PRG Mbox Designer Manual 3.9 - Manual (Page 45)

MBOX ® MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL 37
PATCHING FIXTURES
Patching Overview
In order to control Mbox, it will need to be "patched" to a control console. Patching allows channels to be mapped to
the controllable elements of the Mbox environment. Use the following guidelines when patching:
+ One Mbox server running Mbox Designer software requires at least 466 channels.
+ At least one control universe per server is required for Single Output, Panoramic Wide, and Panoramic Dual
modes. (Refer to
"Operating Modes" on page 24 for more information.)
+ At least two control universes per server are required for the Dual Independent mode.
+ By default, Mbox is configured to respond to Art-Net universe 0. This allows the server to respond to DMX512
data via the DMX to Art-Net converter built into the Dual I/O module. To control an Mbox server with Art-Net or
sACN rather than DMX512, choose the protocol first then choose a unique control universe for each server. This
setting can be modified on the Setup tab of the application (refer to
"Setup: Control" on page 57).
CAUTION! For ease of operation, the many channels that make up one Mbox server are divided into multiple fixtures.
Unless you are an advanced user, it is strongly recommended that you patch all fixtures that are part of the Mbox
profile. If you do not patch all of the associated fixtures, undesirable results will occur! The chart on the following page
shows all fixtures that make up a single Mbox server. The fixtures must be patched in the order shown.
Layer Guidelines
Mbox Designer allows up to 12 content layers. Use the following guidelines when patching more than six layers:
+ The use of more than six layers requires an additional universe of control data. This additional universe can only
be the next sequential universe to the one that the server is patched to. For example, if the server is patched to
universe 0, the additional layers will be controlled by universe 1. If DMX512 is being used, these two universes
must always be Art-Net universes 0 and 1. If Art-Net/sACN is being used, any two consecutive universes may be
used.
+ When using more than six layers, it is important that the server receive correctly patched data on the second
universe. If this is not done, layers seven and above will not receive appropriate values and will interfere with the
first six layers. Additionally, be sure the server is set to use only six layers if another server is being patched in the
next consecutive universe. The data to control a full server (including lighting fixtures, camera, etc.) will cause
problems if it is on the same universe that another server thinks its extra layers are patched to.
+ Additional layers must always be patched beginning at address 1 on the consecutive universe. The only exception
to this being Dual Independent mode where added layers are patched on the universe that corresponds to each
screen, immediately after the existing layers.
+ Additional layers have all of the functionality of the first six layers. However, the more layers used, the higher the
impact on the performance of the machine.
CAUTION! When using more than six layers, Mbox Designer will require a second control universe. The number of
layers can be changed at any time - even during a show - however, changing to more than six layers on the fly is not
recommended unless a second universe has already been patched. If this is not the case, strange results may occur.
Training Video: Mbox Media Server Training Video Chapter 4: Patching