Only 24 fixtures ??????

[Onge]

Hi,

I have been following the Cuelux story for sometime and was looking forward to it's release to see what it could really do.

The program is impressive and quite intuitive but the limit of 24 fixtures is a really downer, why only 24 ? I ran out with just adding my par cans, no chance of adding any other fixtures. This makes this program completly useless to me I am sorry to say, but can see it's appeal to a small group of maybe mobile DJ/LJ's or small bands but that will be a very small proportion of the people you could get.

One lost sale I am afraid.

Andre

 

[Maarten Engels]

Hi Andre,

Thanks for raising the subject. You're correct with the fact that Cuelux has a limit of 24 fixtures, however, like within VisualDMX we use the concept of sub-fixtures. This means that some fixtures consist of multiple sub-fixtures, like a 8-channel dimmer rack is - in our terms - just one fixtures with 8 sub-fixtures. This also works for LED fixtures with multiple segments/pixels. In this manner the maximum of 24 will not be reached that quickly (you can add 24 x 8 = 196 dimmer channels).

The reason behind our concept of sub-fixtures is that it makes patching easier; you only add the physical fixtures to your patch and you don't have to worry about setting starting address per dimmer channel, or worse, per LED segment. In VisualDMX and Canvix it makes a world of difference when you create your matrix layout (think about shifting and rotating complete multi-segment LED fixtures), it saves a lot of time.

For Cuelux, we've thought long about the maximum number of fixtures. Although I welcome everybody's feedback, I hope you'll agree with us that 24 fixtures is appriopiate and realistic maximum for our intended users and relative to Cuelux' price level.

best regards,
Maarten

[jcmbowman]

I'm very excited to see CueLux continue to develop - It's the first truly OS X-native DMX control program I've seen.

I, too, am a bit put off by the 24-fixture limit. I agree that it's a fair compromise for the price point, but I was wondering if there would be plans to offer an upgrade path later that would allow for more fixtures?

If not, will there be an upgrade path to move from CueLux to VisualDMX? (Especially if and when VisualDMX is written for OS X.. )

While I'm certain that there is a segment of the market that will never need to go beyond 24 fixtures, I know I'm not the only one out there who bases his current purchases on the feasibility of future expansion.

Thank you in advance for your response.

[Maarten Engels]

With Cuelux up and running, we are starting the development of a new major VisualDMX version which, of course, will be platform independent as well.

VisualDMX will be positioned to be larger/pro controller next to Cuelux and we will make a transition/upgrade from Cuelux to VisualDMX as smoothly as possible.

The ETA of VisualDMX on Mac OS X is >12 months.

[jcmbowman]

Thank you - knowing that makes the 24 fixture limitation much more palatable.

I'm working with a client who first wants to convert to computer control for his stage (about 15 dimmer packs) but eventually wants to have single-source control for multiple universes of DMX lighting. I wasn't going to recommend CueLux without knowing that he would have room to grow down the road.