Stage Lighting Software

Most stage lighting software uses the DMX512-A protocol to communicate with lighting hardware.

Adapters to connect DMX512-A hardware to PC USB or Parallel ports are widely available.

Freestyler

FreeStyler controls all DMX512 equipment like scans, movingheads, and dimmers. Freestyler is compatible with many commercial and free DMX interfaces.

Freestyler specifications:

Up to 512 fixtures
Over 15 interfaces supported
MEVP compatible
Build-in chaser for par cans
Touchscreen compatible (dual screen)
MIDI support

Shmithz

Simple DMX Control - Simple DMX Control is a very simple control desk with 16 channels, 2 presets, and a cue list.

P-Polite - P-Polite supports 56 channels, 56 submasters, a cue list, channels patch, and keyboard channel entry.

Abuelites - Abuelites supports up to 512 channels with 20 submasters. It also supports 2 chasers/effects. It provides a cue list, a channels patch, and keyboard channel entry. It supports MIDI and integrated audio.

DMX Stage Lighting Software

ChromaKinetics provides free and open source software for stage lighting equipment which supports the DMX interface.

StageConsole - a simple 512 channel 2-scene preset light board with unlimited cue memory and auto timed cross fades. This software is designed for conventional theatrical lighting.

JinDMX - This program receives live DMX and feeds it to Martin Light Jockey. You can use this software to hook any DMX console to LightJockey. You can then use LightJockey as an Offline Visualizer to simulate and mimic what your show will look like.

WidgetRec - Recieves DMX and displays the levels (live) for all 512 channels

ColorFusion - Controls multiple American DJ Color Fusion fixtures Sophisticated display of fixture status and automated scenes and effects.

DMXweb - Lighting Control Webserver that controls 512 channels of DMX lighting. Controls lighting over the Internet via HTTP. Use any web browser to remote control your lights from anywhere over a network, local WIFI wireless or wired TCP/IP Ethernet. Works with cellphone browsers. Available for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux x86.

Q Light Controller

Q Light Controller 2 (QLC) aims to be a free alternative to commercial lighting software and hardware. The main emphasis is to build a software that can be used to control any kinds of lighting equipment.

QLC uses the dmx4linux driver suite to access various hardware interfaces. Currently DMX512, Analog 0-10V and MIDI control systems are being supported by dmx4linux. Refer to dmx4linux interfaces for more information on supported interfaces.

Easy to use device-oriented interface
Control up to 512 DMX/Analog channels thru DMX4Linux per universe
Control up to 6 universes simultaneously
Use one of the ready-made fixture definitions, or
Define your own fixtures with the device class editor™
Create fast changing or smoothly fading scenes, chasers and sequences
Easy programming of moving lights thru a pattern generator
Control scanner movements by dragging your mouse over the XY-Pad
Conjure your favourite lighting desk layout with the virtual console™
Use an external fader unit (USB or Midi) like the Behringer BCF2000 to control virtual console elements

Open DMX Theater

Open DMX Theater is a simple but effective light mixer program that sends out DMX signals to your dimmers, scans, moving heads etc.

Open DMX Theater Features:

Faders can be controlled by keyboard shortcuts
DMX out speed can be set (frames per second)
Documentation in PDF format
Sliders report DMX output value when moved or hovered
0 - 30 second timer setting for auto fader
Dual 16-channel A-B fader bank
A-B fader with manual or auto fading
Hard-A and Hard-B buttons for instant transitions
Copy-A and Copy-B buttons to copy all faders between bank A and B
Single fader copy from active to inactive bank by clicking the fader number
Master fader with blackout button
Output indicators showing current output for every channel
Source code (Borland C++ Builer 6) included for programmers
Released under the GNU GPL license

ChamSys MagicQ PC Software

MagicQ PC software has exactly the same functionality as the MagicQ consoles, enabling complete show compatibility between PCs running MagicQ PC and MagicQ consoles. MagicQ PC software is free of charge and can be used to run real shows via a wide range of supported protocols and interfaces.