BEST LIGHTING SOFTWARE FOR CHURCHES | Lightkey Review
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- Опубліковано 12 лип 2024
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In this video, I review the Lightkey App, a mac-based lighting software that might just be the best option for your church.
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Hey Jake, glad to see a video about Lightkey! Reading thru the comments I guess we ought to make the feature about grouping/attaching live buttons more obvious one day. ;-)
Regards from the Lightkey team
Hey! Thanks for making a great product! Yes lol, the attaching live buttons thing is so simple but for some reason not immediately obvious like everything else. I was so close to emailing you about it but finally stumbled across it somewhere in the manual.
Churchfront with Jake Gosselin help please which interface do I need for this software ?
Am I able to run midi for Keylight from Pro Presenter all on one imac?
Lol. Sorry, lightkey.
Hi Charlie, yes, you can run Lightkey and Pro Presenter at the same time (and perhaps Keylight too ;-) ).
If you're worried about the performance, simply download the free Lightkey edition and give it a try.
This is an excellent video! We began using Lightkey a few months ago and it's set up very similar to this. This enabled us to start sending MIDI cues via ProPresenter and cue all lights in that way. By eliminating a position in the Production Booth completely, we've been able to take those volunteers and train them in a completely new role!
Thanks for sharing!
I personally use Lightkey as a wedding DJ! I love it, as I can send my MIDI clock out from VirtualDJ into lightkey, and all my effects match the beat of every song! It's super user friendly, especially for movement patterns with moving head fixtures!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this. Your ability to clearly and simply state what you did and why is so valuable. Also, the links are great too...guessing at the right products (like the dongle) has given me headaches and wasted money on bad items in the past.
Hi there! What single are you using? I can’t find the one he suggested.
our lighting program died beginning of December and I switched to lightly as well. it is absolutely awesome and super easy to use
Awesome!
This is awesome! Our church really needs a new modern lighting setup! We'll be looking back to this video when were ready to invest in that for sure!
Awesome!
This is awesome! Thanks Jake! We've been using one of those clunkier lighting programs you mentioned and this just looks 1000 times nicer to use. I'm going to try it out!
You will LOVE this software
Can you film exactly how to set this up in the space? Just how to plug it in and get it working with the computer as well as the dmx cables? Thanks
I need help setting the lights
Hey Jake. Awesome video. MyDMX has been giving me a lot of issues lately. Let me try out LightKey this week. Plus from your video, it looks like it's more user friendly. Thanks man.
Love this video! Thanks for the tips. We use MyDMX3 as well and we had the same CPU usage problem as well. We use MainStage on the same computer as MyDMX so it was crashing MainStage. I found out that if I shrunk the window of the MyDMX app, it DRASTICALLY dropped the CPU usage. So. Weird. Not crazy about the solution but it's working for now. Will be looking at Lightkey for sure! Thanks Jake.
Whoa! That is a weird solution but I'm glad you found something that works. It's too bad cause MyDMX is a great app too, I just feel like there isn't good development behind it. Thanks for sharing!
I'll try it. Thanks.
Hey jake quick question it’s great to see the lighting software and things like that but what kind of lights would best work for the software?
Great video, like all your videos. We just invested in DMXIS (enttec controller) running with Logic prox to control the automation of our stage lights. DMXIS isn't the most user friendly software, to say the least, and takes a lot of time to program our lights. Do you know if lightkey could replace DMXIS and integrate into logic pro to have full automation of lights to our songs for live performances? We also use wireless donners for our lights, how would lightkey/DMXking communicate wirelessly lights? Thanks!
Hey Jake! Could you do a rundown of your entire lighting rig? We are a small mobile church looking enhance our worship service with better lighting. We just invested in 4 ADJ led PARS and I want to know how to best use them.
I'll add it to my list of future videos!
Please!
the DMX King adapter is no longer available on Amazon. Any ideas where I can get it, or something that works like it?
Do you think you could do a quick video showing how to run Lightkey from a separate iPad? I have my sound board on one iPad and would like to control lighting on a separate one
What do you think about ChamSys MagicQ? In my church are we using MagicQ. I did design the lightning for the stage! We are also using a MagicQ PC Wing Compact! I am working as a lightning tech and have always used ChamSys MagicQ!
Love your vids!
Have you tried using the ProPresenter 6 midi module to send midi out to Lightkey running on the same computer? We switched to using the Prime app instead of Ableton, and don't use tracks for all songs. Would be nice for our PP/Lighting techs (not trained in lighting stuff at all) to not have to switch between screens and have to learn how to use a new bit of software. Also don't want to have to get ANOTHER computer for the desk.
Hey Ryan, happy new year! Not so long ago you made a video called 'amazing church production gear' and you mentioned the app luminair, can you make a video explaining how to set it up? Thanks in advance
Yeah, I'm definitely gonna look into that app as it may be a good option for an iPad based lighting control setup.
What facebook group were you talkkng about that you checked? Is there a good group for Praise Tech crew?
I'm still on My DMX. I've been thinking about trying something else- I might have to check this out!
You will love it
Hey Jake! Awesome video, I have a quick question. What if some of your lights/haze machine isn't one of the pre-recognized fixtures in the software, will I still be able to have control through the computer to the fixtures? Thanks for your help man!
Check the database on Lightkey's website. They have many more fixtures that didn't come with my original download, and if the profile isn't there, you can send them the specs and they will build it and email it to you.
So if you're running ProPresenter and Lightkey on the same computer, which is taking precedence with respect to user control? In other words, do you let PP6 run in the back and control the advancement through the slides using MIDI controls while Lightkey is primarily up and controlled by the operator?
I've been using mydmx for a while now but i'm just tired of the problems especially with 3.0. I just started learning about Lightkey
Thanks Jake!
Thank you advice
Hey do you need a dimmer/relay to work the the lights like the “ Chauvet dj D-6 pro” or all you need in the interface?
Hey jake you talked about really stable midi network app You guys use.
What is that app, and what exactly is the use?
About to purchase Lightkey and the interface as you have it here. Any update on any better options? Thanks!
Jake, great stuff! Wow this is what I have been looking for. How long does it take to midi map a whole service for you?
Not long! They actually have a built in feature that generates midi cues in Ableton. I didn’t cover it in this video but that will save you a ton of time
Just realized you asked about midi mapping a service. I’d say it depends on how detailed an elaborate I get. On average about a half hour
Churchfront with Jake Gosselin I would love to see the workflow that you use, who triggers your tracks? Do you sync it with ProPresenter?
Hey jake is there a time limit for how long you can use the free version of the software.
Any information on how to set up transitions between scenes/presets so the next one doesn't just pop up but reader fades in slowly or the previous fades out slowly. Hope that makes sense 😃
Hey Jake, thanks for all that you do.
Quick question for you,
Do you run the lightkey software and pro presenter from the same MacBook Pro?
Can you run them both simultaneously ?
Thanks in advance.
Yes I'd like to know this, too!
Hi Jake, I was just curious if I could build out a full cuelist for volunteers to run just by clicking a "go to next" type of button? Just for the volunteers who are brand new to lighting. Then that way I can pre-program cues that are song specific and then just let the volunteers run through on Sunday
This is of GREAT interest to me as well. I'm the lighting director at our church and we switched to LightKey last November. I've been trying to find a way to just set colors for our fixtures, assign these colors to one of four (or five) different songs (cues) but, when I do this we get delayed lights turning on or off but most annoying is when we get flashes of lights when we change to a different cue. LightKey has told me it has to do with the priority of the cues but we still have the previous issues. I've also noticed that many times LightKey ignores fade times. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!
What can you use besides Ableton to cue lights while playing an MP3? I am working on a basketball arena lighting setup and we don't play "live" music so we don't use Ableton, but we play MP3s as hype/player intro music. What else does Lightkey work with that can give cues to scenes without a separate midi controller, etc.?
Did you have to install drivers for that DMXKing interface or is it just plug and play?
Just spent an entire night figuring out the driver for the Eurolite dongle and it was a horror show. It's an open source one and the driver had to be copied in and built in terminal (M1Mac Mini).
Hi Dan can you explain how you copied the patching assignment from one computer to another. I’m running clarity on a pc and want to run our church rig with Lightkey. How do I copy patch assignment over.
Hi Jake! Great video. I bought Lightkey as a Christmas present for my church a few weeks ago! It's really helped my credibility when the worship leader saw you post this. (Though he asked if I paid you to make this video... LOL!)
Would you be comfortable running Ableton Live, ProPresenter6, and Lightkey all on the same Mac if it's a beefy (16GB i7) system?
Pretty sure it could but if you can have separate PCs it is always ideal
Hey Jake when getting the DMX King did you have to download the drivers with it? Or was it a seamless plug and play. After reading the comments for the product it seems that many people had to download some type of software to get it working. Looking forward to hearing from you!
I purchased the eDMX2 Pro and didn't need any software or driver for using it on with USB on MacOS, it was plug and play. If you want to configure it for Art-net (not applicable with the DMX interface in this video) you need DMXKing's free configuration software.
Hey Jake, question any idea on how to control the lightkey software with a separate computer. We have ableton that control our tracks on the stage and on that we create the keys for the light. but our lightkey software is on a computer in booth... any idea on what to do?
I am loving the Tai Lopez style bookcase in the background, you look way smarter now
Hey it’s Jake just hanging out here in my garage with my lambo
Do you have a video of light suggestions, if we are just getting started in church lighting (affordable lights, and stands for a start up)?
I too want some help through light suggestion as what devices to buy . Maybe a crash course if someone need to do the basic setup and shopping for the fist time.
The DMX Interface is not available on Amazon anymore. What would be your recommendation?
Hey Jake! My Church recently looked into this program. We've been looking ableton live as well but at the moment we use Mainstage 3. I was if there is a way to send the same Midi signals with mainstage to control the lights like with ableton?
Ethan MainStage can send Midi notes like Ableton and other software. As long as you set your midi in on Lightkey and midi out on Mainstage to be the same device you should be set.
Hey man, I just purchased the full version of lightkey together with the king ultra USB DMX interface I’m using my MacBook somehow it’s not working, it’s not even reading the USB DMX I can’t even control our lights. Any solution?
Thanks
Hey Jake! Thanks for the video.. could you not just use your mydmx controller to run lightkey instead of having to buy the usb to dmx cable? Or was it not compatible with lightkey?
I don't think it's compatible and our controller was kind of falling apart anyway so it made sense to get a new one
Hey jack, how do I stream or send the lyrics feed from proclaim to obs?
What kind of lightbulbs are compatible with light key? We have plenty bought from LIFX, will they be compatible
What light fixtures are you using for the ellipsoidal and washer lights on the truss?
Hey Jake, are you able to connect light key to a lighting board?
Do you know if the Soundswitch Micro DMX Interface USB will work with Lightkey?
When I get lightkey and I start with like 4, fixtures can I add more fixtures later?
I saw that you use the amhaze stadium, I’m curious how thin the haze is, and how well it’s worked for you? Have you had issues with it setting the fire alarm off?
Works great. No issues with the fire alarm.
Hey Jake! Great Video! Any updates on the audio fusion iem system?
Audiofusion system works great. We've got two musicians on it regularly.
Churchfront with Jake Gosselin Great! Any idea if they have the Android app coming soon? 3 of our vocalists don't have iphones 😞 but we do have 3 macs in our tech booth😁
Jake, are you guys still using this software??? If so, is it still solid??? Thanks again for all of the great content for A/V minded church people.
Question: we have a wireless dongle that sends signal from our DMX 512 to a receiver on the lights. Would this work the same way?
yo God bless! just how a can connect 20 lights to a laptop! sorry! im a beginner! is there an interface that can plug all you lighting and then send it tru that king cable you mention?? im a 4 day beginner and jeje
I have used QLC+ and it's the most simple to use of the free ones I have found. We are a small church of approx 80 each Sunday. Pitching 500 to our church board for lighting software is a little more than we could swing.
Nice video, thanks for posting. Looks like a good value if you can swing it.
At around 11:25 you mention how it only triggers one at a time and I cannot figure out how to do this! Any chance you can quickly explain how or what keyword I should research to find the instructions how to set that up?
Anyone know if there is a work around in Lightkey and ableton to not have the light scene change (resort back to default) when the ableton playhead stops? For example, I create song cues in lightkey and drop those into my ableton timeline for each song. However, when we have a break in the set and I stop the ableton playhead, the lights change from the cue used for the song, back to whatever light scene was being used prior to starting our set. I find this distracting sometimes. I wish that I could stop the playhead and not have the lighting look change to the default. Anyone have any pro-tips or encounter what I'm 'splaining?
Hey, so what’s your take on the Luminair app that’s here?
Great video Jake but you missed LightKey's biggest feature. You should redo the automation section. Lightkey auto creates ableton live clips which magically appear in ableton for you to drag into your sessions. You don't need to create midi clips and map them - So good
Yeah, that's a cool feature for sure. The way I cue scenes I still have to make my own custom template for cueing multiple control panel cues at once, but their link feature could definitely be a time saver!
@@Churchfront first off, really appreciate the time you've put into sharing your knowledge. fantastic.
@@Churchfront Are you able to "play" the lights using a midi controller and have all of that 'recorded' along side your backing track in ableton BEFORE you perform live? In my case as a one man band, could use a midi keyboard and bang out my lights to all my tracks in ableton so that when I play them to an audience everything to do with lights is already in lock step with the beat even if I change BPM, etc. Perhaps @kristian might know the answer? Thanks in advance to either of your potential responses.
Sorrry if this has asked already but can you control this software with ableton LITE?
Awesome video, I’m new to all of this, would this work with Ableton Live wirelessly sending the midis from one computer the other thanks.
Yes it would!
@@Churchfront @Lightkey Hey guys, just stumbling on this a year later. I would like to send the midi notes from ableton on stage to our iMac at front of house. I'm assuming I can do this via Audio Midi Setup? just like I do with Propresenter? Just setting up a session/bus?? Thanks in advance!
I do have a question: I am using Proclaim presentation and am able to use MIDI cues. I was able to set it up to where I could cue a set of lights when selecting a song. However, when using lightkey i have to click off the previous lighting cue make sure the next cue is solely cued. Not sure if this makes sense. What I am curious about is how do i use the midi functions to not only cue the next lighting cue but also turn off the previous one?
You have to use the grouping feature in lightkey's control panel. You'll notice in my setup that all of my "LED color combos" are grouped together so that only one of them can be selected at a time. So for whatever scenes or looks you want to be enabled one at a time, make sure they are in the same group.
We just got Lightkey. Are there any ipad or android apps that can control this?
How do you balance programing/automating your lights and lyrics while still utilizing volunteers? In other words, what do the volunteers do if the songs are automated with ableton live?
They monitor the computer and run it for non-automated time (host, sermon, etc)
hey jake....our church is currently working on make several av upgrades....one of which is lighting....im seriously thinking about light key.... currently we have 2 macs.... we are planning on doing upgrades in march....i could use help with the setup....do you guys do any zooms to assist in that area?
Yes you can reach out at Churchfront.com/apply
I’m new to lighting. Is there a need for a board and the software?
Hey, we just bought moving head lights and was wondering if we can place our lights above the projector screen facing down? Would that effect the way the projector hits the screen?
If you use hazers or fog machines like we do you will need to be careful because sometimes our movers block the screen view because of the fog. A big factor for us is whether or not our HVAC systems are running!
So sorry to bother, but after you plug in the usb to dmx cable. Where does the dmx end go to?
What stagelights do you use at your church?
hey, I'm not really English, so I'm not so sure what do you mean by church. do you mean like temple?
Can you use m-touch // m-play light boards with this?
No, the M-Touch/M-Play are proprietary and only for M-Series/Onyx
My Macbook Pro 16 m1 pro couldn't work with enttec open dmx usb & Lightkey! I think it's Apple silicon driver problem with FTDI chips.
Elation Onyx is free of charge and works on any artnet interface. Midi is also stable. just a thought
Will LightKey work in session view as well?
I bought the wire usb to dmx and i direct my LED lights to my computer. But i can't control it. What's wrong with it? Can you help me?
Please where can we get light key live triggers for ableton live. You didn’t give us a source.
Hello I’m having some problem with this program my lights don’t obey my Mac 🖥 went I want to change something I have to reset the output everything I want to do something different I hop you can help me thanks.
Pretty cool! QLC+ is a legit free option that can do most if not all you’ve mentioned.
thanks for sharing
So I've been using Lightkey for the past year, and just started using Ableton for Automation. I've discovered that there's an issue with sending multiple midi notes to Lightkey from Ableton, especially via a midi Network. Have you noticed that issue at all? Also having issues with setting the midi clock from Ableton via the wireless network (although it works when running Ableton and Lightkey on the same Mac), if you have any ideas for how to make that work properly? Thanks!
Josiah Nusbaum I have had an issue with triggering from Ableton as well. I programmed our Christmas production with light key and Ableton but it seemed that if I triggered multiple cues at once some of the cues wouldn’t be recognized. That paired with light key not being able to use 2 open DMX usb interfaces at the same time became a huge issue. The only multiple universe USB DMX interfaces light key works with is very few. I ended up buying another Ableton and Lightkey license and used Link to run the show. Very time consuming and Lightkey was spotty with midi triggers. Lightkey was great for programming basic lighting and simple moving head presets.
@@EricSoundsBad I've found that it's great when I am careful. I just make sure that every trigger is placed a LITTLE differently, so it's just a fraction of a second off, which isn't bad, and it still ends up looking really really good. Then I just have a guy at the lighting computer with a setlist (with BPM's) and he manually syncs the midi clock. It's a little annoying, but better than having someone come in to run lights!
Interesting, cause I haven't run into any of these issues. Do you use Lightkey's built-in Ableton automation project or do you just set it up manually? I do it manually with my own templates and it works fine
Yeah, I did it manually with my own templates. It might just be the way I set up my midi network maybe? Not totally sure!
Dante ?
For this software can you add a lighting console?
Hello Jake could you pls give me a very simple and very affordable light system that I can start we ate a very small church without big money but I would like to have a decent light
So the DMX king just goes straight from the dmx cable from the lights to your computer? you don't need anything in between the dmx light cable to the DMX king?
Correct
Can you pre-program a group of scenes for a particular song, and then send a midi cue to cue that group of scenes?
I know you can using Ableton live.
Hi Jake, I already renew the license and how can I update the software
Does anyone of you experience with asterabox connecting via dmx cable to MacBook and using the lightkey software? Is this possible? Cause I didn't found anything on the net, although the software can connect to astera lights.
Please help, if somebody can help me out 🙏
Thank you, cheers from ICF Austria
I was literally just about to buy my DMX3.0 - like, had it in my Amazon cart...Lightkey seems to be a better route?
If you are running a mac, YES! So much better. Haha glad I sent this out just in time.
@@Churchfront seriously, I am like, so thankful! I had been experimenting with MyDMX trial - it was running my mac super hot, but I thought it was just pushing the CPU harder than normal! Lightkey was installed but I literally thought, "no, Jake uses myDMX..." haha!
Change of plans for this guy! Thanks Dude!
Can you set these lights up off campus or do need the lights to be plugged to set this up?
If your fixtures are properly patched then you can create all your presets/cues without needing to be connected to your lighting rig. The preview will tell most of the story, but obviously you'll want to run through cues on your rig too, especially if moving heads are involved.
I would possibly rename this and mention its for smaller churches. I think it can target the audience. Small churches are always looking for lighting software.
I really like the lightkey dmx controller software which is very easy to use and fast configuration but its only run in iOS not on Windows which kinda "feelsbadman". Thats why I only use Sunlite Suite by nicolaudie its a really good dmx software/hardware, up to 1024 dmx channel plus no monthly/yearly subscription btw.
What do you recommend for windows Os?
I tried running the free version on my Mac (using the provided link) and it wouldn't allow me to install the software.
Hey Jake, we recently set up this software at our church. In the live presets how do you tell the program to only run one preset at a time. Such as when you turn on one button preset and then the next, both are lit up. How do you tell it when one is clicked the other one shuts off? Have you run into this?
Ha great question. It took me forever to figure out. Make sure the cue buttons are touching each other within a group! That’s it!
Churchfront with Jake Gosselin I don’t understand....
Churchfront with Jake Gosselin like literally underneath or side by side touching? Any chance you can send me a screenshot of what you mean? I think I’m adding up what you mean...lol
Hi.....
How is the compatibility with moving head lights?
We use Luminair 3, $99 one time app, as well for a 512 dmx system (+dmxKing to WiFi router to iPad). No annual fee and super robust and easier user interface. Limited to 1 - 512 universe tho. More than enough for church.
Nice, yeah I've heard great things about it. For our workflow, I prefer running everything on Mac rather than having an additional iPad.
@Evan Catlapp could you please tell me the exact DMXKing router you use? Sounds like a cool option. For a total beginner does laminar, pick up on all your devices if you get the basics of dmx? Also do you use any led strips? Thanks in advance if you answer any of these questions.
We are a church that is barely looking into all of the lighting DMC systems, how do you connect all of your lights from the stage to the Mac? Or what do you connect the DMX cable going out of your mac into? Is there any “getting started with lights” videos you recommend?
Hey Alex, I'm sure you could find some good tutorials here on UA-cam, but that's why I'm developing a full online course for this that goes into detail with the setup. But it's not terribly complicated. Lighting Software ---> USB to DMX interface ---> DMX cables ----> DMX enabled fixtures or dimmer boxes
The lights get connected together in a chain from light to light with what looks exactly like microphone cables but are called DMX cables... you assign each light a dmx address between 0-512 and that’s it’s starting address. Each light has a certain number of channels that it listens on after that starting number. So a typical generic RGB light may only listen on 3 channels for Red, Green, Blue... if you assign that generic light an address of 1, then 1 would typically be how much Red you’d like, 2 is Green, 3 is Blue... it really depends on each light and who made it as how exactly it interprets the signals sent to each channel. If you had 4 of those generic lights, and set them all to channel 1, then they would always be getting the exact same information and always show the same color. If you wanted the same 4 lights to sometimes be different, then you’d assign the first light to 1 (R=1, G=2, B=3), then the second light to 4 (R=4, G=5, B=6), the third light to 7 (R=7, G=8, B=9), and the forth light to 10.
The lighting software sends signals to each of these addresses assigning it a number between 0-255 which controls what color the lights display... so in the above example if you wanted purple light coming out of light 1 then you’d set channel 1 to 255 for full red, set channel 2 to 0 for no green, then add however much blue you wanted in your purple on channel 3.
Not all dmx devices work the same way, you really have to look at manuals to see how many channels it uses and what they use them for. For instance a Hazer or a Fan may also use DMX to control how much haze or fan speed it should emit.
Hope that helps!
Churchfront with Jake Gosselin Thank you!
TheAnimator Fbg3.Honda Thank you so much! Now that makes way more sense, appreciate it!
Your welcome Alex... if you look at 8:14 you can see the graphical representation of Jake’s setup and how they assigned their lights to different DMX addresses... for example they have a Truss Warmer light assigned to DMX 248 and it’s listening on 4 channels 248,249,250 & 251... which most likely is one overall dimmer channel on 248, and the next 3 is RGB
It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
I got the midi working! However, when it activates a cue it does not fade on. It just activates the lights without using the built in fade. Any ideas on how I can make it so midi activates the cue with the included fade?
You need to right click the cue and then adjust the fade time settings.
How do you connect all your lights together ? I’m a noob lol have you made a video about this?
I don't. In the meantime you could find some DMX lighting setup tutorials here on UA-cam. I'm working on an online course for Worship Leader School to be released in early 2019