Scheduler
Automatic DMX lighting, by clock and calendar
Time-based control for an installation nobody is standing next to. It runs in the background whether or not a window is open, and it stands down on its own the moment anyone takes the rig by hand.
The Scheduler runs your DMX rig to a clock and a calendar, so a bar, a shop, a church or a lit facade can look after itself. On at the right time, off at the right time, and different on a Sunday. Windows and macOS.
The Scheduler is a Pro feature. The tab is visible on Free and Standard so you can see what it does and what it needs, but schedules only run on a Pro subscription.
It stands down the moment someone takes the rig by hand
Every venue asks the same question before it will let a machine drive the lights: what happens at nine o'clock when the manager wants to change something? Nothing fights back. Take the rig by hand, from a fader, a controller pad or the mobile remote, and the Scheduler stops changing the lights there and then. A banner appears in every window saying so, with a Resume button on it. Nobody has to know it was on, or go looking for a setting to switch off.
Until that happens it simply runs. It does not need the Scheduler tab in front of you, or any window open at all. Set DMXDesktop to launch at login and start minimised to the tray and the machine can come back from a power cut on its own.
A facade that comes on at 17:00 is right for about three weeks a year
Anchor the start or the end of a schedule to sunrise or sunset instead of a clock time and it moves with the season on its own. Dark in December, hours later in June, and nobody goes near it. Offset either end by a number of minutes, so on twenty minutes before sunset and off at 01:00 is one row in the table, not twelve monthly edits.
Sunrise and sunset are worked out from the site location, which DMXDesktop takes from the computer's own timezone and which you can correct by hand in decimal degrees. It is entered rather than looked up, so it keeps working on a machine with no network connection.
- Start at a clock time, at sunrise or at sunset, and end the same way
- An offset in minutes either side of the sun, so you can be on before it is properly dark
- Worked out for the venue's own position and its own date
- No network connection needed once the location is entered
See the week before it runs
The week view draws every schedule as a bar across the days it falls on, coloured by its priority band. Each bar is one schedule's own window, so an override sitting on top of a daily look shows as two bars rather than one. The thin strip under each day is what will actually run once priority has been applied, which is usually the answer you came for.
Where two schedules overlap, the higher priority wins. Give a one-off a higher number than the daily look it replaces and the week of the Christmas party takes care of itself.
Two looks that catch everything else
Between the windows, and at the moment the machine wakes up.
Default look
What runs whenever no schedule applies. Without one the Scheduler asserts nothing between windows and the rig keeps whatever it had, which is sometimes exactly right and sometimes a room sitting in a blackout at opening time.
Startup look
Asserted the moment the application has finished starting, so the rig comes up on something known rather than on whatever it was left on. It hands over to the Default look, or to a schedule if one is already due.
Closure dates, with a reason
Add the calendar days the venue is closed, and a reason if you want the next person to know why. On those days no schedule runs and the Default look takes over. A window that started the evening before stops at midnight rather than running out its tail, so Christmas Eve does not spill into Christmas Day.
Check it without waiting for it
Simulate takes any date and any time and tells you what would run. Nothing is sent to the lights. It is the quickest way to prove a sun-anchored schedule is doing what you think: try a date in midwinter and one in midsummer, and the same schedule should move by hours between the two without any edit.
What a schedule is made of
A name, when it runs, what it does, and a number that decides who wins.
When it runs
- • Weekly, on any set of days
- • Over a date range, both ends included
- • On specific dates you pick
- • Start and end at a clock time, at sunrise or at sunset, each with its own offset
- • A priority number, so a one-off override beats the daily look underneath it
What it does
- • Play an effect cue, an effect stack or a cue stack
- • Set a macro fader to a position
- • Blackout
- • Set the master level, with a fade time in seconds
- • Hold a colour override or a coarse position override for the length of the window
- • Put everything back when the window ends, or leave the look exactly where it was set
Scheduling belongs to the stage
The on/off switch is per stage, at the same scope as the schedules themselves. A site with one scheduled facade stage and one hand-driven event stage does not have to run the feature on both. Switching stage starts or stops the matching schedule.
Built for the rigs nobody is watching
Set the hours once and leave it running.
Bars and restaurants
Warm and low for lunch, brighter through service, a different look on a Friday, and dark at closing without anyone remembering to do it.
Retail
Window lighting on before the street gets dark and off at a fixed hour, following the season on its own rather than on a timer somebody has to reset.
Architectural and facade
Sunset to a curfew time all year, with a date range for a festival week and a higher priority so it overrides the normal look.
Houses of worship
A weekly pattern for services, specific dates for the ones that move, and closure dates for the weeks the building is shut.
Museums, galleries and lobbies
Opening hours, a quiet default between windows, and a startup look so a power cut does not leave the space in the dark.
Installers
Hand over a site that runs itself, prove it on the Simulate panel before you leave, and let staff take the rig by hand without breaking the schedule.
The Scheduler is Pro only
Unattended, time-based control is part of the Pro subscription. The Scheduler tab is visible on Free and Standard so you can see what it does and what it needs, but schedules only run on Pro.
View pricingDMX lighting scheduler: your questions
Automatic, unattended lighting, answered.
Does DMXDesktop have a lighting scheduler? +
Yes. The Scheduler runs your DMX rig to a clock and a calendar: weekly on the days you choose, over a date range, or on specific dates. Each schedule can play an effect cue, an effect stack, a cue stack, a macro fader position or a blackout, set the master level, and hold a colour or position override for the length of its window. It is a Pro feature.
Can lighting turn on automatically at sunset? +
Yes. Anchor the start or the end of a schedule to sunrise or sunset instead of a clock time, with an offset in minutes either side if you want to be on before it is properly dark. The times are worked out from the site location for the venue's own date, so the schedule moves with the season without any edit. Set the location on the General tab: schedules anchored to the sun will not run without it.
Does the app have to be open for schedules to run? +
DMXDesktop has to be running, but no window has to be open and nobody has to be at the machine. The Scheduler runs in the background whether or not the Scheduler tab, or any other window, is in front of you. Set the application to launch at login and start minimised to the system tray and an installation comes back on its own after a power cut.
What happens if someone takes over the lights during a scheduled window? +
The Scheduler stands down on its own. The moment anyone drives the rig by hand, from a fader, a controller pad or the mobile remote, it stops changing the lights and shows a banner in every window saying so, with a Resume button. It will not touch the rig again until you resume it.
What happens on days the venue is closed? +
Add them as closure dates, with an optional reason. No schedule runs on those days and the Default look takes over. A window that started the evening before stops at midnight rather than running out its tail.
How do I test a schedule without waiting for the time to come round? +
Use Simulate. Pick any date and any time and it tells you what would run. Nothing is sent to the lights. The useful test for a sun-anchored schedule is a date in midwinter and one in midsummer: the window should move by hours between the two.
Which subscription do I need for the Scheduler? +
Pro. The Scheduler tab is now visible on Free and Standard as well, so you can see what scheduling does and what it needs, but schedules only run on a Pro subscription. Seeing the tab is not a sign that it is running.
Can different stages have different schedules? +
Yes. Schedules belong to the stage they were set up on, and so does the Scheduler's own on/off switch. A scheduled facade stage and a hand-driven event stage can sit side by side in the same show, and switching stage starts or stops the matching schedule.
What runs when no schedule applies? +
The Default look, if you have set one. Without a Default look the Scheduler asserts nothing between windows and the rig keeps whatever it had. There is also a Startup look, asserted once the application has finished starting, so the rig comes up on something known rather than on whatever it was left on.
Set the hours once and leave it running.
Download DMXDesktop and let the installation look after itself. The Scheduler is included with the Pro subscription.
