Sure.

No, only for DMX.

DMX is not broadcast from the DMXcat until you load the DMX Controller or Fixture Controller. 

Yes, but only on Android devices. Go to “Settings”, “Connect to device”. Find your device, select “Rename” and type in your new name. Hit OK. You can change this at any time by repeating these instructions.

Please make sure that your flashlight button on the side of the dongle is not stuck. If you need to please loosen the screws to free the button. If the button is stuck it will keep the dongle in a continuous update loop.

If you need further assistance, contact support@citytheatrical.com

Just select the Favorite, then “unstar” it in the lower left corner of the screen.

First make sure all of your fixture personalities are in your Fixture Controller Favorites list, then click on the Multi Fixture Link.

 You can then click the "+" icon to start adding fixtures and groups to your setup.

Once you have selected the personality you would like to patch you are presented with the fixture setup screen. Here you identify the Universe and DMX Address of your fixture. You can then decide to patch in one of two modes:
• Channel Range – Select the starting channel/fixture number and enter the number of fixtures to patch
• Fixture Count – Select the starting and ending channel/fixture numbers to patch
If you select Fixture Count mode you can also opt to have the fixture numbers done sequentially or with all the same number by clicking on the 123 icon. You can then select to have the addressing automatically spaced by the number of DMX attributes in the personality or by an offset of your choosing.

You can also choose to add the fixtures to a group. A group enables you to control the common parameters of several fixtures simultaneously or step through the fixtures in sequence. You can add as many fixtures of different models to a group as is helpful, but the group can only be controlled as a whole if the fixtures all share at least one common parameter (like intensity).

When you have completed patching you will be presented with the list of fixtures in your setup. Their fixture number will contain the colors of any groups they belong to. You can either select fixtures to control or press the 3-dot menu for more options including sorting, filters, saving the current setup or load a preexisting one, and switching to the group view. The group view can also be reached by swiping left from the fixture list.

In the Group List you can click on a group to control the common parameters of all of the fixtures in that group (for example a group containing different models of moving lights will likely have at least intensity, pan, and tilt in common).  This enables quick checking of a group of fixtures simultaneously.

When you select an individual fixture from within the group you will be controlling just that fixture, but you can step through the fixtures in the group using the right and left arrows. The attributes you change will transfer to the new fixture enabling you to quickly step through the group to test your fixtures. The last show setup you had open will be present when you open the app again. You can save and recall as many setups as you need giving you the flexibility to save your Multi Fixture setups for different applications. Any saved setups are stored locally to your device, so they will persist even if you have to uninstall and reinstall the app.

You can also view this information in the Multi Fixture Feature PDF.

While in the RDM Controller screen if you long press on any of the discovered fixtures it will enable the multiple RDM selection mode. Pressing the RDM Icon will then take you to the RDM Control screen. All RDM parameters that are common between the selected devices will be available to change on all of those devices simultaneously. As an example you can select all of a fixture model and update their personalities at the same time, or select several fixtures to perform a factory defaults.

Press the “+” button, an encoder wheel will appear, press “Edit” and fill in the information for the DMX slot that you are working with. When you’re done with the data for this DMX slot, hit “save”, then hit “+” to add another attribute. Continue on until you are done. In the pull down menu in the upper right hand corner you will add the Manufacturer Name, Fixture Name, and Personality Name. When you exit, the Editor prompt will ask if you want to save your changes.

When you “Favorite” a fixture in your DMXcat app, it saves that fixture’s personalities to your smartphone. Once your preferred fixture is a “Favorite”, fixtures are not only easier to access, they also become available to you even when you cannot access the internet.

Simply swipe it left and press “Remove”.

Use the 3-dot menu in the Fixture Controller app to reset all the DMX values for your moving light to their default home positions. This menu also offers easy access to your fixture’s user’s manual and a contact option to send corrections and feedback to City Theatrical.

The Analyze DMX function in the DMX Tester app can give you valuable information about the data coming from your lighting controller that can help diagnose the problem. The three sections that are of the most immediate help are “Number of Slots”, “Update Rate”, and “Received Start Codes”.

1. The “Number of Slots” tells you have many DMX values the lighting controller is sending from a maximum of 512. This can help you determine how many unique devices your controller can address.

2. The “Update Rate” is helpful for identifying why fixtures might be misbehaving. The maximum speed is typically 44Hz (it can be faster if fewer than 512 slots are being sent.) If a fixture periodically flashes, or goes out and comes back, then it may not be able to keep up with the full specifications of DMX.

3. In the “Received Start Codes” you will usually only see two possible values: 0x00 (for a regular DMX packet) and 0xCC (when RDM traffic is present). If any other values are present, then there is likely a bad connection or broken cable in the DMX line somewhere. There are some lighting manufacturers that use other start codes for their equipment but running across these is rare.

If you have problems with a fixture flashing every few seconds, it may not be responding appropriately to RDM on the DMX line. Make sure that RDM is off at all consoles, gateways, and wireless receivers until the 0xCC doesn’t show up in a new scan.

You can test individual fixtures with DMXcat by setting the Transmit Speed Preset to “Max” in the Transmit DMX screen of the DMX Tester app. This will send DMX at the fastest rate the DMX512 specification allows. If the fixture misbehaves, slow the speed down until you get consistent control. Most lighting consoles and DMX gateways can have their DMX speeds adjusted. Slowing down the DMX rate rarely affects any output on stage.

Sometimes turning on the “Hold Last Look” feature of the lighting fixture can compensate for the issue. If you need additional help using DMXcat to diagnose problems in your system, please use the “Report Problem” button in the app’s settings screen to send an email, or call 800-230-9497.

The DMXcat app is no longer supported for Amazon Fire tablets.

Most fixtures will let you assign a custom label that will be displayed in the RDM list. You can also sort your RDM devices by Manufacturer, Model, Label, or DMX Address by clicking the 3-dot menu in the upper right of the RDM Controller.

Most RDM fixtures will flash the intensity attribute or their displays when they get an RDM Identify command. You can use the Identify button on the main RDM Controller screen, or use the light bulb icon in the upper right, when already configuring RDM for a specific fixture.

There is an occasional conflict between the Bluetooth stack updates that have been implemented in the DMXcat app and the information about the DMXcat dongle that is stored in Android’s Bluetooth Cache. By connecting and forgetting the DMXcat in Android Bluetooth settings followed by a device reboot the cached information is reset.

Steps to resolve:

• Force-close the DMXcat app and turn off the DMXcat dongle

• Turn the DMXcat back on and go into your phone Bluetooth settings.

• If the DMXcat does not show up in your paired devices then click Pair New Device and when the DMXcat shows up connect to it.

• When it is connected go to the pairing settings and click “Forget”

• Restart your phone

• Connect and if it still won’t output try going into settings > DMXcat Update and clicking the 3 dots to do a Force Master Update, followed by a Force Slave Update.

First make sure all of your fixture personalities are in your Fixture Controller Favorites list, then click on the Multi Fixture Link. You can then click the "+" icon to start adding fixtures and groups to your setup. Once you have selected the personality you would like to patch you are presented with the fixture setup screen.

Click on this Getting Started with Multi Fixture PDF, or refer to VIII. DMXcat Frequently Asked Questions: Fixture Controller, question #4.

Use the personality editor to create a 3- or 4- channel fixture. Using the Multi Fixture Controller (Getting Started with Multi Fixture PDF), you can setup that fixture to fill a universe. Add it to a group and then when you control the group you will have simultaneous control of every third or fourth channel.

To get your DMXcat out of an "updating loop", simply make sure your flashlight button is off. You'll know this is your issue if your DMXcat goes through an entire 100% update, reboots, and then starts a new reboot cycle. This occurs if your flashlight button is stuck in, in the "on" position. The flashlight button works in conjunction with the power button, such that when it is held in when it is turned on, it automatically enters boot load mode. Simply rotate the button to make sure it clicks back out, and you'll get out of the loop.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to search DMXcat’s Fixture Controller fixture database:

1. Open your DMXcat smartphone app and connect to your dongle. Make sure your app is up to date.

2. Click on the “Fixture Controller” app.

3. Click “Database” on the bottom right.

4. Click the Magnifying Glass icon at the top right of the screen, rather than using the dropdown filters for manufacturer, personality, etc.

5. Search by the name of your desired fixture.

6. Select your specified fixture from the results.

7. Select your preferred personality from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the screen, and you’re in control.

To get a fixture added or corrected in the Fixture Controller database (ref: DMXcat Tip #19), email: dmxcatdbreport@citytheatrical.com

To report general DMXcat support issues, email:  dmxcatreport@citytheatrical.com

For general Technical Support, email: support@citytheatrical.com (also accessible via your DMXcat app under Settings>Gear>Report an issue)

On Crashes:

Update your app to the latest version through the PlayStore or Apple App Store. If it still crashes, please go to the settings and enable the debug logging.

After the app has crashed, when you open it up again, it will ask you to send City Theatrical a report. The report will help us understand the reason for the crashes.

Doesn't Support BT LE

Please go to the settings of your iPhone, select the DMXcat app, and allow access to the Bluetooth hardware.

On Fixture Profiles:

You can create custom personalities with the personalities editor. You can either start from scratch (Fixture Controller -> 3 dots menu -> Personality editor) or modify an existing one (save it as a favorite -> load it -> 3 dots menu -> personality editor).

On Pairing Issues / Bluetooth:

The first thing to do is to make sure that your DMXcat dongle is not paired with your phone. Open your phone’s Bluetooth settings and remove the pairing to your DMXcat if it is paired. The next thing to do would be to make sure that the app has access to location. To do that, open your phone settings and go to the apps menu. Find the DMXcat app, open the permissions screen, and deny access to location. Once you open the app again, it will ask you to allow access to location. Go to the settings screen and tap on “Connect to device…” If your DMXcat dongle is powered up and in range, it should show up in the list of devices ready to connect.

On Sharing Setup Via DMXcat:

Yes, it is possible, but currently, due to some Android restrictions, it is a bit convoluted if you (or the person you’re sharing it with) have a phone running Android 10 or later.

You would need a file explorer capable of opening system directories like CX File Explorer. Once you have that, you will find the Multi Fixture Setup files in the

Android/data/com.citytheatrical.DMXcat/diles/Documents/City Theatrical/DMXcat/dmx patches/ folder.

You can transfer the files with your favorite file transfer method to another phone, and then copy the files in the same path on the other phone and the setups will appear in the list of saved setups in the application.

In the case of iOS devices, you can use the Files applications that come standard with iOS devices and you can browse into the DMXcat folder to find the same files.

On DMX Connection:

If iOS:

• If the device is paired in phone settings, forget the device. Make sure Bluetooth is allowed for the DMXcat app.
• Make sure the device has location & file permissions turned on.

If Android:

• If paired in phone settings, forget the device.
• Deny all permissions to the DMXcat app, run the app, and allow them when asked.

If all else fails:

If none of the above options work, delete and reinstall the app. You can download it on the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.

If you are trying to use a Fire Tablet or a device that requires an Amazon Store download, we do NOT support it and we recommend using a different device.

 You can also read the full list of DMXcat Common Tech Support Questions PDF.