Unofficial DMX in Unreal MegaThread. 4.26+

[Pixel_Epix]

DMX Updates for 4.26 and beyond...
The purpose of this thread is to address the upcoming changes to the DMX plugin in 4.26 and beyond until proper documentation can be written. Once in preview we will release as much info as we can here to discuss the changes to the patching system, updates to the example fixtures, how to use the new pixel mapper and any other DMX related topics.
We would also appreciate any feedback you may have. Please be as descriptive as possible and provide screenshots and video links where applicable. Thanks and we look forward to seeing what you all create!

Updates part 1 on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7cGkjwcaeA

[ArthurBarthur]

Hey just wanted to say thank you, this is really awesome!
Loved the 4.25 edition, it was more than enough for me, very psyched for 4.26 which I'm trying soon..

[Salvo8984]

Thank you just started to play a bit with the new DMX plugin really awesome.
I had my first error

[Pixel_Epix]

Thanks for the heads up. I think this is related to Niagara. Hopefully it resolves itself but I'll have the team look into it. Thanks

[DJ_Esko]

Anyone tried using SoundSwitch with the DMX plugin? I can't get the Unreal DMX plugin to show once Art-Net is enabled. If I use the Art-Net DMX Workshop tools it sees SoundSwitch no problem but it never sees the Unreal DMX plugin. It knows that SoundSwitch uses Universes 0 and 1 etc. The Unreal plugin doesn't shows up in the node list if I either pick the NIC's IP address or use 127.0.0.1 etc and run it. Tried Broadcast and Unicast. Tried setting the IP in the plugin settings to default, 127 and the 192 address there.

[Pixel_Epix]

I had to google this as I was not sure what SoundSwitch was. I am not 100% sure I understand what the goal is? You are trying to send DMX from SoundSwitch to Unreal in the same PC, or the other way around? I know sometimes programs take exclusive control of NICs or don't play nice on the same system but in theory it should work. Check your Project settings IP and the controller IP. I don't know what you mean by "can't get it to show" We don't send any kind of node information but you should be able to see data in the monitor going in or out depending on what you are doing.

[DJ_Esko]

I fixed my issue in the end. I'm using SoundSwitch to control the DMX lights in Unreal. The fix is to also use another program called QLC+ which lets you choose the input and output. SoundSwitch sees QLC+ and then you just set the output on it to your NIC and then everything works fine.

[Pixel_Epix]

The DMX Setter (Patcher) utility widget. Updated for 4.26. Enjoy!

[Pixel_Epix]

I put it in the stickied post but it may not be obvious there was a change. Here's a video on some of the updates and how to patch basic fixture types. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7cGkjwcaeA

[Jorgend79]

Because u can use GDTF for fixtures, will there also be a MVR import in the future?
https://gdtf-share.com/wiki/MVR_File_Description

[Olav Verhoeven]

Hi,

Tested it today with MagicQ, all was clear except when going into Play mode it is very slow responsive when I change settings (color, dimmer, pan,...) on MagicQ, could this be due to fact that I'm running both applications on the same computer (don't have a second computer for the moment!)

[Olav Verhoeven]

Findings of the day, do keep in mind that I'm only use Unreal for the second day.

01- The position of the player has an impact on the color of the beams, the lights turn white when moving away from the lights (Got 150 beamys in project, but also happens with one frixture), then you need to go really close and it goes back to color selected on the Chamsys.

02- My lights have no impact on the floor (I saw the gobo pattern in the video on the floor Updates part 1 on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7cGkjwcaeA)
This is also visible on my SDI monitor via the Cinecamera and Blackmagic output.
Fun fact: The Actor Playerstart is visible as a globe in my Cinecamera as a globe (I did checked the box actor hidden in game)

UPDATE 02: Reason that SpotLight has no imapct on world is due to the fact that is located in the head, move the SpotLight up just below the PointLight (see screenshots)

[Nicrose37]

Fantastic update! Really wanting to mess with the laser but I'm not 100 percent sure how to hook up the inputs. Is there a real life counterpart?

[Greg.Corson]

Does dmx support work with usb dmx interfaces? Or only artnet ones?

[Nicrose37]

Hi,

Tested it today with MagicQ, all was clear except when going into Play mode it is very slow responsive when I change settings (color, dimmer, pan,...) on MagicQ, could this be due to fact that I'm running both applications on the same computer (don't have a second computer for the moment!)

To fix this, go into Editor Preferences>General>Performance (I believe that’s the location) and uncheck the box that says “Use less CPU in background” and it should smooth out the playback when focused on the MagicQ window or any other window for that matter

[Nicrose37]

Okay, so I'm having a lot of trouble with getting my DMX info into Unreal. I had it working great in 4.25 with dot2 via sACN protocol. I then started working in 4.26 and it took me hours to get it working and somehow I was able to get it working with dot2 via Art-Net. Well today Art-Net doesn't want to work but I'm able to read signal out of sACN from sACNView but can't get any signal to show up in Unreal again. All I did was turn off my computer and boot it back up and all of a sudden it doesn't work. I can't really blame Unreal here though because I can't get Art-NetViewer to find any signal either. Am I setting any settings wrong?

Edit:
I just went back and checked my 4.25 project and it works fine with sACN set to 10.0.0.241
Then I tried setting 4.26 to 10.0.0.241 and I get nothing. When changing back and forth between projects I let dot2 run in the background unchanged.
The first picture is 4.26 and the second is 4.25 with the same dot2 running

[Nicrose37]

Also as a side note and in response to feedback, I think breaking down how to make your own fixtures using color would be helpful. I would like to control different parts of a virtual scene using dmx information that isn't a light and I have been able to hook up the Dimmer and Strobe but I'm struggling with the color.