Use Photon2 with a small rig comprising 1 universe, 10 fixtures and a Showtec ArtNet interface.
Had issues where some fixtures would intermittently switch to red between nights, or otherwise be controllable but their parameter recall unstable despite previously fully working. Assumed bad DMX signal somewhere or fixture, so had the lights down to test; all ok tested individually. Swapped/tested cables (passed basic pin out test), termination, swapped ArtNet interface, swapped iPad, bypassed DMX splitter.Verified all addresses and fixture channel settings - unchanged since installation a year ago.
Noted at this point that some other older showfiles worked a whole lot better with the same fixtures, so created a new showfile and it almost works. There now seems to be intermittent lack of response when firing some presets e.g. sometimes fires a colour change, sometimes needs two attempts.
Occasional red flashes from some fixtures (e.g. four of the same kind) when not touching anything.
Tried increasing and decreasing the DMX port frequency on the ArtNet interface - no improvement. Also updated firmware on the interface for any bug fixes, though prev. working fine.
This is happening across multiple fixtures split across two sets of light bars, so it seems to be something global. The only thing to have changed really is the showfiles. The iOS on one of the iPads hasn’t changed in the last year as it doesn’t go online.
Does anyone have an inkling as to whether I am still chasing hardware issues, or have others had showfiles start to corrupt things in similar ways?
Could be one or more poorly-behaved fixtures. You might try one of Doug Fleenor’s “DMX Decelerator” modules between the Showtec and the DMX chain. I had to put one in front of a Chauvet DMX-AN2 to get our setup working right.
We had a similar problem today. We are running a show with just 6x Stairville 64PAR LED. We have some scenes where we have different colors. We found out that the white color in our case is triggering a flash. Somehow it was just the first fixture. We used a terminator and correct cables. We’ve used this by not using white color at all in our show.
One explaination would be the actual data transfer (white = all colors at 255) but that’s just an assumption. Somehow only the first fixture of six was affected. The other 5 were working without any issues.
I did not specifically check the DMX values in the DMX Monitor. We’ve tried different things like different cables, with / without terminator, going through a dimm-pack because we thought the power coming out of our DMX node was too low.
The workaround for now is to only use non-white colors and that’s working as expected. We are using this interface. Also tried different frame rates - no changes.
Interesting that others are experiencing this. To date, I have investigated as follows:
Installed app on three different iPads, some with slightly older iPadOS - no change
Connected iPad with wired network adapter and reduced size of network to only iPad and ArtNet interface
Replaced network switch and confirmed configuration not performing any unusual packet shaping or innefficient network convergence etc. (again wired only test to avoid wifi variables)
Swapped the ArtNet interface for another, having also updated any firmware on this device to current from Showtec
Bypassed DMX splitter to test each light bar one at a time in situ
Slowed and increased the DMX refresh rate to test in different shows
Started a new Showfile from scratch
Hired a platform and taken down all fixtures, verified all addresses, tested all DMX cables and light bars, checked terminated correctly
Individually tested them with both the app/artnet interface v.s. a hardware controller (latter worked, but brief testing period).
Installed an alternative DMX app using same Artnet interface for testing; appeared stable but only had a few trial days to test.
Through all of the above I was not able to get Photon over Artnet to provide stable lighting control with multiple fixtures connected. With some Chauvet fixtures it was impossible to create a smooth fade when only the one fixture was connected, with it seeming highly unlikely to be a feature of, say, 3 out of 6 of the same type. I initially suspected DMX refresh rate, but adjusting this in either direction made no difference other than the add more steps to the fade when at its slowest.
I have thoroughly appreciated this app as it previously performed very well, but the general impression is that development has slowed/stopped and I had to find a solution for our venue. Whether the cause lies in Photon in combination with the Showtex 2/3 Artnet interface only, or if it is more widespread I do not know. I have the same interface as Jonny is quoting above (two of them).
In my case the solution has been to buy a Wolfmix wired DMX controller, which is absolutely fantastic, and completely stable with all light fixtures through many shows now, so I can say with some confidence that it was never the lighting fixtures, light bars, addressing, DMX splitter or power system.
I am considering redeploying Photon and the Artnet control in another room at the venue with only a few lights, so will keep an eye on the changelogs if anything can be done to make it work with the interface in question.