Multi-universe DMX control is now normal, the trick of using one controller for moving lights and another for the static units is old hat. Add multi-media, effects and LED displays, and the DMX-512 limitations can become true sticking points in lighting design.
It seems like we need a controller to control all of our controllers. Enter ACN, the industry’s newest control protocol. It’s just been approved by the ANSI Board of Standards Review and is now the next level of control protocol. It will likely be implemented first, perhaps, in your larger installations, then… who knows?
ACN is the new Architecture for Control Networks protocol developed over the last few years by ESTA. ACN is an Ethernet-based ANSI standard that attempts to address (address, get it?) some of the difficulties involved with a complex installation. ACN promises to connect ACN-ready controllers with ACN-ready fixtures. ACN uses downstream and upstream messaging (over an Ethernet link) to sort of patch itself. The promise of not assigning individual channels, and not worrying about individual DMX addresses is right there, too; high-end boards can sort of do this already, but ACN should make this feature universal, and any company that cares to can jump on the bandwagon by building ACN-compliant equipment.
-From John Kaluta’s December Technopolis column
