With DMX Record, you can capture complex lighting programming from another lighting control system and import recordings straight into Designer 2 for playback on Pharos Designer LPC family controllers.
This Tips & Tricks article will get you started with DMX Record. To explore all of DMX Record’s features in detail, use our dedicated online help pages.
1. Download
Download DMX Record and Designer 2
DMX Record is a free, standalone utility available to download from the software downloads page.
Recordings created with DMX Record are supported in Designer 2 versions 2.12.0 and later.
Once downloaded, follow your operating system’s instructions to install the software.
Start a new recording
In DMX Record, click “New Recording”. In the New Recording window, under Universe, select the protocol you wish to use, the network adapter on which your computer is receiving lighting data, and which universes you wish to record.
💡 Tip: You can select a range of universes using commas and hyphens. For example, 97, 101-108, 204.
Note: DMX Record can record a maximum of 16 universes simultaneously.
In the New Recording window, under Recording, choose whether to start your recording immediately or when a particular channel matches a condition.
💡 Tip: You can start or stop recordings using a channel in a universe that is not being recorded.
In the New Recording window, under Recording, choose whether to stop your recording when stop is pressed, after a specified period of time or when a particular channel matches a condition.
Note: DMX Record can capture data for a maximum of 30 minutes.
Click “Record” to start recording.
During recording
If a start condition has been set, DMX Record will indicate that it is waiting for the condition to be met. The current value of the channel being monitored is also shown.
If no start condition is set, recording will start immediately.
When recording, DMX Record shows blue circles for each universe being captured. These circles fade indicating activity on the universe. If the circle is empty, no data is being received.
If a stop condition has been set, DMX Record will display the time remaining until recording is stopped automatically.
💡 Tip: even when a stop condition has been set, you can stop recording manually by clicking “Stop”.
Review recording
Once a recording has been created, the review screen is presented. From here, you can play your recording and confirm that the captured data is as expected.
💡 Tip: If your recording is not as you expected, click “Restart recording” to start a new capture using the same settings.
In recordings with multiple universes, tabs at the top of the review page allow you to switch between different universes.
💡 Tip: use Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow (Cmd + Left/Right Arrow on macOS) to switch between universe tabs.
Each cell represents a single channel, with the channel number shown in the top left corner. The channel value is shown in the middle of the cell. The background colour of the cell changes according to the channel value.
Click the play button, or use the space bar, to start playing back the recording. You can use the rate slider to adjust the playback speed.
Trim recording
You can remove time at the start or end of your recording using the trim function.
From the review screen, click the trim button.
Drag the orange handles at the start and end of the timeline to set the start and end time of the recording.
💡 Tip: Use the zoom bar handles to make precise adjustments.
Click the confirm (green tick) button to save your changes.
💡 Tip: Click undo to revert your changes if you don’t get things right first time.
Save recording
Once you are happy with your recording, you can save it for use in Designer 2 projects.
Click the save button.
Enter a recording description in the metadata window.
💡 Tip: this is a useful place to include details of fixture types, modes and patch information.
Click “Save” and choose a location on your computer.
You can now import your recordings into a timeline from the “Recordings” tab in Designer 2.12.0 and later.
Open a previously saved recording in DMX Record
To review a previously saved recording, or to make changes like trimming the recording or changing recording metadata, open DMX Record and click “Open recording”.
💡 Tip: A list of recently created recordings is shown on the welcome page.
Using recordings in Designer 2
You can add recordings captured with DMX Record straight into timelines in Designer 2.
Note: Recordings are supported in Designer 2.12.0 and later. Visit our software downloads page to install the latest version.
In Designer 2, from the Timeline tab, select Recordings from the browser on the right of the window.
Click “Manage…” and “Import…”, then select any .pdrec file captured by DMX Record. The recording will appear in the Recordings browser.
From the Recordings browser, select the recording you want to add and click a second time in the timeline to place the recording, just like placing any other preset.
Multiple recordings can be dynamically combined by placing recordings on different fixture groups.
Re-map a recording to a different output
By default, recordings will output on the same protocol and universe on which they were recorded. In Designer 2.15 and later, recorded universes can be re-mapped to a protocol and universe of your choice.
To configure the output mapping of a recording, click “Manage…” and select the recording you wish to configure. Under “Output Mapping”, each universe contained in the recording (Source universe) is listed alongside options for Output controller, Output protocol and Output universe. For each source universe, select the desired output universe by specifying the output protocol, controller, and output universe. Data from the recording will be mapped to the selected output universe(s) according to this configuration.
Selective playback and overrides
Recordings will output on the channels patched to the corresponding timeline row. If a recording contains data on universes / channels which are not associated with the timeline row on which they are placed, the additional data will not affect controller output. This allows for selective playback of recorded data according to your project’s patch and group setup.
Using the recording as a foundation, you can now use Designer’s powerful and flexible programming tools, overrides, timeline priorities and latest-takes-precedence rules to manipulate and programme on top of your recordings.
Available for both Windows and macOS, DMX Record is free to download.
