Hey guys this is Martin again from SIRS-E.
And today I wanted to talk to you a little bit about DMX.
And what is DMX.
Well basically DMX is a digital signal of electronic protocol that is use for the control of lighting a stage
And also the props and other things that people use in the stage. DMX is not only
applicable to stage performance at all.
Are also applicable to residential setups, commercial setups and they can allow you to
control lighting
And other things all independently from a single control source.
So basically how DMX did got started.
Well, back in about 1986 the USITT which is the United States Institute for Theater and Technology develop protocol
That will be compatible with everything.
So they pretty much setup the standard protocol so that manufactures could develop products
That all work on a single protocol so that everything could be compatible.
And basically as the time went by, it was perfection and revised by ESTA.
ESTA eventually merged with PLAZA which is another organization.
And they perfect the protocol to what it is today. So basically how does DMX work? Well
Essentially you need something that is going to generate your DMX signal.
Back in the day they had regular mixers and they still use them today,
Which look kind of like audio mixers.
And they have faders they have like the master dimmer and dimmers for each individual channels.
This one here is a little six channel mixer.
It could be use for small applications.
But then there is also a little bit more advance things out there like a computer USB Interface.
Which it comes with its software, so you install this software in your computer you connect
this via USB Cable and then it outputs DMX thought here.
So instead of having a big, long board of 512 channels, with this you have them all
in your computer screen.
So it's a lot easier to access, easier to work. And it allows you to set presets, shows.
So it gives you more liberty to create more spontaneous and cooler effects.
So basically, obviously to use DMX you need fixtures that work with DMX.
You can use moving heads, you can use LED Lighting, and you can use a bunch of different
cool fixtures that work with DMX.
But remember to work all this you need to start with your DMX source. So let me talk
a little bit about what DMX is and how it works.
It (DMX) sends individual signals to channels. So, a DMX universe has 512 Channels.
That is one DMX universe. Each channel allows to be controlled individually.
So basically when you have a DMX fixture, let's say a moving head, a LED panel or
whatever it is, it's going to have an address.
The address is the starting DMX address that the fixture starts on.
Each fixture is going to have a number of channels that is going to upgrade on.
So for example and RGB LED Panel is pretty much only going to have 3 channels.
Because one is for the Red the 'R' another one is for the 'G' the Green and another
one is for the 'B' which is the blue.
So, you know is going to use 3 channels and you got to set the starting DMX address.
Usually if you are just starting the DMX line it's going to be in address 001.
But let's say you added down the line or whatever you got to set it to the next available
DMX channel.
So let's just start with 001. So now it's at 001 and it's going to take channels
001, 002 and 003.
So now you know which channels you are going to be operating on.
So you set the fixture to the address 001, which is the starting DMX address.
Fixtures are addressed with a variety of options.
Some only have a digital display which you just click up and down and it sets the address.
And some of them are a little bit more complicated. They use binary code 'dip' switches.
They have a series of 'dip' switches on the side which then you flip on and off and
each 'dip' switch has a value.
So by adding the values you reach the desire DMX address.
So basically once you have your DMX address set, now you know where the DMX address is
starting from that fixture.
The subsequent fixtures that you are going to add on, need to be in the next available
DMX address.
So if the first one is taking 001, 002, 003 the next available one would be 004.
So if you are going to put another fixture that is going to work independently from the
first one, you must put it at 004.
Which is the next available one, If you were to put both of them at 001.
They both then work the same. Like if they were hook up together.
But if you set them on different addresses you can control them individually.
So if you want one that is blue and you want the other one to be amber then basically what
you do is that you set them in different addresses.
So that is pretty much how this works. DMX can be applied to a lot of things.
Now people are using them for their home installations.
And it is good because it allows you for control over your home lighting from one single source.
Instead of going to a switch in every part of the house and flipping everything on from
there.
This also allows you for dimming.
So instead of always being all the way on or all the way off, you can choose your different
levels of dimming that you desire.
There is a lot of advances in technology today.
So you can probably run your whole house system off an iPad app and control all your lighting
from there.
So.. DMX is really advance and it continues to evolve every day.
And there are a lot of more options available.
If you guys have any questions about it and how it works or about the addressing or anything
like that.
You guys can drop us a comment there on the YouTube comment box.
And I hope you guys really enjoy this video.
Thank You for Watching!