by itself and you nail it!
Best dmx TH-cam teacher! I understand very easily even if I am french!
Merci! I'm happy it was helpful and I appreciate you watching.
Simply put, this man is a LEGEND. Thanks for your time, my friend.
Wow- thanks SO much for that! Really appreciate it. (and thanks for watching)
Oh nice. you've made the video even better than your first time round. The editing is better with the overlays of the buttons you are pressing. Next, audio through a clip on mic :) good job.
Thanks for the kind words! This video is a couple years old. My more recent ones hopefully have better audio (I got a clip on mic just like you recommend)
you're the first person I've found that I can understand. I was one of the first guys to run I beams and track spots and that was like nothing compared to dmx. dmx is like common core math. it doesn't seem intuitive at dll. I learned how to program the original intelligent lighting in like 10 minutes
Glad the video helped. Yeah, DMX doesn't make a lot of intuitive sense at first- but that fact has helped me get lots of views on this channel haha! Appreciate you watching (and interesting to know about DMX's predecessors)
Huge thank you from all at Mandolin Monday, I don't think we'd have ever got it working with the instructions :-)
Thanks for the kind words and glad it was a help!
@@LearnLizard No worries! :)
Great Video. I really appreciate you instructing the video with the console facing the camera. Thank you!
Thanks for the kind words and appreciate you watching!
An excellent clear and concise tutorial. It has got me up and running very quickly, thanks.
Appreciate you watching!
Thank you for this simple and straightforward video. Extremely helpful to us in getting ready to work in a location where there is not a tech to help us. Thanks.
thank you so much i started few days ago on events' lighting n your teachings have being a big help to me....a wonderful teacher, bless you
Thanks so much for those kind words! It really means a lot to me. I'm glad the video helped and I appreciate you watching.
Thank you for the great video, as an audio guy, DMX programming was completely new to me, this video breaks in down so well, and made the programming of my Obey 40 possible and much faster :) Thanks again
The best tutorial I've seen. Step by step. Well-paced. Great job! Thanks!
And there it is, my everfirst understanding of how it works.
Glad it helped!
Steve... You Are THE MAN! Best programming video EVER!
Thanks so much and appreciate you watching!
Great tutorial, so well explained, first one I saw being a newbie, I doubt I would want to see anything else.
Thanks very much for those nice words!
Really nice graphics to accompany to clearly explain, thanks Steve!
Really appreciate the kind words and thanks for watching!
I just bought the Obey 10. Your tutorial will be very helpful. Thank you.
Excellent videos. You made complicated stuff easy to understand.
Best DMX teacher 👍thanks from Germany
Thanks for watching! (from California)
Very good tutorial. I need to repeat this when i buy the dmx in the near future. So far i got 2 static and 2 moving head light.
Thanks for the kind words and good luck programming your light show!
Well done. Finally someone knows what they are talking about
I appreciate that vote of confidence!
Wonderful!!! keep up the good work. This is the best tutorial that I found so far !
Appreciate the kind words!
thanks I have watched a few others and yours was simple to understand and made is easy for me to work my lights
you are so easy to understand thankyou learnt alot from you in two vids
Thanks for saying that and thanks even more for watching!
Got my controller today and I learned something. Although I can control where my spider heads point for a scene I cannot automate a movement that’s not built into the device. Like a slow pan. So it seems I need a PC MIDI controller to do more specific needs correct?
Yes that's basically correct, but there is a work around. If you program 2 different scenes into the obey 40, say one with the beams pointed to the left and a second identical scene with the beams pointed to the right, you can program a chase containing those 2 scenes and then use the "Fade Time" fader to set a slow transition and you will get a slow pan. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
This video was super helpful for creating Chases thanks 🙏🏻
I'm glad it helped. Thanks for taking the time to comment and appreciate you watching!
Best two videos I have seen on the subject. Part 1 & 2. Makes logical sense. Only question I have is how do you get back from Scene or chase to auto? Currently we use sound activation mode and would like to flip back and forth between scenes, chase and sound active.
Thanks for these great tutorials.
Thank you so much for these videos. They are so helpful for all of us.
Glad you like them and really appreciate you watching!
thank you for your tutorials. im a garage dj with an amazing show because of you.
That's awesome to hear! Appreciate you watching.
so as sound engineers we looked down on lighting engineers... well until I got told I had to learn everything about dmx in a week.. your videos are brilliant, thank you!
I just want to say thank you so much for this tutorial. You did an excellent job. I’m doing a show coming up but I do have one question. I’m having a hard time getting the chase to work and sometimes setting the scenes. Do I press program first and then press scene one buttonor do I press one button first and then program and then move the lights… If you can help out that would be amazing you’ve already been so much help. I’ve been watching all your videos and people like you really make the world a better place, thank you so much.
Thanks for all the nice words! Here's the steps for creating a chase:
1. Enter Program mode.
2. Press a chase button to select the chase to be created.
3. Use the bank buttons and the scene buttons to locate the scene that will be saved as a step in the chase. The LCD display shows the current bank just above the word Bank.
4. Press two times to save the scene into a step.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 to add more scenes into steps,or steps 2-4 to add more chases.
6. Exit Program mode.
7. Reset faders to 0 and deactivate blackout.
@@LearnLizard thank you so much. I know you did explain that in the video but it’s easier reading it on paper the way you say it I appreciate it and the party is going to be amazing Thanks to you. Have a blessed day and I will definitely be using your other tutorials for future references
I’ve learned a lot watching your channel. Thanks for the great videos. I have a question for you since talking directly to Chauvet they were no help. I’m working with a disabled population and they sometimes do not stand in the center of the stage where I have a spot. Thinking about purchasing a DMX controller, and also another light. When they stand in the center it’s great, but if they go off of center we can’t see them. What kind of light would you recommend to light the entire stage when that happens, or just purchase the controller and when that happens, hit the program that lights up all lights so no matter where they are at we can see them. I’m looking at a Chauvet Slim Par T6BT with a Obey 6 controller. Your thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Hi- In general, PAR lights will light up a wider area of a stage than more focused beam lights. You could program a Scene on the Obey 6 for either a spot or a PAR stage center, then program a second scene that is stage left, 3rd scene stage right, 4th scene full stage. Then you could "follow" your subject depending on where they are by selecting the appropriate scene. There are many other ways you could do it, but this would be a simple solution. Thanks for watching!
@@LearnLizard thanks that is a great idea! I knew you would think of something! I wish I could post our Christmas show but I’d get hit with copyright issues since they are all doing popular songs! So proud of them! Thanks so much for sharing your videos and knowledge
Thank you very much for this lesson in DMX. I am just starting out with it and you have a really good way of explaining what is very complicated (to a beginner like me). Cheers
Exactly what i was looking for in order to hit the ground running. Many thanks for creating and sharing. May i make a request for future lessons; can you please show an example which includes a fog machine and lights?
+Martin George
Thanks for the nice comment! I just posted a new video on programming a laser (simple lesson)
I love your tutorials - no fuss just straight to the nub of the subject - clear and refreshingly simple to follow. Please keep them coming LL.
Excellent. You are best teacher. Thank you!
Thanks so much and I appreciate you watching!
Going to try this tomorrow and wondered if you have ever tried this? I have a Chauvet DMX and I can’t save anything on it, however I’m wondering if I can do this. I want my light in the middle to remain on, lights on left and right I’ll put in a auto chase mode. Then with all 3 lights selected can I control the speed and fade times? I had a guy that was going to help me with my lights this Saturday and he’s backed out, so I’m trying to figure out a way to have some kind of light show while I’m performing without having to do too much. Any suggestions? I know I can use the sound activation, but I don’t really like that look. You’re the best by the way!
Thanks for the kind words! The Obey 40 is pretty basic when it comes to programming, but if you created a series of scenes where each one had the center light on, and the right and left lights in different variations and then created a Chase out of those scenes, I think you would achieve the look you are going for. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
@@LearnLizard that's exactly what I did! I programmed the middle light to solid white and then had lights left and right on a auto chase that I would control speed it worked perfectly
Thanks sir.. your explanation is so easy and clear than other..
You are most welcome
Thank you Mister “Chauvet”, you are da bomb !
Thanks for watching! (definitely like Chauvet controllers - and hazers)
Is there a way to loop a chase? Mine keeps going from chase 1 to chase 2, etc
If you select just one chase, it will loop that chase. If you select more than one, it will cycle through all the ones you have selected. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
So so so helpful and clear. Thanks buddy, all your videos are great!
Really appreciate that and thank you for watching!
Excelent tutorial, great
Two questions:
1) can transitions be programmed within the chase and between the scenes, (speed and fade).
2) can one set the chase not to loop? Just be executed once
Hi and thanks for the kind words. The Obey 40 is a bit limited with regards to controlling Chases:
1) You can adjust the Speed and Fade Time between scenes with the fader controls, but those settings are not memorized when you store the Chase.
2) There is no option to play a Chase as a "one shot". It will always loop.
Appreciate you watching!
very new to this and really appreciate the videos. One question I do have is, when it say " the board can handle 12 fixtures" does that mean is can only work with 12 light( or fixtures) total? or does that mean something else?
Thank you very much for these tutorials, helped alot!!!
Thank you for watching!
Good video, well explained made it easy to learn basics.
THANK. YOU!!! great help. Might want to get a handle on the sound though. Lots of white noise
Thank you so much for the tutorial. We are connecting lights on top of a metal bar for church lighting, but didn’t want to keep the lights on the whole time during the week. If we turn all the lights off, would we have to re-program the lights all over?
Thankfully, every light I've worked with retains its settings in memory even when the power is turned off. I believe that is the norm. (but you might want to check with your lights to be sure) Appreciate you watching this one!
Thank you for making these videos. You made this so easy to understand. Thanks again!
Can you play chases on demand instead of using the auto button? Like switch between using scenes and chases on demand?
thank u very much for this very clear tutorial, very effective to learn sir.
Thanks very much for watching and glad it could help!
Forgive me if this is a dumb question but i'm in a three piece band and have five dmx lights, i would like to be able to control them on stage. Is it possible to do this using a tablet? I'm a bit dubious about relying on wifi since it wouldn't be practical for every venue we play at, so would it be doable going from a Tablet micro USB, maybe using a micro USB to USB adapter then through an enttec to the lights? Ideally i could have the tablet on stage and use a footswitch from the enttec to go through the scenes. Any help would be hugely appreciated.
Clear english and clear instructions❤
Thank you for those kind words and I appreciate you watching!
Why am I watching this? I've got nothing to do with stage lighting or whatsoever but still watch. And this guy Steve, looks like an action star from the 80s tv serials.
I'm going to take that as a compliment 😀
(appreciate you watching)
@@LearnLizard
Hi there. Howya doin?
Is that you Steve?
Steve great work , does the unit store the scenes when disconected.
Thanks Radio North! Yes, the Obey 40 stores all its scenes into memory that can be recalled after it is powered down, and then reconnected. Appreciate you watching...
Very helpful, took all the guesswork out. Thank you.
Thank you for making this tutorial. Do you recommend any other controller more advanced than this for next level of performance?
Although there are many choices for hardware controllers that are much more advanced (such as this one amzn.to/3CtYbry) for me going with software controllers has given much more flexibility. I'm using ADJ myDMX3 on my Mac but you also can use a tablet. Here's a video that shows how: th-cam.com/video/6TU_2ViTXCQ/w-d-xo.html Thanks for watching!
If I have one light channel 1 and another channel 2 start point. If I raise channel 2 in first fixture will the first one be green and the second one be red? (RGB)
Hi Steve I have a few questions,
- how do you delete scenes and chases and if you delete a scene and its programmed in a chase will it remain in the chase ?
- how much did the controller cost ?
- is it possible to add industrial lights using a dimmer rack as well as the LEDs ?
- can this controller also control movers if so can you please make a video about that ?
Thank you your videos are very very useful and informative I really enjoy learning about lighting is this way :)
+Kane Wilson
Hi-
To delete a scene: 1) go to program mode 2) go to the bank where the scene is located 3) Hit the AUTO/DEL button 4) select the scene to delete
To delete a chase: 1) go to program mode 2) select the chase you want to delete 3) Hit the AUTO/DEL button and the chase button at the same time
-If you delete a scene it is also removed from the chase
-the Obey 40 costs about $120 new
-This controller can control any fixture (moving head etc.) that uses DMX
Thanks for watching!
+LearnLizard You're an awesome teacher. Loved the vids. I don't even have a controller but I'm planning to get one lol.
Furthermore, I would love to know how to program moving heads so that they can go in circles. I'm thinking you have to program a scene for each point of the circle (One up, one left, one down, and one right) then have a chase in the order of the way the circle should go....
.and also for spot lighting is that done manually using the directional channel fader of the moving head? I'm planning to get an obey 70 since I noticed the joystick. Would this be use for moving head control for spot lighting?
+Dahys V
Hi- Most moving heads will have a programmable function to go in circles with the different parameters (speed, size, etc.) controllable by the DMX value, so no need to create a chase to achieve this effect.
...and yes, the joystick would be used for positioning movers.
Thanks for watching and good luck!
Hello!I have a DMX 512 and i try to use Tapsync (tap 2 or 3...or 10 times!) but its not working...btw i have a programm copied to chase and i pressed Auto before to use Tapsync but still not workimg.Only works as a Display.Can you help me or its a console ptoblem?
your video series has helped me so much. I was hoping you would make some more advanced videos as everyone seems to be doing 101 stuff. cuz I could sure use some further help. like I have the 4 lights on stands and a led bar on the floor I want the tree to pulse at a sled at by my obey while the bar is a constant color during 1 chase but then the colors change for a different chase how would one get the bar to stay one color while the others pulse thru scenes?
+Christopher Headcase
Hi- The only way I know how to do this with the Obey 40 would be to program 2 different chases with the bar the same color in each one. When you change from the first chase to the second it would create the same effect you are describing. I am working on some new tutorials that demonstrate simple software controllers that offer a lot more options. Thanks for watching!
Does the Obey controller allow you to set fades between scenes? how is this done?
On the obey 10 program the light straight into the steps (obey 10’s version of banks) since there is no scenes and use the step up and step down and do not enable auto to use it as scenes
Hi Steve. Great video. I'm having some trouble trying to link a couple of LED pars and Chauvet Colorpalettes togther, I'm using a simple Obey3 controller.Just trying to get them to go thru the same color patterns in sync. Got any advice?
+CRUZITO1980
Hi- If you set all the fixtures to the same starting address they will all operate in exact sync, however the colors may not match. I would put similar fixtures on the same addresses, then program scenes where the colors match. That should keep everything in sync. Thanks for the positive comment, and good luck!
I'm wondering why nothing is happening after moving/changing the fadetime during a chase (auto)... Am I missing something?
Try changing the speed so the scenes change every 3 seconds or so. Then put the fade time to 0 and slowly raise it and you should see the effect.
Hope that helps.
QUESTION - When I am buying my Lighting Controller DMX512, Should it come with the cable to connect the lights into the control system? Or when I buy the lights it should come? ( I really need an answer! Thanks! )
I have a question that I am finding is not really covered. I am trying to control all of my fixtures using wireless DMX dongles. On my T-bar tower, I will have two moving heads and two Parcans.. The moving heads will be in a slave / master configuration. Here is the question.. can I put all four fixtures on the same DMX string.. Does the Master /Slave have to be one right after the other physically and/or in addresses.. Will the parcans interfere with the Master / Slave configuration if on the same strintg
Great, thank you. Very understandable and clear.
Appreciate you watching!
@@LearnLizard Appreciate your explaining! :-)
You are a Great teacher , Thanks !
I appreciate those kind words and thanks for watching!
Hey mate. My Fade time doesn't seem to work, and it is really annoying me!! haha. Any idea why:?
This is awesome well explained made it easy to learn basics.Thank you so much for these tutorials!!
So if you were to turn the power off and let’s say you go to your next gig location, does that mean you have to pre set all the scenes all over again or does it stay within the console?
Thankfully all the programming data gets saved in the memory!
subbed since i seen part one, you're great at explaining this!
great video very easy step by step simple instructions!! :)
What lights are you using and what are you using to control the lights?
can you set a fade between scenes instead of an abrupt change of scenes?
Thanks, great tutorial. If you set each fixture to the same starting address could you have them all red without using up the 4 Fixture Presets?
Just got this controller I have made 8 scenes but when it’s show time how do u get it to fade between screens not just jump to the next one ( the fade time and speed faders don’t seem to work)
Thank you very much!, I am a beginner at programming DMX, and your tutorials have been incredibly helpful.
I’d like to take this opportunity to ask a question: I understand that these controllers don't have a fader to dim the scenes.
Is it possible to program this? For example, I need to transition from a scene with the lights at 100% to one at 50% power with, let´s say, 4 seconds between them.
I've tried creating a chase, but it creates a loop between the scenes, and I need the transition to end when moving from one scene to another.
Again, thank you very much.
Unfortunately the Obey 40 (and similar controllers) can't do what you want with preprogrammed scenes. You could achieve that effect in programming mode, but it would be awkward to do each time.
Software controllers are the great option and a logical next step from the Obey 40 IMHO.
hi, thanks for the video - is it a max of 4 linked fixtures per input on the back of the controller?? how many dmx inputs are on the back? trying to get an idea of how many long cords i need to run to the controller!!
Hi- There is just one DMX "out" jack on the back of the controller but you can hook up as many lights as you want by "daisy chaining" them all together. Just connect the controller to the first light's DMX "in" jack, then the "out" jack of that first one to the second one's "in" jack and so on. (saves buying a lot of long cords!!)
@@LearnLizard thank you ! very cool.
Very Good tutorial thanks a lot from Puerto Rico
Thanks for watching this one!
Amazing tutorials sir..much needed much helpful ;) cheers!