Hi, I’d like to know if it’s possible to use the prime go to control lights via engine lighting with a live band show without having to load and playing tracks on the hardware to make light shows go on. I both the prime go instead of the wolf mix because I’m a soundswitch user thinking that engine lighting could be used with external sources (for example aux in, or a mic input for detecting the bpm) but unfortunately it seems not be the case. I don’t know if a software update could be a viable way to do this, but it seems to me a very lacking feature, the prime go is fantastic and with this it can eat some of wolfmix users if you make it capable of true standalone lighting control in my opinion. It’s just a matter of a “standalone mode” with a ruff bpm detector and maybe a tap tempo button, I don’t think it has to be more complicated than that. I don’t know if I’m the only one who have thought about this but it seems to me very easy and a straight forward solution. Thanks to the community as sorry for being tedious.
Prime Go+ only seems to work the lighting with a track playing and the fader up. I’ve not found a way around it. soundSwitch is just bizarre in so many ways.
On the Prime4, it also works without pre-scripted tracks. This is what the so-called autoloops in Soundswitch are for.
While these are all populated during the initial installation, they seem more like a nice bonus.
Only when Soundswitch, or rather Engine Lighting, recognizes your setup can it truly shine.
I have different loops on my four banks, depending on my mood.
If Engine Lighting doesn’t find any scripted tracks, it falls back to the autoloops and plays them in time according to the settings.
I see each autoloop as a preset – tip:
It’s better to create short loops and not too many variations within the loop, but rather a large number of loops (presets).
Once you understand how Soundswitch works, it’s a powerful combination with the Prime or Go. Later, you’ll probably want to use the Control One to avoid constantly switching to the interface by double-clicking the View button – which works surprisingly well, as intervention is rarely necessary.
For me, such interventions are… For example, all white (blender effect) or strobe (the latter only via button, never in autoloops).
When you start programming your favorite tracks with your own shows, Soundswitch/Engine Lighting is unbeatable – unless you’re using external DMX software, which often only works with its own adapters.
My long-time main client (who’s an event organizer) who books me for large corporate events or public stages, has “flown” some of the lighting according to my setup and even reserved the DMX Universe 2 for me.
My mobile lighting setup is similar – set up and roughly aligned with the dance floor, it almost always works.
In addition, there are four (or however many) free positions, for example, for photoshoots or the wedding cake, which can also be set in Prime. (So it works WITHOUT a PC!)
Although I come from GrandMA3 and have programmed other lighting consoles, I find Soundswitch significantly more pragmatic for DJs.
Scripting requires some learning and work.
You always need the software, which I believe is free for three months?
Once everything is programmed, you don’t really need the software anymore. Some people might buy it outright, others can subscribe to it monthly.
Another tip: Program all the lights you have or plan to buy later. If some lights aren’t included, it doesn’t matter at all. Adding lights to existing shows/scripts is possible, but it means doing it in all loops and scripts.
This applies to all DMX software.
That’s all true, but the strange thing is that you can not set the bpm manually or detect it via external sources with engine lightning. It is basically soundswitch (which I’ve used for about 2 years) but with this limitation. My main goal is to use the prime go as a standalone controller for my lights for the main show while I’m doing with other gear or mixing sounds for a live band, as you can do with the wolf mix controller. The Limit is only that engine lighting with the prime go can not operate without being the player of the music that’s sync to the lights, that in my opinion is a limit that has no sense to exist. Bpm detection via the aux in or the mic in seem to me an easy task to accomplish but I can be wrong. maybe the problem is that the external sources doesn’t pass thru the software in the prime go but I can see workarounds via the usb ports.
Believe it or not SoundSwitch doesn’t even work on a playlist when played on the Prine Go+. It’s bonkers.
I know, I tried it. Its Unbelievable that a complete and functional ecosystem like this lacks in this little things.
Actually it makes perfect sense - because the Go is a standalone DJ system that has DMX control as a convenience. It’s not something designed just to control lights.
People buy it because they want to DJ with it, not because they want to control lights for a band.
Yes but it’s a shame because it can and it does’t for no reason in my opinion.
Indoor really get why using the prime go make sense here. SS does not need a super high powered laptop to run. Wouldn’t it not be way better to use a cheap laptop and any midi controller?
To buy the prime go seems a little to pricey for that Function and would also be less capable and more complex then a laptop/midi combo?
The problem is that a thing that controls lights does nothing while music is not playing. If you use it in a context as a wedding and there are moments when you need some lights, like cocktail hours with a playlist playing or some kind of show with a performer, you can not have the the auto loops playing in standalone (it will be easy just to add a bpm tap tempo on screen if it doesn’t listen to the external music via the software) I’m surprised that a software locked feature isn’t driving crazy any one. I mean. It doesn’t plays the auto loops when it’s playing a playlist, isn’t it absurd? I get that using it as a standalone light controller is overkill, but not in a massive way! It seems to me that the prime users are less into modularity and midi mapping and want a more straightforward product, that is totally fair, but to I think this are basic functions that should be implemented.