Sorry I’m a bit of a newbie in the area of stage lighting.  I’ll have shows soon that requires quite a bit of lighting and I wanted to know if there was anyone out there using the MotifXS to cue lighting changes through midi?

I have a Prince and The Revolution tribute band and a lot of lighting ques are needed and I don’t want to hire a lighting tech if one isn’t needed.  I run sequenced tracks during the songs and I would like to have control of that for perfect sync with the music.  So my questions are....

Does anyone out there do this?  If so what is your setup, or what would I need besides my MotifXS? 

Any information is greatly appreciated!

Michael

I’m too old to be running MIDI-controlled lighting :-) , but there’s lots of information on the net. Try this search:
http://www.google.com/search?q=MIDI+DMX+lighting+control

You can edit sequences and insert MIDI messages as needed, via the Event List or other method. If the XS can’t send a particular message that’s needed, a MIDI Event Processor could translate something the XS can send to the required one.

HI,
first, if you really have the shows soon, try to find someone with some experience in Lighting. this is nothing which can be learned in two weeks or so.

the equipment you need is not that much:
lighting equipment is usually connected via DMX, so most of all you need a dmx-interface of some kind. as things are constantly moving towards ehernet, i’d suggest an ArtNet->DMX interface like this:

http://shop.ulrichradig.de/Bausaetze/DMX-Kit-s/AVR-ArtNet-Node-Bausatz.html

(sorry, it’s a german shop) this is a ethernet->DMX interface.

then you will need a SW running the show. I’d suggest QLC+ (freeware), you can connect the MOTIF to the computer running QLC+ via USB and trigger different lightprogramms via program changes from the motif.
i’m not too sure if QLC+ even recognizes tempo via midi, but i guess it does.

so regarding new HW, a 35euro artnet-node is all you need.
Just one hint stay away from cheap ‘Level-Shifter’ dmx-interfaces. they put heavy load on the pc’s cpu and dont work too reliably. Some full blown USB-DMX interface should work better.

best,
case

Thanks for the info!  I appreciated it.  I do have a lot of time before we start playing out so that’s why I’m looking into this right now.  Again, the info is great!  Looking into it right now.  Thanks agiain.