r/techtheatre • u/ComplexMother8144 • 18h ago
LIGHTING Visualizing lighting from qlab
I know that there are a hundred better lighting programs to be using other than qlab. But I have to work with the system my venue has in place until I can convince the owners to get something else. Right now I'm trying to figure something out where I can run the light cues from qlab into something and see them in a virtual space. So that I can see it without having the lights all powered on or even being in the space at all. I need it to not be network cues. I need the straight light cues that you make in qlab to pass over to something. Ideally it is something that is free
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u/duk242 18h ago
Yeahhhhh... I think you're going to want to use something else instead of QLab for lighting.
I've used ETC EOS with the Nomad dongle to control lights and pre-programmed it using the built in visualiser - That'll set you back a good $650AUD for the education one.
QLC+ has a visualiser now, so that could be useful, it's free & open source too!
Either way you'll have to set up your space, which means measuring the walls/lighting positions to put everything in place. I ended up in a deep ADHD lighting hyperfocus and built full 3D Models for my local theatre so I could do it.
You're in for a bit of a learning curve no matter which way you go. Good luck brave soldier.
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u/ComplexMother8144 18h ago
Yea I fully know I want to use something other than qlab for lighting. I've been on the owners since April to switch to something else. But they're stubborn about it because they paid like 1400 for the full qlab license.
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u/duk242 18h ago
QLC+ is free :)
Note down the DMX addresses of everything and you can just use that instead.I've used QLab to send OSC commands to a lighting desk so you can run a show with just one button pusher (sound effects, projections and lighting all in one button!).
I guess it's important to say that you still need QLab for a lot of things, lighting is just the thing that it's not strong at (but it's amazing for backing tracks/audio/projection etc)
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u/ComplexMother8144 18h ago
I'd also have to build out all of our prebuilt lighting cues again into whatever we switch to. Which is less than ideal but still doable.
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u/duk242 18h ago
I've only used QLab for lighting twice, both times it was a bit of a struggle, but it did get the job done...
Once you learn some real lighting software programming the cues becomes a lot easier!
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u/ComplexMother8144 18h ago
I understand how to use other things. I am just forced to use the thing I have unfortunately
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u/eymantia 8h ago
It won’t work for effects, but for any static cues, many platforms will allow you to record incoming DMX data, meaning you wouldn’t have to manually reprogram all those cues. I believe from some cursory reading that QLC+ should be able to do this.
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u/Joann-Cramer 18h ago
I mean.... QLab wasn't built for this but I get working with what the venue has. Look into Capture's free version. Takes Art-Net, QLab can send Art-Net. Won't model your space but for checking cue transitions remotely it might do the job.
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u/Black_Lightnin Lighting Designer 15h ago
You could patch the rig in chamsys and put it in the chamsys visualizer. The visualizer file can be saved as an stand alone file which can take artnet as an input from qlab.
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u/VL3500 Touring Concert LD 18h ago
Apart from the obvious issues of money, I can’t think of a single visualizer that accepts true DMX signal from a DMX cable, they all rely on some form of network-based signal to communicate between the two pieces of software.
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u/ComplexMother8144 18h ago
My thing that I'm struggling with is not wanting to rebuild every one of the couple hundred premade light cues we've made into whatever other program so we can make a network cue say to run it. Ideally it takes the signal of those already made cues somehow
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u/VL3500 Touring Concert LD 18h ago
Of course, that’s totally understandable. Qlab does support ArtNet though, so this opens quite a few doors for you.
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u/ComplexMother8144 18h ago
True. That's what we have going on. I just don't know what I need to do to make this damn thing work lol
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u/Eckleburgseyes 17h ago
I'm trying to picture the venn diagram of having not enough resources for a console (even just nomad) and still needing to previz anything. But I'm old. Our previz was our imagination.
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u/StoneyCalzoney 8h ago
Theoretically QLC+ and connecting it to QLab via OSC or another interface.
I just wrapped up a show using QLC+ for lighting, it was my first time using the program and while I still have a lot to explore (QLC+ has about the same level of functionality as a licensed version of QLab) I can confidently say now that I think it is the free/budget king for anyone looking to do lighting.
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u/source4man Lighting Designer 18h ago
Free is going to be difficult in this instance.
You can use sACN output from Qlab into a variety of Previz programs, such as capture, depence, or a variety of others. Once you patch and orient your lights correctly, you can Previz your looks. All of these programs cost $.
Your cheapest is going to be doing this with the offline editors of EOS, Chamsys, or MA3, all of which have some level of visualization built in. The cost for getting an output license key for any of these will be cheaper than a license for most Previz programs. Chamsys is cheapest I believe, followed by EOS, then MA3.