ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Ethernet based control and supporting applications designed to work with media servers via a network. While lighting programmers may not be as familiar with networking, the concept of using an IP address can be compared directly to the way lighting programmers assign a unique number to a fixture in order to patch the fixture in the console. Every fixture on a universe has to have a unique Digital Multiplex (DMX) address in order for it to be controlled independently of other fixtures on the same link. It is necessary to use an Ethernet switch when connecting multiple network devices, and every fixture must have a direct line to the switch because Ethernet cannot be daisy chained together like DMX. In recent years the lighting industry has embraced the use of transmitting control signals over Ethernet. One type of control signal commonly implemented in most lighting consoles is Art-Net by Artistic License.
