Are you considering Moving Heads for your Light Display.

LawrenceDriveLights

LawrenceDriveLights

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Jan 16, 2018
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Considering Moving Heads in Your Light Display?
Let's Dive In!
Hello fellow light enthusiasts!
Dreaming of a light display that dazzles with Moving Heads? Here are some things to ponder as you embark on your luminous journey:
1️⃣
Budget Check : Moving Heads can bring the wow factor, but they come at a cost. Most start from $750 USD plus postage each. Consider your budget and ensure it aligns with your vision.
2️⃣
Mounting Magic : Wondering how to get those Moving Heads on your roof? Dive into the logistics of mounting and moving them. Seek advice from fellow enthusiasts for the smoothest setup! Some moving heads are heavy, and you may need to invest in a lift, or the added dangers of lifting heavy objects up ladders.
3️⃣
Distract or Enhance? : Moving Heads are captivating, but too much movement can distract from your overall display. Strike a balance that enhances the magic without overshadowing the main event!
4️⃣
xLights Challenges : Sequencing Moving Heads in xLights can be a puzzle. There is not a "standard" way yet to set up and sequence moving heads. Some utilise the "Tom BetGeorge Method" of using on overlapping channels with single nodes to represent the DMX effects, some only use the xLights DMX effects. This can be a issue if you import shared or purchased sequences from various sources. I have heard a whisper that there is some work happening in the background on the DMX effects. Maybe Keith or Gil can provide an update.
5️⃣
No "Standard" Setup : Brace yourself for a unique sequencing journey. There's no one-size-fits-all approach, especially when importing sequences. Adapt and enjoy the creative process!
6️⃣
Attracting Crowds : Moving Heads are like a magnet for spectators. Be mindful of local regulations and community vibes when drawing in the crowd. A harmonious balance is the secret sauce! Do you want all the nuff nuffs that respond to local FB groups turning up and making a nuisance, which can lead to displays shutting down.
7️⃣
Social Media Spotlight : Ready to shine on social media? Moving Heads can attract attention, both good and challenging. Manage expectations and celebrate the positive vibes while navigating the digital realm!
8️⃣
Dream Big, Tom BetGeorge Style! : Want to be the next Tom BetGeorge? Dream big, add drones, fireworks, and let your creativity soar! The sky's the limit when crafting your luminous masterpiece.
9️⃣
Indoor vs Outdoor Moving Heads : Indoor Moving Heads require protection from the weather but can move faster (that's why TBG uses indoor MH and domes). "Waterproof" I use that term loosely are heavy and cant move as fast as the indoor moving heads, that can lead to some disappointment when importing some sequences as they won't act in the same way as the xLights preview in some instances. Also most have gobos for patterns, they can be used if pointed on a clear driveway (Dan Renwick did this).
Wattage Wisdom
💡
: Illuminate the sky with nothing below 250W output wattage! Unless you have fog or airborne particles, this wattage ensures your Moving Heads truly paint the night. Rain? They love it!

Plus you may need approval from CASA, there was a report of moving heads impacting helicopter pilots vision and the users asked to turn them off this season.

Not trying to be a negative Nancy, just please consider the impact moving heads can have on your display before purchasing as they are not cheap
 
thewanderingpine said:
Here’s a question — how much of an effect would I get with 1 moving head?
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can be effective for a sequence, but you really need to go for 4 MH's to get an effectively display... 8 if you like Tom Betgeorge stuff.

Squid Games Red light green light, the 'gun shot' bit can be you pointing the light at your audience as a bright white spot light.
 
I posted this yesterday on the xLights forum....Yes its back!!!

If you haven't heard I'm working on a new model for moving heads. I had to come up with a new model name so I believe I have it as "DMX Moving Head Adv". To take advantage of the new model I'm also creating a new effect called "Moving Head Effect". I've wanted to do this for at least 2-3 years. The goal is to abstract the head's pointing position away from the actual command values being sent to the head. That should allow folks to start sharing sequences that won't need to be tweaked due to heads being mounted different and other factors.

So the moving head effect will command a position relative to a "Home" position I've defined to be pointing straight up and forward. In the model setup you will define parameters that teach xLights how to get to that Home position. There will also be parameters for moving the head model in layout so that its pointing the correct way based on your heads "Zero" position. That is the position your head moves to when commanded to 0,0. If for instance your head points east when powered up with a command of 0,0 then you would set the parameters for the Home position to tell xLights to pan 90 degrees (or 270) to face forward and tilt 90 degrees to face up. When a Moving Head effect commands the head to pan position 45 degrees it will add 90 degrees to the command to account for your heads home position. Another user may have a head that points backwards for the zero position so when he renders the same effect it will add 180 degrees to the 45 degree command assuming the Home position is setup correctly. This allows sequences to be shared and when the effect commands a real world position everyone's head should point the same direction.

The Moving Head Effect is being designed to support 8 heads. For the few users that are crazy and have more than 8 sorry. You can still use the effect but you will need to split the heads into 2 groups and use 2 effects or you can keep programming them the way you do now. Or if you are willing to have heads mimic each other you can have a larger group of heads and assign some of them to the same position. There are checkboxes in the dialog to activate which heads in the group are included for each effect. So you can control just one head, 4 heads, or all 8 in the effect. The model parameters require you to define a head position of 1 through 8. So when you drop an effect on a model group of moving heads the effect will inspect that parameter to figure out where that head is positioned so in theory you could assign all the heads to position 1 and they would all copy each other. The position is required because the effect allows you to create scenes like spreading the heads in a Fan shape. There will be a tab where you can define a path just like you do for the Shape effect and the heads will follow the shape of that path. So you could draw a Circle shape and then there are parameters that let you expand/contract the size of the circle. All the heads assigned to that effect will follow the circle shape. You can also apply an offset to stagger each heads moving so they could all be moving in a circle but each head would be delayed and at a different point in the circle making it look like a wave motion. There will be a color panel so that colors can be assigned to the heads. You still have the option of using other effects on other layers to apply the colors.

One of the final things I'm trying to finish is being able to support all the additional channels a head might have. I'm trying to create something that is flexible. Based on looking at moving head spec sheets I've come up with the idea to let you dynamically define extra "Features". You open a Config dialog in the model parameters and click "Add Feature". Lets say you name it "Gobo". Then you hit a config button for that feature and get another dialog that allows you to add channels to that feature. Lets say you define a channel named "Gobo Wheel". You assign channel 5 to it. But this channel in the spec might have tons of channel ranges that do different things. So to define those you click an "Add Function" button beside on the channel row and define the name and channel range for that function. Lets add 25-30 for "Gobo Wheel Position 1" and 31-35 for "Gobo Wheel Position 2" and so on. Yes it will be time consuming to define all the possible channel positions and ranges but they should only need to be defined once and then shared. We will start building up a library in the model Download dialog. When you create a new "Feature" it will automatically create a new tab that allows you to control the commands for that feature. This is the one snag I ran into when I realized what if someone has a model group with a mixture of heads and some of them have features that others don't....what should I show on the dialog. I'm still trying to sort that out. I'm thinking either I only show the feature if all heads support it or I try to show all features available from all heads and only send the command to the ones that support it.

I probably would have been done in August if I hadn't run into this snag. I was close to being done when I realized this and it got too close to showtime and I had to bail and start working on all the new stuff I had planned to add to my own show. I also did not want to release such a big new feature too close to everyone's show time without adequate time to sort out any issues. I am actively working this again.

One final thing I need to get done is to try to have xLights automatically upgrade any existing "DMX Moving Head 3D" models to use the new model type. I've tested and the new model will work just fine with all the existing effects so it can be used even if you don't use the new Moving Head effect. You just won't get the offsets that correct for the Home position.

If you have questions I'll try to reply when I can.

Thanks,
Gil
 
@Gilrock Those changes sound absolutely amazing. I haven't yet used MH's in xLights/Holiday lighting, but back from my show days 20 years ago, this is very similar to how the consoles used to work. A great way of implementing it.
Well done; and many thanks for your hard work on this.

Gilrock said:
I'm thinking either I only show the feature if all heads support it or I try to show all features available from all heads and only send the command to the ones that support it.
Click to expand...
Either work - back to the pro console - depending on the console you use either of those methods could be used. It was implementation specific.
I would personally prefer the latter - because it means that you can sequence your say 1 or 2 new heads with the cool stuff, and slowly upgrade; with the new heads getting the effect/feature as they are replaced.
 
Yeah some of the inspiration for this came from a document I got from Tom BetGeorge. I had asked him if he had ideas for improvements and not him but one of his minions created a design specification for the new effect. I wasn't able to do things exactly like they proposed because it had to fit into the xLights design but it came out pretty good.

In August I gave a presentation at the Southern California Mini and I demonstrated the model/effect so I had it really close to working back then.
 
Here's an example of me experimenting with the special function definition. 2nd screenshot is the manual for a DMX device. I just defined a couple of the channels here. One upgrade I want to do is be able to associate an image with each function range so you could attach the Gobo Wheel images from the manual.

MHGobo.png

Screenshot 2024-01-09 at 7.35.08 PM.png
 
Screenshot of the Moving Head Effect - Position tab. You can see the presets I've saved at the bottom so just click the preset for instant recall.


Screenshot 2024-01-09 at 7.41.16 PM.png
 
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The Pathing tab which also has recallable presets at the bottom.

Screenshot 2024-01-09 at 7.44.06 PM.png
 
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This is Color subtab of the Control tab. I'm showing an advanced thing you can do which is shift-click to add additional color points. So below I have 3 points so the head will perform a color wash transitioning through those 3 colors. Each point can be dragged around the circle or deleted or add more.

This is another snag point since I have a different panel for heads that support Color Wheels. So if you have a mix of RGBW and Color Wheel heads I need to consider how to handle like showing both panels. And of course I've already run into a few bugs tonight I need to fix. Sorry for the large images.

Screenshot 2024-01-09 at 8.11.17 PM.png
 
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MikeKrebs said:
Do you have the reference for this? I would like to hear more about the complaint and the response.
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I too would like to know this.
The light output of a 350W head is not that much at all, and certainly not focused - 10 to 30 degrees is a typical beam angle, which is pretty wide. With the amount of crap in the air (Which causes the beams you see) the beam dissipates pretty quickly.

This is from a CASA laser calculator - the optical calculation is still the same.
At 10 degree bream (175mRad) on a 350W head, the hazard distance is only 24 metres. At 40 degrees, this reduces to 6 metres.
1704863895676.png

In the entertainment industry, I used to use 1.2kW 'Sky Beam' units - about the size of a fridge, which would give the effect similar to the 20th Century Fox introduction. Not once did we ever need permission to operate these units, and they were much tighter beam angle at almost 4 times the output power.
 
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