Resolume Arena DMX Output: Pixel Map Lights Through an Enttec ODE

Resolume Arena can do a lot more than put video on a screen. Add an Art-Net node like the Enttec ODE, and the same clips can drive real DMX fixtures, so a row of LED fixtures follows the colors in your video. The catch is that three separate settings have to agree before a single light turns on.

Those three are the node’s network and port settings, Resolume’s fixture setup, and the DMX addresses dialed into the lights. This guide walks the chain in order, from an ODE fresh out of the box to Resolume content playing across the fixtures. It’s built from a setup I filmed with an Enttec ODE Mk2 and five LED par fixtures.

How a Video Clip Becomes a DMX Signal

Here’s the path the signal takes:

1. Resolume Arena samples the colors in your composition at the spots you draw for each fixture.
2. It sends those colors out as Art-Net, which is DMX data carried over an Ethernet network.
3. The Enttec ODE picks up the Art-Net on the network and outputs ordinary DMX from its DMX port.
4. A DMX cable runs from the ODE into the first fixture and daisy-chains to the rest.

The payoff of doing it over the network is flexibility. Once the ODE sits on the building network, anything on that network can control a full universe of lights through it. In the video, my laptop was on Wi-Fi.

Resolume’s fixture addresses, the ODE’s universe and the addresses set on the lights all have to match. When one of them is off, the lights just sit there and nothing tells you why.

If universes and channel counts are still fuzzy, start with Understanding DMX Universes Basics. Our DMX and Art-Net practical guide covers the cabling and protocol side.

What Was in the Demo

• An Enttec ODE Mk2. The box included the unit, a power supply with universal plug adapters and an Ethernet cable.
• Five American DJ Mega Tripar Profile Plus fixtures, each set to 4-channel mode and addressed 121, 131, 141, 151 and 161.
• A 5-pin to 3-pin DMX adapter to get from the ODE’s DMX output into the first light.
• A USB-C to Ethernet adapter for the laptop, because the first setup step needs a wired connection.
• Resolume Arena on the laptop.

Notice the addresses aren’t back to back. They don’t have to be. Fixture addresses only need to line up with what you patch in software and not overlap each other.

Step 1: Put the ODE on Your Network

A quick heads-up before you watch this part of the video. The macOS network settings screens I clicked through have been redesigned since I filmed it, so I’ll describe what to do rather than where to click. The networking concepts haven’t changed.

Write down your building network’s numbers

Plug your computer into the network the ODE will live on, and turn off Wi-Fi so you’re reading the wired connection. Look at your network settings and note three things: your computer’s IP address, the subnet mask and the router (gateway) address. I just took a picture of the screen so I could refer back to it.

Talk to the ODE directly

The ODE ships with a default IP address printed on the box. To reach it the first time, your computer has to be in that same range.

1. Unplug from the building network and run a cable from your computer straight to the ODE.
2. Set your computer’s IPv4 to manual, with an IP address in the same number scheme as the ODE’s default.
3. Make the last number different from the ODE’s, so the two devices don’t share an address.
4. Apply, then type the ODE’s IP address into a web browser. The Enttec web interface loads.

The subnet mask tells you which part of the address is unique. Three sets of 255 (255.255.255.0) means only the last number changes from device to device.

Give the ODE a permanent address

In the ODE’s web interface:

• Uncheck DHCP enable first. Otherwise the ODE asks the network for a new address every time it powers on. With DHCP off, the address is static, so you can always find the ODE in the same place.
• Set the IP address to one that fits your building network’s range. Pick an address nothing else is using. If someone else manages the network, ask them for one.
• Set the subnet mask to match your network. Mine was three sets of 255. A larger network might be different.
• Set the gateway to your router’s IP address, from the picture you took earlier.

Set the DMX port

Under DMX Port Settings, set:

• Type: Output
• DMX Out Protocol: Art-Net
• Universe: 1
• Options: LTP merge, so the latest change takes precedence

Move it onto the building network

Unplug the ODE from your computer and plug it into the building network. Put your computer back on its normal network settings, then type the ODE’s new IP address into a browser. If the page loads, the ODE is live on the network and ready for Resolume.

Step 2: Prove the Lights Work Before Opening Resolume

It’s worth confirming the ODE and the fixtures work with something simple first. If a basic lighting app can turn the lights on, you know any later problem lives in Resolume, not the network.

I used the StageLight app on an iPad during its trial period:

1. In the fixture editor, enter the ODE’s IP address and universe. When the device’s short name filled in on its own, I knew the iPad had found the ODE.
2. Tap the plus at the top right, search the manufacturer (American DJ), pick the fixture profile and choose the 4-channel mode.
3. Set the start address (121), the number of fixtures (5) and the offset between them (10) so all five land on the right addresses.
4. On the control page, add the fixtures, pick a color and bring up the intensity.

Any Art-Net lighting app will do this job. The point is a quick test that splits “network problem” from “Resolume problem.”

Step 3: Set Up Resolume Arena

Preferences → DMX

Open Arena’s Preferences and go to DMX. You don’t need any input devices for this. At the bottom, set the network adapter to the one that reaches the ODE.

I picked Wi-Fi for the demo, but for a live environment, wired is more stable. If this setting points at the wrong adapter, Resolume sends its Art-Net out a connection the ODE isn’t on.

Build a fixture profile

Open the Fixture Editor and click the plus in the left section. Give the profile a name (mine was “ODE Par Demo”).

In the middle section you define the fixture’s pixels. I wanted each light to act on its own, so each fixture got one width and one height, a single pixel. For color format, I chose RGBW, which gives each fixture four channels to match the lights’ 4-channel mode. Close the editor.

Check your fixture’s manual for what its channels do and in what order. The color format in Resolume should line up with that, or the colors will come out wrong.

Patch the fixtures in Advanced Output

1. Go to Output → Advanced.
2. Click the plus at the top left and choose DMX Universe. Resolume creates a new Lumiverse with a first fixture in it.
3. Select that fixture. On the right, under fixtures, choose your ODE Par Demo profile as the fixture type and give it DMX address 121.
4. Add the rest the same way, at 131, 141, 151 and 161.

Place each fixture on the canvas

As you add fixtures, drag each fixture’s box around the center of the screen. That box sets which part of the video the light shows.

This is where pixel mapping gets fun. For a Christmas stage design, we built 3D-printed snowflakes filled with LED strip. I placed each pixel’s box to match where that LED physically sat, so video played across the snowflake showed every pixel in the right spot.

Send the Lumiverse to the ODE

Click the Lumiverse itself. In its settings at the top right, open the list of Art-Net devices. The ODE Mk2 showed up there once Resolume could see it on the network. Select it, then save and close.

Now any video you send to that output plays across the fixtures. Labels can move between Resolume versions, so if your screen looks a little different, look for the Lumiverse’s Art-Net device setting.

Lights Not Responding? Check These in Order

Work from the network toward the fixture. Each check rules out a whole layer.

1. Can the Resolume computer load the ODE’s web page? If not, it’s a network problem. Check that both are on the same range, the cable, and that no other device has the ODE’s address.
2. Does the simple app from Step 2 control the lights? If yes, the ODE and fixtures are fine, and the problem is inside Resolume.
3. Is the ODE’s DMX port set to Output and Art-Net? A port set to anything else won’t send DMX to the lights.
4. Is Resolume using the right network adapter? Look at Preferences → DMX.
5. Is the Lumiverse sending to the ODE, on the universe the ODE is set to? Some lighting software counts universes from 0 and some from 1. If everything else checks out, try the universe one number up or down.
6. Do the addresses match? The DMX address on each fixture in Resolume has to match the address set on the light.
7. Does the channel mode match? A light in 4-channel mode needs a 4-channel profile. A mismatch shows up as wrong colors or lights that don’t respond the way you expect.
8. Is the DMX cable good? Check the adapter and the cable into the first light, then each link down the chain.

A few other symptoms:

• Stuttering or dropouts over Wi-Fi. Move the Resolume computer to a wired connection. That’s the setup I’d use for a live service.
• Lights jumping between two looks. Something else is still sending to that universe, like the test app. With LTP merge on, the most recent change wins, so close anything you’re done testing with.
• You can’t reach the ODE after changing its address. You gave it an address on the building network, so your computer has to be on that network too.

The Whole Thing in One Picture

• ODE: static IP on the building network, DHCP off, Type Output, Art-Net, Universe 1, LTP merge.
• Lights: a unique DMX address on each (121 to 161 in the demo), in the channel mode you plan to patch.
• Resolume Preferences → DMX: the network adapter that reaches the ODE, wired for live use.
• Fixture Editor: one pixel per light, with a color format that matches the fixture’s channels.
• Output → Advanced: a DMX Universe with one fixture per light at the matching address, each box placed on the canvas.
• Lumiverse: sent to the ODE, then saved.

When You Outgrow One Node

The ODE Mk2 in this video drives one universe of fixtures, which is plenty for a row of bars or a handful of pars. Addressable pixel tape is different, because every pixel needs its own channels and the count climbs fast.

For pixel projects I’ve used Enttec’s OCTO controller instead. You can see that in Pixel Mappable LED Strip Project NEW Enttec OCTO and in a later build, Building an LED Snowflake for Christmas.

Watch the Video

The first half covers unboxing and networking. Remember that the macOS screens in it have changed. The Resolume half still matches the workflow above.

Jump straight to the ODE web interface, the DMX port settings or pixel mapping in Resolume Arena.

Gear Mentioned in This Guide

Affiliate links — clicking them helps support what we do at no cost to you.

• Enttec ODE Mk3 (PoE, 2-Universe) — the newer version of the node in this video, and the most reliable small Art-Net to DMX node I’ve found. Buy →
• Cable Matters 5-Pin to 3-Pin DMX Adapter (2-Pack) — the kind of adapter I used to get from the ODE’s DMX port into the first light. Buy →
• uni USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter — for a laptop with no Ethernet port, which you need to talk to the ODE directly. Buy →

Keep Going

• DMX, Art-Net and stage lighting for churches: a practical guide
• Our LED pixel controller announcement
• The 40-foot stained glass LED stage design
• LED Christmas Tree Controller, a WiFi pixel controller that takes Art-Net from software like Resolume

More training is on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CrazyAmazingDesigns.