Lighting glossary
The words of the craft, from the DMX cable to the cue list: a short definition, and the page that goes further.
- Art-Net
- A protocol that carries DMX universes over an Ethernet network (UDP). Version 4 adds synchronisation (ArtSync) and RDM. Learn more
- CRMX
- LumenRadio's wireless DMX: a transmitter connected to a DMX port, receivers in the fixtures, in 2.4 GHz with frequency hopping. Learn more
- Cue
- A recorded lighting state, with its times, stored in a sequence and fired with GO. Learn more
- Cue list
- The sequence of cues of a show, in the order they are played. Learn more
- DMX 512
- The standard protocol for controlling fixtures: 512 channels per line, each from 0 to 255, sent about 40 times a second over an XLR cable. Learn more
- DMX address
- The first channel a fixture uses in its universe (001 to 512). The following channels depend on its mode. Learn more
- DMX mode
- How a fixture lays out its functions across its channels (for example 4, 8 or 16 channels). It must be the same on the fixture and in the software. Learn more
- Effect (phaser)
- An automatic movement of an attribute (intensity, colour, position…) spread across several fixtures, with a speed and a phase. Learn more
- Fixture profile
- The description of a fixture model for the software: its modes, and what each channel does. Learn more
- GDTF
- General Device Type Format: a standard file describing a fixture (modes, channels, geometry), exchanged between consoles and visualizers. Learn more
- Gobo
- A cut-out disc placed in the beam to project a pattern, static or rotating.
- Grand Master
- The master fader that sets the intensity of the whole output; Blackout cuts it at once.
- HTP and LTP
- Priority rules: Highest Takes Precedence (the highest value wins, for intensity) and Latest Takes Precedence (the latest wins, for colour and position).
- Moving head
- A motorised fixture that moves in pan and tilt. There are spots (gobos), beams (narrow beam) and washes (soft light). Learn more
- Node
- A box that receives Art-Net or sACN over the network and outputs DMX on its XLR ports, from 1 to 32 ports. Learn more
- OSC
- Open Sound Control: simple network messages to control one piece of software from another (QLab, TouchOSC, Companion). Learn more
- Pan and tilt
- A moving head's two movements: horizontal rotation (pan) and vertical (tilt), often 16-bit for finer control.
- Patch
- Assigning each fixture its profile, mode, universe and address, and placing it on the plot. Learn more
- Programmer
- The working area of a console where you set the selected fixtures before recording a scene. Learn more
- RDM
- Remote Device Management: two-way DMX, to discover connected fixtures and change their address or mode remotely. Learn more
- sACN (E1.31)
- Streaming ACN, an ANSI standard that carries DMX over a network, as multicast, with per-source priority. Learn more
- Timecode (LTC, MTC)
- A time signal (hours, minutes, seconds, frames) that locks lighting to a soundtrack or video. Learn more
- Tracking
- A recording mode where a cue only stores what changes; the rest carries on from previous cues. Halyx keeps complete cues. Learn more
- Universe
- A set of 512 DMX channels, the equivalent of one line. Software or a console handles several, numbered U1, U2… Learn more
- Visualizer
- Software or a view that shows in 3D the light the show would produce, to program without being in the venue. Learn more