DMX... Artnet, sACN, UDP?

[SageTech]

I have been unable to find any significant information on C4 Integration with DMX protocols. With DMX being used more, I was hoping to find solutions with a simple search here. After investing a significant amount of time researching options for full DMX integration (color, dimming, motion control) I have found only two mentioned on here. Enttec and Domaudeo. Domaudeo is very limited according to reviews and released information, great for led strips and simplistic lighting but not designed for full theatrical lighting systems. Enttec ODE POE looks fairly versatile but I have read they may have random popcorn effects.

 

ETCconnect has several options, one of which a customer is already using for productions and has stated would work well. I contacted ETC support and requested help integrating C4 Artnet with ETCconnect products. One of the responses I received was that Artnet was an outdated protocol and they only support sACN or UDP right now. Is there any way to get C4 to be able to communicate with either of these, from a hardware or protocol standpoint. 

[Cyknight]

ArtNet (enntec, but also DMX king with the same driver, and likely others) tend to be pop-orny in effect because the load is on the system. Technically it's purely an interface to allow an external controller to 'talk' DMX

Domeaudio works more smoothly, but has it's own limitations for special effect - whether it works for 'full theatrical lighting' will depend on your definition of such.

New (as in ... maybe two weeks ago?) is Axion - driver was paid by them so free to the user. Can't comment on driver specific capabilities at this point, we're looking at trying a trial setup in our showroom soon-ish (as in when time allows).

 

for the new Axion: https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/lighting/axion-lighting-dmx-controller/

[Cyknight]

2 hours ago, SageTech said:

that Artnet was an outdated protocol

LOL, so is DMX technically speaking.

And UDP is FAR more outdated than either.

As mentioned Artnet is more like a translation protocol, and isn't designed to talk to stand alone controllers as such.

 

As for sending UDP - sure it's possible, see : https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/utility/generic-tcp-command-control4-driver-chowmain/

Not saying that's your solution as such - but it certainly proves it's possible to send UPD commands.

That said, if all you're looking to do is trigger pre-programmed setups on the piece you mentioned,  that driver may well prove to be all you need.

[SageTech]

11 hours ago, Cyknight said:

ArtNet (enntec, but also DMX king with the same driver, and likely others) tend to be pop-orny in effect because the load is on the system. Technically it's purely an interface to allow an external controller to 'talk' DMX

Domeaudio works more smoothly, but has it's own limitations for special effect - whether it works for 'full theatrical lighting' will depend on your definition of such.

New (as in ... maybe two weeks ago?) is Axion - driver was paid by them so free to the user. Can't comment on driver specific capabilities at this point, we're looking at trying a trial setup in our showroom soon-ish (as in when time allows).

 

for the new Axion: https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/lighting/axion-lighting-dmx-controller/

Perfect thanks for the info on the new drivers from Axion, I will take a look at it.

As far as what the definition of full theatrical lightings is, the customer has three locations we are designing, one of which is a school auditorium with full stage lighting used for theatrical productions, musicals, concerts and so on. It has over 50 DMX controlled lights, two universes and ranges from controlling just colors to full motion lighting, fog machines, bubblers, etc... The attached is one of the motion lights demanding more channels of control. 

On the day to day, the customer would like the option to toggle a single keypad and have the lighting turn on to one of a few presets (scene). This should be very simple to do with the right equipment and for the large productions they will bring in a team with a lighting board to handle the heavy lifting.