Determining Dmx Start Channel Assignment - High End Systems Shapeshifter C1 User Manual

Determining DMX Start Channel Assignment

There are 512 available channels on each DMX link divided among all the devices in a particular
link. A fixture must have a unique Start channel number in order to respond independently to
controller commands.
To determine each fixture's DMX start channel in a link, identify the channel range of every fixture
on the link. Channel range is the number of consecutive channels a fixture requires. Each
SHAPESHIFTER fixture requires a block of 28 consecutive channels on a 512-Channel DMX link for
Reduced protocol user mode or 79 channels for Enhanced protocol. The Start channel is the first
number of a fixture's channel range.
When setting the Start channel on a fixture, remember:
• A fixture's physical location on the link does not have to coincide with the order of channel
range assignments in the link.
• The fixture's channel range must not overlap any other device's channel range on the link.
When two devices on the same DMX link have overlapping channel ranges, one or both
devices will be disabled or behave erratically. The single exception would be if two or more
fixtures need to respond to controller commands in exactly the same way. In that case, those
fixtures must be the same type (for example two SHAPESHIFTER fixtures) and must share
the entire channel range.
The notes in the following table show the various considerations in determining valid Start
Channels for fixtures on a 512 DMX link.
Fixture
Fixture
Rig
Type
Position
SHAPESHIFTER C1
First
(Reduced Protocol)
SHAPESHIFTER W1
Third
(Enhanced Protocol)
Second Technospot
Fourth Studio Spot
SHAPESHIFTER User Manual
DMX DMX
Channel Start
Footprint Channel
28 channels C001
79 channels C029
37 channels C109
18 channels C400
Channel
Range
The Start channel is the first channel
1-28 in a consecutive block of channels
assigned to a fixture.
Fixture can be assigned the second
29-108 block of DMX channels without being
the second fixture on the rig.
Avoid overlapping channels with
109-145
other fixtures
Every channel in the link does not
401-418
need to be assigned.
CHAPTER 3
Menu System
Notes
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