How do you get DMX out of Liberation running on an iMac and a APC 40?

[seb (Seb Lee-Delisle)]

Hi Stuart,

Good question.

Liberation outputs DMX over Art-Net, so you’ll need an Art-Net DMX interface. I’d recommend something like the Showtec Net 2/3 as a solid, reliable option.

The setup is:

1. Liberation sends Art-Net over your network
2. Your Art-Net node converts that to DMX
3. Your fixtures (Sparkulars, flames, foggers, etc) connect via DMX cable

Once that’s in place, you can:

• Set up DMX zones in Liberation
• Map channels to your fixtures
• Use the APC40 to trigger and control them

Also make sure your DMX zones are enabled and that your main brightness isn’t at zero, as that will affect output.

The DMX system in Liberation can be used to control any DMX devices, but it’s really designed around reusing laser content and workflows - so you can drive lights and lasers in sync without having to program everything separately.

You can absolutely use it for things like Sparkulars, flames and foggers - I’ve done this myself - but if you’ve only got a small number of fixtures and you don’t need anything too complex (like chases or tightly synced effects), it’s often simpler to just use a small standalone DMX controller.

Also worth noting that some fixtures support Art-Net directly, in which case you can skip the DMX interface entirely and connect them straight to the network.

If you do want to go deeper with it in Liberation, these threads are worth a read:

DMX mapping 6 head laser bar

First time DMX mapping- I’m setting up a China-made 6-head RGB moving head beam bar in my home laser rig and I’d like guidance on how to control it effectively in Liberation. The fixture has 42 DMX channels in its full control mode, with each of the 6 heads having its own independent tilt channel (plus fine channel) and individual RGB channels. Full channel layout is below. I’m using a DMXking eDMX1 MAX as my Art-Net to DMX interface. I chose this one specifically because it supports E1.20 RDM…

Mapping DMX Question

In the DMX profile section, I can see how to change fixed values, ok with 0-255, but to change RGB Colours and XY Positions etc on the other DMX channels of a 7ch fixture, is this done with clip edit i dont see how to change in the porfile section Thanks in advance

It’s always worth searching the forum as well, as most things have been covered already.

A couple of quick tips for pyro-style effects:

• Set aside a dedicated group for these effects
• Set that group to FLASH mode so the effect only runs while you hold the button

Shout if you want help setting it up once you’ve got an interface.

Seb