How about a thread of other bits and pieces of hardware to use alongside VDMX that doesn’t fall into the usual category of mixers, capture, output etc.
I will get started.
Ive been using the Kenton LNDR for a while now that allows you to extend midi across CAT5 cables.
Most venues and festivals have a line between FOH and stage so this is great for receiving midi data and clock from a onstage laptop. No set up required just plug in a USB > Midi box into your computer then connect that to the LNDR. The computer will detect your midi box and receive whatever is on the other end coming from stage.
Sweet ! thats a top tip :) I have used an XLR version of those, link below for them http://www.ctpsystems.co.uk/midi.html works super well too, they are a UK company I think though so when using them in North America and Japan I had to use a 110 > 240 V transformer
It is quite nice at my desk to plug in a single cable to get power, ethernet, all my old school USB ports and a display port that I can run a DVI monitor from… also fills in that SD card slot and a Firewire 800 port for the times I need to handle those.
I don’t usually travel with it but it has made it to a gig or two.
good shout ! I have the Touch Bar MBP now and the pouch of dongles I’m carrying is a bit of a faff
been looking at these docks and overwhelmed by the choice, I guess it would be a slam dunk if it had a HDMI port built in, but understand its more flexible for folks with the mDP there instead
Any thoughts on the more portable ones ? the travel one, or even the USB-C one ? I get a bit baffled by the quirks of USB-C vs TB3
Yeah I have mixed feelings about USB-C; as someone who has been using video gear for nearly 20 years, carrying around lots of dongles and adapters isn’t a new thing for me, so I don’t complain too much about that
and I do love having 4x ‘anything’ ports on my computer…
but I do feel like a jerk when I have to use that dongle just to use a thumb drive
When I get a chance I’ll see if one of my displayport to HDMI adapters works with the OWC TB3 dock… if I am not mistaken, technically DVI and HDMI are basically the same thing. From wikipedia on HDMI, “No signal conversion is necessary, nor is there a loss of video quality when a DVI-to-HDMI adapter is used.”
I agree with your points entirely, I just got very spoilt in the rMBP era that I always had a video output built in with the HDMI port, takes me back to the Unibody MBP days when needed the mDP dongle, as could always previously rely on the PowerBook G4 to come up good with a selection of out of box ports. Flying to most of my shows, I’m always looking for that extra bit of efficiency on not having to carry lots of extra widgets and keeping cords to the minimum etc
I’m all for USB-C / TB3 standard its just a bit of a painful transition at moment as nothing much works with it directly yet - be fine when everything catches up a bit :)
Also highly recommend one of these for festival shows, it spoofs an EDID of a beamer or screen so your computer can be convinced it constantly has a screen attached and allows VDMX to function in Fullscreen mode
Super handy for festival change overs and makes things as slick as they can be without using a vision mixer of some sort
Yeah i also have one of those in my Peli for festivals. Different brand called DVI Parrot.
Whilst on the subject of handy adapters etc for festivals. I started carrying a few Ethercon adapters to use alongside the LNDR boxes as a lot of festivals will only use Ethercon which cant connect to recessed ports.
I like portable video monitors that have an HDMI thruput (In/Out). They can act as a preview monitor or 2nd screen. I currently have a Small dog monitor but if I was looking for a new / budget pick, I’d pick up the Liliput A7S with 1920x1200 resolution.
Hey, i’m going to switch to the latest MBP with the 6500M on board… This means i need to get a nice TB3 dock: would you still recommend the OWC tb3 dock or maybe now it would be another one that wins? does displayport to HDMI work on this one? how about displayport to VGA?
it happens to me to play around with really old systems like crt tvs etc, and i was always using a vga-chinch thingy to convert the signal
I’ve just made a similar move but got the 5500 versoin of the 16" MBP.
I went for the CalDigit TS3 Plus. It’s on special this month (ends tomorrow 31st). Very happy with it. https://www.caldigit.com
Heads up it does need a power supply to work (not bus powered), but it charges the MBP so you don’t need your Apple charger.
I’ve not tested the DisplayPort with an HDMI or VGA converter, but I do have a TB3 to HDMI cable that works fine connected to one on the other TB3 ports. Not had a need to go to VGA yet.
BMD converters are nice also, but Decimators are cross compatible HDMI to SDI and SDI to HDMI; vs BlackMagic Design’s, which are one way or another. Their decklink devices are good for bring in live sources. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products
I am also using the caldit t3. The displayport to hdmi works - but you need an active converter (which are almost never labeled clearly.
Would assume the same for vga.
A regular cheap adaptor just passes through the signal which didnt work - displayport to hdmi.
