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Unreal Engine 5.0 Documentation
> Working with Media
> Communicating withSearch Documentation...
Media Components
> DMX
> DMX Overview
Use Cases
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Device Control
Overview of the DMX Plugin, which enables Unreal Engine use for What is DMX?
live events and permanent digital installations.
DMX Data
Advanced
DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
Motivation
Lately, there has been increasing interest and demand for Unreal in the
context of live events and permanent digital installations throughout the
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world. We have seen numerous executions that have been either partially or
> totally powered by Unreal. When Unreal was new to this market, it was missing
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some fundamental and usability features. Despite that, it has been adopted by
talented groups willing to build the necessary and missing tools/plugins to Motivation
push the boundaries of the possible further and achieve their desired creative
goals. Use Cases
The existing solutions in the live entertainment industry are a mix of hardware
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and software platforms that are scattered, proprietary, and expensive. The
tools and production pipelines are convoluted, difficult to use, and often
Device Control
impair the overall creation and production processes.
Epic has decided to tackle this problem by adding support for DMX (Digital Content Trigger
Multiplex) data communication through both Artnet and sACN variants. DMX is
used throughout the industry to control various devices in the live events What is DMX?
industry such as lighting fixtures, lasers, smoke machines, mechanical devices,
among others.
DMX Data
Artnet and sACN are network protocols allowing to aggregate and send DMX
Technical Details About DMX
data over ethernet (IP). Artnet allows sending 32,768 universes down a single
network cable. Although it is an older protocol, it is supported by more gear
and devices. sACN (streaming architecture for control networks), currently DMX Controllers
appears more popular and allows you to run 63,999 universes of DMX data
down a single network cable. DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
Here are typical use cases that we have identified around the DMX feature.
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The DMX protocol can be used in the input provided to Blueprint nodes and
fixtures-type actors, for rapid live show stage previsualization. Live DMX input
is used to drive and control enabled fixtures within a 3D UE level. Proper
lighting attributes are used for realistic effects so that show designers can
iterate in their creative process.
Device Control
The DMX protocol output and Blueprint nodes can be used to talk to DMX-
enabled fixtures and devices, which enables controlling lighting consoles or
devices from UE.
Content Trigger
DMX protocol input can be used to trigger live effects or animation sequences
within UE that are meant to be displayed on a live show alongside lighting
fixtures control.
What is DMX?
DMX is a standard for digital communication networks that are commonly used
to control stage lighting and effects. It was originally intended as a
standardized method for controlling light dimmers, which, prior to DMX512,
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had employed various incompatible proprietary protocols. It soon became the
> primary method for linking controllers (such as a lighting console) to dimmers
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and special effects devices such as fog machines and intelligent lights.
Motivation
DMX has also expanded to uses in non-theatrical interior and architectural
lighting, at scales ranging from strings of Christmas lights to electronic
Use Cases
billboards. DMX can now be used to control almost anything, reflecting its
popularity in theaters and venues.
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While DMX is primarily used to control lighting devices, there are many other
forms of hardware that can be driven using the DMX protocol, including the Device Control
following.
Content Trigger
Special effects hardware
DMX Data
In the next section, we will go over how these packets are sent and received.
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2. At least one DMX fixture (typically a lighting fixture but it can be any kind
of device controlled by DMX protocols). Use Cases
NOTE
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We do not support USB interfaces.
Device Control
Content Trigger
DMX Controllers
What is DMX?
DMX controllers (also referred to as "nodes") act as the signal source or the
location at which the DMX signal is created. Additionally, controllers act as the
DMX Data
distributor of the data to a set of daisy-chained fixtures. There are two forms a
DMX controller can take, a USB/Network interface device or a standard DMX
console. Technical Details About DMX
1. A USB/Network interface converts USB signal or IP packets to DMX which DMX Controllers
is then transmitted out to a set of daisy-chained DMX fixtures.
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
2. A DMX console allows the user to manually trigger outgoing DMX and,
depending on the capability of the Console, may also be able to receive
and broadcast DMX from network packets.
DMX Fixtures
DMX fixtures are the devices actually responsible for receiving and executing
commands based on the data received. This could mean turning a light on or
off or rotating the device 90 degrees. There are many sorts of DMX fixtures
from standard stage lights that simply turn on and off to intelligent lights that
have multi-directional rotation and lighting filters.
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Each fixture has a set of attributes/commands that are predefined on the
> hardware level. These attributes are organized into groups called modes.
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Many fixtures contain multiple modes which predefine the available attributes
the fixture will respond to. Motivation
Fixture makers give the user different mode options so that they can cater to a
Use Cases
large range of use cases, including as many features as possible while allowing
the user to pick and choose which are the most important to them. This results
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in the simplest, smallest channel count mode; a complex, huge channel mode;
and some in-between modes. A lot of the time in professional lighting practice,
Device Control
the intermediate modes are chosen for their balance between features and
ease of control, along with more frugal use of the DMX channel count.
Content Trigger
Each mode contains a set of attributes. Attributes are responsible for telling
the hardware how to respond to the received DMX data. In most cases, you can What is DMX?
find all attributes for a particular fixture outlined in the fixture manual
provided with the device.
DMX Data
DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
Universe
A universe consists of a set of fixtures all strung together reading the same
data. A universe contains 512 bytes of information, so the number of fixtures in
a universe will depend on how many bytes of data are needed to address each
fixture.
Signal Communication
Let us next consider how controllers and fixtures talk to each other. Each
controller is responsible for one or many universes each of which has multiple
fixtures daisy-chained in a long string. A universe can be thought of as a form
of identification for a group of addressed fixtures. In order to send data to the
proper fixture, you need to also send it to the correct universe.
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for the right data. This introduces the concept of fixture addressing or
> "patching", covered more in the next section.
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Below you can see an overview of the signal hierarchy and data usage. Motivation
DMX Controllers
Fixture Patching
DMX Fixtures
The concept of fixture patching comes from the idea that we need to be able to
virtually position our fixtures along a communication chain in order to receive SEE ALSO
the proper data. Since we send full packets of data to be read by multiple DMX Quickstart
fixtures, it is important to have a way of identifying exactly which bytes in the
packet should be read and interpreted and which ones should be ignored.
This is done by assigning each fixture at a specific starting address in a
universe. A starting address can be anywhere between 1 and 512 (the max
number of values in our DMX packet). By assigning a fixture to a specific
starting address, it then occupies a range of addresses from the assigned
starting address through the starting address plus the number of attributes
the fixture contains in its current mode.
1. Red (address 8)
2. Green (address 9)
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6. Tilt (address 13)
> 7. Dimmer (address 14) ON THIS PAGE
Starting Address = 8
Address Range = 8 - 15
Use Cases
Using the example above, in order to pan, the fixture will be listening on
address 12 for a byte value between 0-255 which will ultimately control the Show Previs
amount the fixture will pan within its defined rotation range.
Device Control
Attribute Resolution
Content Trigger
Most commonly an attribute will operate with an input range of a single byte
(for example, 0-255). Occasionally, higher resolution is needed to achieve more What is DMX?
To overcome the channel restriction of DMX while still utilizing its structure,
ethernet protocols were developed. These protocols allow multiple DMX
universes to be transported over a single Cat5 cable using ethernet
technology. There are two primary ethernet protocols that are the most widely
used and that UE supports in the DMX plugin, Art-Net, and sACN.
Art-Net
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>
NOTE
More detailed information about the Art-Net protocol can be found
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on the art-net site.
Motivation
Use Cases
sACN
What is DMX?
Alongside architectural firms, AV specialists, and creative agencies, design DMX Controllers
firms are often mandated in designing overarching creative projects within the
Live Events and Permanent Install verticals where real-time sources are used DMX Fixtures
to generate content to be displayed within the physical space.
SEE ALSO
A design firm's mandate is to produce precise design documents for all parties DMX Quickstart
involved, ensuring that all aspects of the project are delivered following a
detailed and well-thought-out plan - minimizing ambiguities as much as
possible. They need to know and understand on a high-level basis why Unreal
Engine is the best tool for their projects, what its capabilities and limitations
are, and how it integrates into the design master plan.
AV Technology Specialists
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Protocol Integration
> ON THIS PAGE
ArtNet and sACN protocols are both integrated from the original source so that Motivation
all code is internal to Epic. By building from the source we have greater control
over how we can use and access library attributes and most importantly, Use Cases
building from a library source allows support for multi-platform usage.
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In the Unreal Engine DMX Plugin, cross-platform support for both receiving
and sending of DMX data through sACN and Art-Net protocol variants is
included. Since both Art-Net and sACN are UDP network protocols, Unreal Device Control
For this plugin, the most recent version of the Art-Net protocol, Art-Net 4, is What is DMX?
integrated. Art-Net 4 has a theoretical limit of 32,768 universes or Port-
Addresses (that is, 32 kiloverses) as opposed to Art-Net 3's universe limit of
DMX Data
256.
DMX Fixtures
In comparison to Art-Net, sACN is a newer protocol that allows for as many as
63,999 universes. SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
NOTE
For published documentation on the sACN protocol visit this link.
DMX Modulators
Input Modulators
Input Modulators are specified under Fixture Settings in the Details panel. You
can add as many Modulators as needed. The following is a list of the input
modulator options:
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Motivation
Use Cases
Show Previs
Device Control
Content Trigger
What is DMX?
DMX Data
DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
Output Modulators
Output Modulators are specified in the Pixel Mapping panel. The following is a
list of the output modulator options:
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Motivation
Use Cases
Show Previs
Device Control
Content Trigger
What is DMX?
DMX Data
DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
Feature Guide
This is a high-level list of all features that are part of the DMX plugin.
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The two primary DMX communication protocols (ArtNet and sACN) have Motivation
Show Previs
Users can create getter Blueprints to allow receiving DMX data from any
Content Trigger
channel in any universe. A range of delegate events and a DMX component
that will return current fixture value data are available to use incoming DMX
What is DMX?
data. These events can be applied to any actor such as a fixture, and control
rotation, color, and so on using the incoming data.
DMX Data
Register DMX Fixtures with Attribute Names Technical Details About DMX
and Channel Mappings
DMX Controllers
Users can add any DMX fixture to their projects with any number of channels.
If a fixture preset isn't in the fixture database, users will be able to register DMX Fixtures
their own. Users can also set up channel mappings and register their own
attributes to ultimately be used in their own custom Blueprints or the provided SEE ALSO
Users will be able to add different DMX controllers that are responsible for any
range of DMX universes.
A custom DMX Console window enables users to test any channel or any range
of channels in any Universe directly from the editor.
GDTF Integration
Support for the GDTF file format standard from VectorWorks enables importing
numerous fixture types with their attributes. Currently, only importing
attributes is supported. Spotlight is their software for Live Show
previsualization that is extensively used in the industry.
NOTE
All of the following features are part of the 4.26 release.
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What is DMX?
nDisplay supports replication for DMX. Enable the DMX DisplayCluster plugin
in your project to use DMX with nDisplay clustered rendering.
DMX Data
DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
When the DMX DisplayCluster plugin is enabled, DMX that is received on the
primary node in the nDisplay cluster is replicated to all the cluster nodes. You
can specify a primary node for receiving DMX that can be different from
nDisplay's primary node. To assign a computer to be the DMX primary node,
add the following command-line parameter when launching the instance of
Unreal Engine 4 on the computer:
-dc_dmx_primary
You can also explicitly assign a node to be a cluster node for DMX, which won't
receive DMX information from external software or hardware. To assign a
computer to be the DMX cluster node, add the following command-line
parameter when launching the instance of Unreal Engine on the computer:
-dc_dmx_secondary
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DMX can be controlled from Sequencer. With this feature, you can add a range Use Cases
of patches from a DMX library into a Sequencer Track, from which you can
program keyframes to output DMX to virtual or physical fixtures. Show Previs
What is DMX?
IIncoming DMX can be recorded so that users can use both a physical DMX
console and Unreal Engine to build out their show.
DMX Data
You can control properties remotely in the engine with DMX through Remote
DMX Controllers
Control. Refer to Remote Control Protocols for more details.
DMX Fixtures
Unicast/Multicast Output
The Output Console and DMX Monitor tools have been moved outside the DMX
Library.
Output Console
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Offers quick fader addition tools and enables using macros for quickly testing
> and controlling faders.
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Motivation
Input Monitoring
The multi-universe DMX monitor tool enables listening to any incoming DMX Use Cases
on any universe.
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DMX can be sent to and received from multi-cell fixtures through blueprints, Content Trigger
sequencer, and the take recorder.
What is DMX?
DMX send and receive statistics can be displayed to the screen. DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
DMX Input and Output Refresh Rate
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
Tags
DMX
Getting Started
GA ME D EVELOPERS SUPPORT
Roadmap
Ask a question
PA R T N E R S H I P S C O M PA N Y
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Use Cases
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© 2004-2022, Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Unreal and its logo are Epic’s trademarks or
Device Control
registered trademarks in the US and elsewhere.
Content Trigger
Terms of service
What is DMX?
Privacy policy
DMX Data
DMX Controllers
DMX Fixtures
SEE ALSO
DMX Quickstart
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