Console DMX

Draft documentation: This document was created with the help of AI and has not yet been fully reviewed by a human.

Console DMX displays DMX channel values, either as Nightfall's console universes or as the frames each output transport sends. Open it from the Command Palette, pick a view in the Transport select, then choose the universe you want to inspect.

Console and wire numbering

Nightfall numbers DMX in two places:

• Console universes are where fixtures are assigned with Assign Console DMX. They are internal to Nightfall; a console universe sends nothing on its own.
• Wire universes are the universe numbers an output transport (sACN, Art-Net, USB) actually sends to the network or a device.

A console universe reaches the network only through an explicit console-to-transport DMX route in Patch. For example, patch console:2 @ sacn:10 sends console universe 2's channels as sACN universe 10. A fixture can also be patched directly to a transport, such as patch fix 12 @ artnet:1.1, without needing a console universe. On the wire, a direct fixture route wins over a console universe routed to the same channels, and an input passthrough wins over both, so a wire universe can differ from the console universe routed to it.

To set a raw channel, ch 2.10 @ 255 writes console universe 2, which reaches the wire only through its DMX route. Prefix the channel with an output name to set a wire channel directly: ch sacn:10.10 @ 255 holds sACN universe 10 channel 10 at 255 over anything patched there, even when nothing else sends that universe. The output name is the one used in Patch, so configured outputs work too, for example ch stage-left:1.1>1.4 @ 0. A held channel stays until release ch sacn:10.10 (or release ch sacn:10. for the whole universe) or a plain release.

Transport select

With Output selected, the Transport select chooses which numbering the universe tabs use:

• Console lists console universes by their console number. It is listed whenever fixtures or channels occupy console universes, and on its own when nothing is being output at all.
• Each output transport lists the frames it actually sends, numbered by wire universe. Broadcast output appears as sACN or Art-Net, while unicast targets and USB devices get their own entries, such as sACN → 10.0.0.4 or USB (<device>).

Use Console to check a fixture's assigned channels, and a transport view to check what a node or device receives. If a console universe has values that no transport view carries, it has no console-to-transport route.

With Input selected, the select lists the transports receiving DMX. External, on by default, discards frames Nightfall itself sent that loop back to its inputs. This is an engine setting, not only a display filter: discarded frames also do not drive input routes.

Reading channels

Use the channel grid to check whether a fixture's channels are changing. Compare the channel range with its mode's footprint in Patch or Fixture Library. Color indicators help associate channel activity with fixture output, but a raw channel value is interpreted according to that fixture profile.

A transport view shows the frame Nightfall composes for that wire universe, not proof that a packet reached a network node or USB device. If channels change but a physical light does not, check Patch DMX routes, I/O Transports target status, and the light's universe/address/mode.

If channels do not change, first inspect Programmer, clip playback, and Masters. Fixtures without console DMX assignment or an output route can still be controlled virtually without occupying channels here.