Enter your fixtures. Get the universe count, the address ranges, and the Art-Net and sACN numbers that go with them — including the channels stranded at each boundary that a divide-by-512 estimate misses.
Runs entirely in your browser. The URL updates as you work, so the plan can be sent to your production manager as a link.
Your rig
Universes needed
3
Fixtures
108
Channels
1,056
Stranded at boundaries
8 ch
Patch plan: fixture group, universe, and DMX address range
Fixture
Qty
Universe
Addresses
Art-Net
sACN
Moving heads
21
1
1–504
0/0/0
1
Moving heads
3
2
1–72
0/0/1
2
LED wash
36
2
73–360
0/0/1
2
LED par
38
2
361–512
0/0/1
2
LED par
10
3
1–40
0/0/2
3
Art-Net is shown as net/sub-net/universe and counts from 0; sACN counts from 1. Each universe carries 512 channels, and a fixture never straddles the boundary — which is why the universe count here can exceed total channels ÷ 512.
DMX addressing, answered
How many DMX universes do I need?
Add up the channels every fixture occupies, then divide by 512 — but round up per universe, not once at the end. A fixture cannot straddle a universe boundary, so a 24-channel mover leaves 8 channels stranded at the end of each universe (21 × 24 = 504). On a rig of any size that stranding adds up to whole universes, which is why the arithmetic is worth doing properly.
Why does Art-Net start at universe 0 and sACN at universe 1?
They are different standards that made different choices. Art-Net's port-address is a 15-bit field — Net 0-127, Sub-Net 0-15, Universe 0-15 — read from zero. sACN (E1.31) numbers universes from 1. The same physical universe is therefore Art-Net 0 and sACN 1. Patching them as though they agreed is the most common DMX-over-IP fault, and it stays invisible until the wrong fixture lights.
What is a fixture's channel footprint?
The number of consecutive DMX channels one fixture occupies in its current personality or mode. The same physical light can be 8 channels in a basic mode and 38 in extended mode, so the footprint is a property of the mode you patch, not of the fixture. Check the mode on the fixture's menu before planning around a number from the manual.
How many universes can Art-Net carry?
Art-Net 4 addresses 32,768 universes across its 15-bit port-address space. Art-Net 1 to 3 used only the Sub-Net and Universe fields, for 256 total, so older nodes may not understand the Net field. In practice the limit that binds is switch bandwidth and node count, not the protocol.
Does CueSync output Art-Net or sACN? (experimental)
The Art-Net and sACN DMX-over-IP path is built end to end but has not yet been verified against physical hardware, so it is labelled experimental and is excluded from the thirteen production output protocols. The production paths to lighting consoles are OSC, Telnet, and — for Avolites Titan — the Titan WebAPI.