dmx programming tutorial

On Stage Lighting has been writing about DMX programming and stage lighting lighting control since 2007. Relevant articles are listed in reverse date order below.
If you are a beginner, then starting with our Lighting Control Guides is probably the best place get you up and running.
If you are looking for more advances programming stuff, then things like our series of experimental articles Essential Busk Pages or our BUSK201 course is probably for you.

Nested Palettes in Stage Lighting Programming

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On Stage Lighting presents a quick guide to the use of “nested” palettes in stage lighting programming and some benefits from using this technique, along with potential problems that may arise for the unwary programmer.

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LEDs, Colour Mixing and Crossfades

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A question from On Stage Lighting reader Michael prompts an article looking at a common consideration in modern stage lighting – successful transitions with colour mixing lighting fixtures.

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MagicQ Moving Light Tutorial 2 – Palettes and Attributes

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In the second part of our guide to moving lights control with the Cham Sys MagicQ, we take the previously patched fixtures and manipulate them into palettes while understanding what goes on inside the Programmer.

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Moving Light Control Tutorial MagicQ Part 1

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In the first of our moving light control tutorials using the Cham Sys MagicQ, we find out how to patch and wrangle intelligent fixtures and follow our progress on a virtual stage using the Capture visualiser.

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Fixture Personality Files and Lighting Control

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This rough guide looks at the different functions of fixture personality files, trends in complex lighting control interfaces and asks “When is standardisation going to replace fragmentation in the world of stage lighting control?”

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MagicQ Tutorial Part 3 – Cues, Timing and FX

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In the final part of our Cham Sys MagicQ PC Getting Started tutorials, we work to the final stage of preparing our show for the fictional 3 piece band using a simple rig of PARS. If you haven’t already done so, work through MagicQ Tutorials Part 1 and 2 before tackling this one.
In this tutorial we will create another page of playbacks, a short opening sequence using a theatre cue stack and use the FX generator to quickly make some snazzy effects with the Beam Fans. We will also look at some of the theatre stack timing options.

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