Network Manager

The IP address and subnet mask of the device can be set from this tab.

SnakeSys Nodes can be configured in two different ways – in normal mode the product is configured from the front panel switches and buttons on the product. In ChamNet mode the switches and buttons are ignored and the product is configured from MagicQ only.

If the SnakeSys product is set in a mode other than ChamNet Mode (such as Art-Net, ACN or buffer) then it is not possible to configure the interface from Net Manager. However, the device will still appear in Net Manager and it is possible to view its configuration.

Older ChamSys 4 Port Ethernet Interfaces and the SnakeSys B4 interfaces manufactured prior to 2013 (serial numbers with last 4 digits less than 0268) have no storage for configuration data and so when in ChamNet mode they always get their configuration from MagicQ every time they are powered up.

When the interface starts up it will recognise that it is in MQ Mode and then will search on the network to find a MagicQ system that can give it a configuration. The interface will not output or input DMX data until it has received configuration from a MagicQ system.

The MagicQ system stores the configuration information for all these older interfaces as console settings. In View Ports, press the INSERT B4MK1 button to add a new interface. MagicQ will present a list of default profiles for configuring the interface.

An interface can be removed by putting the cursor on the line of the interface and pressing REMOVE.

If there are multiple MagicQ consoles on the network, then only the master one (as per Hot Takeover) will provide configuration information to the interfaces.

Newer SnakeSys B4s and all other SnakeSys and all GeNetix products will appear automatically in the list and do not need to be inserted or removed.

GeNetix and SnakeSys nodes can be firmware upgraded from MagicQ software - the latest MagicQ software contains the latest firmware for all GeNetix and SnakeSys products - this can be found in the firmware folder under on the installation.

ChamSys recommend not attempting a firmware update in a critical show environment.

Download the latest MagicQ software from the ChamSys download site. In order to upgrade GeNetix devices, MagicQ must be running software version 1.9.5.0 or above.

http://chamsys.co.uk/download

If you are sent a newer firmware file by ChamSys support then copy the file into the firmware folder in the MagicQ installation. To install it onto a MagicQ console put the file onto a USB stick, then in MagicQ go to Setup, File Manager. Select USB DRIVE. Press COPY and select the file as the source to copy. Then select the destination, by selecting HARD DRIVE, UP DIR, and select the firmware folder. Press the "." item to copy to. Then follow the procedure above.

The firmware has the filename firmware_XXXX_YYYY or firmware_XXXX_XXXX_YYYY where the XXXX or XXXX_XXXX is the product code and YYYY is the firmware version number. The product codes are:

GeNetix nodes start up in a boot firmware, indicated red on the front panel display before starting the main application firmware. During firmware upgrade the nodes return to boot code. If for any reason the main application fails to program or run then the GeNetix node will return to the boot firmware and can be upgraded again.

In order to use a GeNetix or SnakeSys node with a MagicQ system the MagicQ system must be set up in Setup, View DMX I/O to output or input universes over the network

When outputting from the GeNetix node set up MagicQ universes with Output type of Art-Net or sACN with the Out Uni set to the Art-Net or sACN universes that the GeNetix node is set to decode.

For inputting DMX from the GeNetix node set up MagicQ universes with Input type of Art-Net or sACN with the In Uni set to the Art-Net or sACN universes that the GeNetix node is set to generate.

Press DISCOVER ALL to discover RDM devices. MagicQ will attempt to discover RDM compliant devices on its direct console ports (MQ50, MQ70, MQ80, MQ250M and Stadium Connect) and via connected Art-Net nodes that support RDM.

When MagicQ detects the RDM devices it will automatically attempt to get information from each fixture in turn on all. Some devices may not respond immediately - in this case it may be necessary to press GET INFO to force this information to be retrieved.

If the RDM devices are connected to an Art-Net node and nothing is detected then check that your RDM-enabled Art-Net node appears in VIEW ART-NET.

The fixture address, mode, dimmer curve and modulation frequency can be set directly for each RDM device shown in the Window. It is also possible to factory reset devices that support it.

To further configure the manufacturer parameter PIDs of each connected RDM device, put the cursor on the required device and press VIEW PIDS.

Note that The DISCOVER ALL command requests Art-Net nodes to perform a flush of their RDM table of devices (TOD) and to then perform a discovery of all currently connected devices. In some cases it may be useful to just retrieve the table off devices without forcing a new discovery - in this case press SHIFT + GET TOD ALL. .

Press the AUTO ADDRESS soft button to automatically address all the fixtures in the list, starting at 1 and incrementing based on the channel count of each fixture.

Where there are devices from more than one universe the devices on each universe will be addressed starting at 1.

Once a DISCOVER ALL and GET INFO has been performed on a lighting rig, MagicQ stores the RDM address and mode for each fixture with its unique UUID in the show file. This is maintained in the show file through subsequent loads and saves of that show file.

At any time a lighting rig can be restored to a known state from a MagicQ show file.

First in Net Manager perform a DISCOVER ALL and GET INFO to get the addresses and mode of the RDM devices. Check that all the expected devices have been detected.

Then press SHIFT + RESTORE ADDRESS and select a show file to load the RDM information from. MagicQ loads the RDM data from that show file and readdresses the RDM fixtures to the mode and address from that show file. Note that MagicQ only loads the RDM information from that show file, it does not load or change any other data in your show.

When setting up a new venue, or a new lighting rig that uses RDM when the configuration is complete it is recommended to DISCOVER ALL and GET INFO for the complete rig and save the MagicQ show file with a name such as "VenueRDM.shw" which can then be used in the future to restore the lighting rig to the correct RDM state.

The RDM identify command forces a fixture to identify itself. This is usually a flashing white light or continuous pan, tilt and colour scroll. This allows you to match up the devices you are seeing in the VIEW RDM window with physical devices on the lighting rig, similar to the Head Test feature in the Patch window.

In the VIEW RDM window, press soft button C, RDM Test, and use the cursor keys to scroll up and down the list of devices. The device at the cursor will be sent the RDM identify message and highlighted red to show it is in test mode.

Sensor information for the RDM device at the cursor is displayed at the top of the window and is continually refreshed. If the device is able to report multiple sensors then they are all shown.

Pressing the PATCH RDM HEAD soft button will patch the RDM device at the cursor into the show, using its current DMX address and mode.

Press SHIFT and PATCH ALL RDM soft button to patch everything in the list.

This tries to find a matching head file using the ESTA Manufacturer ID, Device Model ID and mode. If this fails it tries to match the manufacturer and model descriptions and channel count.

To improve the accuracy of the auto patching feature, you can add in the RDM information into the head file using the head editor. In the General View there is

The ESTA Manufacturer ID, Device Model ID and Personality number are all reported by the fixture over RDM and together can be used to match a specific head file. You should not have more than one head file with all three of these fields the same.

MagicQ has an extensive personality library which covers nearly all fixtures. MagicQ personality library has very detailed modelling of fixtures including gobo icons and physical dimensions.

RDM optionally allows fixtures to provide basic reporting of attribute allocation enabling MagicQ to create a basic new personality which can be then used to patch the head.

Put the cursor on the required device and press CREATE HEAD to create a new personality. The name of the personality will be based on the Manufacturer, Model and Mode fields reported by the RDM device.

Note that creating heads is only possible if the RDM device supports the RDM SLOT_INFO PID.

MagicQ provides shortcuts for repatching a lighting rig RDM compliant fixtures in it.

There are two options - Readdress physical fixtures and Repatch show to fixtures.

Use soft button Y to set RDM mode options including Background RDM checking, Logging and Constel8 device order.

The RDM mode can be:

When set to Off, MagicQ only performs RDM discovery when requested by pressing the DISCOVER ALL button.

MagicQ shows the Firmware Version of each fixture in the Firmware Version column.

MagicQ supports E1.37-4 File Transfer Control with Remote Device Management over DMX512 Networks. This is currently a draft standard.

Note that upgrading of fixtures is a potentially risky operation which in some cases may render the fixtures inoperable. It is not recommended to upgrade fixtures during or just before critical show operations.

MagicQ (as per the standard) is unable to verify the contents of the upgrade files to check their validity or suitability for the fixtures - as per the standard it is entirely the responsibility of the fixture to determine that the file it receives is valid and suitable for the fixture before it uses the file.

RDM files are stored in the top level "rdm" folder. On PC systems this is under Documents/MagicQ.

In VIEW RDM put the cursor on the row of the fixture to upgrade, then press the UPGRADE FIRMWARE soft button. MagicQ will update the fixture.

For fixtures that support multiple firmware files (for example, fixtures that have multiple processing cards), MagicQ will prompt the user to choose which file to upgrade.

To upgrade multiple fixtures, use SHIFT / CTRL and the cursor keys to select the devices and then press UPGRADE FIRMWARE. MagicQ will automatically upgrade each fixture in turn.

MagicQ also supports downloading of files from fixtures. Downloading of files is optional, so not all fixtures will support downloading. Press DOWNLOAD FIRMWARE. For fixtures that support multiple firmware files, MagicQ will prompt the user to choose which file to download.

Downloaded fixture files are stored into the rdm folder. For fixtures that only support a single file the file will be automatically named <manufacturer> _ <model> _ <firmware version> . hex. For fixtures that support multiple files it will be named according to the name of the chosen file from the fixture.

The following manufacturer specific PIDs are currently supported for FTC:

RDM fixtures support parameters referred to as PIDs. Parameters can be "Get" - i.e read only, "Set", i.e. set only, or "Get and Set".

All RDM fixtures must support the parameters used for discovering the device, identifying the device and setting the DMX start address.

In the VIEW PIDS all the PIDs that the device reports that it supports are shown. For each parameter there is an ID (as defined by the RDM specification), a description and the current value.

Standard PIDs have IDs in the range 0x0001 to 0x7FFF. Manufacturer specific PIDs are in the range 0x8000 to 0xFFDF.

The Size, Data Type, Min, Max, Type, Default, Unit and Prefix fields give more information about the particular parameter.

For parameters that are "Set" or "Get and Set" the Value field can be set. Enter a new value on the keyboard to change the value.

Press REFRESH PIDS to reload the PIDs from the device.

The GET SLOTS and LOG RDM soft buttons are used for testing RDM fixtures. Press GET SLOTS to force MagicQ to get the DMX Slot information (fixture attribute information) from the RDM device. LOG RDM writes all the details that have been retrieved from the RDM device including the general info, modes, slot info and PIDs to the file "rdm.csv" in the log folder.

Press COPY PID to copy the PID that the cursor is on to all devices of the same type. Press SHIFT + COPY ALL PIDs to copy all PIDs to all devices of the same type.

MagicQ supports E1.33 RDMNET. RDMNET is an alternative to Art-RDM that enables sending of RDM over more complex networks. Unlike Art-RDM which is universally supported by DMX nodes and fixtures, RDMNet is currently only supported in a limited number of nodes.

RDMNet is much more complicated than Art-RDM and requires the use of a Broker inbetween the consoles and the nodes.

In order for MagicQ to detect RDMNET devices the IP Address and port of the RDMNET Broker must be first configured in Setup, View Settings, Network.

There are tabs for RDMNET Clients and for Endpoints.

Once MagicQ is connected to a Broker then it can connect to RDMNet clients. The Clients tab shows any RDMNET Clients that MagicQ has a connection to.

Once a RDMNET gateway has been detected, use GET ENDPOINTS to get the Endpoint data. A RDMNET Endpoint is typically an Ethernet to DMX port.

Use the DISCOVER ALL soft button to discover RDM devices connected to the Endpoint.

Discovered devices will be shown in the VIEW RDM tab. Once discovered, MagicQ interacts with the devices over RDM in the same way as for direct RDM connections or devices connected over Art-Net.

MagicQ supports LLRP - part of the E1.33 RDMNET standard. LLRP is a simple protocol for connecting to Fixtures with a network port directly and to DMX nodes over the network, primarily intended for setting network and related settings.

In order to detect LLRP devices the LLRP mode must be configured in Setup, View Settings, Network.

Press the REFRESH LLRP soft button to search for LLRP devices.

Press SHIFT + CLEAR LLRP to clear the table of LLRP devices.

The list of LLRP devices is not saved to the show or console files.

Discovered devices will be shown in the VIEW RDM tab. Once discovered, MagicQ interacts with the devices over RDM in the same way as for direct RDM connections or devices connected over Art-Net.

E1.33 RDMNET limits the RDM messages that can be used over LLRP. When the MagicQ LLRP mode is set to "Enabled" MagicQ limits the messages supported to those allowed in E1.33. When set to "Enabled, All RDM" MagicQ allows all RDM messages to be sent and received over LLRP. Note that some will support only the limited set of messages, others will support an enhanced set.

This tab shows a list of devices that have replied to an IGMP Query. The columns show indicates devices that have replied to sACN and ChamNet respectively.