Acquiring a DMX add-on license

To begin using DMX in the cloud you must first enable the relevant add-ons in order to use them. the DMX add-ons configuration can be found in the DMX tab under the Add-ons section in grid view. This page will display all of the licenses that you have purchased for DMX. There a several different licenses for different DMX features. If you would like to purchase a DMX license then please contact support@zencontrol.com or submit a request.

Setting up DMX add-on settings

When you have the license purchased, you will see a green tick under the relevant column (RS485 send for DMX out and RS485 receive for DMX changes to be converted to dali)

You will then be able to edit the DMX configuration for that license. You will have to first enable the DMX configuration by checking the first checkbox. From there you can then configure the subsequent configurations.

sACN

Allows communicating with sACN nodes that are assigned to the specified DMX universe number in the Value column.

Setting up DMX behaviour

DMX channels can be created and configured under the DMX section.

When changing the behaviour of a channel, it will create or remove rows as needed from the Send mapping tab and other DMX related tabs. Enabling Send behaviour on a channel will allow the control system to send values to the channel in the DMX universe and likewise enabling the Receive behaviour will allow the control system to receive values from the DMX channel in the DMX universe.

The flow for DMX and its behaviour is outlined as such:

Channel

DMX channels correspond to each channel on a DMX line and can be configured with Send and/or Receive behaviours, depending on your add-on licenses. A label can also optionally be set for the channel. Enabling the send behaviour will create an associated Send mapping row for the channel. Enabling the receive behaviour will create an associated Absolute input row and Target row for the channel.  You are not required to create channels for any outgoing DMX if you are simply sending raw DMX to channels via sequences.  The new Type field does not alter the behaviour of the channel.  It is there to facilitate dashboard creation as well as giving you a way to classify your channels.

Send Mapping (sending DMX)

Send mappings are created for channels that are configured with the Send behaviour. They contain DALI level and fade settings that can be configured for each channel. With these values configured, you can then use a DALI switch or sensor to target the DMX channel. It will then use these settings when using the switch or sensor to dim or change light levels.

Absolute Input (receiving DMX)

Absolute inputs are created for channels that are configured with the Receive behaviour. They can be configured so that when you receive a value from the DMX channel, it is mapped to the target using the configured application. 

Target (receiving DMX)

Targets are created for channels that are configured with the Receive behaviour. The targets configured will receive the values sent from the DMX channel to the zencontrol system. They will also be used by the absolute input applications. These targets can be used in the triggers view to trigger a DMX sequence or to set values in system variables for use in other sequences.

Sequences (sending DMX)

If you have some DMX lights and want to control them by changing colours or by using complex patterns, sequences can be used to achieve that. The DMX actions can be selected from any of the standard sequence types by selecting DMX function from any action in the sequence editor.

You will see all of the supported commands in the fields under the type. All of the commands require specifying what channels you want to send the values to.

These sequences can be triggered like any other trigger such as from a standard DALI input, from a system address, as part of a schedule or as a result of receiving input from the DMX line through the DMX absolute inputs.

sACN Behaviour

If sACN is enabled then any values received from the specified DMX universe number in the add-on configuration will automatically be passed through to the DMX absolute input. The sACN DMX value is sent over the network to a channel and can be mapped to the absolute input if it created. This can allow you to take the value, which could be an arc slider, and send that as an arc level value to a DALI fitting.

Setting up a colour picker on a dashboard for DMX targets

Setting up the channels

In the DMX channel view in grid view, you need to set the Type column for each device you want to use on a dashboard. You can pick red, green, blue, white, amber and freecolour. These should match exactly what the device controls as it is used automatically to configure colours on the dashboard.

If you have a bunch of channels that are all for one lighting display and want to control them together, then it is highly advised to make a group in the Group name tab and then assign them in the Group assignment tab. This allows for only targeting a single group rather than multiple channels.

After all of the grid view components have been set up, you can head to your dashboard, create a new widget panel, set the Widget type to Colour function, set the Colour function type to one of the RGB variants, and then you can set up the targets to either target the DMX group you made or each individual DMX send channel.

This will then figure out what value to send to each channel when the colour picker changes based on the type that was selected in grid view for the channel. It will also determine the live value when loading the widget based on the targets selected.