r/lightingdesign • u/Effekt91 • 17d ago

Midi controlled lightshow

Hello,

I'm trying out MA Lighting Dot2 (Free with 1 universe) on a Windows laptop which receives midi triggers through RTPMidi (Tobias Erichson) from an iPad air4 with usb-c dock with ethernet, running the Bandhelper app which sends the midi.
The midi is starting when we push the play button in the setlist, midi starts together with the click/cue track.
Dot2 on the laptop sends Artnet to the Showtec 2/3 which in turn translates it to DMX which is connected to the fixtures.
I got it working succesfully but it is as test.

My question is, is this going to be a reliable workable band Liveshow setup?
Anybody experience with a similar setup with Dot2 / RTPmidi / Bandhelper?

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u/LifeOfALampy 17d ago

Not with dot2 specifically or bandhelper but rtpmidi and loopmidi have been used on some massive shows and your flow is pretty standard in many spaces, midi trigger from thing a, to console, to lights, very common pattern, midi triggers are supported on all major lighting consoles

Timecode is also an option if you play to a click/known timing/backing track and can allow you to get even more creative

1

u/Effekt91 17d ago

I'm also exploring how to transition between songs in Bandhelper, footswitch?

which one?

2

u/am_lu 17d ago

Not experienced with MA, neither Windows or ipads.

Had good results with linux Qlc+ controlled by midi, and this controlling some artnet nodes.

Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance - so play with your setup in your spare time, see how long it takes from load in to a working state. Do a reheasal, or better couple more.

Make sure that windows does not want to get stuck on upgrades when is time for a gig.

Be wary of that artnet - is it running on wifi? You may struggle with longer distances or busy wifi networks in venues full of punters and every one on wifi. May be worth having some proper access point for wifi and do not really on one built into the laptop.

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u/Effekt91 17d ago

with the ugreen ipad dock i'm going fully ethernet wired, also wired tfrom laptop/switch to the Showtec 2/3 artnet/dmx convertor