Category: Product

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Controllers: matisse Light-Switch II configuration

The DIP switches on the rear panel set the operating mode. They need to be set differently depending on whether you are using remote panels.

Operating as a single Light-Switch

DIP SwitchFunctionSet to:
1TerminatingOFF
2Master/SlaveON
3Master/SlaveON
4Master/SlaveON
5SnapshotOFF
6RDM disableON

Operating as a master Light-Switch with one or more remote (slave) Light-Switch units

DIP SwitchFunctionMasterSlave
1TerminatingONOFF
2Master/SlaveONOFF
3Master/SlaveONOFF
4Master/SlaveONOFF
5SnapshotOFFOFF
6RDM disableOFFOFF

Important facts

  • The products use RDM to communicate with each other, so the RDM Disable switch must be OFF when using remote (slave) Light-Switch.
  • If there is a splitter between any of the Light-Switch units, the splitter must be enabled for RDM.
  • The DMX port is used for both output and snapshot (input). It changes direction based on the operating mode.
  • If a remote (slave) Light-Switch flashes the UP LED, this means it has not been connected by the master. (Check points above and wiring).

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Guides: Fail-Over

This note describes how Artistic Licence products can handle a sudden loss of data.

The term ‘fail-over’ has a subtly different meaning depending on the circumstances. The key difference is whether one looks at the situation from the perspective of the controller or the receiver. But in either case, the important consideration is that the lights go to a known condition when DMX512 data loss occurs.

Receivers

The majority of Artistic Licence receivers, such as sunDial, candlePower and Rail-Switch have the ability to detect loss of DMX and take action. The action can be to ‘hold last state’ which is the default for DMX512 equipment, or playback a preset scene. These features are all programmed via RDM (Remote Device Management).

Controller

Dealing with a controller failure requires a combination of products to detect the fault and then take action. There are two key approaches: merge and switch.

Merge

DMX mergers such a Rail-Merge and matisse f6 have the ability to hold last state. This means that if the DMX512 control signal is lost, they will keep outputting the last signal they received. This approach is useful in some circumstances but lacks flexibility.

Switch

Fail-over is further complicated when multiple universes need to be protected. Rail-Flip can protect four universes of DMX512. In automatic mode, it monitors the inputs and if it detects a loss of signal on any of the A-inputs, it will switch to the B-input. Additionally, the product uses relays to do the switching, so it also protects against power loss.

In this approach, fail-over switches to a second DMX controller, such as a matisse f6.

Gateways:

Gateways convert ethernet Art-Net or sACN to DMX512/RDM. So what happens if the ethernet control signal is lost? The premium range gateways such as dataLynx, netLynx and artLynx quad have fail-over detection. This means that you can program what the gateway should do in the event of network failure. The action can be to ‘hold last state’ which is the default, or playback a preset scene. These features are all programmed via DMX-Workshop or the gateway’s web browser.

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Interface: Setting Rail-Switch to trigger on loss of DMX512

There are numerous instances when it is usual to switch a circuit in the event of a DMX512 failure. Rail-Switch II provides this function using its Data Loss Mode (highlighted below). This application note shows how to use DMX-Workshop to configure the product.

Right click and select ‘Set Data Loss Mode’ from the popup menu.

Select scene 1 and press set.

Next, output levels to set the relays to the state to be used in a data failure. In this example it is just the first two relays on.

Right click on ‘Capture preset’ and select ‘Set Capture preset’ from the popup menu.

Select ‘Record scene 1’ and press record.

The Rail-Switch will now output scene 1 in the event of a loss of DMX512.

The standard product (firmware V8.23 or V8.27) will detect loss of DMX512 after approximately 1.8s. A fast response version (V8.25) is available which switches in under 0.5s.

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Controllers: matisse Light-Switch II – Switch-Edit lamp personalities

The Switch-Edit software is downloaded from the product page, under the Resources section.

Occasionally, after installation, the Switch-Edit software does not list any lamp personalities. This problem occurs due to the different international names for the ‘Program Files’ folder.

To fix this, use the menu: Tools – Fixture Library Folder.

Navigate to the folder shown below and press OK.

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Art-Net: I can’t find my gateway

I can’t find my gateway:

1) Check that you have the IP on your laptop setup correctly. It should be 2.0.0.1 and subnet 255.0.0.0

See: 0110 Art-Net Setting an IP address on Windows XP

2) You should be running DMX-Workshop as administrator.

See: 0801 Misc – Using Windows XP Compatibility Mode

3) To find out the IP address of your product, see FAQ Art-Net: Finding the IP Address of a product

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Interface: product connector adapters

Artistic Licence products use various connector types. The most common are XLR5, RJ45 and screw terminals. We offer the following adapter products:

Rail-Patch provides a connection between a 5-pin XLR connector and screw terminals for DIN rail products.

Henry/Henrietta provides a connection between a 5-pin XLR connector and an RJ45 terminal for rack mount products.

Gender 5MM is a Neutrik male-to-male gender changer to convert a DMX output to input (for use with our premium Art-Net gateways).

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Guides: Power over Ethernet

Power-over-Ethernet or PoE defines the way that an ethernet cable can be used to send both power and data to a product. The product which uses PoE is called a ‘PD’ (Powered Device) and the product which supplies the power and data – often an ethernet switch – is called the ‘PSE’ (Power Sourcing Equipment).

PDs require differing amounts of power depending upon their design and the load they are driving.

PSEs are capable of supplying different amounts of power.

These variables are addressed by a number of IEEE standards:

  • PoE is described by IEEE802.3af-2003. It allows a maximum of 15.4W to be supplied.
  • PoE+ is described by IEEE802.3at-2009. It allows a maximum of 25.5W to be supplied.
  • PoE++ is in development and will be described by IEEE802.3bt-2017. It allows a maximum of 90W to be supplied using all 4 pairs. There are 4 different power levels available: 38.7W, 52.7W, 70W and 90W.

The wattages described above refer to the power made available by the PSE. As there are significant losses in the cable, the amount of power available at the PD is lower.

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Gateways: sACN and Art-Net implementation

The sACN (streaming ACN) protocol is supported in Artistic Licence ethernet products. The differences between Art-Net and sACN lead to some minor clashes which this document seeks to clarify.

Universe numbering

In Art-Net, universes are called Port-Address and number from 0 to 32,767. There are 32,768 unique numbers.

In sACN, universes number from 1 to 63,999. There are 64,000 unique numbers. The standard reserves the values of 0 and 64,000 to 65,535 for future expansion.

Clearly there is the potential for confusion over the number ‘0’. If a universe is set to ‘0’ and the sACN protocol is selected, Artistic Licence products will use a universe value of ‘1’ instead.

Merging and arbitration

The sACN protocol uses a concept called Component Identifier (CID) as a method to optionally distinguish unique streams of data, and a concept called Priority as a method to define the priority of a stream.

 

The following table defines how sACN packets A & B are arbitrated or merged when directed to same universe.

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Guides: LED dimmer selection

There are three key methods of dimming LED: mains, constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) .

  • Mains dimmers are used with LED replacement bulbs.
  • CC dimmers put out a controlled current, which means that the fixture does not need electronics for current control of the LED. This style of dimming is used for higher power LED products.
  • CV dimmers put out a constant voltage and the current control is done by the LED fixture. This type of dimming tends to be used for the lower power LED products such flexible tape.

It is important to choose the correct technology of dimmer as an incorrect choice will most likely damage the fixture. Below is a summary of the dimmers offered by Artistic Licence:

Mains

sunDial quad is DMX512/RDM controlled 4-channel, mains powered trailing edge dimmer. 1kW total at 230 VAC. 

Constant current or constant voltage

candlePower octo is a DMX512/RDM controlled LED dimmer with 8 channels. Each channel can be individually set to constant current (CC) or constant voltage (CV) dimming.

  • Voltage: 10-60VDC
  • Current Max: 2A per channel
  • Control: DMX512 / RDM
  • Form: DIN Rail

Constant voltage only

Rail-Pipe HC is a high current DMX dimmer for 2 x RGB circuits (6 channel).

  • Voltage: 12-24VDC
  • Current Max: 20A per product, 10A per RGB circuit
  • Control: DMX512 / RDM
  • Form: DIN Rail
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Controllers: moody fade time detail

All versions of moody (with a DMX512 port) output a total of 42 slots (or channels) of data. The first 40 slots are filled with colour information in either 3 slot footprints for RGB or 4 slot footprints for RGBW. For example, the largest moody – the “moody y10” – outputs 4 x 10 slots.

moody products which produce less data will still output 42 slots – the unused slots are just zero.

The final slot: slot 42 contains the firmware version number.

The penultimate slot: slot 41 is used by the “moody f” series to identify the programmed fade rate. For those users wishing to programme an accurate fade time – the following table allows you to do so:

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Splitters: versaSplit part number reference

The versaSplit range provides a very flexible solution to DMX distribution. The number of product configurations runs to millions and so not every configuration is available from stock, but is built to order. The following guide is an overview of how to generate the part code.

There are four base units:

  • “mini” – vSplit mini (Desk / truss mount. 1 input module. 6 outputs. Ground referenced).
  • “mono” – vSplit mono (19 ” rack. 1 input module. 10 outputs. Ground referenced).
  • “duo” – vSplit duo (19 ” rack. 2 input modules. 8 outputs. Ground referenced).
  • “iso” – vSplit iso (19 ” rack. 1 input module. 8 outputs. Isolated outputs).

There are seven codes for the input modules:

There are three output connector options:

  • “3” – XLR 3 pin
  • “5” – XLR 5 pin
  • “8” – XLR 8 pin ethcon

If all output connectors are the same, just one number is needed.

The part number is constructed as follows:

vSplit “base unit” “input A module” – “Output connectors” – “input B module”.

Examples.

  • The part number for a vSplit mono with a 5 pin XLR input and all 5 pin XLR outputs is: vSplit mono xlr5-5.
  • The part number for a vSplit mono with a 3 pin XLR input and all 3 pin XLR outputs is: vSplit mono xlr3-3.
  • The part number for a vSplit mono with a 5 pin XLR input and all 3 pin XLR outputs is: vSplit mono xlr5-3.
  • The part number for a vSplit mono with a 5 pin XLR input and outputs 1-4 with 3 pin, outputs 5-8 with 5 pin and outputs 9-10 with ethcon is: vSplit mono xlr5-3333555588.
  • The part number for a vSplit duo with a 5 pin XLR input module and a blanking plate for the second input and all 5 pin XLR outputs is: vSplit duo xlr5-5-x.
  • The part number for a vSplit duo with a 5 pin XLR input module and a CRMX input module and outputs 1-4 with 3 pin, outputs 5-8 with 5 pin is: vSplit duo xlr5-33335555-crmx.
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Test equipment: Micro-Scope – adding a fixture

Most customers use Mic-Edit to create their own fixtures when required. However Artistic Licence does release occasional updates to the library. You can make requests using the following application form.

Additionally, if you have created fixtures you would like to share with other users, send the file to Support@artisticlicence.com.

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Controllers: dVnet – using dual-NIC configuration

dVnet has the ability to operate as a network translator / soft-patch. This can be done using one or two network cards.

The input protocol is always Art-Net and the output protocol can be selected between Art-Net, KiNet and sACN. This example describes how to translate Art-Net to KiNet on separate network cards. The Art-Net is assumed to be in the standard 2.x.y.z IP range with a subnet mask of 255.0.0.0. The lighting console generating the Art-Net should be set to broadcast, the input network NIC of dVnet should be set to an IP address of, for example, 2.0.0.100.

Assuming that the KiNet is to output on the 192.168.10.x range (subnet 255.255.255.0) the output Nic should be set to an IP address of, for example, 192.168.10.100.

In dVnet, the output Nic must be selected as the active NIC in the driver window.

The attached files can be loaded to provide detail of the method by which the patch is set. In the first example, Art-Net is received on Pipes 101-110 and converted to KiNet Port Out protocol on pipes 1-10. These are unicast to 192.168.10.1 through 192.168.10.10

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Rail-DALI-DMX: Power cycle and fault conditions

Users who are more familiar with DMX512 than DALI can find the way DALI ballasts respond to power cycle or fault conditions confusing. A key difference between DMX512 and DALI is that DMX512 is continuously refreshing whereas DALI is not.

When a DMX512 fixture is power cycled it will immediately take the DMX512 level data. When a DALI ballast is power cycled it will go to a pre-programmed level called “POWER ON LEVEL”. It will stay at that level until a new DALI level command is sent. DALI-Scope can be used to both read and programme the ballast’s “POWER ON LEVEL”.

When a DALI ballast detects a fault, such as a brown out of the DALI BUS POWER SUPPLY it will go to a pre-programmed level called “SYSTEM FAILURE LEVEL”. It will stay at that level until a new DALI level command is sent. Dali-Scope can be used to read the ballast’s “SYSTEM FAILURE LEVEL”.

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Dali-Scope: Adding a ballast to an existing system

It is sometimes necessary to add a new ballast to an existing installation. Usually you will want to do this without changing the short addresses of the existing ballasts.

To do this you need to isolate the new ballast from the existing network prior to commissioning with Dali-Scope. This means that you should connect the new DALI ballast, the bus power supply and Dali-Scope together. If the new ballast has previously been assigned a short address, simply change the short address to the preferred address using Dali-Scope. If the ballast is in factory default state, run an “Automatic channel discovery”. This process will assign short address 1 to the ballast. Then change the short address to the preferred value prior to connecting it to the ballast network.

You can then connect the new ballast to the existing network.

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Gateways: Reset product IP address

Our gateway products, which include artLynx uno, artLynx duo, artLynx quad, artLynx RJ45, netLynx quad, rackLynx octo and dataLynx II all have a factory reset switch. To reset to factory defaults, hold down the switch and cycle the power. Once you have reset to the factory default, the IP address will change. See Gateway: Finding the IP Address of a product.

The IP address of legacy Artistic Licence network products can be reset to factory default using the front panel controls as described below:

cached

IP reset procedure (legacy products)

A: Set Sub-Net wheel and both Universe wheels to F, power off, power on.
B: Set Sub-Net wheel to 9, power off, power on, power off, set Sub-Net wheel to F, power on.

ProductIP reset procedure
AL5001A
AL5002A
Data-Lynx O/PB
Data-Lynx I/PB
Data-Lynx IO/PB
Down-LynxA
Up-LynxA
Net-Lynx O/PA
Net-Lynx I/PA
Cata-Lynx I/PA
Cata-Lynx O/PA
Ether-Lynx IIB
Art-Lynx O/PA
Art-Lynx I/PA
Art-PipeB
Art-RelayB
Multichrome E1 & E2A

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Rail-DALI-DMX: Quick start

Often a customer simply wishes to use Rail-DALI-DMX to convert a DALI channel to DMX. The following instructions allow this:

  • Open the top cover to access the DIP switches.
  • Set Switch-6 to off. This puts product in ballast mode.
  • Set Switch-3 and Switch-4 to off – this tells the product to emulate a single DALI ballast.
  • Connect the DALI input to your DALI controller and start discovery. Your DALI controller will discover one new ballast which you should address to a free short address – this is your virtual DALI address. (Your controller may do that automatically).
  • Connect the DMX output to your DMX receiver.
  • Any intensity changes sent to the virtual DALI address will appear on channel 1 of the DMX output.
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Jump-Start: Firmware Upload

From time to time, new firmware is released for Jump-Start. The latest version can be downloaded here. It is not necessary to return Jump-Start for upgrade – it can be done in the field. This is achieved by connecting Jump-Start to an Artistic Licence Art-Net node such as artLynx. DMX-Workshop can then be used for the upgrade.

Please follow the following procedure:

  1. Ensure Jump-Start is set to ‘RDM Standard’ and not ‘DRAFT’. This can be found in the setup menu.
  2. Put the Jump-Start in firmware upload mode. This is done by pressing the left and right arrow keys at the same time.
  3. The right-side LED will light to confirm upload mode is active.
  4. Connect the Jump-Start to the Art-Net node.
  5. Download the latest firmware (see link above) and copy file to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Artistic Licence\DMX-Workshop\Firmware.
  6. Select the network list in DMX-Workshop and wait for Jump-Start to be discovered as a node.
  7. Upload the firmware to the Jump-Start by right-clicking in RDM information area and following the options to upload firmware.
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DMX-Workshop: Installation

DMX-Workshop is our free-of-charge Windows application for monitoring and configuring Art-Net devices. The software requires Administrator permission to run. The installer for DMX-Workshop will attempt to auto-enable this for you, but it may fail depending on the configuration of your PC and your security settings.

To achieve manually, right-click the DMX-Workshop icon and select ‘run as administrator’. The right-click menu also accesses the properties dialogue which allows you to select DMX-Workshop to always run as administrator.

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Controllers: dVnet – importing from Excel

You’ll find the import from CSV button in the Pixel Map tab. From here the process of importing a properly formatted CSV is straight forward. You just need to find and open your pre-existing CSV file. Please note that you must not have the file open in any other applications (Excel or NotePad) as the import will not work.

In order to make a dVnet CSV file you need to have the following line as the first line of the file. Attached is an example which can be used with the example show which installs with dVnet.

Name, Type, X, Y, Width, Height, Fixture #, Pixel #, Pipe, Start, Footprint, Red slot, Grn slot, Blu slot, Yel slot, Wht slot, Int slot, Group.

Each subsequent line of the CSV file will be a single pixel within your map.

  • Name is required though this can just be a number
  • Type would be the type of fixture this pixel is in – optional
  • X & Y are the co-ordinates that this pixel will take on your map
  • Width and Height are the relative size of this pixel
  • Fixture this will be a number representing the fixture that this pixel is a part of
  • Pixel # represents which pixel this is within its fixture. As all the fixtures in the example file only contain a single pixel this number will always be 1. However if you are using a fixture with 4 LEDs this would be between 1 and 4.
  • Pipe see the notes below on pipes
  • Start is this pixels DMX address
  • Footprint is the number of DMX slots this pixel occupies
  • Red slot which of the slots for this pixel contains data for the red channel (typically 1)
  • Grn slot which of the slots for this pixel contains data for the green channel (typically 2)
  • Blu slot which of the slots for this pixel contains data for the blue channel (typically 3)
  • Yel slot which of the slots for this pixel contains data for the yellow channel (typically 0 for RGB pixels)
  • Wht slot which of the slots for this pixel contains data for the white channel (typically 0 for RGB pixels)
  • Int slot which of the slots for this pixel contains data for the intensity channel (typically 0 for RGB pixels)
  • Group is optional

Please note that we have implemented a ‘pipe-centric’ way of patching pixels. When patching pixels you first select the pipe that the fixture is on (between 1 and 300) then the fixtures start address which will be its DMX address between 1 and 512.

By default each pipe is patched 1 to 1 with its respective universe and will unicast as Art-Net. However you can patch a pipe to any Art-Net or sACN universe using the ‘Pipe patch’ tab.

Lastly there is an export to dVnet function within the latest release of Colour-Tramp.

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Gateways: Finding the IP Address of a product

There are three methods for finding the IP address of an Art-Net product:

  1. Connect using DMX-Workshop, this will display the product in a network list along with its IP address. DMX-Workshop can be downloaded from here. DMX-Workshop provides a gateway recovery system that uses the RDMnet – LLRP protocol. This allows a gateway to be recovered even when it is on a totally different IP range to DMX-Workshop. The LSI article HelpDesk17-Low-level-recovery-Oct2018 explains this in more detail.
  2. Ping: Open a command line window and use the ping command. If the products are on the normal Art-Net address range, type: “ping 2.255.255.255”. This approach is best on a Mac as Macs do not support net-bios.
  3. Perform a net-bios search (Windows only). To do this, connect the product to your laptop’s network, open browser and type in the net-bios name of the product you are using (see below). Occasionally the net-bios cache in the browser gets out of date. To flush the cache and restart, type “nbtstat -R” in the browser window.

Current Products (product code – net-bios name)

  • oemGate quad – oemGatequad
  • rackLynx octo – rackLynx
  • daliGate quad – daliGatequad
  • netLynx quad – netLynxquad
  • dataLynx II – dataLynxII
  • artLynx duo – artLynxduo
  • artLynx quad – artLynxquad
  • artLynx RJ45 – artLynxRJ45
  • versaSplit EthB – VersaEtherB

Legacy Products (product code – net-bios name)

  • Data-Lynx O/P – DATALYNXOP
  • Data-Lynx I/P – DATALYNXIP
  • Data-Lynx I/OP – DATALYNXIO
  • Down-Lynx – DownLynx
  • Up-Lynx – UpLynx
  • Net-Lynx O/P – NetLynxOp
  • Net-Lynx I/P – NetLynxIp
  • Cata-Lynx I/P – CataLynxIp
  • Cata-Lynx O/P – CataLynxOp
  • Ether-Lynx II – EtherLynxII
  • Art-Lynx O/P – ArtLynxOp
  • Art-Lynx I/P – ArtLynxIp
  • Art-Pipe – ArtPipe
  • Art-Relay – ArtRelay
  • Multichrome E2 – E2MultiChrome
  • Eaton / Cooper Controls EN2RDM – EN2RDM
  • Eaton / Cooper Controls EN8RDM – EN8RDM
  • Thorn SensaDMX – SENSAEDMX
  • Lex Products LexNet – LEXNET