Fantom-G

V-link, image control

V-link, image control

15 Nov 2009, 19:49
Hi folks!

I have a Roland G7, and there's a V-link button.
I know that it's destined to control image.
My question is, is it possible for me to control a light's system, including robots and such, triggering lights I chose via midi? Like this:

"Press C3, light on 3lights; Press E2, light on a robot"

If it is possible, what interface equipment should I use?

Thanks

Re: V-link, image control

15 Nov 2009, 21:27
what you talking about is possible on any midi keyboars potentially,

the digital interface for controlling lights is called DMX. which works in a similar fassion to MIDI, there are dmx channels, depending on the equipment you buy is how many channels you have,

when you add a light you assign it a channel wich can then be controlled by a fader on a lighting desk.

the good news, DMX is compatable with midi, so you can tell one key to activate channel 1.
annother to channel 2 you get the picture.

i myself havnt tried to hook up a keyboard to our DMX controller but ill give it a go this week and let you know how to do it.

Re: V-link, image control

16 Nov 2009, 06:15
Hi Scradge!

NICE!!!:) Glad to know that I can do it. I'll look up about DMX. There is so much I don't know about midi, but it's a world of possibilities.

When you know something tell me please.

Thanks a lot

Re: V-link, image control

16 Nov 2009, 16:03
Lighting control via midi is fairly straight forward. You will need to get yourself a DMX lgihting controller, either a small desk or rack unit or a dedicated computer interface. Any interface you chose will either need a midi in port or midi via usb.
Here are some to look at:
http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?category=Lighting_C...
http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=SHO50334
There are DIY solutions that cost very small amounts but you will need to build them yourself.
When you have the hardware you will simply need to connect up the keyboard, assign a universal midi channel, connect up the lights you want to control and away you go. A midi on/off note can be assigned to any DMX channel which can in turn turn a light on and off. This is a bit limited though, so the better way to use the key on/off messages from the keyboard is to trigger pre programmed lighting chases or scenes you have programmed into your DMX controller.

Dont forget that if you want to produce some simple lighting effects for shows triggered from the keyboard you can use programs such as win amp which in turn can control projected visualisation. Win amp can be setup to respond to sound triggers in beat or any frequency range of the music and trigger some very impressive visualisation. These can be projected for the audience to see. If you play around with the Win Amp plugins like Iris Ape you can produce some very impressive shows combining input from the keyboard and a simple web cam, best of all Win Amp is free http://www.winamp.com

Hope this helps

Re: V-link, image control

16 Nov 2009, 17:57
Hi popdad!

Of course it helped! yhank you.

The thing is, I am just begginig to enter the "midi scenario" and I can only do the basics in sound, vst's and sequencing. So, just knowing the basics on the sound department, I already want to control lights! It's gonna taka me some time to acknowledge the terms you wrote, I could just really understand a few. But I'm gonna do some more basic research, and keep your instrutions.

Thanks a lot

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