Re: [QLab] qlab and magic q

[Mike P]

I ran both QLab and lighting from a mini using Q Light Controller (QLC) using the IAC MIDI bus to communicate. Once I got it figured out, it worked quite well. QLC was the only package I could find that didn't kill my Mini. It runs natively in OSX (as well as several other platforms).

There's a fairly rambling description of what I did here:

http://mdpostdesign.com/Blog/Life,_The_Universe_and_Nothing_at_All/A_Nerds_Life/Entries/2012/5/10_What_to_do_when_you_dont_have_enough_control_Make_it_up!.html


Mike Post
(601) 307-8657
mdp...@mac.com
http://mdpostdesign.com

On Jul 28, 2012, at 5:03 PM, tobias wrote:

> Hello
>
> I am using qlab to run a small theatre production on tour. From my macbook pro I control video and audio ques with fades, waits etc. Nothing very fancy, nothing very complicated, and no two videos running at the same time etc. I have one projector and one screen. And one adio output via a soundcard.
>
> At the moment I am considering buying a lightboard for my company and I have been using magic Q on a pc with a dmx box connecting thatto the dimmers. My uestion is whether you think it will be possible to run the light together with the rest from the same mac (with or without a magic q wing to run the lights...) It would be GREAT if I could keep mye numbers of devices down for the kind of touring we do - and for our budget. I have the full version of qlab, and have never had any issues with the program.
>
> I first mailed this to qlabs suupotyt, and got this reply: Would you be running Magic Q in a PC emulator? If so I wouldn't recommend that without careful testing. If it can be run natively on the Mac, however, I would guess it will not be a problem, as I can't imagine the lighting software will take a lot of power to run. Always test to be sure, of course.
>
> Cheers, Chris
>
>
>
> Magic q runs through x11 on my mac. I am not sure myself how that plays into what Cgris askes for above, and I am hoping one of you will be willing to enlighten me some, and maybe hear experiences with magic q ore similar platforms. Has anyone her ran lights and qlab from the same mac?
>
> tobias
>
>
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[ra byn (robin)]

On Sat, July 28, 2012 4:03 pm, tobias wrote:
> Magic q runs through x11 on my mac. I am not sure myself how that plays
> into what Cgris askes for above, and I am hoping one of you will be
> willing
> to enlighten me some, and maybe hear experiences with magic q ore similar
> platforms. Has anyone her ran lights and qlab from the same mac?

Greetings Tobias,

I've experimented with Qlab midi cues to trigger lights on the same Mac.
The software I was testing was software native to OSX so there was no
emulation involved but it worked.

Qlab controlling DMXIS via a virtual midi port.

If you are using Qlab midi triggers to trigger Magic Q on a different Mac
but want to run them on the same mac, the best suggesting I can make is to
test it & see if it works for you. If so, test it for stability.

My favorite lighting app is called Light Factory but it currently only
runs on a PC. It is my understanding that the programmer is actively
working on a native Mac version.

In the meantime, there is also Dpro from Enttec.

If you haven't settled on your DMX output hardware yet, may I suggest you
look at the Enttec ODE.

Because it's ethernet based, IF you are willing to risk it, you can plug
it into a wifi router, locate it where ever you like & plug the output
into your lighting system. Basically wireless DMX but with a twist.

If you want to add more nodes, just do it. LEDs on the front truss? Add an
ODE & a wifirouter & with a bit of configuration, you've got a second
wireless DMX output.

If none of this makes any sense, you're welcome to writ me offlist & I'll
do my best to clarify anything you might be interested in knowing more
about (if at all:)

Best regards,

ra byn

[Joshua Langman]

I am in the middle of a run of a show where I run sound and lights from QLab on the same MacBook Pro.

I am using LXConsole for lights, and triggering it from QLab. I have many sequences with lots of sound and light cues going simultaneously, and have not had a single glitch. I'm very pleased with this setup, and it seems to be very reliable. A nice thing about LXConsole is that after you program your light cues, it will automatically generate a QLab document with corresponding MSC cues.

I'm sending DMX through an Enttec USB DMX bro interface, and sound through a PreSonus interface.

[Joey Buddenberg]

Hi Tobias,


I've bought the MagicQ Two Universe DMX together with the MagicQ MIDI/Timecode Interface to run MagicQ on a Mac with QLab. Unfortunately, until today (bought this April this year) Chamsys is unable to get this to work. Their hardware units just do not work when both units are connected. Lot's of emails to support and their special forum for problems within the software, and still no solution.

The software itself with the MagicQ Two Universe DMX runs nice on Mac. I still hope they fix this error. In order to be able to use MIDI withing MagicQ you NEED the MIDI/Timecode Interface, or else no MIDI automation.


Joey

[Mike P]

Hey all,

I already know several reasons why this isn't a good idea but I'm looking for function over form right now. I'm on a project for a small company that is putting together a show needing 3 projectors. Since they have little money, they're borrowing whatever they can including 2 of the 3 projectors. I'm proposing options for a 3rd and telling them what kind of system we would need to drive all three via QLab. So I'm looking at is less expensive options for this.

Here's the real question: The 2 projectors they're borrowing have different resolutions. One is a 1024x768 and the other is 800x600. I'm suggesting another 1024x768 to keep the company closer to the standards around here. The show is very abstract so we think the lower resolution degrading quality will be workable. What would be the result if I hooked 2 1024x768s and an 800x600 to a TripleHead2Go? Anyone ever tried this? Would it even work?

[sam kusnetz]

> What would be the result if I hooked 2 1024x768s and an 800x600 to a TripleHead2Go? Anyone ever tried this? Would it even work?

i believe that it will work, but your 1024x768 projectors will display an 800x600 image.

cheerio
sk
--
sam kusnetz, sound & projection design | USA-829
503.201.2591
s...@notquite.net

[Andy Dolph]

could be the other way around - some (particularly newer) 800x600 projectors will take a 1024x768 signal happily and downsample it to 800x600.

[tobias]

Thank you Joey

Ok. So to make it work like I wanted it to wor i need a device in addition to the dmx/midi box. And that doesn´t work. Have I unerstood? 

What to do then? Have you scenged lightboard? ( I´ve seen here that some have done this with other software than magic q) I wanted magic q because one of my lighting desigers already use it, and because it´s cross-platform, but the software itself is not really important to me..

tobias