DMX Light Flickering

Hardware
1

I am trying to use the DMX Out node with QTX PAR12 Light AVSL : Brands : QTX : Product : Stage Lighting : PAR Cans : 154.033UK, with Enttec DMX USB Interface to control a light through an iMac USB 2.0 port.

The light works fine through QLC Plus (a dmx control software). When I output a value between 0-255 to channels 4 through 7 (while others remain at 0) I get the output that the manual would have me expect.

IMG_20191007_124854
IMG_20191007_1248543024Ă—4032 2.72 MB

44
442652Ă—1272 212 KB

But when doing what seems to be the same in TouchDesigner they only flicker randomly. I’ve tried outputting floats between 0-1 and integers between 0-255, as 8 channels with the light being set to “d001” and many other configurations with little luck. Attached is a simple project file, its quite similar to the operating snippet. Any pointers to what I’m missing would be greatly appreciated.

DMX_PAR12.toe (3.7 KB)

Thanks.

2

Hi there,
I have attached a simple example. This should get your RGBW par working once you connect and select your Enttec USB device.
Let me know how it goes and if you want me to explain why the file you have attached wasn’t working.

DMX_PAR12.toe (2.9 KB)

3

Hi FaustoB,

Thanks for the response, I see why you would map the 0.0-1.0 to 0.0 - 255.0 as the manual would imply, and I am curious about the change from value channels to single values.

Unfortunately I am still only getting strobe-like flickering, however, now it’s at a consistent rate and only in full brightness for all channels. This only happens if the master dimmer and at least one RGB are above 0, otherwise, it stays completely unlit. I’ve tried the same project with a different light Lixada DMX-512 RGB LED High Power Stage PAR Light Lighting Strobe Professional 8 Channel Party Disco Show 15W AC 90-240V but with the same result.

Still this consistency seems like progress, thanks.

4

Hey Robert,
let’s try to get these lights to work.

Just so you know, I don’t have an USB DMX Enttec on me (I usually use Ethernet DMX devices, not USB, the basic layout although is very similar), and don’t have those specific lights you are testing, but we can try to troubleshoot this step by step.

If you are getting a consistent strobe, the only things that I can think at the moment of are:

1# on your actual light, check that you haven’t accidentally enabled one of the modes. Looking on the manual, on the third page, it looks like you can set your light to run in a certain mode. The 5th mode is a strobe program, perhaps that mode is enabled and interfering with your tests?

2# make sure your light is set to DMX address 1.

3# in TD, keep channels 4 through 8 at 255, and have a play with channel 1. Set it to 0, then to 11 and go up (auto program 1), then to 51 and go up (auto program 2) and so on. Some lights needs to be told to be in a certain mode.
Since you have a Math CHOP 0-255 after your constant, for these type of tests you can set a value of 0/255 to sent 0, or 11/255 to send an exact DMX value of 11, and so on. The 0-1 Slider inside the Constant Chop is great for a quick test, but hard to get it to send a specific DMX value.

4# in your DMX out CHOP, try to keep the Device parameter set to * and see what happens. I have never used a USB device, but I think that * should send to any device found.

Keep cross checking with QLC like you are already doing.
The fact that the other light you have been testing also flickers in a similar way complicates things a tiny bit, but let’s not get discouraged!

5

Hey,

Thank you for these detailed troubleshooting steps.

I’ve tried all of those things and after more forum soul searching I found a moderator saying that “OpenDMX is not supported” which I think may be the problem, as the output stayed the same throughout. While the drop-down for the format on the DMX Out node has “Enttec USB Pro” it’s not the same as my “Enttec Open Dmx USB” even though it looks similar.

I think a solution might be to either get different adapter/way of connecting. Or maybe have TouchDesigner send messages to software like QLC and that software to the lights, I will be trying these solutions. As a side note to that, what sort of hardware do you use for your “Ethernet DMX devices” setup?

Apologise if this makes the thread repost, I thought the problem was particular to the lights, but now I think that it’s likely related to the adapter.

6

Hey,
sorry to hear it didn’t work.

Certainly you can send OSC messages to QLC, which then sends DMX to your lights. This could be a good workaround, however, if you are looking to control larger rigs, or doing a lot of work with lighting, it could become a bit annoying having to use two softwares and set up all the messages to do something that TD is totally capable of doing.
QLC is a good software, but TD is way better in my opinion, and way more adaptable to many circumstances.

The Ethernet DMX device I use all the time is a eDMX1 PRO.
This device sends 1 universe (= 512 channels); on that page you will see they sell models to output 2 or 4 universes. Depends what you have to do.
Enttec has this type of devices as well, and I know that some people in the TD forum use their products and they are happy with them.

Connecting this type of device is simple: connect the device to your computer with an ethernet cable, and provide power via USB, from your computer or from somewhere else. Connect your lights to the ethernet DMX device.
DMX King and Enttec have softwares that you can download and that will help you set up the connection if you need it, or to fine tune some settings.

Another useful set up that I use very often is:
computer connected to a router via WiFi. DMX Ethernet device connected to the router via ethernet cable, and power provided via USB from the port at the back of the router or from USB wall charger.
This way you have a wifi connection to your lights, which I wouldn’t recommend in a show scenario, but it could be useful for testing & troubleshooting, or for programming the show from the auditorium or from the stage; then move the computer next to the router and connect it via Ethernet for the show.

Hope this helps,

Fausto

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