garageCube

Hello, I’m about to try using madlaser and mad mapper to control lights and lasers at the same time.

I will need to buy a laser and an ILDA interface.

I am doing some tests for a show that will probably use about 3-6 lasers that will be higher in from different parts of the world so the ILDA output is essential.

I’ve seen a few different options of interfaces to use, some which are over ethernet like the shownet one . I now have a fair bit of ethernet gear in my set up, I have a net pocket 23 for lighting output. I have an ethernet switch to connect computers together for NDI. The cheapest ILDA interface I’ve seen is the Helios USB. I will need the interface to be PC and Mac compatible.

Just wondering if people have any recommendations? I am on a budget for now so just looking for something cheap to get me started and don’t mind upgrading something more expensive later on once the show is on the road.

Thanks

Helios is the cheapest, very handy and very reliable. Recommended

Thanks!!!

I can also officially recommend LaserCubes, as they have a built in DAC interface - so no need for a separate hardware.
They can be battery operated as well. And they are lightweight and work out of the box with MadMapper.

Thanks. I bought a 6W Emma laser with 30 kpps galvo direct from China for €320. It also takes IDN in through an ethernet socket. I found an Ether Wave DAC used on ebay which using an adaptor (that came with the laser) sends IDN over ethernet so it's the perfect combo.

The other benefit of Ether Wave is it works with Liberation laser software (as does Helios) which I will be using for busked laser shows (separate to my AV project)

Lasercube looks great but out of my budget for now.

Having a lot of fun controlling the laser in Madlaser, mapping audio amplitudes to different parameters. Very powerful and will explore this more.

for my AV show I will be triggering different laser materials with midi sent from Ableton but this is not completely reliable yet and I don't know why. I'm sending midi on channel 16 and telling madmapper to listen on channel 16 (inside one computer) but it does not always pick it up.

Also having trouble looping audio from Ableton to Madmapper with Blackhole (multi output / aggregate device). Audio is sending but MM not receiving.

for audio, you have to set it up in preferences/audio in -> blackout

If the emma laser has IDN input, why would you need an adapter and not send the data through ethernet directly ?

Sorry my mistake, it is not sending IDN, it is sending ILDA over ethernet cable. I am learning a lot these days