DMX Lighting Tutorial Part 1: Setting Up And Controlling Fixtures | Tutorial

This is the first of many videos in a series of tutorials for DMX programming. Leaves videos work have a basic knowledge and understanding DMX programming all the way down to programming scenes and timing of life transitions. If you are a DJ, in a band, or just want to do something for your home please stay tuned to these videos for I will be making them as frequently as possible. Thank you

[@quickdrawrecords]

Dude, your tutorial here is THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!! Super happy, super helpful, you explained the simple things that the more sophisticated sound setups did not. Thank you so much!!!!!

[@billeyisgaming6185]

Love how he makes it so you don't get lost, very newbie friendly review!!

[@mattylovesguitar]

wow..thanks for sharing your knowledge. I have dabbled with dmx for a while, have wasted money on usb breakout cables and boxes that won't do what i want...i think i will be getting the obey 40 and program some sciences ..then sinc it with my midi sequencer. you have simplified a few things i once found confusing..I am forever grateful!

[@andybracco9984]

Thanks for this- your instructions are very clear and helpful!

[@timothyclist6090]

Man, I've been having a few issues with the basics - this tutorial got me out of a fix. Cheers bro!

[@frankbustamante9469]

wow. i had no idea this set up could do so many things. i dj for a club and we dont have someone running the lights. i wanted to look into how i can create other chase settings because weve been running the same setting for three months now. i see the next video talks about that. im just shocked theres so much to do this. youre great at explaining and demonstrating. i cant wait to watch the rest and get a good feel of the tool ive had in my hands that ive never used.

[@tufiestadjs6005]

thanks for the info i like how you explain everything

[@DJSephEntertainment]

It's important to note that you controlled them independently because you changed that channel on each light. #1 to dmx channel 1. #2 to dmx 17 and so forth.

[@jakejakejakejakejakejake]

Love it! Thanks dude! :D X

[@keith3342]

Obey 70 Workaround to control up to 24 fixtures... Easy,,,, manual says to assign fixture 1 to channel 1 and fixture 2 to channel 33. Because each fixture can use 32 channels. I have 28 fixtures and pairing was just not working out. A very helpful guy from Chauvet explained this.... Use page B to add 12 more fixtures... Set fixture 1 to 1, 2 to 17, 3 to 33, 4 to 50 and so on. Now you can control fixture 1 on Page A #1 and fixture 2 on Page B #1. All your doing is splitting the 32 channels available per fixture to 16. First 16 on Page A and next 16 on Page B. I set up 12 lights on the back wall of the stage to Page A in the normal 1=1, 2=33 and so on settings. For the front of stage lighting I set that up on Page B... Fixture 13 to channel 17 and fixture 14 to channel 50 and so on. The only limitation is now each fixture is limited to 16 channels. Since most fixtures only use 6-8 channels there is no difference. But I have one fixture that uses 24 channels. !! Easy, put it last in the group and leave the full 32 channels available. I found this info to be extremely helpful as my search for a 24 fixture controller ended with nothing affordable. I would assume this technique could be used on the Obey 40 as well, or any other controller with a Page B option. Hope this helps somebody as it helped me. Chauvet was extremely helpful so if needed don't hesitate to call them.

[@DWRhythm]

Keith R I mention something like that I am one of my videos showing paid to be in splitting two fixtures on to a bank of eight strips since each of the muse for.

[@DisneyMarkUK]

Thank you so much for this, I’ve been struggling to set up my 4 new lights with my similar to yours controller. I was setting the fixtures to the wrong DMX channels as I didn’t realise you set them up to line up with the appropriate values of the fixture buttons of the actual controller. Thank you so much

[@jakejerome9062]

i dont mean to be so off topic but does someone know of a method to get back into an Instagram account?? I somehow lost the account password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me

[@reignleonardo1217]

@Jake Jerome Instablaster =)

[@jakejerome9062]

@Reign Leonardo Thanks for your reply. I found the site through google and im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Seems to take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@jakejerome9062]

@Reign Leonardo it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thank you so much, you saved my account!

[@reignleonardo1217]

@Jake Jerome You are welcome xD

[@wouterdroeshaut4137]

tnx dude... Nice explanation

[@lutzkibbutz]

I was going nuts and you really helped to stop that from happening! My old-skool par-56 lights were getting ratty so I bought 8 l.e.d. “pucks” from ebay. I am a single midi act and as such my lights are all automated using an old NSI TLC-16 DMX and Microplex-compatible board. I wanted to keep using this board as it has midi in and out which means I can play with the lighting as a song is going and the laptop’s sequencing software will record my TLC-16’s changes so that the next time the song is played the scenes will change just as I played with them. I did not want a Chauvet-type board being they do not have a midi out to send the changes into the sequencer. Unfortunately I could not get my TLC-16 to work with the new lights. A revelation came when I saw one of “Steve”’s vids which shows how to input the light changes into the sequencer via a midi keyboard. I was flabbergasted and ordered a Chauvet Obey40 which I got today. I could NOT get it to control my lights anywhere near like on another vid of “Steve”’s and was going nuts trying different ideas. Then I checked this out and tried the “Master Fader” idea and along with the channels 5-7 (RGB) it suddenly works!!! Now I just have to get the ebay seller to replace the 3 (out of 8) faulty ones and I’m in business...if you were a girl I would kiss you...thanks so very much!!!

[@DWRhythm]

Glad I could help man. These lights are very nice, and surprisingly enough, they have done plenty of justice for what I need.

[@williampayne5990]

Last weekend I had the opportunity to run lights for a band with a controller much like this one(but cheaper....might have been a Lixada) . I borrowed it from the bands sound/light man. Long story short. Have had lights for a few years and never used them. Was in bands that new nothing about running or setting up lights for a band. Started out trial and error(lots of errors). The setup. 8 slim par 38s in back, 2 forplays below them, 5 more 38s out front (3 on left side 2 on right) had little to no time to experiment. 1st set....what a mess. Had time to think. Reprogrammed lights. I was able to run everything on 1 fixture on the controller. 1 only used the the 3 channel mode on the 38s (RGB). 1-3 on the back, 4-6 on far left, 7-9 on the 2&3rd from left, 10-12 on second from right, 13-15 on far right and only 16 on the forplays. I was able to change the colors on the forplays by only using 1 slider. Basically having 6 different fixtures run separately on 1. Since that night I have had lots of time to reevaluate the programming. After watching your video, I think I like a combination of what you do and what I did. Can’t wait to try it out.

[@stephenm28]

Almost every dmx tutorial on KZbin uses the chauvet obey 40😂

[@user-fj3ec6gt6k]

Super.

[@williamstephens365]

What do most digital fixtures need to be set on so the dmx 512 will communicate. Thanks

[@musicorumph4822]

HI! may I ask if the unit has a battery on board? I read some comments that it has no battery so when the power is lost all the saved programs will be lost.

[@rebth1st]

I tried the last setup of trying to put different colors on different lights. I tried your method of say pressing fixture 1 making it red, then pressing fixture 1 again make a different fixture a different color but when I press fixture one after the color is set, it goes off instead of staying on. Why is your setup working and mine not? did you put it in some sort of save mode? ... you provided the key in the video. I had to have it in program mode in order to change them separately. Thanks.

[@NEWFSTAH]

I have an Obey 40 and 3 7\13 Seven Star Mini Spider lights. Do I set the lights as 7 or 13 channels?

[@bensaadia]

Can i download something that will give me those scenes and chases and input it on my obey?

[@davelloyd7847]

Hi Gerad, Trying to midi control a Equinox Megabar, have the address set to 1, unfortunately when I send note 0 from my keyboard to trigger scene 1, nothing happens. MIDI channel on obey40 and keyboard is set to 15. Any ideas to get this working please? Many thanks Dave

[@DJSephEntertainment]

What do you mean keyboard?

[@joelbastian5741]

How can i softly fade between scenes ive created? instead of harsh on and off.

[@billyoldaccount233]

were do you buy all this

[@tigger3493]

how can i set the light to be static looking down

[@shoobootystudios1752]

Why do all of you avoid holding a fixture (can) and showing how to set the address on the fixture? Very curiously consistent oversight.

[@jeffreyjoaquin1454]

Hi Gerad! do you have video using moving heads?

[@DWRhythm]

No, I don't, sorry. I never got my hands on one before I lost my vision, although I'm sure I could probably do one if I had one.

[@dalelackey7540]

My channel 1 is not the master brightness like you have. How can I set that up?

[@DJSephEntertainment]

It will depend on what light fixture you have. Read the manual to see what each channel does.

[@missakhaladjian]

What if your led ficture has only 4 channel, but your controller has 16 channel, would you still address them as dmx1 dmx 17?

[@DWRhythm]

Mi Ha yes. Because the controller is what makes the difference.

[@michaeldaniels6536]

I really need you help sir. . . I did the number correctly On setting addresses. after the 1st fixture, it just will not work. I have the obey 70. The manual says it is number 33.. I moved it to that address. Hit fixture 2 and nothing. Please help me. Thank you.

[@DWRhythm]

Michael Daniels try switching out the fixtures and seeing if the working fixture will work on channel 33 and if that works, then chances are it could be the fixture is messed up. Otherwise try different cable and see if that works as well. Generally what I would do is if I have a fixture that does not have a working outlet then I will put that at the end of the chain or just get it replaced. Hopefully this helps

[@billyoldaccount233]

does it work with any board

[@DWRhythm]

Billy Cashin offical in the video I mentioned that I bought these off of eBay. I actually bought all of that off of eBay. The bar, the four lights, and the board. I probably spent about $120 on the board, $170 on eight of those lights, and about $60 on two of the bars. The lights will work with any controller as long as each fixture has at least eight channels. I say eight because usually you only see them in variables of even numbers. In this case, these lights require seven channels of operation. It maybe possible that you could potentially have a board that has pages, and if you look into it further versions of this tutorial series, you will see that I got more in detail about all that.

[@shantysailor8595]

I recently purchased a Obey 40, based on the spec that it could be controlled remotely by midi. (Midi note commands 120 to 125). To my horror i now find that the chase only displays the first scene in the chase because you need to press the "auto/del" button, there is no midi note command to do this., this unit is a tottal waste of my time and money, i am considering the sales description for action under the trade description act. Dont buy this controller if you want remote control, of course if you know how to overcome this problem i would appreciate you let us know.

[@sundaysoulfood]

I have the same problem. Channel 1 is blue not red and I have to move slider 2 and 3 up to see the other colors. 2 is red and 3 is green. If I bring slider 1 back down, then all the colors go off. I can not get channels to show individual colors without number 1 slider being up with the blue lights on. Here's what suppose to happen.... LED PAR-64 7 Channel Table Functions Channel 1 (0-255) Total dimming (Combined CH2, CH3, CH4 use) Channel 2 - 0 RED OFF (1-255) adjusts the brightness from dark to light Channel 3 - 0 GREEN OFF (1-255) adjusts the brightness from dark to light Channel 4 - 0 BLUE OFF (1-255) adjusts the brightness from dark to light. Channel 5 - 0-7 NO STROBE (8-255) adjusts the speed from slow to fast. (This works exactly as described) Channel 6 - (0-10) MANUAL CONTROL (CH1-CH5) Not sure if this works or not. Channel 6 - (11-60) COLOR SELECTION (Color controlled by CH7) This works Channel 6 - (61-110) GRADIENT (Color controlled by CH7) This works Channel 6 - (111-160) VARIABLE PULSE (Color controlled by CH7) This works Channel 6 - (161-210) JUMP (Color controlled by CH7) NOt sure if I got this too work, but probably worked Channel 6 - (211-255) VOICE (Color controlled by CH7) This works Channel 7 - (0-255) Color Selection/Discoloration speed. The larger the value the faster. Why can't I get Ch2, CH3, Ch4 to show individual colors without having CH1 up with the blue light showing through?

[@DWRhythm]

Did you get it figured out? This may sound dumb for me to suggest since I'm sure you may have already tried it, but it's the only thing I can think of. Do you have the program set to dxxx as opposed to Axxx? I found I used dxxx to get proper responses across the board. Also, does the blue light thing shine through on all your fixtures or just the first one? Additionally, if you adjust slider 4, the blue doesn't go away?

[@sundaysoulfood]

Gerad Deuvall, no I gave up on it and ordered the "MYDMX buddy", they created a lighting profile for my lights that works perfect. Will upload a video soon.

[@KevinMcKinneyFilms]

3:36 channels explained

[@billyoldaccount233]

is it cheap??

[@MrJohn-ih5bo]

how many watts are each?

[@g3o5d]

Wattage is not relevant with DMX Controllers

[@olleolle7812]

lol I want a cheeseburger

[@zadtrax]

I found this video confusing. Wish you had explained the important step of how to address the fixtures. You left that out.

[@guglit5utaloma58]

Az az ember aki látványtechnikával foglalkozik, hogyan képes ilyen minősíthetetlen minőségű bemutatót készíteni? Remélhetőleg a munkája nem lesz ilyen minősíthetetlenül rossz, csak ez a bemutató.

[@tonycarnell1512]

I have a Obey 40 Not impressed!!

[@avanti-palestra]

Dude your video has nothing to do with tutorial as how to setup it. You're showing what it does or how it works.

[@faithfulnavigatorraul8048]

terrible is you say is tutotrial.. trying to impress the people that you knows. if you publish something do it right