Question on DMX lighting - "384 DMX channels/control 16 channel each" What's the difference

[Ferniff]

Wasn't sure what thread to post in for DMX lighting but I'm hoping live sound is close enough. We got a little jam studio where I like to play with the lights and just got into DMX control earlier this year. I'm looking at a cheap moving head light on Amazon that's about $160, this is just for our amusment not for live shows so I'm looking to spend money on the nice quality lights.

Anyways, this particular light I'm looking at says it has 22 channels for DMX control, which means I need a controller that has at least 24 chanels. I'm looking at the Rockville Rockforce 384. The description says :

"Rockville is proud to introduce the all new ROCKFORCE 384 universal DMX Controller with 384 DMX channels. "
"With the Rockforce 384 you can control 24 lights with up to 16 channels per light. "

Can I use the Rockforce 384 to have full control of the 22 dmx channels the moving light has?

 

[Ferniff]

Chapt GPT says no. Think I'll look into DMX from an Ipad instead

 

[kittywithabanjo]

I use a Wolfmix but I am sure thats out of your range and it is just ok for Movers

 

[Wasnex]

"With the Rockforce 384 you can control 24 lights with up to 16 channels per light. "

If the description is correct, no.

To answer the question you have dig pretty deep in the operation manuals and learn a bit about DMX.

It's been awhile since I messed with lighting, so take with a grain of salt. From what I remember you need a profile for each type of lighting fixture. The profile holds a configuration that tells the controller how to access all of the fixture's controllable features. The controller should have a library of device profiles or you may be able to download device profiles. You may also be able to build your own device profiles. I have built a few device profiles and found it fairly difficult/confusing.


Example:
If you have a fixture that uses 22 channels you might assign it to channel 1. Then you assign a matching profile to channel 1 and it controls channels 1-22. From what I remember the 1st channel is basically the address of the device.

If you buy four identical fixtures, you can assign all of them to channel 1 and they will all do exactly the same thing. With some fixtures, you can invert an axis, so tracking is mirrored. For example if you put two lights on the left and two lights on the right with the X axis controller inverted, when you tell the left lights move right towards the center, the right lights move left towards the center because the X axis is reversed.

You could also assign all four fixtures to different addresses. Fixture A could be address to channel 1, fixture B could be addressed to channel 23, fixture C could be assigned to channel 45, and fixture D could be assigned to channel 67. With this configuration you can program each light to do something different.

Some fixtures also have modes that use less than the maximum channels. You give up some functionality in the process. For example maybe a fixture can use up to 22 channels but it has a mode that will allow it to work with only 16 channels. If you chose the 16 channel mode, I believe you need a matching 16 channel device profile.

 

[kittywithabanjo]

You can build profiles as well with a listing of what each channel does.

 

[4Mal]

dmx from an ipad ... good luck with that. I tried 2 different rigs and it was more trouble that it was worth. There are some PC applications. They tend to get expensive ... Things may have changed. It is a topic that I don't focus on at this point.

You might consider consulting the lighting instrument's DMX map and see what the channels beyond 16 actually do. It may be nothing you really want.

You can also probably get at those upper channels by using an adjacent channel on the board. 2 channels for 1 light if those functions are actually worth while. There may also be macro functions built into the board that could call in those upper channels... maybe...

I would also consider Monoprice. I have 20 or so of their 90 watt (9x10) LED Pars. They offer color mixing in the bulb and were like $60 a unit. I have several years use on them. monoprice also has movers... maybe they have one that has 16 channels of useful to you stuff...

Good lord... I just looked at that light on Amazon... ick. Buy a couple of used scanners, a wash or 4 and call it good. That thing looks to have a self destruct capability high than most things I've seen...

 

[kittywithabanjo]

I been running some of the Betopper movers with good results.

 

[TheReceder]

I used to be one of those guys that did everything... I programmed my little light board, and did everything I could to forget it afterwords... focus on hitting the tempo and selecting the diffent chases.

My favorite litte toys were 4 blizzard snow banks. Great blinders when I used fog, good for back lighting and for a really small show could be used as lights on the front of the stage.

 

[TommyGunz]

Some lights have settings you can change to use less channels. Generally speaking DMX doesn't care what light is using what channel it only cares about the channel. So the board is set up to control "24 lights, with 16 channels each" But all that really may mean is that is the way the board is configured physically. To have 24 banks of 16 faders. Meaning you should still be able to control all 22 channels of the lights, you'll just have to use 2 banks to do it. If for some reason the board won't work that way, I believe those lights should technically still work with that board, but you may not have control over channels 17-22. So depending on what those channels control, that may still work for you or it may not. Some lights put all the basic controls first and the last few channels are the built in "programs" that you may not need. You'll have to look at the manual to be sure. Although on some of the cheap lights even the manual may not have the answers and you're stuck with figuring it out on your own.

As far as the total number of channels, you can control multiple lights using the same channels by setting the address on the lights to the same channels. So for instance, you could address 5 lights to start at channel 1 and they would use channels 1-22. Then you could address 5 more lights to start at channel 23 and they would use channels 23-44.

So total number of channels isnt a concern unless you want control over each individual light. It really comes down to whether you can control all 22 channels using 2 banks of faders, and if not, what those last 6 channels on those lights are programmed to control.