DMX
DMX (on the web as BlenderDMX) is an entertainment and architectural DMX lighting visualization and rendering tool designed to offer a free and easy solution for Lighting Designers.
Device definition is based on GDTF Specification, utilizing the Fixture library on GDTF Share, with support for static and moving devices, LED bars, lasers, cameras and more.
Documentation
FAQ, Getting Started Guide and full User Guide are available.
Community
Have questions? Check out the FAQ or ask in the Discord group.
Motivation
As lighting designers, we have always wanted a free DMX visualizer capable of ray tracing, with capabilities for real-time programming of dynamics, as well as the ability to produce photorealistic output.
BlenderDMX Addon offers both possibilities: Eevee real time renderer offers the dynamics, while Cycles offers stunning photorealistic results.
The combination of tools like Blender, Python, and GDTF provides a transparent and accessible platform, allowing designers to deeply comprehend how each component works and make improvements or modifications as required.
Import/Export
IO operations for GDTF import and MVR Import/Export are fully integrated into Blender, providing smooth native experience with Drag-and-Drop and Operator Presets.
Related fixture data (GDTF files) can be Exported and Imported as a Project data zip file.
Integrated programmer with Keyframe recording
- Dedicated features can be programmed via integrated Programmer
- Remote programming from Lighting Consoles is supported by DMX over Network
- Programming can be Keyframed manually or by Auto Keyframing
Advanced Networking
- External DMX signal from sACN or Art-Net can be used for controlling, and it can be recorded as keyframes into Blender or the signal can be used for a special #bdmx driver in Blender to control any object.
- OpenSoundControl can send fixture selection to external DMX consoles.
- PosiStageNet can receive position information from different trackers connected to a PSN server, it's followers can be moving lights or any other Blender objects.
- GDTF Share and format integration provides source of fixture data.
- MVR-xchange protocol offers seamless MVR workflow.
Open Source
The source code is completely open source under the GPLv3 license and openly available on GitHub. Feel free to inspect, share, and contribute!
By leveraging open-source technologies, designers can fully learn and understand every detail of the system, empowering them to make informed decisions and tailor the solution to their specific needs.
DMX for Blender is using General Device Type Format (GDTF) and My Virtual Rig (MVR) - open-source file formats that let you share anything with anyone.
What's New
1.9.0 January 11th, 2025
MVR-xchange - Internet-Based Implementation
Working on a lighting project and sharing data with other designers can be supercharged with the MVR-xchange protocol.
After implementing the local version of the MVR-xchange protocol, which is suitable for local networks, this release of the BlenderDMX Addon adds an initial implementation of the internet-wide MVR-xchange. It allows cooperation between parties in different locations. It requires a publicly accessible coordination server, which is now available for testing purposes on BlenderDMX.eu. The maximum file size is limited to about 8-10MB, which should be sufficient for testing.
BlenderDMX Testing MVR-xchange Server
BlenderDMX.eu provides a test server for the MVR-xchange and will offer it for a few weeks to test and confirm the MVR-xchange implementation in the BlenderDMX Addon.
You should NOT share private data via the server. The data is not publicly visible or available, but it is visible to the operators of the server. We will not share the data, but we want to be sure that a random mistake will not result in private data exposure.
Privacy information disclosure of the MVR-xchange coordination server
We save the provided MVR file - it is a function of the server to receive the MVR file and to distribute it in the same group to other clients who request this file. We log IP addresses in order to prevent abuse of the system. We clean the data (the MVR files and the logs) weekly.
Privacy of the MVR-xchange groups on BlenderDMX server
Groups in MVR-xchange on BlenderDMX.eu are organized via subdomains, where each domain is a very long string in the form of a UUID v4. There is no authentication, as the randomness of the UUID guarantees (discussion) that the chances of someone randomly guessing a v4 UUID are infinitesimally small. It's so tiny that it's not worth serious consideration, as it would take about 103 trillion guesses if the UUID creation is truly random. The choice of the group to be an UUID is our implementation choice, it could potentially be any string, but UUIDs contribute to the robustness of system.
You can get a random group to be filled into the BlenderDMX Addon settings in the v1.9.0 blog post here.
Report your findings in the BlenderDMX Discord.
Fix SVG loading
Many thanks to Lily Hopkins for the fix of SVG 2D symbol loading.
List of changes
- MVR-xchange - initial websockets implementation
- Fix SVG import on some systems [Lily Hopkins]
- Translated using Weblate (Chinese (Simplified Han script))
Changelog
See the changelong for more information, or developers can look at git log for full details.
Always waited for this, finally someone realized it :)