Sunlite Suite
Adding your own fixtures
Whether you purchased the electronic interface already or simply downloaded the free software from the internet, you probably have an idea of what type of lighting fixtures you want to control. The Sunlite Suite includes a library of about 2,000 profiles from lighting manufacturers from around the world; most likely your lighting fixtures are included.
Fixtures are grouped inside the Sunlite software into "Pages". Thus, to add your own fixtures, go to:
Page menu – New page
You can see two buttons. The first "Create a new page with Scanlibrary wizard" opens our profile library. The second "Create a blank page", adds an empty page of DMX channels in the software (configuration for these blank pages is described in later chapters).
The first "Explore" button allows you to search the library of profiles installed in your computer along with the software. The second "Explore" button is a link to our online library.
We recommend you look for your profiles within your computer first, and if you can't find them, then go online. The third button opens the Scanlibrary Editor. This is an aditional software tool that allows you to construct or modify your own profiles. Please read the "Scanlibrary Editor" manual for more information on how to create personalized profiles.
Note: If you cannot find your fixture's profile in the library, please refer to the Scanlibrary Editor manual.
Once you find your fixture inside your manufacturer's folder, you will need to set a starting DMX address and the number of fixtures that fit this profile. If you are unfamiliar with the term "starting DMX address", please read our DMX Review appendix.
In this screen, you can also set the DMX universe you want your fixtures to work with (in case you have more than 1 DMX outputs).
Look at your lighting fixtures (whether the real ones or the ones inside the 3D visualizer). You should see all of them turn on, white color, to 50% pan and tilt (if available). If your fixtures fail this check, then:
1. You selected the wrong profile (some fixtures have different "modes"). You should go back and find the appropriate profile.
2. You addressed your fixtures differently than the software (Sunlite addresses similar fixtures consecutively). Figure out if it is better to re-address fixtures in the software or the real world.
3. The fixture's lamp is not ON, in which case, continue with the setup process, there will be a DMX command to turn it ON within the Sunlite page.
This screen allows you to limit the maximum Pan and Tilt in your moving heads and scanners (the wizard will skip this step if your fixtures do not have these properties). Setting limits to pan and tilt channels can be useful, but we recommend you get familiarized with other controller tools first, and then decide if setting limits for the fixtures is what you need to create your lighting effects. If it is, you can always change these limits from the "Page Properties" window (described later in the manual).
The next screen asks which preprogrammed movements you want to include (for moving heads and scanners only). Again, we recommend you include all movements (default selection).
Do not worry about all other options on the screen, once you learn the concepts of the software, these will be obvious.
There is no limit to the number of pages that you can add. We recommend you to add all your lighting fixtures from the same type within the same page, and that you do not repeat DMX addresses across different pages.