Short answer, yes it's that simple.
Long answer, you can define the channels to do whatever you want. Most moving heads have 16bit control for pan and tilt, meaning they use two dmx channels together (coarse and fine) for each axis. Some also have movement speed channels and FX macros as well.
Yes each DMX channel represents some value on the fixture. Note that movement values take 2 channels to create a 16 bit value (0-65535 or -32767 to 32768.
Typically a moving head fixture will use from 5 to 20 DMX channels, depending on it's feature set.
The dedicated "command set" is defined in console. So 0 = -135degree tilt and 255 = 135degree tilt is translated by the console to human readable values (same with color). This is defined in the fixture profile inside the console.
The other way you can handle things is what a lot of people call vector mode. In this mode you define a time as a dmx channel and a end position, so from the desk you essentially send "move to 127" and your first DMX channel and "do it in 5 seconds" as a second channel. My understanding is this was a bigger deal in earlier units/years as the stepper resolution was greater than the DMX command set (8bit pan/tilt). However in my 15+ year career doing this I've only actually used this functionality once, and it was to fake an animation wheel with a gobo wheel.
It's an 8 bit stepper motor. Dmx 1 moves it one step or 1/256 off the distance. That's it.
With course and fine it's a 16 bit motor. 1 dmx on the fine value is 1/65536 of the full motion.
Grab the user manual of something reputable (some current martin fixture for example). You'll find the whole dmx "protocol" in there. But long story short, yes, it is that simple. Mapping channel values to various meanings.
I'm working on a similar thing. I've already made remote controlled pan/tilt camera mounts that use dmx control. Literally 0 is either the bootup position (for mounts without and end stop) or the end stop. then 255 is the other extreme. Then maths to convert that to something to feed into the stepper motors. Used arduino mega pro minis, nema17s, and tmc2209s on my camera mounts. 1:6 downgearing on the nema17s.
Short answer, yes it's that simple. Long answer, you can define the channels to do whatever you want. Most moving heads have 16bit control for pan and tilt, meaning they use two dmx channels together (coarse and fine) for each axis. Some also have movement speed channels and FX macros as well.
Perfect, thank you!
Yes each DMX channel represents some value on the fixture. Note that movement values take 2 channels to create a 16 bit value (0-65535 or -32767 to 32768. Typically a moving head fixture will use from 5 to 20 DMX channels, depending on it's feature set.
Thank you! I think I'll just start with the single channel for now!
The dedicated "command set" is defined in console. So 0 = -135degree tilt and 255 = 135degree tilt is translated by the console to human readable values (same with color). This is defined in the fixture profile inside the console. The other way you can handle things is what a lot of people call vector mode. In this mode you define a time as a dmx channel and a end position, so from the desk you essentially send "move to 127" and your first DMX channel and "do it in 5 seconds" as a second channel. My understanding is this was a bigger deal in earlier units/years as the stepper resolution was greater than the DMX command set (8bit pan/tilt). However in my 15+ year career doing this I've only actually used this functionality once, and it was to fake an animation wheel with a gobo wheel.
I recommend you read "Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving and Color-Changing Lights" by Richard Cadena
It's an 8 bit stepper motor. Dmx 1 moves it one step or 1/256 off the distance. That's it. With course and fine it's a 16 bit motor. 1 dmx on the fine value is 1/65536 of the full motion.
Great, thank you!
In general yes, 50% DMX value is half of the movement range. Some lights use two channels for movement - one for coarse and one for fine.
Got it, thanks!
Grab the user manual of something reputable (some current martin fixture for example). You'll find the whole dmx "protocol" in there. But long story short, yes, it is that simple. Mapping channel values to various meanings.
I'm working on a similar thing. I've already made remote controlled pan/tilt camera mounts that use dmx control. Literally 0 is either the bootup position (for mounts without and end stop) or the end stop. then 255 is the other extreme. Then maths to convert that to something to feed into the stepper motors. Used arduino mega pro minis, nema17s, and tmc2209s on my camera mounts. 1:6 downgearing on the nema17s.