Art-Net [DMX Over Ethernet]

Art-Net is a communication protocol that allows to distribute DMX512 data over Ethernet network [DMX over Ethernet].
Art-Net has been invented by Artistic Licence and has now been published into the public domain. Often, so-called Art-Net nodes then act as Ethernet to DMX512 converters and hardware interfaces. Especially, long distances can be covered using Ethernet cabling.

▪MADRIX 5 supports all devices that are fully compatible with Art-Net.
- You can use Art-Net nodes either as output or input devices.

It is highly recommended to only use Gigabit Ethernet network components [such as network card, switches, network cabling, etc].

Art-Net is a network-based protocol. MADRIX 5 will use the network card of your computer to send data.

▪You must use these IP address and Subnet mask settings. Otherwise, Art-Net might not work!

▪The IP addresses of your computer and your Art-Net devices need to be different.

▪Set up an individual IP address in the following IP address range:
- 2.0.0.1 ... 2.255.255.254 or
- 10.0.0.1 ... 10.255.255.254

▪Restart MADRIX 5, if you have changed the network settings in Windows while MADRIX 5 was running.

▪Please remember to restart MADRIX 5, if you have changed the network settings in Windows while MADRIX 5 was running.

▪Go to the menu Preferences > Device Manager... > Art-Net
[Keyboard shortcut: F4 > Art-Net]

MADRIX 5 can automatically add devices using the ArtPoll Reply functionality if supported by the Art-Net device.

▪Click
[MADRIX 5 will automatically search the network for connected Art-Net devices. MADRIX 5 will scan even across multiple network cards. Devices that are found will appear in the list.]
[Please make sure that your devices also have the correct network settings.]
[Keyboard shortcut: F5]

Some interfaces might not support ArtPoll Reply in order to add them automatically. Then, you need to add your devices manually.

▪Port Count Per Device - Enter the number of ports each newly created device should have. Per device a maximum number of 4 ports is available.
- In order to create an 8-port node, set up 2 devices with 4 ports each. In most cases the same IP address should be entered then for both devices.

▪Send Via Unicast Mode - Activates Unicast Mode for all newly created output devices.

▪Send Full Frames - Activate this option if output devices should always send a single data frame including a full number of 512 channels. If this option is disabled, MADRIX 5 will automatically send optimized frames that reduce network traffic. Learn more below.

Set up specific settings for your device. The following settings are available [this depends if the device was added automatically or manually]:

▪Short Name - Represents a short description of your device [with a maximum of 18 characters].
By default, MADRIX 5 devices will show their IP address.

▪Long Name - Represents a long description of your device [with a maximum of 64 characters].
By default, MADRIX 5 devices will show their product name. This can be changed on the built-in the web configuration page, for example.

▪LED Status Indicators - Allows you to switch of all LED status indicators of a device if supported by the device via Mute [ArtAddress needs to be enabled first in MADRIX 5.]

▪State - Displays if the ports have been activated under Preferences > Device Manager... > DMX Devices. Learn more below.

▪Universe Port OUT - Defines the general allocation of DMX universe and device port for output. E.g., the fourth DMX universe is sent to port 4.
- When changing one value, you can quickly adjust all values linearly, increasing or decreasing them via the appearing buttons.

▪Send Broadcast Mode - Activates Broadcast Mode. Learn more below.
Network - Defines the network that is used for Broadcast Mode. Learn more below.

▪Send Unicast Mode - Activates Unicast Mode. Learn more below.
IP Address - Defines the IP address of the Art-Net device when data is sent via Unicast Mode.

▪Go to the menu Preferences > Device Manager... > DMX Devices
[Keyboard shortcut: F4]

▪Right Mouse Click on the column State to set from Off to On [indicated by green light].

▪Right Mouse Click on the column OUT / IN to set to OUT for data output [if not determined by the device itself].
- Right Mouse Click on the column OUT / IN to set to IN for data input [if not determined by the device itself].

▪Make sure that your device is still selected under Preferences > Device Manager... > DMX Devices

▪Set up Universe
- Right Mouse Click or Left Mouse Double-Click on the column Universe and enter the required number.

▪This setting assigns a specific DMX universe [of the Patch] to the device or the port of the device. Learn more »Virtual DMX Universes

▪Make sure that your device is still selected under Preferences > Device Manager... > DMX Devices

▪Set up the frame time for your device.
- Right Mouse Click or Left Mouse Double-Click on the column ms / FPS and enter the required number.
- The frame time [in milliseconds; ms] affects the frame rate. The frame rate specifies how fast data is sent to the device or received from it [in Frames Per Second; FPS].
- Increase the frame time in order to decrease the frame rate [e.g., 40 ms = 25 FPS].
- Decrease the frame time in order to increase the frame rate [e.g., 20 ms = 50 FPS].
- The default value is 30 ms / 33.3 FPS.
- The minimum value is 1000 ms / 1 FPS.
- The maximum value is 5 ms / 200 FPS.
Please note: If you want to output high frame rates, make sure to set Main Mixing FPS in the Options to the same value in order to render the same frame rate [It is set to 50 FPS by default. Otherwise, frames will be duplicated]. Learn more »Performance
Please note: If you want to input high frame rates, make sure to set DMX Controller Input FPS in the Options to the same value in order to process the same frame rate [It is set to 50 FPS by default. Otherwise, frames will be duplicated]. Learn more »Performance
- Some LED fixtures might have problems with a low frame time / high frame rate. Then, it is recommended to increase the frame time / decrease the frame rate.

▪Set up a delay in milliseconds if required.
- Right Mouse Click or Left Mouse Double-Click on the column Delay (ms) and enter the required number.
- Valid values range from 0 ms to 1000 ms.
- The default value is 0 [meaning that there is no added delay].
- Delay can only be set for output devices.
- This is a highly specialized feature, where an output delay may be wanted to achieve certain visual results, such as creating a video backdrop for more realistic illumination in a video-production setting.

▪Make sure that your device is still selected under Preferences > Device Manager... > DMX Devices

▪Choose how to send data.
- Right Mouse Click or Left Mouse Double-Click on the column Frames to choose between Optimized and Full
- Per DMX512 standard, MADRIX 5 only sends the number of DMX channels that is configured [optimized frames]. For example, if you are using 312 DMX channels on a DMX universe, only 312 DMX channels will be sent with every single frame on this universe.
- Activate Full Frames if devices should always send full frames on a particular universe, instead of optimized frames. Sending full frames means that always the full 512 DMX channels of a DMX universe will be sent with every frame [even when you are using less than 512 channels on the universe].
- Activating Full Frames is recommended if problems with the data output of your devices occur.

▪Broadcast Mode - Means that every packet sent from a single transmitter will be received by all recipients in the network. MADRIX 5 will send data to all devices in the network.
- Advantage: The same data [e.g., DMX universe 1 and 2] can be made available at different points of your setup.
- Disadvantage: A potentially huge number of data packages will be sent over the network. This can reduce the overall network performance and cause data issues or instability.

▪Unicast Mode - Means that the specific data will only be sent to the specified recipient.
- Advantage: Data traffic is reduced immensely, which means that a larger number of Art-Net devices can be used in one network. Reduced network traffic increases the performance and stability.
- Disadvantage: The network settings of all devices need to be 100% correct.

▪Go to the menu Preferences > Device Manager... > Art-Net
[Keyboard shortcut: F4 > Art-Net]

▪A] Choose Send Unicast Mode to activate Unicast Mode:
- Make sure to enter the correct IP Address of your device that should receive the Art-Net data.
- MADRIX 5 will send the corresponding data only to this device.
- Please note: A loopback adapter is also available. Learn more »Loopback Adapater [127.0.0.1]

▪B] Choose Send Broadcast Mode to activate Broadcast Mode:
- Make sure to select the correct Network of your computer that should send the Art-Net data.
- MADRIX 5 will send data to the whole Art-Net network.
- Please note: A loopback adapter is also available. Learn more »Loopback Adapater [127.0.0.1]

Sync Button

ArtSync - Allows you to activate or deactivate the usage of synchronization commands/packages for Art-Net.
- Your Art-Net devices need to support this feature in order for it to work correctly.
- All MADRIX hardware Art-Net nodes support ArtSync.
- Sync packages will be sent to all network cards for which corresponding Art-Net nodes are created in the MADRIX 5 Software.

In addition, you can choose between Post-Sync [default] and Pre-Sync. By default, the sync data is sent after the main DMX/Art-Net data. Pre-Sync would send it before the main DMX/Art-Net data.

▪Before activating sync, make sure that all activated Art-Net devices are available in your network! Else, the frame rate of Art-Net might drop. If you are not sure, do not enable any sync mode.

▪Disable ArtSync if you wish to HTP merge from two sources! ArtSync would then interfere with the merge and create unwanted results.

MAC To IP - Allows you to includes a tool to convert MAC addresses to IP addresses, and vice versa.

▪OEM Code - Choose the manufacturer of the device. You can also it as search field. Enter a value or name to search for it.

▪A] MAC Address - Enter the MAC address of the device and the tool automatically converts it into the correct IP address.

▪B] IP Address - Enter the IP address of the device and the tool automatically converts it into the correct MAC address.

	Search For Devices - Re-scans for devices in the network; as explained above.
	Add Devices - Manually adds new devices; as explained above.
	Duplicate Devices - Duplicates the selected devices to quickly add new similar devices.
	Remove Devices - Removes the selected devices from the list. [Keyboard shortcut: Del / Delete]
	Device Configuration - Allows you to configure your devices by calling up the Art-Net Device Configuration window.

HTTP Configuration - Allows you to configure your Art-Net device remotely with the help of a web browser if this feature is supported by your device. If this feature is available, a new browser window will be opened using the specified IP address. This offers you access to the configuration of your Art-Net device. If this is not possible, a message box will be displayed in MADRIX 5.

Filter - Activates the filter.

- Enter any text to filter out items that do not include this text. The button is shown in green if the filter is active.
- Terms can be case-insensitive. You don't have to use capital letters.
- Feel free to use terms that are incomplete. For example, mad will include results for MADRIX.
- You may specify certain columns by using a colon [:].
- For example: Device Name:2 shows only lines where the number is included in the Device Name and not the Universe, for example.

- Swap, Position Up, and Position Down are disabled while a filter is active.

Ctrl+F - Opens the filter.
Esc - Closes the filter.

Right Mouse Click - Resets the filter [and closes it again if it is still open].

▪Regarding sending ArtAddress commands to nodes, make sure that your nodes fully support this Art-Net feature.
You will also get notified by a message box. Confirm the message with OK or abort via Cancel.

▪MADRIX LUNA, MADRIX NEBULA, MADRIX PLEXUS, MADRIX STELLA, MADRIX ORION, and MADRIX AURA support ArtAddress.

	Mute Status Indicators - Switches off and disables all built-in status indicators of a device over Art-Net [ArtAddress > AcLedMute].
	Operate Status Indicators Normally - Allows the built-in status indicators of a device to operate normally again, after having them switched off [ArtAddress > AcLedNormal].
	Highlight Device - Activates the highlight mode [ArtAddress > AcLedLocate]. Select one or more interfaces and click the button. The corresponding status indicators of the selected interfaces will flash for a better identification or tests. This makes it easier to see them on site/stage. It considerably speeds up the procedure of programming or testing the selected interfaces.
	In addition to sending out commands to nodes, MADRIX 5 itself can receive ArtAddress commands. Receive - Activates that MADRIX 5 is able to receive ArtAddress commands. It is enabled by default. ▪AcLedMute and AcLedNormal will disable the identification of MADRIX 5. ▪AcLedLocate will enable the identification of MADRIX 5. - As long as Identify is enabled or set via protocol commands, the MADRIX 5 user interface [GUI] will repeatedly change every second from the currently selected theme to the opposite theme, either from dark to light or vice versa. - This visibly highlights the user interface for visual identification of this MADRIX 5 instance as a device within a network system. - Identify will also be deactivated when manually switching the theme, either via the menu [View > Theme > Light/Dark] or its keyboard shortcut [Ctrl+T]. You can further customize ArtAddress properties. Learn more »Options

Learn more about setting up devices under Preferences > Device Manager... > DMX Devices here »DMX512 [DMX-OUT]

▪If you are using a network-based output protocol and if the Startup option Start MADRIX After Booting Windows is activated, it is highly recommended to also activate the Startup option Start With Timeout (s) with a value of 30.

▪When activating Art-Net, MADRIX 5 will create a so-called shared socket and not an exclusive socket.
Therefore, other software on the computer has the chance access Art-Net using the same socket, when running MADRIX 5 and another software at the time.

▪It is not recommended to operate Art-Net and access to the World Wide Web/Internet in the same network!
It is recommended to run it in a separate network without internet access.

▪It is not recommend to use Art-Net over WiFi [wireless network]!
If you decide to run such a configuration on your own risk, make sure to deactivate ArtSync, as this will lead to problems.

▪Make sure to set up the Windows Firewall correctly or deactivate the Windows Firewall if possible [only if no connection to the internet is available]. Learn more »Tips [Microsoft Windows / Networks / USB]

▪If MADRIX 5 does not use the correct network card for Art-Net Remote, change the order of network adapters and set a higher priority for your preferred network. Learn more »Tips [Microsoft Windows / Networks / USB]

▪Use only GIGABIT [1GBit/s or 1000 MBit/s] network components [such as, switches and network cards].

▪Check all other IP addresses and cabling. Having the same IP address in the network causes problems. Make sure that the network is not forming a ring, were the start point is also the end point, and that data is not sent back to the source [the computer].

▪Use Start With Timeout (s) in the MADRIX 5 Options to make sure network is initialized correctly before MADRIX 5 starts. Learn more »Startup

▪If output problems occur, decrease the output frame rate [FPS] in the Device Manager. Learn more »DMX512 [DMX-OUT]

▪Make sure that Art-Net is set up as an individual network and separate from the Internet.