https://www.thedmxwiki.com/ 2026-04-28T07:24:37+00:00 https://www.thedmxwiki.com/ https://www.thedmxwiki.com/_media/wiki/dokuwiki.svg text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/8_bit_16_bit?rev=1363125817&do=diff 8 bit and 16 bit As we know a slider on a traditional lighting desk will either show it's position as a percentage or as a value. If it is showing it as a value you will notice that it goes from 0 (zero) to 255, that is 256 steps. When the designers where coming up with DMX512 protocol it was only being used to control the dimmer of a light and they thought that 256 steps of dimming control was enough as you could not actually see the difference from one value to it's neighbouring value. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/artnet?rev=1363125817&do=diff ~~DISCUSSION~~ ArtNet ArtNet by Artistic Licence. What is ArtNet Artnet is a protocol, like http, ftp, telnet and so on. A protocol is a set of rules that have to be followed if you want you stuff to work with other machines. ArtNet is basically DMX over Ethernet (DOE) and was developed by Artistic Licence. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/ballast?rev=1363125817&do=diff Ballast An electrical ballast is a device intended to limit the amount of current in an electric circuit. A familiar and widely used example is the inductive ballast used in fluorescent lamps, to limit the current through the tube, which would otherwise rise to destructive levels due to the tube's negative resistance characteristic. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/blackout?rev=1363125818&do=diff Blackout Blackout is when all projected lights are turned off, made not visible. Depending on the console or software being used it will perform in different ways. The simplest method is to set all DMX channels to zero, as most lighting manufacturers ensure that lamp, shutter or dimmer at zero means off, but please check your fixtures to ensure this. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/cmy?rev=1363125818&do=diff CMY CMY stands for Cyan, Magenta and Yellow, the primary/base colours for subtractive colour mixing. This is used when a colour is made by filtering white light to get the desired colour. See CMYK colour model for more information. See Also: * RGB * Colour Back to DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/colour_wheel?rev=1363125818&do=diff Colour Wheel A colour wheel is a disc that is positioned in front of the light beam that has various coloured gels or dichroic filters fitted to the wheel to enable the operator to position the wheel to a colour which will then be shown when the light beam passes through it. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/colour?rev=1363125818&do=diff Colour Coloured lighting in traditional lighting, Par Cans, Fresnels etc., was created by putting a Gel coat (a piece of coloured transparent film) in front of the light fixture. This is still used today in a lot of theatres. More advanced traditional lighting use what is called a colour scroller. This is a device that is placed in front of the Par Can or other lighting fixture and contained a cartridge of colour gels in one long line. The light operator could then choose what colour they wan… text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/cues?rev=1363125818&do=diff Cues Are a combination of individual scenes (steps) used play in a cue list or manager. Some DMX control systems refer to a cue as a scene and a scene as a step. See Also: * Scene Back to the DMX Wiki text/html 2013-04-04T22:16:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/daisy_chain?rev=1365113797&do=diff Daisy Chain Daisy chain/ing refers how DMX lighting and its related DMX Cables are connected rather like a daisy chain, The Daisy chain starts from a cable coming out of the DMX Control hardware then goes to the light then another cable (Chain) links upto the next light and so on text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/definitions?rev=1363125818&do=diff Definitions Here you will find a list of definitions that are used in the world of DMX and show lighting. [js] Back to DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dichroic_filter?rev=1363125818&do=diff Dichroic Filter A dichroic filter, is a very accurate color filter used to selectively pass light of a small range of colors while reflecting other colors. By comparison, dichroic mirrors and dichroic reflectors tend to be characterized by the color(s) of light that they reflect, rather than the color(s) they pass. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dimmer?rev=1363125818&do=diff Dimmer For a full definition of what a dimmer is see Dimmer. In show lighting a dimmer is used to convert DMX signals into a variable voltage to control traditional lighting fixtures such as Par Cans and others that do not have any form of DMX control. They come with a varying amount of dimmers, 1 upwards. Ones that have more than 4 dimmers have chasers built into them. text/html 2022-11-29T21:53:29+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dip_switches?rev=1669758809&do=diff Dip Switches [Picture of Dip Switches] Dip Switches are tiny switches on the DMX device that are used for setting the DMX Address of the fixture, As you can see in the above picture the first dip switch is down and in the 'ON' position this means the DMX address is currently text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dmx_cables?rev=1363125819&do=diff DMX Cables and Cabling If you have read the the What is DMX? then you will know that DMX cabling should be done with 5-pin XLR connectors. The main reason for this is so you cannot accidentally connect a “sound” 3-pin XLR connector to the circuit as this could cause serious damage to either the fixtures, the DMX interface or the text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dmx_merge?rev=1363125819&do=diff DMX Merge DMX Merge is the ability to take two or more incoming signals and merge them together and output as 1 DMX signal. This is useful if for example you have a Traditional DMX Lighting Console and a DMX USB Interface that both only have a DMX out signal. So you could be controlling the show from the computer and overide certain channels from the console. For example you have a show running and you realise that the spots are not bright enough or the wrong colour, so you could move the corr… text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dmx_splitter?rev=1363125819&do=diff DMX Splitter A DMX splitter is an electronic box that takes one DMX line and converts it into 2 or more DMX Lines. This is very handy when you have more than 32 fixtures for a DMX line as the DMX splitter will now allow up to 32 devices on each of the split lines. Also very handy when you have fixtures in different locations and they cannot easily be incorporated in one 'daisy chain'. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dmx_terminator?rev=1363125819&do=diff DMX Terminator Generel Info A “DMX Terminator” is used when you are using alot of DMX fixtures on one single DMX line (Universe). It removes a lot of noise and flickering on the DMX Tx line which improves the reliability of your fixtures. When a DMX signal has travelled to the end of your DMX line if it is not terminated you get something which is refered to as a text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/dmx512?rev=1363125819&do=diff DMX-512 'DMX512-A' is an RS-485 based communications protocol that is most commonly used to control stage lighting and effects. Developed by the Engineering Commission of USITT, the standard started in 1986, with subsequent revisions in 1990 leading to 'USITT DMX512/1990'. In 1998 ESTA began a revision process to develop the standard as an text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/fade?rev=1363125819&do=diff Fade When using certain DMX Controlers settting the fade option means it will gradually go through the DMX values from your set Starting point to the set ending point at the set fade time. For example you have a 2 channel strobe on the first channel it controls the dimmer you set it to go from 0% (0 Value) to 100% (255 Value) by using fade. the controller will then go at the set fade time text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/focus?rev=1363125819&do=diff Focus Focusing on lights is done either manually using the lens at the front of the light or using DMX. Focusing will make the light being emitted sharper or softer depending on how much focus you set it at. Remember if you focus your light at the floor but the light/patterns spend most of the time on the roof then your viewers will see un-focused patterns on the roof! text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/fog_smoke_machine?rev=1363125820&do=diff Fog/Smoke Machine A fog machine (also called a smoke machine) is a device which emits a dense vapor that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog or smoke is known as theatrical smoke and fog within the entertainment industry. Most fog machines create the fog by either vaporizing a water and glycol-based or glycerine-based fluid or a mineral-oil-based fog via atomization. For glycol-based fogs, the fluid (fog juice) is injected into a heated block, and evaporates quickly. The resul… text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/gobo_rotation?rev=1363125820&do=diff Gobo Rotation Allows you to rotate a gobo around its centre for a more dynamic effect. Most fixtures allow the speed of the rotation to be varied and the direction. If a gobo allows rotation in usually allows indexing (set at a certain postion). text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/gobo_shake?rev=1363125820&do=diff Gobo Shake Gobo shake is were the gobo can be shaken to provide an interesting effect. You are sometimes able to control the amount of shake on the Gobo See Also: * Gobo * Gobo Rotation * Indexable Gobo Back to the DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/gobo?rev=1363125820&do=diff Gobo The word “gobo” originated in the film industry. It's short for “go black out”. When there was a need to quickly completely dim a spot, one just placed a solid metal plate in front of the spot. Soon people noticed that one could project patterns by cutting those patterens out of the plate text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/hazer?rev=1363125820&do=diff Hazer Haze machines, or haze generators, commonly referred to as hazers, are similar to fog machines in that they produce droplets suspended in the air which are designed to make light beams visible. Unlike conventional fog which can be dense enough to become opaque, haze is very thin. Ideally haze is barely noticeable, if at all, in normal lighting conditions. This allows the operator to fill a venue with haze prior to an event without creating a visibly distracting cloud. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/health_and_safety?rev=1363125820&do=diff Health and Safety Possibly the first consideration for any working enviroment is Health and Safety. Every consideration must be made for the well being of you, your staff, other personel and the spectators. HSE (Health and Safety Executive) is the UK governing body for all related matters. They have the power to arrive on site unannonced and can shut any site down instantly if they find anything they consider to be unsafe or in breach of standard precedure. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/htp?rev=1363125820&do=diff HTP HTP in stage lighting stand for Highest Takes Precedence. It is the opposite of LTP. What this means is a DMX value sent to a channel must be higher than the current value in order for the DMX value of that channel to change. For example if channel 1 has a value of 128 and a new DMX value of 175 is sent to that channel the the channel will now have a value of 175, because 175 is higher than 128. But if channel 1 has a value of 128 and a new DMX value of 50 was sent to that channel it wou… text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/indexable_gobos?rev=1363125820&do=diff Indexable Gobo An indexable gobo is a rotatable gobo that will allow you to always project it at a given rotation point (Orientation). The fixture will normally have a “gobo rotate” channel (usually with speed) and a “gobo index” channel. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/ip_rating?rev=1363125821&do=diff IP Rating The IP Code (Ingress Protection Rating,[1] sometimes also interpreted as International Protection Rating[2]) of the letters IP followed by two digits or one digit and one letter and an optional letter. As defined in international standard IEC 60529, IP Code classifies and rates the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects (including body parts like hands and fingers), dust, accidental contact, and water in mechanical casings and with electrical enclosures.… text/html 2013-04-04T21:57:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/iris?rev=1365112628&do=diff Iris An iris as used in lighting fixtures is usually a mechanical device similar to a shutter that allows the light beam to be shaped from wide open to a very narrow beam. Some fixtures have a manual control to do this others will have a DMX channel to be able to do this from your console. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/led?rev=1363125821&do=diff LED LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. For more information see LED A new wave of lighting is now being produced that use multiple LEDs instead of traditional bulbs. Originally these LED fixtures used low powered LEDs to create the light needed, for example a text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/linear_fanning?rev=1363125821&do=diff Linear Fanning Linear fanning gives a regular offset to lights, like when you fold out a paper fan - the lights point out to follow the lines in the fan - like this one: If you applied a basic linear fan to 3 lights they would face like below: text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/lotp?rev=1363125821&do=diff LoTP ~~DISCUSSION~~ LoTP in stage lighting stand for Lowest Takes Precedence. It is basically the opposite of HTP. What this means is a DMX value sent to a channel must be lower than the current value in order for the DMX value of that channel to change. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/ltp?rev=1363125821&do=diff LTP LTP in stage lighting stands for Latest Takes Precedence. What this means is that regardless what value a channel is set at, a signal that is sent using LTP will overide what is all ready there. i.e. the “latest” signal is the one that will be used. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/macros?rev=1363125821&do=diff Macros The defintion for macro is mac·ro adj. 1. Of great size; large. 2. Large in scope or extent; large-scale: a macro analysis of many reports. n. pl. mac·ros Computer Science 1. A single, user-defined command that is part of an application and executes a series of commands. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:44+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/master_fader?rev=1363125824&do=diff Master Fader A master fader is a slider that will dim all lights connected to the controller. It is also used to set the maximum intensity of all fixtures. ---------- Back to the DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/midi?rev=1363125825&do=diff MIDI MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is an industry-standard protocol defined in 1982 that enables electronic musical instruments such as keyboard controllers, computers, and other electronic equipment to communicate, control, and synchronize with each other. MIDI allows computers, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another, and to exchange system data (acting as a raw data encapsulation method for sysex commands). MIDI does not tr… text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/moving_head?rev=1363125825&do=diff Moving Head Moving Head also known as a Yoke, is an intelligent lighting fixture, that allows the operator to position the projected beam near enough anywhere on stage. It consists of a base that has an arm on top of it. This base contains a motor that can turn ( text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/moving_lights?rev=1363125828&do=diff Moving Lights A moving light is any fixture where the light beam can be moved in someway to make it project at another location via DMX signals. Moving lights include, Scanners and Moving Heads, there might be other types of moving light but these are the main two. See Also: text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/panning?rev=1363125828&do=diff Pan/Panning This is when your light moves for example from left to right a pan as in a pan across a room. See Also: Tilt/Tilting Back to DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/par_can?rev=1363125828&do=diff Par Can The following text was taken from <http://www.theatrefx.com/funfacts79.html> A Crash Course In Par Lamps The PAR can is perhaps the most widely used light for concerts, nightclubs and touring productions. PAR cans come in a variety of sizes and shapes; from the minuscule PAR16 to the 1000 watt PAR64. But what the heck is a PAR can, anyway? How did it get that name? And just why are they so popular? text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/prism?rev=1363125828&do=diff Prism A prism is a glass object placed in front of the beam of light, this effect splits the beam into 3 (or 5) images, usually after gobo and colour effects. This is best applied to gobo images and the prism can also be rotated, rotating the 3 (or 5) images, which gives a different effect to text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/rdm?rev=1363125828&do=diff Remote Device Management (RDM) RDM stands for Remote Device Management. If you have a RDM compliant console, interface and fixtures it is possible for the software to interrogate the fixture and get it's DMX channels etc and then set the DMX address according to what is required by the software. No more fiddling around with dip-switches or menus on fixtures to set the address. Very handy when you go to a venue and you want to control the venues lighting as you can retrieve all of the fixtures … text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/rgb?rev=1363125828&do=diff RGB RGB Stands for Red, Green and Blue, the three primary colours used in additive colour mixing. These 3 colours when mixed at differing quantities can produce millions of colours. Because of this when used in lighting there is now many more colour options available than the standard set of colours. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/rigging?rev=1363125828&do=diff Rigging Rigging is usually used to refer to hanging the required gear from the required bars. For example, rigging a light is usually meant to refer to hanging the light off the required bar. A greater scope of rigging also includes adding the power cables and dmx/control cables to the fixture, the bracket that attaches to the lighting fixtures to hang it from, safety cables as well as the actual structure of what the lights hang from (trussing). text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/scanner?rev=1363125829&do=diff Scanner A scanner is an intelligent lighting fixture that uses a moveable mirror to pan/tilt the projected light beam to a given place. Scanners usually have both a Gobo and a colour wheel to enable the user to project patterns and colours. Scanners are fitted with a single bulb that could be anything from 150watt to 1500watt. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/scenes?rev=1363125829&do=diff Scene The more modern referal to what a scene is, I think this comes from the latest computer controlled lighting software, is as follows. A scene is a collection of steps that define what lighting fixtures do over a period of time. It could be one step that just turns on all text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/snap?rev=1363125829&do=diff Snap 'Snap' means the channel will instantly go to the next step's value. i.e. No Fade. In other lighting systems this is achieved by setting the fade time to zero. See Also: * Fade * Wait Back to DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/sound_to_light?rev=1363125829&do=diff Sound to Light Sound to light is in fact quite simple to explain. You have a sound source, normally music, some equipment is listening to that sound source and is controlling lights. Most of the time to the beat of the sound. Maybe the worldwide most known example is the text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/tilting?rev=1363125829&do=diff Tilt/Tilting This is when your light tilts up or down. See also : Pan/Panning Back to DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/tracking?rev=1363125829&do=diff Tracking Tracking means that when the system is transitioning from one cue to the next, it applies only those settings that have changed from the previous cue. If a property/attribute does not change from one cue to the next then the system will not attempt to apply the setting. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/triac?rev=1363125829&do=diff TRIAC A TRIAC from Triode for Alternating Current, is a genericized tradename for an electronic component that can conduct current in either direction when it is triggered (turned on), and is formally called a bidirectional triode thyristor or bilateral triode thyristor. text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/wait?rev=1363125829&do=diff Wait or Hold or Dwell Wait or hold or dwell is the amount of time a particular step or scene or cue will hold before moving onto the next step or scene or cue. See Also: * Fade * Snap Back to DMX Wiki text/html 2013-03-12T22:03:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.thedmxwiki.com/dmx_definitions/xlr?rev=1363125829&do=diff XLR The XLR connector is a style of electrical connector, primarily found on professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. The connectors are circular in design and have between 3 and 7 pins. They are most commonly associated with balanced audio interconnection, including AES3 digital audio, but are also used for lighting control, low-voltage power supplies, and other applications. XLR connectors are available from a number of manufacturers and are covered by an international stand…