TraxDeck

Lighting Control

Lighting control is available on Professional and Enterprise plans. Stem Director outputs DMX512 and Art-Net, allowing you to trigger lighting cues at bar-accurate positions in your tracks — without a separate lighting computer.

What Stem Director does (and doesn't do)

Stem Director does:

  • Trigger lighting cues at precise points in your tracks
  • Send full DMX universes of data over Art-Net or USB-DMX
  • Fire cue stacks on an existing lighting console via Art-Net
  • Output LTC timecode for full show control integration

Stem Director does NOT:

  • Replace a full lighting console (no fixture patching, no programmer, no effects engine)
  • Store full lighting scenes internally for complex rigs (use your console for that)

The typical workflow: your LD programs the look on the console, and Stem Director tells the console when to fire each cue — at the exact bar and beat in the backing track.

Output methods

Art-Net (recommended)

Art-Net is a professional lighting protocol that runs over standard Ethernet. It's the preferred method for most productions because it requires no special hardware.

Enable in Preferences → Lighting → Output → Art-Net:

| Setting | Notes | |---|---| | Mode | Unicast (to a specific IP) or Broadcast (to subnet) | | IP address | IP of your lighting console or node | | Universes | Select which Art-Net universes to output (1–8) |

Art-Net broadcast sends to x.x.x.255 — all devices on the subnet receive it. Use unicast for large networks to avoid flooding.

Compatible consoles: ETC Eos / Ion / Element, grandMA2 / grandMA3, Chamsys MagicQ, Avolites Titan, any console with Art-Net input

Compatible nodes: Enttec ODE, Luminex Ethernet nodes, Pathway Connectivity, any sACN/Art-Net node

DMX512 via USB

For smaller rigs without a network-connected console, a USB-DMX adapter outputs one universe of DMX directly:

| Adapter | macOS | Windows | |---|---|---| | Enttec USB DMX Pro | ✓ | ✓ | | Enttec DMX USB Pro Mk2 | ✓ | ✓ | | DMXking ultraDMX Micro | ✓ | ✓ | | Any FTDI-based USB-DMX | ✓ | ✓ |

Enable in Preferences → Lighting → Output → USB-DMX and select your adapter from the dropdown.

Cue list

Each track has its own Cue List — a timeline of lighting events that fire as the track plays.

Open the cue list: select a track → click the Lighting tab in the track editor.

Adding a cue

  1. Click + to add a new cue

  2. Set the trigger point — bar and beat (e.g. Bar 5, Beat 1)

  3. Set the cue type:

    • Go: fires a Go command on your console (advances to the next cue in the console's stack)
    • Snapshot: sends a full DMX state (set specific channels to specific values)
    • Fade to snapshot: fades from the current DMX state to a target state over a configurable duration
    • Stop: sends a Stop/Pause command

  4. For Snapshot and Fade to snapshot cues: click Edit Values to set individual channel levels across your configured universes

  5. Click Save

Go cues (recommended for console-based rigs)

If your LD is running a console, use Go cues. Stem Director fires the Go command at the right moment, the console executes the cue it's waiting on.

This workflow keeps your LD in control of the content. They program the console normally — Stem Director just handles the timing.

Track: "Opening Number"
Cue 1  → Bar 1, Beat 1  → Console Go (Intro look)
Cue 2  → Bar 9, Beat 1  → Console Go (Verse look)
Cue 3  → Bar 25, Beat 1 → Console Go (Chorus look)
Cue 4  → Bar 33, Beat 1 → Console Go (Bridge — strobes)
Cue 5  → Bar 41, Beat 1 → Console Go (Final chorus)
Cue 6  → Bar 49, Beat 3 → Console Go (Blackout)

Snapshot cues (standalone rigs)

For smaller rigs where Stem Director is the only lighting source, use snapshot cues to store full DMX states:

Track: "Acoustic Set"
Cue 1 → Bar 1, Beat 1  → Snapshot: warm wash, 80%
Cue 2 → Bar 17, Beat 1 → Fade to: cool blue wash, 4-beat fade
Cue 3 → Bar 33, Beat 1 → Snapshot: blackout

LTC Timecode output

Stem Director can output SMPTE Linear Timecode (LTC) as audio from any output channel. This allows full integration with any show control system that accepts LTC.

Enable in Preferences → Lighting → Timecode → LTC Output:

  • Output channel: any audio output (typically a spare channel on your interface)
  • Frame rate: 24, 25, 29.97 DF, 30 fps
  • Start offset: set if your LTC doesn't start at 00:00:00:00

With LTC, external systems can slave to Stem Director's timeline — lighting consoles, video servers, automation systems. The LTC position matches the audio playback position exactly.

Troubleshooting lighting output

Console receives Art-Net but doesn't respond: Check that the console is configured to receive Art-Net on the correct universe number and that IP addressing matches (same subnet, no firewall between machines).

DMX via USB not detected: Ensure the FTDI driver is installed (Windows only — macOS uses the built-in FTDI driver). Unplug and reconnect the adapter after installing the driver.

Cues fire slightly late: Increase the Pre-fire offset in Preferences → Lighting. This fires the cue N milliseconds before the bar/beat, compensating for console response latency. A value of 50–100 ms is typical for most consoles.