Does LX Console work with the Enttec Open ODE Ethernet?
https://www.thomann.de/nl/enttec_ode_op ... e_259239_0
How would I use this device in combination with a router that I'm using for a closed wifi network? MacBook > Router > Enttec > Lights?
I'm not necessarily keen on running lights wirelessly. The wifi network is mainly to remote control mixer during tech runthrough and soundcheck and to connect a camera / ipad with the MacBook wirelessly.
cheers
CH
Fit for purpose?
LXConsole will work with an ENTTEC ODE Open DMX Ethernet interface. The ODE will connect to the router via wired ethernet. The Mac can connect to the router either with WiFi or wired ethernet.
The challenge with the ODE is that (at least the older ones I use) don't support DHCP. So, you'll need to configure the IP address of the ODE to be on the same network as your Mac. That requires knowing a bit about how the router assigns IP addresses.
It is most likely that your Mac will use DHCP to get its address from the router for either wired or WiFi. The router will give out IP addresses from a set of possible host addresses. For example, it is common for a router to use a class C private network that has the address 192.168.1. And, it will assign host addresses in a range, say 100-150. So, you Mac will be assigned an IP address with the last number falling in the range of 100-150 eg. 192.168.1.107. If your router was set up like this, you'd want to pick a static IP address for the ODE that was on the same network (begins with 192.168.1) and had a host address outside the range that might be dynamically assigned by the router. Continuing with the example, this might be 192.168.1.99. Any address will work with the exception of two, 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.255. The former is likely the router's address and the later is the limited broadcast address.
Art-Net typically uses a class A network address beginning with either 10 or 2. (But, it will work using addresses belonging to a different network as in the above example.) It can be a little confusing because another common set of addresses doled out by a WiFi router uses a network address beginning with 10. Usually, the subnet mask will be set to 255.255.255.0. This means that for the computer to communicate with the ODE, all three of the first numbers of their IP addresses must match. Say the router's network is 10.23.45. Its address is likely 10.23.45.1. It may assign host addresses in the range 2-100. So, your computer's address, assigned by DHCP might be 10.23.45.7. Following the principal above, you'd set the ODE's IP address (using the ENTTEC NMU app) to something like 10.23.45.123.
Notice that the network portion of the IP address is defined by the subnet mask. Where the subnet mask has a 255, the numbers in the IP address of both the Mac and the ODE must be the same. In both the above example, the subnet mask corresponding to addresses given out by the router via DHCP is 255.255.255.0. This means that the first three numbers in the addresses of both the Mac and The ODE must be the same if the Mac is getting its address using DHCP. The router will route packets on other networks besides the one it uses for DHCP. So, you can completely assign static IP addresses to both the Mac and the ODE. But, if you do this you will still need to follow the principal that the network portion of the IP addresses must be the same. Only computers on the same network will have packets routed to each other.
LXConsole 5.x and later uses Art-Net polling to dynamically locate Art-Net nodes on the network. You'll need to select Art-Net in LXConsole's DMX Out preferences. And, you need to use the File->External->Ethernet DMX command to enable network DMX. With Art-Net selected and Ethernet DMX enabled, you should be able to use the Art-Net Nodes... button in the preferences DMX Out tab to see a list of Art-Net devices LXConsole discovers on the network. If you've correctly assigned the IP addresses, your ODE will appear here after it responds to LXConsole's Art-Net poll.
The challenge with the ODE is that (at least the older ones I use) don't support DHCP. So, you'll need to configure the IP address of the ODE to be on the same network as your Mac. That requires knowing a bit about how the router assigns IP addresses.
It is most likely that your Mac will use DHCP to get its address from the router for either wired or WiFi. The router will give out IP addresses from a set of possible host addresses. For example, it is common for a router to use a class C private network that has the address 192.168.1. And, it will assign host addresses in a range, say 100-150. So, you Mac will be assigned an IP address with the last number falling in the range of 100-150 eg. 192.168.1.107. If your router was set up like this, you'd want to pick a static IP address for the ODE that was on the same network (begins with 192.168.1) and had a host address outside the range that might be dynamically assigned by the router. Continuing with the example, this might be 192.168.1.99. Any address will work with the exception of two, 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.255. The former is likely the router's address and the later is the limited broadcast address.
Art-Net typically uses a class A network address beginning with either 10 or 2. (But, it will work using addresses belonging to a different network as in the above example.) It can be a little confusing because another common set of addresses doled out by a WiFi router uses a network address beginning with 10. Usually, the subnet mask will be set to 255.255.255.0. This means that for the computer to communicate with the ODE, all three of the first numbers of their IP addresses must match. Say the router's network is 10.23.45. Its address is likely 10.23.45.1. It may assign host addresses in the range 2-100. So, your computer's address, assigned by DHCP might be 10.23.45.7. Following the principal above, you'd set the ODE's IP address (using the ENTTEC NMU app) to something like 10.23.45.123.
Notice that the network portion of the IP address is defined by the subnet mask. Where the subnet mask has a 255, the numbers in the IP address of both the Mac and the ODE must be the same. In both the above example, the subnet mask corresponding to addresses given out by the router via DHCP is 255.255.255.0. This means that the first three numbers in the addresses of both the Mac and The ODE must be the same if the Mac is getting its address using DHCP. The router will route packets on other networks besides the one it uses for DHCP. So, you can completely assign static IP addresses to both the Mac and the ODE. But, if you do this you will still need to follow the principal that the network portion of the IP addresses must be the same. Only computers on the same network will have packets routed to each other.
LXConsole 5.x and later uses Art-Net polling to dynamically locate Art-Net nodes on the network. You'll need to select Art-Net in LXConsole's DMX Out preferences. And, you need to use the File->External->Ethernet DMX command to enable network DMX. With Art-Net selected and Ethernet DMX enabled, you should be able to use the Art-Net Nodes... button in the preferences DMX Out tab to see a list of Art-Net devices LXConsole discovers on the network. If you've correctly assigned the IP addresses, your ODE will appear here after it responds to LXConsole's Art-Net poll.