Outputs

Outputs (F7) connects each universe of the show (512 DMX channels) to an interface: a DMX USB interface, an Art-Net node or an sACN output. It also has the DMX levels monitor, which shows live what goes out.

In the header:

• “Universes” / “DMX levels”: the two views of the page.
• “Rescan”: looks for the connected interfaces again.
• “Remove universe” and “Add universe”.

Connecting a universe

1. Connect the interface to the computer (or to the network, for Art-Net and sACN).
2. If it does not appear in “Detected outputs”, press “Rescan”.
3. In the row of the universe, open the drop-down (it says “Not connected”) and choose the output.

Each output appears with the name of its type and the name of the interface or of the network: “DMX USB — …”, “ArtNet — …”, “E1.31 — …” (E1.31 is sACN). The connected universe is marked in green. To disconnect it, choose “Not connected”.

The connection is remembered for the next time you open the program.

Tip: DMX USB interfaces based on FTDI chips need their drivers. If you do not have them, the program installer offers the page to download them when it finishes.

Universes

• “Add universe” adds one at the end. When you patch, you choose which universe each fixture goes in.
• Click the name of a universe to change it (the name is saved with the show).
• “Remove universe” removes the last one (there is always one left). If it has patched fixtures, you cannot: move them to another universe or delete them in the Patch first. If it is the input of a controller, it asks first, because that controller will stop working until you turn it on again in Mappings.

DMX levels

“DMX levels” shows the 512 channels of a universe just as they leave the program, with everything applied (scenes, programmer, mixer, grand master, limits…):

• Choose the Universe in the drop-down.
• Each box has the channel number and its value (0–255). “Show as %” switches to percentages.
• Boxes with a border belong to a fixture. Hover over a channel to see which fixture it belongs to (“Name — channel N”).

Tip: if a fixture does not respond, check here whether its channel moves. If it moves, the problem is in the cable, in the address of the fixture or in the interface; if not, in the patch or in what you are playing.

The same monitor can be a section of the SHOW (“DMX levels”).

DMX input

An interface with a DMX input (or a desk connected to it) can control the program: you turn it on as a device in Mappings.