User Manual

Overview

ArtNet Manager is a cross-platform desktop application for managing DMX signals in live production environments. It provides the following core capabilities:

Supported Protocols

• Art-Net — Port 6454 (default), Universes 0-32767
• sACN (E1.31) — Port 5568 (default), Universes 1-63999

Supported Platforms

• macOS (Apple Silicon / Intel)
• Windows (x64)
• Linux (x64)

Quick Start Guide

1. Install and Launch

1. Download the installer for your platform from the download page.
2. Run the installer (macOS: open the .dmg and drag to Applications; Windows: run the .exe installer).
3. Launch ArtNet Manager from your applications.

2. Receive Signals

1. Signal reception starts automatically when the application launches.
2. Check the reception status on the Dashboard in the left sidebar.
3. When packets arrive from DMX sources on the network, active universes are displayed.

3. View Channel Values

1. Click Universes in the sidebar.
2. Select a universe from the universe picker at the top.
3. The 512-channel color grid updates in real time.

4. Set Up Forwarding

1. Click Forwarding in the sidebar.
2. Click Add Destination in the top right.
3. Configure the destination: Name, Target IP, Protocol (Art-Net or sACN), and Mode (All Universes or Selected Only).
4. Toggle the destination ON to start forwarding immediately.

5. Export Settings

1. Click the Export button on the Forwarding page.
2. The configuration is saved as a JSON file.
3. Use Import to migrate settings to another machine.

Dashboard

The main overview page showing real-time status of the entire system.

Statistics Cards

Active Universe List

Displays each universe's protocol (Art-Net / sACN), source IP, packet rate, and active channel count. A warning badge appears when merge conflicts are detected.

System Log

Real-time display of INFO / WARN / ERROR level logs. Use the Clear button to reset the log view.

Cluster Status

When clustering is enabled, displays the node's role (PRIMARY / STANDBY), health status, and peer information.

Universe Viewer

Real-time visualization of DMX channel data.

How to Use

1. Select universes to display from the universe picker at the top (multi-select supported).
2. Use Select All / Deselect All for batch operations.
3. Displaying 16 or more universes simultaneously may affect performance.

Channel Grid

• Displays 512 channels in a color-coded grid
• Higher values appear brighter (black to blue to cyan to white gradient)
• Value display format is configurable in Settings:

Merge Conflict Display

When multiple sources are sending to the same universe, the number of conflicting channels and source IPs are displayed.

Device Discovery

Automatically discover and manage DMX devices on the network.

Filter Tabs

Filter devices by category: All / Art-Net / sACN / Cluster / Computers / Other. Use the search box to filter by IP address, hostname, or MAC address.

Device Information

Custom Names

Click the pencil icon next to the hostname to assign a custom name. Custom names persist across application restarts.

Network Scan

Click the Network Scan button to run an active network scan.

Forwarding

The core feature for routing received signals to specified destinations.

Destination Settings

Universe Overrides

Customize forwarding behavior on a per-universe basis.

Operations

Signal Flow

Visualize signal paths with a real-time interactive diagram.

3-Column Layout

Node Information

• Sources (left column): Sender IP, protocol, universe count, packet rate
• Universes (center): Universe number, packet rate, source count
• Destinations (right column): Name, IP, protocol, mode, delay

Connection Lines

• Solid line = active signal flow
• Dashed line = disabled connection
• Particle animation shows signal flow direction

Interactions

• Drag nodes to adjust their position
• Hover over a node to highlight related connections

Simplified Mode (50+ Universes)

When the universe count exceeds the threshold (default: 50), Signal Flow automatically switches to a simplified view:

• Individual universe nodes are replaced by a single aggregated node showing the total count, active universes, and total packet rate
• Connections collapse from hundreds of lines to a few Source → Aggregate → Destination connections
• This maintains smooth 60fps rendering even with 90+ universes

The threshold is configurable via the Simplify ≥ N uni input in the Signal Flow header.

Recording & Playback

Record live DMX signals and play them back through configured forwarding destinations.

Recording

1. Click the REC button in the header to start recording all active universes.
2. A pulsing red REC overlay appears indicating recording is in progress.
3. The REC tooltip shows real-time stats: duration, frame count, dropped frames, and file size.
4. Click STOP to finish recording. The file is saved as an .anmr file in the configured recording directory.

ANMR File Format

ArtNet Manager uses a custom binary format (.anmr) optimized for DMX signal recording:

• Delta compression — Only changed channels are stored, dramatically reducing file size
• Seek index — One entry per second for fast navigation
• Multi-universe — All active universes recorded simultaneously
• Frame-accurate timestamps — Millisecond precision relative to recording start

Player Mode

1. Switch to Player Mode using the mode switch in the header.
2. Open an .anmr file from the file browser.
3. Use the transport controls: Play, Pause, Stop, and the seek bar.
4. Enable Repeat to loop playback continuously.

During playback, recorded signals are forwarded through all configured and enabled forwarding destinations, just like live signals.

Recording Settings

Configure the recording output directory in the Settings page under the Recording section. The default location is ~/Documents/ArtNet Manager Recordings/.

Signal Checker

A built-in test signal generator for verifying Art-Net/sACN signal paths without external hardware.

How to Launch

Open Signal Checker from the application menu: Tools → Signal Checker. It opens in a separate window.

Connection Settings

Auto Mode (12 Test Patterns)

Manual Mode

Set individual channel values manually for targeted testing. Useful for verifying specific channel mappings and fixture responses.

Settings

Network Settings

Single Interface mode (default): Select a network interface from the dropdown. Choose "All Interfaces (0.0.0.0)" to listen on all interfaces.

Multi-NIC mode: Configure Art-Net/sACN enabled/disabled per interface. See the Multi-NIC section for details.

Protocol Settings

Display Settings

Merge Settings

Advanced: Merge Engine

Configure how signals from multiple sources on the same universe are combined.

• Global setting: Select a common merge mode for all universes on the Settings page.
• Per-universe setting: Apply a different merge mode to specific universes only.
• Source timeout: Sources that stop sending packets for the specified duration are automatically excluded.

Advanced: Multi-NIC

Receive signals independently on multiple network interfaces.

Use Cases

• Separate networks for Art-Net and sACN
• Simultaneously receive signals from different subnets
• Redundant backup network configuration

Setup Procedure

1. Switch to Multi-NIC mode on the Settings page.
2. Enable Art-Net / sACN for each interface.
3. Click Apply NIC Config.

Advanced: Cluster / Redundancy

Build a cluster with two or more ArtNet Manager instances for automatic failover.

Roles

Operation Flow

1. On startup, peers are automatically discovered (DISCOVERING state).
2. Roles are assigned (INIT to PRIMARY or STANDBY).
3. Configuration changes on PRIMARY are automatically synced to STANDBY.
4. If PRIMARY health degrades, STANDBY is automatically promoted (PROMOTING to PRIMARY).

Operations

• Monitor cluster status on the Dashboard or header bar.
• Use Force Role to manually switch roles.
• Toggle Auto Sync on or off as needed.

Manual Promote to PRIMARY

You can manually promote a STANDBY node to PRIMARY:

• Click the Promote to PRIMARY button in the cluster tooltip (hover over the cluster badge in the header).
• Alternatively, use the Promote button next to Cluster Status on the Dashboard.

The promoted node immediately becomes PRIMARY, and the previous PRIMARY transitions to STANDBY. Split-brain prevention ensures only one PRIMARY exists at any time.

Advanced: Guardian Mode

Automatically restarts the application when it terminates unexpectedly.

Behavior

• Automatically restarts after normal termination or crash (approximately 2 seconds).
• A GUARDIAN badge is displayed in the header bar.
• If the renderer process crashes, signal processing continues and the UI auto-reloads after 2 seconds.

Permanent Shutdown

To completely stop the application:

• Menu: ArtNet Manager → Permanent Shutdown
• Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+Q (Mac: Cmd+Shift+Q)
• After the confirmation dialog, the Guardian is suppressed and the app fully terminates.

About & Feedback

About Dialog

Access from the sidebar at the bottom. Shows the current app version, developer information, and links to the distribution site and repository.

Version Check

Click Check for Updates in the About dialog to compare your version against the latest release. If an update is available, a download link is provided.

Bug Report & Feature Request

Access from the sidebar menu. Two options:

• Bug Report — Describe the issue, and a comprehensive diagnostic snapshot is automatically prepared
• Feature Request — Describe the desired feature

Diagnostic Snapshot

The diagnostic snapshot includes all information needed for issue triage:

• System information (OS, CPU, memory, hostname)
• Network interfaces with MAC addresses
• Engine settings (protocols, ports, NIC configuration)
• Universe state (count, active, packet rates)
• Forwarding destination settings and status
• Cluster status (role, peers, health)
• Recording/playback state
• Recent errors and warnings
• Last 100 log entries

Click Copy Diagnostic & Open Issue to copy the snapshot to your clipboard and open a GitHub issue, or use Copy to copy the full report for email or the feedback form.

Troubleshooting

Not Receiving Signals

Forwarding Not Working

Poor Performance

Cluster Issues

Cannot Fully Stop Guardian Mode

• Use Permanent Shutdown from the menu, or press Ctrl+Shift+Q (Mac: Cmd+Shift+Q).
• Normal window close or Quit (Ctrl+Q) will be intercepted by Guardian and the app will restart.

Merge Conflict Warnings

• This indicates multiple sources are sending to the same universe.
• Select an appropriate merge mode (HTP/LTP/Priority) on the Settings page.
• You can also apply a different merge mode to specific universes only.

Recording Issues