Hi everybody, I was on a big gig last week and I had the opportunity to use the new dp8k.
The responsiveness is amazing. it literally loads the show in NO time.
We were using a hog III with a dp8000 plus 2 dp2000 converted to artnet nodes for we needed more outputs. the whole configuration was straightforward without any hiccup. As a back up desk we were using a RH FB.
the two desks were linked via Midi. On the FB side we were using the 4 on board dmx outputs plus 8 universes via artnet converted to standard DMX with 2 dp2000 and 4 more outputs via a standard dp2000. I have to say the FB is very impressive for speed, responsiveness and back up time. The hog III definitely lags behind. Now the tricky part comes. As we were basically using two different system we obviously needed a way to transfer the show from one desk to the other one. I thought the easiest way was to map an external drive accessible from both desks. Well I didn't manage to set up the Hog III to recognize the external drive. FB no problem at all. Hog III no way out I could map the drive. Static IP address, DHCP assigned, Switch, router, wired, wireless, Crossover.... Nothing. Wierd thing is that yes I could join the show wirelessly and walk around the venue, being able to control the whole system. We had RW CDs that for some reason the hog III could read but not the FB. Basically to transfer the show from the Hog III to the FB I had to first burn the CD on the Hog, transfer the show to a USB stick with a computer to eventually load it to the FB.
I've been a hog III user since 2004 and I have to say You don't have any other desk outside there that can be compared to the Hog III software from a programming point of view but as you guys know, flipped side of the coin, you do have desks out there that have a better networking system. Multiuser sessions with the slave taking the session over in case the master crashes. I'm definitely looking forward to having a multiuser and multilevel network system.
