by Cuemodo
Turn projectors into one DMX-controlled light. Cyc is a small macOS app that listens for Art-Net, behaves like a single fixture (a solid RGB color, or a top-to-bottom gradient like a theatre cyc), and fills the projector output with that color. A simple quad mapper keeps the light inside the wash area and stops overlapping projectors from doubling up.
It is light enough to run next to QLab on the same Mac: it only draws when the color changes.
Part of the Cuemodo family of show-control tools. It works on its own with any desk or app that sends Art-Net, so you don't need the Cuemodo app. Early development.
- A Mac with macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
- A lighting desk or app that sends Art-Net, on the same network as the Mac (for example a Hog 4, or a DMX desk through an Art-Net node). USB DMX interfaces (such as an Enttec DMX USB Pro) are not supported; with a desk that only has DMX cable outputs, put an Art-Net node between the desk and the network.
- The projectors connected to the Mac as a display. Two projectors side by side through a splitter (such as a Matrox) count as one wide display.
- Download
Cyc-X.Y.Z.dmgfrom the latest release. - Open the DMG and drag Cyc onto Applications.
- Open Cyc from Applications. The app is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a security warning.
On first launch, macOS may ask:
- To find and connect to devices on your local network: click Allow. Art-Net arrives over the local network; without this, the app receives nothing.
- To accept incoming network connections (only if the macOS firewall is on): click Allow, for the same reason.
You can change both later in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network, and Network → Firewall.
- Output: pick the projector display under Display.
- Patch: under Art-Net Patch, set the Universe, Address and Mode to match how the fixture is patched on your desk (see Fixture modes).
- Start: set Source to Art-Net and click the green Start button. The output opens full screen on the projectors.
- Bring up the fixture on the desk. Show Levels displays the 512 channels as they arrive, to check the desk is reaching the Mac.
Stop closes the output. Shortcuts: Cmd-U starts it, Cmd-T stops it (Output menu). When the output will cover the screen the controls are on (a Mac with one display), a reminder about Cmd-T shows for 5 seconds (or until OK) before it opens.
The Source choice also offers:
- Manual: pick a solid color or a gradient in the app, without a desk. Handy for focusing.
- Test Pattern: a grid, for lining up the mapping.
Patch Cyc on the desk as a generic LED fixture. Channels count from the address you set. A dimmer channel (D) scales the color: at 50 % the color keeps its mix but gives half the light.
| Mode | Channels | Layout |
|---|---|---|
| RGB | 3 | red, green, blue |
| DRGB | 4 | dimmer, red, green, blue |
| Gradient RGB | 6 | top red, green, blue, then bottom red, green, blue |
| Gradient DRGB | 8 | top dimmer, red, green, blue, then bottom dimmer, red, green, blue |
The gradient modes blend the top color into the bottom color, like the top lights and ground row on a theatre cyc. They are two ordinary RGB (or DRGB) blocks in a row, so the desk can patch them as two generic LED fixtures on consecutive addresses.
The universe is the Art-Net Port-Address counted from 0, like Art-Net itself; the Net, Sub-Net and Universe it stands for are shown next to it.
Without a mapping, the color fills the whole output. With two projectors, or a wall that is not a perfect rectangle, open Mapping… to draw quads (four-cornered shapes):
- On the Canvas side, each quad takes a patch of the picture; the gradient runs from the top of the canvas to its bottom.
- On the Output side, drag the corners to where that patch should land on the wall.
- Everything outside the quads stays black, which hides light spilling off the wall and the doubled brightness where projectors overlap.
Set Source to Test Pattern while mapping: the grid lines should run straight across the seam between projectors. Changes appear live on the output, save themselves, and can be undone with Cmd-Z.
- Lock (top right) freezes every control, so a stray click or key press changes nothing. It stays locked after a relaunch.
- Signal loss: if Art-Net stops (desk reboot, cable pulled), Cyc either holds the last look (the default) or fades to black after the time you set. The next packet brings the look back.
- If the projector display drops out and comes back, the output reopens on it by itself.
- The Mac's display does not sleep while the output is open, and Cmd-Q asks before quitting a live output.
- The output window never takes the keyboard, so QLab keeps it.
Settings save themselves as you change them. To keep one setup per show, use the File menu: Save Settings As… writes a copy, Open Settings… loads one, and New Settings starts from defaults. Show Settings File in Finder shows where the working copy lives.
- Show Levels stays at 0: check the Mac is on the same network and subnet as the desk or node (Art-Net often uses 2.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x addresses), the universe matches, and Local Network access is allowed (see Install).
- Levels move but the wall doesn't change: check the Address and Mode match the desk's patch, and Source is set to Art-Net.
- Wrong screen goes full screen: pick the projector under Display, then Start again.
Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue on GitHub. To build from source or contribute, see CONTRIBUTING.md.
MIT, see LICENSE.
Art-Net™ Designed by and Copyright Artistic Licence Engineering Ltd