What do I need to control Skypanel wirelessly?

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IslandArrowcam
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2016 5:28 pm

Hi, If I want to control Skypanel wirelessly, what do I need?

I saw Mike showed how to control Skypanel on NAB seminar with little white box.

I'd like to have full functions of Skypanel, like fan control, color, filter. etc., by iPad wirelessly.

Will it be possible? If it's possible, what do I need for Skypanel itself, and what do I need for control side?

Thank you.
Mike Wagner
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:42 pm
Contact:

Hi IslandArrowcam,

There are several different ways of controlling a SkyPanel wirelessly. Depending on your application one of these might work better than another.

1. Wireless DMX: Wireless DMX is a professional and robust system for communicating DMX and RDM. Several companies make solutions for this. One example is a company call Innovative Dimmers (http://ratpacdimmers.com). They make a product called CINTENNA RX that consists of a transmitter and several receivers. The great thing about this product is that the receiver plugs directly into the DMX In port of the SkyPanel and is powered by the USB-A connector also on the SkyPanel. This makes for a very easy solution. Other companies that make wireless DMX devices include: RC4, City Theatrical, Chauvet, among others.

2. WiFi: WiFi is a good solution for allowing easy connectivity of the fixture using a mobile device. The only downside is that it is not as reliable as professional wireless DMX solutions. Since FW 2.0, the SkyPanel has Art-Net implemented which makes it very simple to control the fixture over WiFi. All you would need to do is connect the LAN port of the SkyPanel to a wireless router (or access point). The mobile device (iPad, iPhone, Android) can connect to the WiFi signal of this router and you could use an app like Luminair to control the fixture - it's that simple. Luminair will use Art-Net to communicate to the fixture over the WiFi.

There are some routers that are very small and can be powered using the USB port but the signal strength is low. There are more robust routers (Airport Extreme, Linksys, D-Link, etc) that would give you a better signal but they will need to be powered separately.

3. LAN: Another option is to connect the SkyPanel to an existing LAN network and control the fixtures though a WiFi access point attached to that network. This is similar to option #2 but assumes there is a wired network installed in your location.

I hope this helps and have fun playing with the new features.

- Mike Wagner
Senior Product Manager, Lighting
IslandArrowcam
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2016 5:28 pm

Thank you very much for these detailed reply, I enjoyed your seminar at Vegas a lot.

I'll try my best to enrich Arri forum with more posts and qeuestions. :D
Brunzo
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 9:07 pm

Hi. Since Luminair cost 90 dollars in the App Store, my question is: Theres is a free app to control de Skypanel wireless? If exists, can you explain to me a step-by-step method to do that, using a router connectes to the SkyPanel?

Thank you
Mike Wagner
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:42 pm
Contact:

Brunzo,

There is nothing available that I am aware of. If you find something - please post here so everyone can take advantage.

Thanks.
cottet
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 4:26 pm

Hi, i was trying to control skypanel trough small router and laminair app and was imposible. Could you tell me which options must activate o deactivate on lamp's menu to get that?

I find very important achieve that because when you enter in light color's world usually you have to try several colors shift to find de desired one.

Thanks a lot.

Christian Cottet (ADF)
Mike Wagner
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:42 pm
Contact:

Hi Christian,

Here are a few settings you can check on the different device to ensure proper operation.

SkyPanel:
DMX Settings - make sure your DMX address and DMX protocol is set correctly and matches your setup in Luminair
Art-Net Settings - make sure your Net, Subnet and Universe is set properly and matches your setup in Luminair (default is 0, 0, and 0). Also ensure that your Art-Net State is set to "Enabled"

Router:
- Make sure your router is set up as an access point and is has DHCP enabled
- Plug in the Router to the SkyPanel using a standard ethernet cable - make sure the cable is in good condition

Luminair:
- Make sure the mobile device (iPad, iPhone, Android) is connected to the WiFi network of the Router
- Make sure that Art-Net is enabled in Luminair
- Make sure the Output Subnet and Universe settings match the SkyPanel settings (default is 0 and 0)
- Make sure the Node is set to "Broadcast"
- The circle in the top right of your project screen should be green

It is hard to say where your issue may be as there are many parts that need to be setup correctly. Usually this is plug and play, but if one setting gets changed by mistake, it could break the communication. If you continue to have problems, feel free to contact one of our service centers and they can help trouble shoot the problem.

Thanks for your question and have a great day.

- Mike Wagner
Sebamendelberg
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2016 2:40 am

Hello,

Air Stream dmx, from the Apple Store., could work with sky Panels.

I could Not try it yet, but Looks like might be posible.

Thanks,

Sebastián Mendelberg,
Gaffer,
Argentina.
cstampler
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:30 pm

Hello Mike,

the other day I had two S60-C on a shoot and tried to control them via Luminair using two small usb-powered mobile routers on each unit. I connected the routers to each of the S60 with ethernet cables as you suggested earlier. It was no problem at all to log in to the corresponding WiFi of each unit and to control them one at a time. But what I could not sort out is how to control both units at a time without having to switch permanently between the two WiFi's on my Iphone/Ipad. Is that possible at all? It would be great to have the possibility to be able to control more than one unit at a time via Luminair using WiFi & ArtNet. Maybe this is more of an issue on how how to configure your routers and how to set up a network dealing with IP-adresses, but maybe you can help?

Regards,

Chris.
Silvan Liu
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:11 pm
Location: Burbank, California

Hi Chris,

the simplest to set up would be to only connect wirelessly to the first Skypanel. Then connect the second Skypanel using a DMX cable. Set them to the same DMX address if you want their settings to remain the same. Choose different DMX addresses if you want to be able to control them individually.
If you cannot have a cable connecting the 2 Skypanels and wish to connect to both wirelessly you will need to set up your wireless routers so 1 is connecting to the network created by the other, or having them both connect to the network created by a 3rd, probably larger router. You need to look for the features wireless bridging or wireless repeating.

I hope this helps,
Silvan
Silvan Liu
ARRI Service - Burbank, California
cstampler
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:30 pm

Hello Silvan,

the thing is I didn't want to have to connect the fixtures together, I'd like to keep them independent from each other. So the next time I have more than one fixtures on set I will try what you recommended. I will try wrieless bridging/WDS/wireless repeating on my routers and if I can't get it working properly I might involve a professional network administrator to help me out on this.

Thanks and regards,

Chris.
Poyavision
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:47 pm

Follow me to see how i did it
https://instagram.com/p/BU5pYcGjZJR/

I used a wifi router and a switch so i could control 9 skypanel over wifi with my iphone
cottet
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 4:26 pm

Very interesting! Wich app?

Best.
Lichtit
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:43 pm

Hello all!

I'd like to know if you can use a wifi dongle as an end of line DMX source for multiple heads.

Has anyone done this in the Heat of Battle?

A
joemartin
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:26 am

First post on the forum. I actually signed up specifically because i have a lot I would like to share on this topic.
Lichtit wrote:Hello all!

I'd like to know if you can use a wifi dongle as an end of line DMX source for multiple heads.

Has anyone done this in the Heat of Battle?

A
I read this question two ways. The first way is using wifi to wirelessly broadcast DMX data to a group of fixtures that are hard wired together. This is absolutely possible there is a setting in the Artnet sACN options to enable gateway mode on the fixture. I discovered through accident one day that the female and male DMX ports will broadcast a signal out with this option enabled meaning that you can implement a wireless module mid chain or anywhere else as opposed to having a start or end fixture.

The second interpretation is to wirelessly bridge two hardwired data connections with one fixture broadcasting a dmx input over wifi to another group. This i believe is not possible because the fixtures only read art-net and sACN protocol packets and do not generate them.

I work with 16 Sky Panels that I worked to implement a wireless system for that meshes with my existing sound stage network and is easily deployable for location work. I chose the option of the small travel routers to keep costs down and also allow us to take advantage of every feature the new firmware has to offer.
Mike Wagner wrote:Brunzo,

There is nothing available that I am aware of. If you find something - please post here so everyone can take advantage.

Thanks.
The software i use for location work is free I explored many options, one of which was Luminair, I was not a fan it was difficult to adjust patches on the fly and very limiting of the number of outputs. My third choice is the web interface which is accessible on any device with a modern web browser on your network. Navigate to the IP address of the fixture and you will have intensity control HSI and CCT as well as all the effects. It is quick and easy but not very robust. My second choice is open source, QLC plus. Its a fully operational system with patching and multiple outputs. I still use this software to pull ACN packets and passthrough to dimmer racks on location with a raspberry Pi.

Cham Sys MagicQ is my first pick. Its free with minor limitations in hope that you will purchase a board or other hardware to unlock full functionality. Mind you the demo mode has one usb dmx output and at least 12 network outputs. This is basically the full version of their lighting console software so you can run extremely complex shows with moving fixtures and pixel mapping.

Neither of these two work on an ipad but both work on small netbooks,qlc runs on a raspberry pi if you know how to compile source code. My solution was a cheap $120 window tablet that runs full windows 10 and has a keyboard.

The last part to tie the routers and the software/lighting console together is one last router. The routers on the lights bridge their wireless connection with the wired one but they still need one access point to latch to.

If there is more interest i can go into detail. My setup cost right at $1000 for the 16 fixtures and integrated with the stage network i had previously built to connect 4 consoles wirelessly to a main network for remote focus. This setup allows full control of most settings through the web browser and quick flexible control of the fixtures via a lighting console.
Poyavision
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:47 pm

hi
your answer is here step by step to control skypanel via iphone ipad or android smartphones



Mike Wagner
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:42 pm
Contact:

Hello All,

We also have now available a wireless DMX solution called SkyLink. SkyLink is a two-part system that allows for wireless DMX and RDM communication to SkyPanels. The SkyLink Receiver and the SkyLink Base Station use LumenRadio for DMX/RDM communication and a WiFi chip in the Base Station allows for direct control from a DMX control application on a tablet or computer.

Find our more information here:
https://www.arri.com/lighting/skypanel/ ... s/skylink/

- Mike Wagner
Senior Product Manager, ARRI
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