This week I tried to play around with the DMX lights on the ITP floor. I used the Elation Platinum Spot Pro II. Here are the steps I went through to control the DMX lights.

a.) Getting the right cables was half the battle. It was important to get the ENTEC cable, the XLR cable and a 5pin to 3 pin cable. 

 

 

b.) Next was controlling the DMX Lights with the QLC+ Controller. 

 

 

Things I realized along the way and was reminded of:

• The data sheet for this is so helpful
• The channel begins at 101 in the QLC

I also wrote down my own channel “datasheet” using language that made sense to me.

d.) Helpful command lines when trying to use command line to run node file:

• ls /dev/tty.* (lists available serial ports)
• ls /dev/cu.* (lists available serial ports)

• node “file name” (runs js file)

e.) I tried to use the command line to run the file “simpleTest.js”

• Unfortunately, I was not able to actually run this file because my serial port was not showing up. It may have been the cable, but after switching a new cable the file still would not run. I am left unsure of how to get my serial port to show up. I will update you on the progress on this end.

f.) IMPORTANT: Installed the driver for MacOSx: https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

Worked like a charm! Now the usb port shows up when I run “ls /dev/tty.* (lists available serial ports)” in the terminal! Thank you Tom for the help with this!

g.) Running “node file name.js”

I ran the demo.js file from Tom’s repo, in my terminal but it started buffering. I’m unsure why.

 

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Helpful Resources:

Data sheet for DMX Elation Platinum Spot Pro II: http://cdb.s3.amazonaws.com/ItemRelatedFiles/9955/elation_platinum_spot_led_pro_II_dmx_traits.pdf

for better understanding node js: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF5_MPSNAtU