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Vision with Nomad on same machine


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I'm trying to run Vision on my Mac using Nomad on the same machine.  According to Vectorworks this is not recommended because it can be slow, but it is not impossible.  However, I'm unclear how to connect the two so that the Nomad controls Vision.  (Btw, I don't have a Nomad dongle... just using the free download.)

 

Has anyone does this and can give me some step-by-step help?  Thanks!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hey guys, I spoke to anne on the phone and forgot to answer this post for those who may have had the same question.

 

The ETC Nomad software does not output anything without the Nomad dongle. That article arose from earlier iterations of the "ETC Offline" software which pre-dates the Nomad. Currently, the Nomad will not broadcast any form of DMX to anything without a dongle or a wing. This is not implicitly stated anywhere on ETC's site that I've found.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Edward Joseph said:

Hey guys, I spoke to anne on the phone and forgot to answer this post for those who may have had the same question.

 

The ETC Nomad software does not output anything without the Nomad dongle. That article arose from earlier iterations of the "ETC Offline" software which pre-dates the Nomad. Currently, the Nomad will not broadcast any form of DMX to anything without a dongle or a wing. This is not implicitly stated anywhere on ETC's site that I've found.

 

 

Fortunately this is not the case. (I just downloaded a new version to be certain.) I suspect you have confused full show capable output with 'off-line w/vis' mode selected. But many things have changed since that article was written. Any Eos console including Nomad can output several network protocols.

 

Offline w/vis mode is not suitable for performances or client videos due to the copy protection ETC has in place. Every few minutes the output flashes for a few seconds!! This looks horrible but it brief enough to ignore for pre-programming and learning Eos. In fact one can easily use their pre-built vis files, provided free along side of the videos that use the very same files.

 

If you are having trouble, I suggest making sure your computer is on a network. sACN is the default output, but ArtNet is availble. Either one sent out your network port for your switch to send back to Vision.

Eos start.PNG

Edited by RickR
Formatting and deleted reference to Anne. I was thinking Anne Valentino the ETC product manager for Eos. Call her if you want the real scoop!
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Thanks for the clarification rick, but that appears to be windows. The user had asked about the Mac version. To my knowledge that still doesn't output artnet or sACN. 

 

I should have clarified that the Nomad does broadcast on windows. I'll double-check mac though, maybe I just got a few bad versions in a row while I was testing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for this information.  Any update on the Mac version, Ed?  I have now tried both without a Dongle, with a Dongle, and even a gadget for good measure.  lol.  I've tried setting it to Artnet and sACN, but to no avail.

 

I would love to know if it works without a Dongle because I would like to teach it to my students.  If it flashes, I can deal with that.  I just want to teach basic previs, but I'm still stuck.  Any advice would be lovely.

 

Thank you,

Anne

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

To anyone viewing this topic, the latest version of Nomad works on both mac and pc on the same machine. I'm going to run some further tests to determine whether broadcasting to a different computer is possible. It appears as though I got a broken version back when I initially tested.

 

For ETC users: Keep in mind that Vision uses a two-part addressing system that uses Universe and Channel. You can map whichever fields you want to be sent to Vision's Universe and channel in Vectorworks via File>Document Settings>Spotlight Preferences>Edit Vision Data Mapping. It is however, important to keep in mind that Vision's "Channel" refers to the 2nd part of the address, not the name of the fixture.

 

Hopefully that clears up a bit of confusion, and thanks @RickRfor the input! Looks like I have some more tests to run.

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  • 2 months later...

You can output on ArtNet and sACN in "offline mode" but at random times every Address will go to full for a 0.5 count and back to what your doing, this is to discourage someone from trying to use a 3rd party DMX output device and use Nomad for free as a control desk, this is not an issue if all your doing is pre-viz. Be warned Eos 2.6 does NOT work with ANY pre-viz right now (I Had to call ETC today, Eos just sends random values after the first "flash") Also make sure if you use your non-dongle copy of Nomad as a mirror screen that your not in Offline w/viz because as we discovered the other day it will "flash" your real rig if your on a active lighting network while working in pre-viz.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

This is big news, here's hoping 2.6.1 fixes the issue, but this isn't really a new thing. The ETC offline editors are notorious for not actually broadcasting things. Which is why the initial mac tests we ran had us thinking the mac version didn't broadcast. Because well...it didn't. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hiccups I expect, especially out of offline editors, but it's great to hear that 2.6.1 is working. With the Design Summit and 2018 release, testing time has been limited. For those who haven't been notified, here are the installers:

http://release.vectorworks.net/nnapub/all/2018/SP0/391023/Vision2018-391023-installer1-win.exe


 

http://release.vectorworks.net/nnapub/all/2018/SP0/391023/Vision2018-391023-installer1-osx.dmg

 

Check out the new environmental features, animated haze, buttery smoothness, and improved rendering quality!

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