Advatek PixLite Mk3 Integration in Pharos Designer

1. Enable the project feature

2. Add Advatek devices to your project

3. Configure Advatek device settings

4. Adjust Advatek device and port properties

5. Populate patch with Advatek fixtures

5. Upload configuration

Before using Advatek PixLite features in Designer, you must first enable the Advatek PixLite project feature.

You can find the project feature by navigating to Project > Project Features > Devices > Advatek PixLite.

💡 Tip: The project feature will automatically be enabled on projects that use the Advatek PixLite Mk3 IO Module.

Select an Advatek device in the Network table and click Configure to adjust its settings. From here, it’s possible to configure:

• Network settings – the IP address and subnet mask of the device
• User credentials – optionally set a password for the device’s Administrator account

💡 Tip: Setting an empty password will disable security.

Once added to your project, selecting an Advatek device presents Third Party Device Properties. From here, you can adjust:

Identification

• Name and Number (used to identify the device in your Pharos project)
• Serial number (used to select which physical Advatek device this configuration applies to)
• Controller (the Pharos controller with which this device is associated)

Device Properties

These properties apply to the selected device. Use Ctrl/Shift to select multiple devices and adjust shared properties in one go. Device properties are:

• Data source (changes whether the Advatek device receives sACN or Art-Net from the Pharos controller)
• Pixel type (the SPI protocol used by your fixtures)
• Colour type (the emitters offered by your fixtures)
• Pixel frequency (the rate at which your fixtures refresh, only applicable to clocked pixels and generally lower is better for long distances, providing optimal signal integrity)
• Resolution (select one of the control resolutions offered by the chosen pixel type)
• Expanded mode (doubles the number of ports, halves each port’s capacity)
• Hold last frame (hold the last frame received upon loss of data)

Port Properties

Select a port, or use Ctrl/Shift to select multiple ports, and adjust these properties for the selected port(s):

• Description (used to identify the port in your Pharos project, and on the Advatek device)
• Pixel count (the number of pixels on this port)
• Start universe (the first universe on which this port should listen for data)
• Start channel (the first address on the start universe on which this port should listen for data)
• Null pixels (the number of pixels to ignore before starting output)
• Patch range (the universe(s) and channels consumed according to the configuration options selected) – read more on creating universes below
• Pixel order (choose whether pixels are laid out in a line or zig-zags of configurable width)
• Pixel grouping (choose whether pixels are treated individually or as groups of configurable size)
• Colour order (choose the order in which the pixels’ emitters are controlled)
• Maximum intensity (set a maximum intensity for the pixels)
• Reverse (choose whether the pixels are controlled in reverse order)

Aux Port Properties

Each device has a configurable Aux port. These properties allow you to configure the port’s behaviour:

• Mode (select from Off, DMX in or DMX out)

The following properties are only available when Mode is set to DMX out:

• Data source (select whether the data source is sACN or Art-Net)
• Universe (select the number of the universe to output)
• Colour type (the emitters offered by the fixtures on this port)
• Resolution (select one of the control resolutions offered)
• Colour order (choose the order in which the pixels’ emitters are controlled)
• Hold last frame (hold the last frame received upon loss of data)

Create the required universes in the project

Once your Advatek device is configured in the Network tab according to your installation’s requirements, click Create Universes next to Patch Range in Port Properties for the selected Advatek device.

This button creates universes in the project according to the selected port’s configuration. Navigate to the Patch tab to view these universes.

Note: The Create Universes button is not shown if the selected universes already exist in the project.

Add fixtures to the project

In the Patch tab, select a universe that’s used by an Advatek device in the project. Above the patch sheet, click Add Advatek Fixtures to populate that universe’s patch with fixtures according to the associated device’s configuration.

For example, if your Advatek device was configured for 100x 8-bit RGB fixtures with start address 101, clicking Add Advatek Fixtures would automatically add 100 3-channel RGB fixtures to the project, patched to the correct universe and starting at address 101.

The fixtures you’ve just created now exist in the project and can be used in Layout, Mapping, Scene and Timeline, just like any other fixture.

For more information about patching fixtures, see Patch in our dedicated online help pages.

Upload configuration

In order to apply the chosen device and port configuration options to your Advatek device, click Upload from the Network tab. A new configuration file is built by Designer and uploaded to the Advatek device over the network.

Note: If security is enabled on the Advatek device, you will need to login before uploading a new configuration.