LuxDMX

Art-Net and sACN to DMX, with a console in your browser.

LuxDMX is an open-source DMX node on an ESP32, with RDM, pixel outputs and a web page that shows every channel live. And now a lighting console that runs in the browser.

Flash one in your browser Open the Sequencer Watch the video
This show was programmed and rendered in the LuxDMX Sequencer
What it is

A DMX node that shows you every channel.

Your lighting software sends Art-Net or sACN, LuxDMX puts it on real DMX cables, and its own web page shows you all 512 channels, who's sending, and how clean the signal is. It runs on a cheap ESP32 and everything, firmware and hardware, is open.

Art-Net and sACN inEither or both, HTP or LTP merge, sACN priority. Warns you when two consoles fight over a universe.
Up to three DMX portsEach its own universe, its own frame rate, free-running or frame for frame with your console.
RDMFind the fixtures on the line, set addresses, labels and personalities, graph their sensors. Your console can do RDM through the box too.
PixelsFive WS281x outputs on the carrier: WS2812, WS2815, SK6812 RGBW, several universes per port.
The live pageEvery channel, live, in any browser. Senders with FPS and jitter, a change log, the RDM tab, labels.
WiFi or EthernetA setup portal on first boot, up to four saved networks, wired with a W5500, its own access point when there's no router.
Knob and displayThe OLED shows the box's state, and the knob sets the universe and protocol without a phone or PC.
Updates over the airPick a release on the box's own page, or flash a fresh one from your browser. No toolchain.
Carrier board · 3D render
The hardware

The carrier board.

The easy way to build one. A two-layer board, everything on it hand-solderable, and the hard parts are modules you can buy anywhere: an ESP32-S3 dev board, an RS485 module per DMX port, a W5500 for wired Ethernet, a little OLED and a knob.

Board
100 × 80 mm, 2 layers, 1206 parts
DMX / RDM
up to 3 ports, one MAX3485 module each
Pixels
up to 5 WS281x ports, buffered to 5 V
Power
USB-C or 5 V for the logic, 12–24 V for the pixels through a fuse
On the board
1.3" OLED, encoder, two buttons

Most of the firmware testing happens on this board.

Board, BOM and gerbers Assembly guide
Main board
ESP32-S3 DevKitC-1, N16R8A clone with rows 25.4 mm apart. Espressif's own board is narrower and won't fit.
DMX, up to 3
MAX3485 RS485 module3.3 V, with an EN pin. That pin is what lets RDM turn the line around.
Wired network
USR-ES1 W5500Optional. Without it the box runs on WiFi.
Front panel
1.3" SH1106 OLED + EC11 encoderPlus two 6 mm buttons. The encoder shaft and the buttons reach the same front panel.
New

Pixel outputs on the board.

Five outputs for addressable strips next to the DMX ports, 12 or 24 V with a fuse on the board. Give a port a universe and the strip plays it, over Art-Net or sACN.

  • WS2812, WS2815, WS2811, SK6812 RGBW, any colour order, gamma and brightness
  • Several universes per port, stitched in order, with ArtSync and E1.31 sync
  • Up to 9.8 A on the pixel rail, about two 5 m WS2815 runs at full white
How pixels work
The five pixel terminals on the carrier board, 3D renderFive pixel ports
New: the LuxDMX Sequencer

A lighting console in your browser.

You don't install anything. Patch your fixtures, build looks and cue lists, and put the show on a timeline with your song. There's a 3D stage, so you can program without any lights, and it plays straight to your LuxDMX.

The 3D stage
The 3D stage: beams, haze, pixels, flames. The header up top came out of it.
The timeline with the song
The timeline, locked to the song, its hits measured beat by beat.
Programming looks
Program: pick fixtures on the plan, set colour, position, effects.
Playing it live
Live: cue lists, faders, flashes. Your phone can be the remote.
  • Plays to your LuxDMX right from the page (firmware v1.0.293 or newer)
  • Any Art-Net or sACN node through LuxDMX Link, a small helper for Windows, macOS and Linux
  • A phone as a remote: scan a code and you have GO, faders and flash buttons
  • Records the stage as a video, 1080p or vertical for phones
Open the Sequencer The guide
The video

See it run.

The carrier board, the pixels, the web page and the Sequencer in a couple of minutes.

Other ways to build one

Any ESP32 will do.

You don't need the carrier. The firmware knows a long list of boards, and you can set every pin in its settings.

An ESP32 and an RS485 module

The cheapest node there is. For RDM, get a module with a direction pin; the auto-direction kind can't turn the line around.

WT32-ETH01

An ESP32 with Ethernet already on the board. Add an RS485 module and you have a wired node.

Ready-made boards

Profiles for DevKits, Feathers, the Radig ESP32-S3 DMX/RDM node and more, picked from a list in the settings.

The LuxDMX v6 board

Isolated outputs, PoE, a status panel. Designed and routed, but never sent to a fab, so treat it as untested.

Flash one in your browser.

Desktop Chrome or Edge, plug the board in over USB, pick the model, click flash. Always the latest release, no Python, no toolchain.

Flash it now Code on GitHub