FAQ
What LMX is, what it runs on, how it gets DMX out of a laptop and what a licence covers. The answers here are short, and each one links to the manual for the detail.
LMX is a software lighting console for theatre and live events. It runs on a Windows laptop or desktop and does the job a lighting desk does: patching, a programmer, tracked cue lists, palettes and presets, a live-updating effects engine and playback, with real DMX output over Art-Net, sACN (E1.31) and USB-DMX. It also includes a hardware-accelerated 3D visualiser, so a whole show can be programmed with no rig attached.
What LMX doesFor programming and playback, yes. LMX is built as a complete console and works the way a hardware desk does: tracked cues with parts, follows and blocks, palettes and presets held as live references rather than baked-in numbers, blind programming, fan, highlight and solo. It drives real fixtures over Art-Net, sACN or a USB-DMX interface. What software cannot give you is physical faders and a GO button under your hand, so LMX maps a MIDI control surface for that.
MIDI and keyboard mappingWindows. LMX is published to the Microsoft Store, so the Store installs it and keeps it up to date. The 3D visualiser uses hardware-accelerated OpenGL, so any reasonably recent laptop or desktop will run it. You do not need a workstation graphics card.
Download LMXYes, while LMX is in beta. The beta is the complete application rather than a cut-down version: every feature, the 3D visualiser, GDTF import, the whole manual, and real DMX output with no fixture limit. It needs a free account, which is how the Microsoft Store link reaches you, and has no time limit. After beta, the planned prices are £299 one-time or £19 per month for Pro, and £19 per seat for Education. They are subject to change, and nothing can be bought yet.
PricingLMX is in public beta and ships regular releases. Every feature and improvement in each version is listed on the release history page, newest first.
Release historyLMX outputs Art-Net and sACN (E1.31) over the network at a steady 44 fps, and DMX over an FT232R USB-DMX interface at the fastest rate the wire will sustain. All three can run at once, and each protocol keeps its own set of enabled universes.
Output and protocolsNot to program. The built-in 3D visualiser gives you a stage to light, so you can patch a rig, build looks and record a full cue stack with nothing plugged in. To drive real fixtures you need either an Art-Net or sACN node on the network, or an FT232R USB-DMX interface.
The 3D visualiserYes. Universes are enabled per protocol, individually or as a range, so you can put universes 1 to 4 on Art-Net and leave others off. sACN uses multicast by default, one group per universe, and carries a per-universe priority so a second console or a backup can be ranked against LMX on the same universe.
Output and protocolsLMX has output diagnostics built in. Dump every channel of a universe exactly as it is being sent, and trace which layer set a value, so you can tell a patch mistake from a disabled universe from a cable problem without leaving the desk.
Troubleshooting outputYes. LMX runs tracked cue lists, so a value set in one cue stays on through the cues that follow until something changes it. Blocks, cue-only changes and hard values are all available when you want to stop a value tracking forward.
Tracking explainedBoth, and they drive the same show. The graphical interface has patch tables, a programmer, cue and fixture inspectors, an effect editor and fader banks. A console-style command line sits next to it, with autocomplete, usage hints and did-you-mean suggestions on every command. Type a command and the interface follows; click in the interface and the command line shows what you did.
The command lineYes. BLIND programs a look with nothing reaching the output, and HIGHLIGHT and SOLO confirm you have the right fixture while you work. Selections take ranges and groups, and values can be fanned across a selection with wings and blocks, so a bar fans symmetrically from its centre.
Selecting fixturesYes. LMX imports GDTF files and ships with 400+ bundled fixture profiles, including moving heads with their own 3D models. A full fixture editor covers building or correcting a profile yourself: channel types, capability ranges, heads and the emitter layout.
The fixture editorLMX has a live-updating effects engine covering waveform effects and step effects, applied to a selection and editable while they run. Effects are stored in cues like any other attribute, and can be built from your patch automatically along with groups, palettes, presets and position looks.
Effects (SFX)Yes. LMX serves a page to any phone, tablet or laptop on the same network. There is no app to install: you open it by scanning the QR code the desk shows on screen. It has three tabs: playback (the whole cue list, GO, STOP, blackout and the grand master), the current fader page, and XYZ targets, where you can capture fixtures to a target and drag it across a plan of your own stage from the floor. The remote can run and focus the show but can't record over it, and it can be switched off entirely.
The phone remoteYes. LMX opens a MIDI control surface and maps its notes, controllers and faders to console actions, with feedback and latching, and you can map chosen keyboard keys the same way.
MIDI and keyboard mappingA whole show lives in a single .lmx file: the patch, groups, palettes, presets, cues and everything else. LMX autosaves, and every manual save first moves the previous file aside as a timestamped backup next to it, keeping a rotation of them, so a bad save can be recovered.
Showfiles, saving and backupsYes, a free one. The beta is handed out through a free lmxlighting.com account: creating one takes about a minute and gives you the Microsoft Store link. You do not need a licence key.
How licensing worksOne at a time. Move to a different computer whenever you like by activating LMX there and confirming the switch, which deactivates the other machine. You just can't have two machines licensed at once.
How licensing worksNothing. LMX checks your licence when it starts up, never while it is running, so a network drop during a performance can't affect the desk. It also keeps working offline for about a month after its last successful check before it needs to reconnect, and a show computer that never goes online at all can be activated with a code generated on another device.
Offline activationYes. Education seats are £19 each and are visualiser-only, with full visualisation and no DMX output, which is what a classroom full of students programming at once needs. Every 20 seats includes one full licence for the space itself, and site-wide licences are available on request.
PricingThe complete manual is on this site, and it is the same help that ships inside the app, where F1 opens it. It covers the quick start, programming, stored looks, playback, patching, setup and troubleshooting, plus a command reference and control reference generated from the console's own code.
Read the manualThe manual covers all of these in more detail, and it is the same help that ships in the app. If it doesn't answer your question, email us.