Does anyone know how to control DMX lights in Ableton?

[stevenbeller]

Is it possible to control lights through Ableton via USB to DMX converter box? I haven't purchased anything yet and I want to know what I need so I don't waist my money on stuff that is not going to work. If anyone has figured this out please let me know what to do.
Thanks!

[TobiasHahn]

Hi steven,

Live does not support DMX out-of-the-box.

There is, however, a solution by another user, David Butler, using Max for Live.

Even though David's work sounds very intriguing, I have not been able to test his stuff, so I cannot give you any guarantee that it works for your purposes. I would suggest to check out his website (http://prodavid.wordpress.com/dmax) and see if what he has done would solve your problem.

If you do not own Max for Live, you can demo it like this:

• Download and install the Max 5 demo from http://cycling74.com/downloads.
• In Live, go to preferences -> User Account / Licenses and activate the "Show all products at startup"-toggle.
• Restart Live. In the startup dialog which comes up, click the Start button next to "Ableton Suite 8 + Max for Live (without authorization)". This will enter demo mode, which lets you demo all features of Live including Max for Live. Note that saving and exporting is disabled in demo mode.
• Go to preferences -> File / Folder and make sure that Live has the correct path to the Max application. If not, click on Browse and navigate to the Max editor installed above.

Now you are able to try out David's Max for Live devices.

Please tell me how this works out for you in the end.

Cheers,
Tobias