You already own the interface.

There is no ScreenLight interface to buy and nothing to install between the computer and the lights. The application outputs Art-Net, which is DMX carried over a normal network. An Art-Net node takes that network traffic and puts it out on five-pin XLR as DMX512 — that node is the only bridge you need, and it can be any brand.

If your rig is video rather than lighting, it leaves the same machine on its video outputs instead: HDMI or SDI into an LED processor, HDMI or DisplayPort straight into a TV or projector with nothing in between, or HDMI into an extender, splitter or scaler when the venue has screens in more than one room. Both paths run from the same show file at the same time.

1. 01

   Put the computer and the node on one network

   A single Ethernet cable between them is enough for one node. For more than one, use a gigabit switch. Wi-Fi will appear to work and will drop frames under load — use it for a remote, never for output.
2. 02

   Set matching IP addresses

   Art-Net conventionally runs on the 2.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x ranges with a 255.0.0.0 subnet mask. Set the computer and the node to the same range, then confirm the node's own documentation — manufacturers differ.
3. 03

   Choose the output interface in Setup

   ScreenLight sends on the network interface you select, not on all of them. Pick the adapter the node is on. Exact Setup path
4. 04

   Match universes

   A universe in the software has to match the universe the node is listening on. The status bar shows how many universes are going out and at what rate, which is the fastest way to confirm output is live.
5. 05

   Patch, then test

   Patch a fixture, select it, and use Locate to drive it to a known open-white, centred state. If the fixture responds, the whole path is good.

Lighting output is a real-time stream. The network carrying it should be doing nothing else — no internet sharing, no file transfers, no video conferencing on the same adapter.

• Give the output adapter a static address. DHCP leases expiring mid-show is a real failure mode.
• Disable Wi-Fi on the show machine, or at minimum make sure the Art-Net adapter is the one selected for output.
• Use a managed switch if you are also carrying video on the same network, and keep the two on separate VLANs.
• Art-Net broadcast is simple and reliable on a small dedicated network. On a large shared one it floods every port — set the universe's destination to the node's own IP instead. On Windows, prefer unicast.
• Bind the output to a specific network interface in Setup. Without it the Art-Net socket can leave by whichever adapter Windows picks, which is how output ends up on the venue Wi-Fi.

Patch assigns each fixture a universe and a start address, matching what is set on the fixture itself. Once patched, a fixture appears in Heads and can be selected, grouped, and controlled by attribute — intensity, position, colour and beam — rather than by raw channel number.

Groups are for the selections you make constantly: all the moving heads, the front wash, one truss. Selecting a group and hitting an attribute is faster than picking fixtures every time, and it is what the command line is for as well — 1 THRU 8 @ 80 sets fixtures 1 to 8 to 80 percent.

Record stores the current state of the selection as a look, which is then available to fire from Playback or to place on the timeline.

The Screen side is a media server in the same document. A composition is layers of clips mixed through blend modes into one master. Sources can be files, the built-in generators (solid colour, gradient, checkerboard, grid), cameras, or external inputs.

Output goes to your screens through whatever your wall already uses — an LED processor, a projector, a second display. If you are already running Resolume, the composition can be sent there instead.

Screen Monitor, Test Pattern and Identify are for commissioning: confirming a cabinet is alive, that the mapping is the right way round, and which physical panel corresponds to which region.

Load a track or take a live input. The cue chart is a multi-layer timeline — Playback, Looks, Levels and Screens each on their own lane — and cues are recorded straight at the playhead, so building a show is a matter of playing the track and marking the moments.

For anything not locked to a recording, tap the tempo by hand and drive the rig from the beat. The spectrum is split into bass, mid and high bands, which is what audio-reactive content follows.

Dropping a song on top of a live recording aligns the cuts, which is the fast path from a rehearsal capture to a programmed show.

A cue fires late, a head goes dark, someone unplugs the wrong thing. None of the controls that fix it are buried in a menu — they sit on the top bar, beside the clock, on every page of the application.

• Blackout and DBO are always one key away, above everything else on every page. Show Control adds a Panic key you can put under your thumb.
• The venue checklist runs before doors: Art-Net universe, DMX clock, blackout state, network binding and screens patched each report OK or tell you what is missing.
• Blind programming builds the next look without touching the stage, then brings it in when the moment arrives. Highlight and Solo work the same way.
• One Grand Master fader plus ten submasters, with GM Zero, 25, 50 and 75 as fixed marks.
• Output telemetry — selection count, tempo, Art-Net state, universe count, frame rate and wall clock — stays visible on every page.
• Set the venue machine to launch ScreenLight at login, so the console is running before anyone gets to the building.

Marked entries are visible in the shipping application. Unmarked entries are not yet confirmed and should not be designed around.

Installers for Windows and macOS are on the download page, released against an active licence. On first launch, sign in or paste the licence key from your dashboard.

Activation binds the licence to that machine. The application revalidates on launch and keeps running for 72 hours without a connection, so a venue with bad networking is not a problem. Beyond that window it needs to reach us once.

To move to a different machine, deactivate the old one from your dashboard. Seats are yours to move; you do not need to contact support.

Every plan is the full application — the same devices, the same protocols, the same output. Plans differ only in term length and how many machines can be activated at once. Longer terms cost less per month.

When a licence lapses the application drops to a limited state rather than locking you out mid-show, and prompts for renewal. Renewing extends the existing licence rather than issuing a new key, so activated machines stay activated.

See the plans →