bit909
New Member
I wanted to share my experience publicly both as feedback to Pangolin on their product choices but also as a word of caution to others who may be considering between the ILDA and FB4 variants.
About a year ago I purchased the Unity RAW 3 FB4. I went with Pangolin & this unit due to Pangolin's great educational material and easy variance process. While debating between the much more expensive FB4 variant versus the ILDA variant, I went with FB4 as our existing lighting network is all ArtNet/ethernet based, and I assumed the extra cost was worth it given that I wouldn't need an external DAC and the convenience of network control.
As I started to outgrow Quickshow, and desired to do more "synth like" things (or even being able to do midi mapping or OSC for Christ's sake) I quickly learned that I had made a grave mistake. There is no ILDA input on the FB4 version: meaning if you want to use anything other than Quickshow (like Mad Laser, TouchDesigner, etc), you must have a Beyond license.
To be clear: I am a Hobbyist. I do art projects and small shows with friends that on the whole lose money. Purchasing an additional $1000 piece of software is not feasible after an expensive initial investment. It is especially disappointing that paying a few extra hundred dollars unintentionally vendor-locked me in to this ecosystem.
If there is a way to do any third party control over the hardware that I purchased without Quickshow or going even more in debt, please let me know. I am severely disappointed that I paid extra for the privilege of lacking a major feature and interoperability.
To any prospective buyers: I would strongly discourage you from getting the pricier FB4 version unless you already own Beyond.
To Pangolin: please do better. In your marketing materials, or your product choices. I've dissuaded many others from your products over this, a product I want to love.
About a year ago I purchased the Unity RAW 3 FB4. I went with Pangolin & this unit due to Pangolin's great educational material and easy variance process. While debating between the much more expensive FB4 variant versus the ILDA variant, I went with FB4 as our existing lighting network is all ArtNet/ethernet based, and I assumed the extra cost was worth it given that I wouldn't need an external DAC and the convenience of network control.
As I started to outgrow Quickshow, and desired to do more "synth like" things (or even being able to do midi mapping or OSC for Christ's sake) I quickly learned that I had made a grave mistake. There is no ILDA input on the FB4 version: meaning if you want to use anything other than Quickshow (like Mad Laser, TouchDesigner, etc), you must have a Beyond license.
To be clear: I am a Hobbyist. I do art projects and small shows with friends that on the whole lose money. Purchasing an additional $1000 piece of software is not feasible after an expensive initial investment. It is especially disappointing that paying a few extra hundred dollars unintentionally vendor-locked me in to this ecosystem.
If there is a way to do any third party control over the hardware that I purchased without Quickshow or going even more in debt, please let me know. I am severely disappointed that I paid extra for the privilege of lacking a major feature and interoperability.
To any prospective buyers: I would strongly discourage you from getting the pricier FB4 version unless you already own Beyond.
To Pangolin: please do better. In your marketing materials, or your product choices. I've dissuaded many others from your products over this, a product I want to love.