explaining addresses
- Thread startercamo894
- Start date
In this context, an address is a location or destination for a DMX packet.
By analogy, "123 Main Street" is a location or destination for a letter. It might also be referred to as "Cam's house". In ETC-speak "Cam's house" would be a channel.
If "Cam's house" was an apartment building then it might have more than one address associated with it, say "123 Main Street apartment 4". That would be represented on an Ion as a multipart channel.
The last piece of the analogy is the possibility of multiple streets, which get the epithet "Universe". Each universe is limited to 512 DMX addresses.
Clear as mud?
By analogy, "123 Main Street" is a location or destination for a letter. It might also be referred to as "Cam's house". In ETC-speak "Cam's house" would be a channel.
If "Cam's house" was an apartment building then it might have more than one address associated with it, say "123 Main Street apartment 4". That would be represented on an Ion as a multipart channel.
The last piece of the analogy is the possibility of multiple streets, which get the epithet "Universe". Each universe is limited to 512 DMX addresses.
Clear as mud?
Derickls
Active Member
This white paper from ETC might help: http://www.etcconnect.com/img/whitepapers/WP_Chan_vs_Address.pdf
where did you find this info i couldnt seem to find it on the website
thanks so much for the help guys
A channel allows access to all the properties of a fixture in a convenient way, the board knows what addresses are mapped to what function like intensity or color.
We could just think in addresses, but that would be a pain because our front light couldn't be easily numbered as channels 1 thru 10.
Sent from my RM-893_nam_tmous_201 using Tapatalk
We could just think in addresses, but that would be a pain because our front light couldn't be easily numbered as channels 1 thru 10.
Sent from my RM-893_nam_tmous_201 using Tapatalk
techieman33
Well-Known Member
By turning on address 211 the console sent out packets of data to the dimmer rack. The dimmer rack knew where 211 was located in terms of wiring, and turned that dimmer up to the level you specified on the console. If you just did something like 211@full then it would just send that info. If you ran it up on a fader then the console sent out lots of packets to 211 telling it to get brighter or dimmer as you moved the fader.
Your console is yelling out the following information down the stream of dmx data over and over...
"Start signal: value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255... repeat that 512 times then go back to the start signal... it completes this cyclethousands of times per second up to 44 times per second.
When you turn dimmer 56 up to half, the next time through the cycle the console changes the value after the 56th "next" to 127.
When you set an address on a DMX device. You are telling that device where to listen for it's control information. Set a device to 347 and it waits for the data stream to have the start signal and then it starts counting nexts until it gets to 347. When it reaches 347 it listens for the value and does whatever that value says. Devices may need a lot of information and so they are listening for data on many different dmx channels. The address you set is the starting point and then it listens in order. If a device needs 4 channels of DMX data you set it to Channel 100 and it listens for data on 100, 101, 102, 103. You can set the next device to 104 and it listens to 104, 105, 106, and 107. If you have 10 LED fixtures and you want them to all do the same thing, set them all to the same DMX channel. If you want them to all have separate control, set them to separate channels.
A problem with DMX is that the console doesn't get any information back. It just keeps yelling out values endlessly. It has no idea if anything has actually done what it commands. Furthermore sometimes it makes mistakes. When you are dealing with dimmers and lights a mistake is no big deal because the error will be corrected by the next cycle of data long before you can see the results of the bad command. However if you were using DMX to set off pyro it only takes a millisecond mistake to say fire.
"Start signal: value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255, next , value between 0-255... repeat that 512 times then go back to the start signal... it completes this cycle
When you turn dimmer 56 up to half, the next time through the cycle the console changes the value after the 56th "next" to 127.
When you set an address on a DMX device. You are telling that device where to listen for it's control information. Set a device to 347 and it waits for the data stream to have the start signal and then it starts counting nexts until it gets to 347. When it reaches 347 it listens for the value and does whatever that value says. Devices may need a lot of information and so they are listening for data on many different dmx channels. The address you set is the starting point and then it listens in order. If a device needs 4 channels of DMX data you set it to Channel 100 and it listens for data on 100, 101, 102, 103. You can set the next device to 104 and it listens to 104, 105, 106, and 107. If you have 10 LED fixtures and you want them to all do the same thing, set them all to the same DMX channel. If you want them to all have separate control, set them to separate channels.
A problem with DMX is that the console doesn't get any information back. It just keeps yelling out values endlessly. It has no idea if anything has actually done what it commands. Furthermore sometimes it makes mistakes. When you are dealing with dimmers and lights a mistake is no big deal because the error will be corrected by the next cycle of data long before you can see the results of the bad command. However if you were using DMX to set off pyro it only takes a millisecond mistake to say fire.
Last edited:
lwinters630
Well-Known Member
I like to use ” sk8rsdad" description. Universe is.the street, address 123 is house number. And the "house" is the devise like a dimmer or a color scroller or pattern wheel.
So when you mail a letter to a house, the postman deliver a value between o-255. Therefore adress 123 at 60% ( value175) attached to a color scroller will will tell the motor to move to blue frame. If the "house" was a standard dimmer it would allow voltage to pass to whatever is plugged in like a par light..
A channel is like a email group list that will send that same info to all the address you patch to out it.
So when you mail a letter to a house, the postman deliver a value between o-255. Therefore adress 123 at 60% ( value175) attached to a color scroller will will tell the motor to move to blue frame. If the "house" was a standard dimmer it would allow voltage to pass to whatever is plugged in like a par light..
A channel is like a email group list that will send that same info to all the address you patch to out it.
Not "thousands of times per second"; up to a maximum of 44 times a second, but usually around 20 times a second.
Uh Yeah... 44hz at full speed... got a little over excited about by simplified explanation.
