Description
The DMX panel enables you to setup DMX inputs and DMX outputs to interact with other devices in your setup using the DMX protocol.
The DMX protocol is a standard for digital communication mostly used to control lighting (dimmers, light projectors) and effects (fog machines) with the use of a light console.
One DMX universe can carry up to 512 channels each coding data on 8-bits with values ranging from 0 to 255.
DMX over Ethernet
The DMX protocol was traditionally transported on a 2-pair wire with shielding and using 5-pin XLR connectors.
Advancements in equipment and with rising DMX channel requirements per equipment, transporting DMX over ethernet has become more of a standard enabling the deployment of a great number of DMX universes with minimal wiring. There are two major protocols to distribute DMX data over Ethernet infrastructures : Art-net and sACN.
Both protocols allow for a large number of DMX universes to be carried over Ethernet and the main differences are :
- Art-Net : More often compatible with older gear but more data-intensive on the network and less friendly with other protocols transported on the same network.
- sACN : More recent and less compatible with older gear but more efficient use of data on the network and less problems with other protocols transported on the same network.
To be able to communicate with other lighting equipment your Kinetic Designer and those equipment must be connected to the same network.
If the network is an Art-net or sACN infrastructure, it is already using Ethernet cables and you can connect the Kinetic Designer directly to a switch on that network.
If the network uses traditional 2-pair wiring with XLR connectors, you will have to interface yourself to the DMX chain using an Ethernet to DMX adapter.
You must configure Kinetic Designer to use the correct network adapter for DMX in Edit > Preferences > Network.
Once you are connected to the same network and configured correctly you may create Inputs and Outputs to either receive or send data from/to the rest of the network.
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