Tonalite lighting software beta, feedback requested

John Roper

Member
Hi everyone, I've been working on developing a new lighting software for schools and small venues for a while now, and have been using it for multiple shows during that time. I've finally put out a beta that I would like people to try out for themselves. Will you try it and give some feedback? It runs on Windows and Linux, and you can download it at the link below. Thanks!

http://jmroper.com/tonalite/

Features at a glance:
  • Add fixtures and map them to DMX addresses (2 universes)
  • Control the value of each fixture's parameters (attributes)
  • Add and control effects on fixtures
  • Add cues and cycle through them
  • Add sequences and cycle through them
  • Add groups to control multiple fixtures at once
  • Record presets for easy system overrides (architectural system)
  • Support color mixing and moving lights (color wheel, joystick, and color/position palettes)
  • Support automark
  • Uses ETC ColorSource's fixture profile format (jlib)
Personally, I feel this system is very easy to use and learn. I got to test this fact when I actually installed it at my school for about half a year last year and got to see teachers and administrators use it.

Background: I'm a senior in high school, and the lighting designer for my school. A few years ago, I finally got fed up with the pains of my school's old lighting system, most importantly the fact that I had to keep running between booth and stage when focusing lights. I decided to write this program. Since then, I have used it for 10+ shows, programming and running lights from a seat in the house: no more booth.
 
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(I haven't downloaded or played with with this yet)

What makes this software stand out? What features does it have that make it a good choice over other platforms? What lead you to develop this? I'd love some background about what makes this software great.
 
(I haven't downloaded or played with with this yet)

What makes this software stand out? What features does it have that make it a good choice over other platforms? What lead you to develop this? I'd love some background about what makes this software great.
I just updated the post above with this info so everyone can see it.
 
Very excited to give it a try.
It says v2 beta is out. Was there a version 1 that had this pricing model or this is completely unreleased?
Amazing that you already have documentation and even more incredible that you're still in highschool.

I'll give it a try, but could you explain more about how the web interface thing works? Does the server run on a windows machine and then accessible via that machine and any other machine on the network through a browser?
What happens if it crashes or theres network lag? Does the command get dropped or just arrives later?

Again I'll try, just at work and can't install yet so just asking the initial questions.
 
Very excited to give it a try.
It says v2 beta is out. Was there a version 1 that had this pricing model or this is completely unreleased?
Amazing that you already have documentation and even more incredible that you're still in highschool.

I'll give it a try, but could you explain more about how the web interface thing works? Does the server run on a windows machine and then accessible via that machine and any other machine on the network through a browser?
What happens if it crashes or theres network lag? Does the command get dropped or just arrives later?

Again I'll try, just at work and can't install yet so just asking the initial questions.
Thanks for trying it out! This is version 2 since I started developing it, but this is the first publicly available version. I call it version 2 because there was an iteration that was very different a couple of years ago. Version 2 was basically me starting over with the same name. I'll probably end up renaming it to version 1 to be clearer.

You are correct about how the interface works. The server runs on a Windows or Linux computer and the web interface is available to any device on that network.

If there is a network lag, the command just arrives later. If there is a crash, a message pops up in the web UI saying so. The server can be restarted. On a console, the OS would automatically restart the server, but it doesn't have this built in for desktop use (at least for now).
 
I downloaded it earlier today, it was pretty neat, for all the different free dmx control softwares, this UI on this one was really nice. I could see it being very useful for smaller events, and set and forget stuff. The addition of more keyboard shortcuts would be nice, and possibly arranging the light information differently so that you can see more of it at once.

Overall, a really cool and simple software, and kudos for making it in high school, and probably more importantly getting the administration to use it...I plan on trying it out some more when I get back to school next week and hookup a sACN node.
 
I downloaded it earlier today, it was pretty neat, for all the different free dmx control softwares, this UI on this one was really nice. I could see it being very useful for smaller events, and set and forget stuff. The addition of more keyboard shortcuts would be nice, and possibly arranging the light information differently so that you can see more of it at once.

Overall, a really cool and simple software, and kudos for making it in high school, and probably more importantly getting the administration to use it...I plan on trying it out some more when I get back to school next week and hookup a sACN node.
Awesome, thanks! What kinds of shortcuts would you be interested in? IE. What would they do?
 
Awesome, thanks! What kinds of shortcuts would you be interested in? IE. What would they do?

Sorry for the delayed response, I know you already have several shortcuts, primarily for the running of the show.

I am used to using my ETC Nomad setup, so I was thinking about ways to grab channels, set intensity, take everything out, and what not. In my 10 minutes of playing around I didn't see how to grab multiple channels without putting them all into a group one by one, which seems like it takes a bit of time*. Really anything to make selecting and modifying channels easier.

*I realize this is probably more difficult to implement, since it seems like it is more of a new feature, than simply making a shortcut to and existing feature.
 
Yeah I know I would want as Jimmy mentioned above, an easy quick way to do things.

IMHO the easiest is a simple keypad, and yes it would be a new feature and such.

Numbers 0-9, at, through, and, minus, and I am sure a few more basic functionality keys.
 
I think I broke mine.

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What linux distro has this been compiled for? Not having much luck getting it going on my Linux Mint 18.3 KDE system. I've also got Apache2 running on the system, so there already is a web interface on the system.

I've got a few laptops around I distro-hop with, and I'd like to get one set up with my DIY USB-DMX converters so I can remotely control lights while hanging and focusing.
 

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