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Under the Help tab when on the DMX Web Page, there is an option called ‘Launch Panel’. This opens the DMX panel in a different tab, the DMX Panel being a visual representation of the 512 channels that DMX controls. In the DMX Panel, highlighted squares will surround numbers, showing what channels are within a fixtures range. On the right side of the Panel, if any scripts have been created and saved, they will appear here as buttons to execute them from the DMX Panel. Numbers in the DMX Panel will represent the current 512 channels the DMX application is controlling. Clicking on any of the numbers within the DMX Panel allows you to edit that channels value. The pop-up for editing channel values changes depending on if you are selecting channels within a fixture or not. If the number isn’t located within a fixture, it simply prompts what value to set it to with a text field. If you select channels inside a fixture, then the prompt it provides allows all the channels inside the fixture to be edited, and include not only a text field to edit them, but a slider as well. 

DMX requires RS485 communication at 500K baud.  The JNIOR 412 DMX handles this inherently.  The JNIOR 410 has the ability to handle RS485.  An additional application must be loaded to get the DMX data to be streamed out the AUX port.  You can read about using the JNIOR 410 and a 412 DMX Alternative.  The downside of this is that there is additional overhead on the JNIOR and that the AUX port is not properly isolated.  In most cases the lack of isolation is not an issue but it could be given certain circumstances.

At the time of writing this article, in 2022, we have found it hard to acquire the components needed to build the 412DMX unit due to supply chain issues and chip shortages.

While using the 410 as a DMX alternative would work, some people like the IO mix on the 412.  So we decided to look at what it would take to use the 412 as a DMX alternative.  It turns out that an RS232 to RS485 adapter with a NULL modem will do the trick.  Here are links to the components that we tested an commanded DMX fixtures with here in the office.

DTECH RS232 to RS485 / RS422 Serial Communication Data Converter Adapter Mini-Size

DB9 Null Modem Adapter Male to Male

In the DMX application, you create scripts to change the 512 DMX channels. Once you have a script, you’ll then want to be able to activate it. One way to set up a script to activate is by giving it a trigger. This post will explain how to create a trigger for a script. 

Open the DMX application, and go to the Triggers tab. Once there, you’ll see the I/O layout for your JNIOR, showing how many inputs and outputs are on it. To setup a script to trigger on one of the I/Os, you’ll simply enter “script (SCRIPT_NAME)” into one of the I/O spots. You can additionally enter -f or -r after the script name to add additional effects to the script running. You can also enter “abort” into one of the I/O spots to make any script stop running when that I/O value occurs.

Once you’ve entered and saved a script name value in an I/O slot, you should now have a script set to run when the selected I/O value activates.

When you have a fixture that you want to control through the DMX application, you use a script. This post will explain how to create one. 

To start, you’ll open the DMX application and go to the scripts tab and click the add script button which the application will then prompt you what you want to name the new script. After entering the new script’s name, you’ll go to it in the script tab and select the green pencil icon under the script column. The Edit Actions dialog box will open, where you can then enter actions for the script to perform. The 3 main actions are the delay, set, and fade. How you enter those actions in the script, and the different parameters an action can use, are shown on the right side of the dialog box.

After you’ve entered your actions in the script, you’ll click set at the bottom right of the dialog. Now when the script runs it’ll edit the channels referenced in the script actions.

In the DMX application, you create fixtures that pick how many channels of the 512 DMX channels will get set along with where the starting channel for that fixture is.

To start, you’ll need to create a DMX fixture type. In the Fixture Types tab, you’ll click the add fixture type button. You’ll then get the New Fixture Type Dialog, where you can set the amount of channels the fixture will use of the 512 DMX channels, and what they are named.

Once you have the fixture type created, you’ll the go to the Physical Fixtures tab and create a fixture of that type. Click on the add fixture button, which will open the New Fixture Dialog, where you can set the Fixture Type (you use the one you just created), name of the fixture, and the starting channel for the fixture.

Once you’ve created the fixture, you should now have a fixture that uses the amount of channels set in the fixture type settings, and starts on the channel set in the physical fixture settings.