stand alone desk

[mikey9206]

hey guys, im looking into getting a desk that i can use to queue up and use scenes ive programmed on dvc2 512 and was wondering if you have used some before and could help me choose what the best and easiest desk to use would be. also would be nice to hear what, if any, stand alone desk you use.

im only after a simple cheap one (say up to £100 (maybe more if its worth it)).

thanks

[Andre]

Not quite sure what you mean by "queue up".

Midi desks can trigger scenes to start and can even control the playback speed using a fader.

I use a Behringer BCF2000 and and Enttec Program, Playback & Shortcut wings via a program called MidiWing. They work well for starting and stopping scenes.

I have used a 48 channel DMX desk as DMX IN but as it held the channels associated with it any scene that used those channels mapped to the desk would only respond via the external desk so made the scenes useless.
For example if you mapped the DMX desk to the RGB channels on a LED Light then if a scene tried to change the colours it would not.

All the above you still have to use a computer.
I have not got involved in the Stand Alone side of things, but I can assure you it will not be as flexible as being connected to a computer. The buttons on the interface only allow choosing the scene to play and start-stop.

[mikey9206]

i see, i just really love the use of moving fadars that i can control with my fingers...no matter how advanced computers get, there is no match for our own hands (i thought the behringer bcf 2000 was an audio desk?)

anyway, thanks for the advice.

p.s. do you use a usb to xlr from the behringer desk, to the input of the daslight box? and this behringer desk can be hooked up to daslight so i can send the preset scenes to it right?

[Andre]

i see, i just really love the use of moving fadars that i can control with my fingers...no matter how advanced computers get, there is no match for our own hands (i thought the behringer bcf 2000 was an audio desk?)

anyway, thanks for the advice.

p.s. do you use a usb to xlr from the behringer desk, to the input of the daslight box? and this behringer desk can be hooked up to daslight so i can send the preset scenes to it right?

The Behringer BCF2000 is a Midi control desk, it connects to your computer via USB. It can connect via MIDI cables if need to or if you are using other MIDI control surfaces and linking them together, for example a keboard player could be linked in as well and the keyboard player could trigger scenes as well. You then in DVC2 right click a scene (in Live) and select Link with control, click in the MIDI input box and then press a button on the BCF2000 it then records the correct MIDI note or command into DVC2. So now when you press the button on the BCF2000 it will start/stop that scene.
If you right click a scene (in Live) and select Speed ON you will get a slider in the scene which controls the speed the scene runs at. You can then right click that slider and select Speed Midi Link now move a fader on the BCF2000 and it records the correct values.
Now you can control the speed of that scene with the fader on the BCF2000. Take a look here http://www.behringer.de/EN/Products/BCF2000.aspx gives prices as well but you can get it alot cheaper if you hunt around. I bought mine about 2 years ago for about £130.

One thing to bear in mind even though the BCF2000 has motorised faders DVC2 does not send values back to it, so if you change a slider in DVC2 it does not replicate back on the BCF2000. I have not found it to be a problem, but sure would be nice if it did.

Usng the Enttec wings and the MidiWing program works in a similar way, but are far more expensive and you need a ethernet hub if you are using more than one and/or on a network as well.

As said previously you can launch scenes from a DMX desk but it is a bit hit and miss with faders as it relies on an exact value and you cannot control the speed of the scene using DMX IN. OK if the desk has start buttons as they will issue a single value assuming they can be mapped to a DMX channel/value, but the faders are really redundant, good if you want to control "house" lights from a fader or PAR Cans that are not used in scenes.

[Loki000]

All the above you still have to use a computer.
I have not got involved in the Stand Alone side of things, but I can assure you it will not be as flexible as being connected to a computer. The buttons on the interface only allow choosing the scene to play and start-stop.