Nicolaudie Architectural Forum

Hello!

I'm looking for a system to run a small amount of lights in sync with a large back-projected video show. The system I'm trying to build should be self-contained so I'm hoping to use a laptop to run it all from. I have a fairly free rein from the client but it needs to basically be a single button push (or click) and the whole show runs automatically, basically idiot proof.

The video can be run from the laptop but must be at a decent resolution as the screen is 6m x 4m. The lighting will consist of 4 moving heads, probably 12 LED PAR's, at least one 6 channel dimmer, a fan, heavy smoke machine and possibly a few more LED colour change fixtures such as tubes. Possibly expanding in the future but not too much.

I'd like to be able to also have a backup system, probably just a basic DMX desk and DVD player in case it all falls over although this doesn't really apply to my question!

Looking at various software based systems and it seems the way to go but I need to know about the sync issue before I spend their money!
The Sunlite suite looks to be just what I need but can someone confirm it is up to the job?

I'm based in the Midlands UK so if there's anywhere I can see it in action that would be great.

Many thanks,

Teedee

Look into easyshow.... it basically is timeline based lighting shows... you just drag your lighting scences and switches to be synced up to your video and audio... pretty sweet.! :wink:

Hello Teedee,

did you get along with your sync video job? I was trying to build a show for a 3D Cinema to get some light effects during the show controlled by sunlite.

The problem I figured out was, that when I watch the movie in easy show it seems like there are missing some frames of the movie time to time.

I got a 5 minutes Movie and if i start the show and the movie (on the same laptop) at the beginning and watch it till the end, I miss 5 seconds.

When I was doing the show there was no problem, because I watched just 30 seconds to assign the effects at the right place.

So my best practise is to use 2 different strong laptops for playing movie and the show. But still there is missing a permanent sync link to be 100 % exact. So maybe the even better solution is to make smaller cycles and sync them by midi time code. Unfortunately my video projector does not provide such time code signal.

What is your experience?