I know this has been discussed before, but I never heard the outcome of it all. Since more lights and dimmers and stuff are moving towards artnet, are you ever going to put together some sort of system for artnet? Obviously I could see the 3pc not being able to do it on it's own, but like the hog 3 and ipc? Especially now that the DL2s are artnet enabled.
why shouldn't the 3pc be able to do that? actually i would guess it is just as easy to make the hog3pc spit out artnet than to make the 3 do it.. -There was some talk about a "AP" sometime ago.. I sertainly hope we will see something like that in the future..
I was assuming it would be more like an MA thing where you have to either have a console attached to the network, or like a DP or something. So I suppose it could do it, but not without like hardware. Sorry, thats what I was trying to get at.
I just think since ethernet is now the way to go, you can just have a small rack with a switch and run up to each light. Or have a switch built in to the lights so then you can daisy chain down the line. Ohh the possibilities. I can just see running a small loom of cat5 to the stage and have it cover audio, video, and lighting all in a small set. It will be nice!
We have plans to support ArtNet and have written specifications detailing proposed functionality, but I can't provide any details or dates about when this will happen.
Although Ethernet is indeed a powerful and useful tool.....keep in mind it will probably never replace DMX anytime soon.;)
Ethernet also has weaknesses.....like you can't have one device any more than 4 switches or hubs away from another on the same network. So putting a switch or hub in each fixture simply wouldn't work.
I highly reccommed the book "Rock Solid Ethernet" by the guy who created ArtNet in the first place, Wayne Howell.:notworthy:
Hey Marty, been a while since I saw you at that Alice in Chains rehearsal.
I suppose using that many devices in line would cause a little bit of a delay by the time it made it to the destination. I almost wonder if using hubs would be better in this case because the data is just being multicast to the devices and there is no specific mac address assigned. I know switches are faster, but would a hub be better at this and take less time to process the packets?
Marty... good suggestion about Wayne's book. It is a super read and really explained Ethernet in the lighting industry. Here is a link to it from the plsn bookshelf: www.plsnbookshelf.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=120
[quote=ryanwilkinson]Hey Marty, been a while since I saw you at that Alice in Chains rehearsal.
Hi Ryan, yep we just finished that tour a few days ago.
[quote=ryanwilkinson]I suppose using that many devices in line would cause a little bit of a delay by the time it made it to the destination. I almost wonder if using hubs would be better in this case because the data is just being multicast to the devices and there is no specific mac address assigned. I know switches are faster, but would a hub be better at this and take less time to process the packets?
I will refer again to Wayne Howell's book. Chapter 5 "Network Topology" deals with this subject in depth, and I again highly recommend reading this book!
p.72 Hubs vs. Switches:
Advantages of Switched over Hubs: -Can peform bandwith management by intelligent packet transfer. -Easier expansion because Switches avoid the 5-4 rule. (read the book!:rtfm: ) -Switches are now at comparable prices with hubs.
Advantages of Hubs over Switches: -Faster because all packets are electronically processed. -Easier to intall because no configuration needed. -Easier to maintain because no configuration needed. -Hubs never block broadcast data.
So basically hubs and switches both have specific and useful purposes, depending on your application, but a netowrk of 20-30 switches probably wouldn't work really well either since you would be creating so many collision domains that some information would inevitably be lost or at least severly slowed down. Not at all acceptable for lighting applications to say the least!
