Have you ever had the need to address dozens of moving head fixtures, scrollers, haze machines or any other DMX device? Have you ever sat down scratching your head trying to figure out the DIP switch settings for your equipment? How about needing to know what the absolute value of your device on universe 3 at address 200 is?
All the above problems can cause a lot of headaches and troubleshooting nightmares when dealing with the pressures of a production when you just need to get things done. Here to save you from all these problems comes another little application for your iPhone or iPod Touch called DMXCalc from West Side Systems.
The program is very similar in appearance to the other applications developed by the same company. Just like PowerCalc and BeamCalc it shares the same calculator style keypad and has similar display areas along the top. However with DMXCalc you get Universe, Address and the Absolute output. By clicking the corresponding button it allows you to enter a new value, the other fields are then updated accordingly in real-time.
This enables you to enter a DMX universe and a device address to have DMXCalc work out the absolute address. Or enter an absolute address to have it display the universe and device address.
One very useful feature is the presence of a +/- button which can be used to increment or decrement the address by any amount. This is particularly useful if you are working out addresses for moving lights. If your device uses up for example, 20 channels, then set the +/- to 20, enter your start address and DMXCalc will tell you where to address your next fixture. It will tell you if there is no room left on the current universe and then automatically start on the next universe.
One thing I’ve not mentioned so far is the DIP switch display hidden away at the bottom left of the screen. This is incredibly useful to anyone who doesn’t really understand binary arithmetic or just doesn’t want the hassle of working it out. Each time you update the values, the little display at the bottom will show you the DIP switch settings for that address. There are also a couple of configuration options you can change for the display depending on the device you are using.
DMXCalc is a simple, efficiant product that works well. It won’t win any design awards for presentation but that’s not what this application is about. It gives you the information you need in an easy to understand format. West Side Systems have once again priced this at a point where you really can’t go wrong. For 59p, even if you only ever use it once it’s money well spent. However, the time it can save you will make this a program that will be staying on your iPhone for a long time to come.
Rated: 4/5
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