Hi,
I try to control some par lights using Beam for Live or Beam for Max with an Artnet to DMX convertor. The Artnet device is connected to my Macbook with an ethernet cable through an ethernet adapter. I changed the IP address of the LAN connection (192.168.1.99) according to the IP address of the Artnet device (192.168.1.100). I created an Art-net output in Beam with IP address 192.168.1.99, set the Target Universe to 0 while the source Universe being 1, and added some fixtures in the Universe 1 according to the profile of my lights. However, my Artnet device can never receive anything from Beam for Live or Beam for Max. I did exactly what I should do to send messages, and I tried the Test function in both Beam for Live or Beam for Max. Never worked.
However, when I use Madmapper with the same settings (IP address, Universe, DMX address) and the same device, it works well. I tried with another Mac and got the same result: Madmapper works while Beam does not. Does anyone have similar experiences or have any ideas about what might be the problem? It’s my first time using Beam and it would be very helpful if I can use it to control lights from Max or Live.
Hi! It sounds like you took the right steps. One thing we could check is whether Beam sends ArtNet over a WiFi connection instead of LAN. Could you try turning off WiFi and make sure there are no other active network adapters besides the LAN connection?
Hi dear hidde, thanks for replying! I tried turning off WiFi and there is no other network adapter besides the LAN connection, but it still doesn’t work. Also, the art-net device is not identified by Beam as a node so I manually input the IP address. While in MadMapper I can select the interface directly. Is this related to the problem I’m facing?
Hi @LiHe,
Outputting to an Art-Net node that you know the IP address of should be possible without necessarily changing your computer’s network interface settings or node’s IP address - by adding a generic Art-Net Output to Beam’s I/O configuration.
However, a specific configuration is required if you want Beam to automatically detect the node, so that it appears in the available nodes list, allowing you to add it as an Art-Net Node Output without having to specify its IP address.
The Art-Net node and your computer’s network interface both need to use IP addresses in ranges 2.x.x.x and 10.x.x.x (as per Art-Net standard), and need to use the same Subnet Mask.
Example configuration:
- Subnet Mask for both node and the network interface:
255.0.0.0 - Node IP Address:
2.0.0.3 - Network interface IP Address:
2.0.0.6
Beam should then recognize your Art-Net node and you should be able to add it to the I/O list.
Detecting nodes with IP addresses in other ranges, e.g. 192.168.x.x is not covered by the Art-Net standard, but some programs (such as MadMapper) support this anyway for the ease of use.
Please let us know if you need further help with this.
Thank you so much Luka!
Beam still can not detect the node automatically after I set the Node IP to 2.0.0.1 and the Network interface IP to 2.0.0.2 and both of them have the same Subnet Mask.
However the initial problem I had that Beam could not send message to the node is solved. It turned out that I need to type in the IP address of the node into Beam’s Artnet Output editor, instead of the IP on my laptop.
I’m using 2.0.0.1 for the node and 2.0.0.2 in my laptop’s network setting, and Beam outputs signal to the node when the address in the I/O editor is 2.0.0.1
This is different with Madmapper which requires the IP address of the network interface instead of the Node.
Hi @LiHe,
Good to know you are now able to send DMX from Beam for Max to your node!
Regarding the node still not being automatically detected by Beam - you could try using 255.0.0.0 subnet mask instead of 255.255.255.0, as well as a different IP address pair (e.g. 10.0.0.3 and 10.0.0.4).
If it still doesn’t work, I suggest just sticking with the current solution of using Art-Net Output in Beam for Max and specifying the IP Address yourself.