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THE ART-NET CHRONICLES

BEHOLD THE NEON SORCERY OF RAW DMX OVER ETHERNET!

CHAPTER I: THE AUDIO-REACTIVE WARLOCK RAW DMX SPELLWORK

Gothic Warlock controlling glowing Art-Net light streams

The laptop listens to the room, turns that sound into a 300-pixel picture, and sends the picture to every light over an ordinary ethernet cable. Each light in this set is about 300 pixels, so the whole animation fits on one fixture instead of being stretched across a much longer strip.

"Stay on Wi-Fi, plug in the lights, and double-click startArtnet.bat. One permission prompt, then the show starts."

BZZZT! 45 FPS 300 PIXELS / LIGHT UDP PORT 9999

CHAPTER II: PLUG IN AND START ONE CLICK

You do not install Python, Node.js, or packages by hand. The starter does that the first time, after you approve one Windows permission prompt.

  1. Stay on Wi-Fi. The cable to the lights does not provide internet, and the first run may need to download installers.
  2. Plug the lights' ethernet cable into the laptop.
  3. Open the artnet folder and double-click startArtnet.bat.
  4. Click Yes on the Windows permission prompt. Leave the black window open. Closing it stops the show.
  5. The control page opens at http://localhost:3000. Pick an animation, then adjust gain if the lights are too dim or too jumpy.
  6. When you are finished, double-click restore_network.bat in that same folder. That puts the ethernet port back to automatic.

How the pieces talk

  • startArtnet.bat installs anything missing, then starts the show. startArtnet.ps1 has to stay beside it.
  • audio_artnet.py sets this laptop's ethernet port to 192.168.0.101 and sends Art-Net to the lights at 192.168.0.100. It draws one 300-pixel frame and repeats that frame on every light. Three hundred RGB pixels fill about two universes, and the sender covers 32 universes so a row of lights can all show the same picture.
  • The control page is a small Node.js site on port 3000. Slider and animation changes go to Python on UDP port 9999, so the lights update without restarting.
  • The animations follow the same ideas as WLED and Pixelblaze: log-spaced frequency bands, a fast attack when the music hits, and a slow fade after. Those projects are complete light programs, not a pack of effects this page can load.

CHAPTER III: LIVE ART-NET LIGHTING SIMULATOR BROWSER PREVIEW

Experience a short preview of the light show. The real fixtures are about 300 pixels each. The patterns below use the same log-spaced bands, fast hits, and slow fades as the Python sender.

ART-NET DMX STREAM: ACTIVE (SIMULATED PORT 1)

CLAIM THE ART-NET ARCHIVE!

Download the show folder: double-click startArtnet.bat inside it. That folder also has the Python light engine (audio_artnet.py), the control page, and restore_network.bat for when you unplug.

⚡ DOWNLOAD ARTNET.ZIP
📦 FILE: artnet.zip ⚡ SIZE: ~891 KB 📜 INCLUDES: One-click starter, Python light engine, control page

CHAPTER IV: THE GRIMOIRE OF SETUP INSTRUCTIONS & CODE

How the System Works

Chapter II above is the whole startup. Under the hood, three programs share one laptop:

  • Python engine (audio_artnet.py): Reads the microphone, groups the sound into musical frequency bands, draws the 300-pixel frame, and broadcasts it as Art-Net.
  • Control page (server.js): The page at http://localhost:3000. Changes go to Python on UDP port 9999.
  • startArtnet.bat: The file you double-click. It asks for administrator permission once, installs missing Python, Node.js, and packages, then launches the engine.

Configuring the Ethernet Adapter

Art-Net controllers (such as Advatek PixLite, SanDevices, or DIY ESP32 Art-Net nodes) usually listen on static IP subnets (e.g. 192.168.0.100).

Stay on Wi-Fi, plug the lights into the laptop ethernet port, and double-click startArtnet.bat. Approve the Windows permission prompt once. It installs Python, Node.js, and any missing packages, sets that ethernet port to 192.168.0.101, and opens the light controls. The lights cable does not provide internet. When you are done, double-click restore_network.bat to put the port back to normal.

Python Environment Setup

Easiest path: double-click startArtnet.bat in the artnet folder. It installs Python, Node.js, and the packages below if they are missing, then starts the show.

To install the Python packages yourself:

pip install stupidArtnet sounddevice numpy

Run the Python backend (starts network configuration, spawns Node server automatically, and launches web control panel):

python audio_artnet.py

Node.js Web Dashboard Setup

If running standalone without Python:

npm install express
npm start

Open your browser to http://localhost:3000 to control gain, threshold, pixel counts, and animations remotely!

Restoring Network Settings

Done playing with lights? Simply run restore_network.bat with admin privileges to instantly reset your physical Ethernet adapter back to standard DHCP auto-addressing!

.\restore_network.bat