Glossary

The terms of the trade and those of DreamShow, with a short definition. Terms are in alphabetical order.

A

• Aim: tool that points the selected moving heads at the point clicked on the plan or in the 3D view. See Aiming and covering a zone with moving heads.
• Arm (a robot): allow the Robot blocks to make the robot move. When disarmed, they are ignored. See Humanoid robots.
• Art-Net: protocol that carries DMX over a computer network (Ethernet, Wi-Fi), to an Art-Net node that outputs it again on a DMX cable. Each universe has a network number (0 to 32,767 in DreamShow).
• Audience in: pre-show lighting mood: the house gently lit, the stage in half-light.
• Auto: trigger of a scene that moves on to the next one by itself after a delay.
• Auto-fade (disengage): box that prevents any automatic chaining: everything advances on GO.
• Autosave: subfolder where DreamShow keeps a dated copy of each saved file.

B

• Backlight: fixture placed behind the actors, lighting them from behind.
• Backstage display: information screen in the wings or dressing rooms, showing a web page served by DreamShow; the “Backstage display…” blocks of the timeline send messages to it. See Backstage displays.
• Blackout: the light switched off. BLACKOUT (cue window) is the general emergency blackout, which a second press releases; manual devices stay as they are.
• Block: item placed on a timeline track, with a start and often a length: light, effect, sound, video, wait, jump, robot, mask, display…
• BPM: beats per minute, the tempo of a piece of music.

C

• Calibration (of a moving head): setting that records where a moving head points at four corners of the stage (plus two optional points on the back wall), so that it aims accurately. See Moving-head calibration.
• Cell: part of a fixture that is set separately (each LED of a bar, each pixel of a matrix, each head of a multi-beam fixture).
• Chained: trigger of a scene that moves on to the next one as soon as everything it contains has finished.
• Channel (DMX): one of the 512 values of a universe, from 0 to 255. A fixture uses one or several (intensity, red, green, blue, pan, tilt…).
• Cue list: the sequence of the show's scenes, in the order the stage manager sends them. By extension, the cue window of show mode.
• Cue message: text displayed large during a scene in show mode: what the stage manager is waiting for before pressing GO.

D

• DMX (DMX512): the standard language of lighting fixtures: a series of 512 channels, sent continuously, about 40 times a second in DreamShow.
• DMX address: number of the first channel a fixture uses in its universe (from 1 to 512). An 8-channel fixture at address 17 occupies channels 17 to 24. The address set on the fixture must be the one declared in the venue.
• DMX faders: window that forces channels by hand on top of the cue list. See DMX values and DMX faders.
• DMX mode: fixture configuration that sets its number of channels and their role (for example 8 channels or 16 channels). The mode chosen in the venue must be the one set on the device.
• DMX stream: DMX recorded frame by frame (.DmxStreaming file), played by a ▦ block of the timeline. See DMX stream by an AI.
• DMX values: window that shows live the 512 channels of each universe as they are sent.
• .DmxStreaming: DreamShow file format that records a DMX stream frame by frame. It is used by the standalone player and by the DMX stream by an AI.
• Downstage: the part of the stage closest to the audience.
• Dynamic effect: block that varies a setting (intensity, colour, rainbow, pan, tilt, circle, figure eight) according to a waveform, each fixture offset from the others to create a wave, a chase, a fan… See Dynamic effects.

E

• Effect: named setting of one or more fixtures or groups, stored in the library and reusable in all shows.

F

• Fade: gradual change from one lighting state to another. A scene's fade to the next is the length of the transition to the next scene, on GO or automatically; a block's fade in and fade out raise and lower its intensity only. See Fades and mixes.
• Final state: the stable lighting of a scene, once its timeline has finished. It is also what you get by jumping directly to the scene. A fixture not set in the final state is at zero (except a winch, which is kept).
• Fine channel (16-bit): second channel that refines a setting (pan, tilt, intensity): the two together give 65,536 steps instead of 256, for smooth movements and fades.
• Fixture: a lighting device; DreamShow uses the word for any device patched in the venue (light, moving head, smoke machine, relay…).
• Fixture definition: the description of a model: its modes, its channels and what each value does. Imported formats: GDTF, QLC+ (.qxf), DJworld (.fxt).
• Fixture library: the set of fixture definitions known to DreamShow (over 1,600, from QLC+ and Polux), which you can add to. See The fixture library.
• Follow spot: a light that follows a performer. In DreamShow, moving heads driven by finger from a tablet. See Follow spot on a tablet.
• Front light: fixture placed in front of the actors, on the audience side.
• Full light: the whole stage lit at maximum.

G

• GDTF: open fixture-description format, supplied by many manufacturers.
• Go (GO): the order to move on to the next scene, by the GO button, the space bar or a remote.
• Gobo: cut-out pattern placed in front of a moving head's lamp, which projects a shape (star, foliage…).
• Group: named set of the venue's fixtures (“Front lights”, “Moving heads”…), which you set all at once.

H

• HTP (“highest takes precedence”): mixing rule where, between two sources, the higher intensity wins. DreamShow applies it to intensity between the cue list and a parallel sequence.
• Humanoid robot: Booster K1 robot driven from the timeline by Robot blocks. See Humanoid robots.

I

• Invisible: setting of a venue device that is drawn neither on the plan nor in the simulation (relay, power supply…), but remains patched and driven.
• IP video player: video box connected to the network, which plays videos stored on itself, on DreamShow's orders.

J

• Jump: “Go to scene…” block that moves the cue list to another scene when the red line reaches it.

K

• Key frame: recorded step of a trajectory (position and settings of the moving heads at a given moment); DreamShow computes the transition from one key frame to the next.

L

• Label: short, stable name of a scene (for example “rain”); jumps and parallel sequences target the scene by this name, even if scenes are inserted or moved. See Jumps and scene labels.
• LED mask: mask with an LED screen, driven over Bluetooth by MaskCtl, which displays faces, pictures or a talking mouth. See LED masks.
• Libraries (panel): panel of the main screen that contains the groups, the media, the effects, the trajectories and the Others list, to be dragged onto the timeline.
• LIVE: button on the main screen; when on, the selected scene is sent to the DMX interfaces; when off, only the simulation carries on.
• Log: panel that displays DreamShow's messages (information, warnings, errors). See Log, Audio and Clock.
• Loop: setting of a scene whose timeline restarts by itself until GO (or until a maximum length).
• LTC (Linear Time Code): timecode carried as an audio signal, on a sound track or an audio cable.
• LTP (“latest takes precedence”): mixing rule where the most recent source wins. DreamShow applies it to everything except intensity (colour, position…) between the cue list and a parallel sequence.

M

• Manual controls: window that drives by hand the devices declared “manual” (winch, moving-head power supply, shutters), forced permanently, outside the sequence. See Manual controls.
• MaskCtl: program supplied with DreamShow that links the LED masks to the PC over Bluetooth.
• Media: a show's sound, video and DMX stream files, stored in the medias\<show name> folder.
• MIDI: communication standard for musical instruments and controllers; DreamShow accepts MIDI controllers (buttons, faders) and sends the state back to their LEDs. See MIDI controllers.
• MIDI clock: tempo signal sent by a MIDI device, which DreamShow can follow.
• Mix: on a single track, two light blocks that overlap blend into each other during the overlap: colours and positions glide from one to the other. See Fades and mixes.
• Mood: overall lighting setting (full light, day, evening, night, warm interior, cold exterior, mystery, audience in, blackout) used by the wizards and by show creation with an AI.
• Moving head: fixture with a motorised head that points remotely (pan and tilt), often with colours, gobos and zoom.
• MTC (MIDI Time Code): timecode carried over a MIDI link.

N

• No direction: setting of a venue device (smoke machine, LED strip, house lights…) that lights up with no oriented beam.
• Node (Art-Net): box that receives DMX over the network and outputs it again on DMX sockets.

O

• OSC (Open Sound Control): network control protocol, used by TouchOSC, Companion, QLab… to drive DreamShow. See The OSC remote.

P

• Palette: named colour, position or beam setting, applied with one click; changing the palette changes all the scenes that use it. See Palettes.
• Pan: horizontal rotation of a moving head.
• PAR: fixed fixture with a wide beam, nowadays most often with colour LEDs.
• Parallel sequence: second playback started from a scene, which plays at the same time as the main cue list. See Parallel sequences.
• Patch: the assignment of fixtures to their DMX universes and addresses.
• Pixel mapping: block that runs an animated picture (gradient, rainbow, wave, fire, image…) over the cells of LED bars, matrices or fixtures. See Pixel mapping.
• ppvideoplayer: the video player installed with DreamShow, which plays videos on the monitors.
• Prism: optical element of a moving head that multiplies the beam.

Q

• QLC+: free lighting software whose library of definitions (.qxf files) DreamShow reuses.

R

• Ready: pre-show state (blackout, media stopped); the next GO starts scene 1. Reset (Ready) brings you back to it.
• Red line: the vertical line of the timeline that shows the moment being played.
• Remote (GO keys): 2.4 GHz presentation remote whose buttons send keyboard keys, assigned to GO, previous step and blackout. See The remote (GO keys).

S

• sACN (E1.31): another protocol that carries DMX over a network; universes numbered from 1 to 63,999.
• Scene: a step of the show, triggered by GO, automatically or by chaining. It has a timeline and a final state.
• Screen: video output declared in the venue: a Windows monitor (played by ppvideoplayer) or an IP video player. See Video screens.
• Show: the performance in DreamShow: a sequence of scenes, saved in a .show.json file.
• Show mode: use in performance, with the cue window. See Show mode and the cue window.
• Shutter: fixture channel that opens, closes or flashes (strobe) the beam.
• Simulation: the venue drawn in 2D or 3D with its beams and screens, locked to the red line. The ⏻ button switches it off. See 2D and 3D simulation.
• Slot: location of an IP video player with which a video file is associated.
• Sound-to-light: function where the music (microphone, line input or the PC's sound) varies a group's intensity, with tempo detection. See Sound-to-light and tempo.
• Stage left: the right-hand side of the stage seen from the audience (called “cour” in French).
• Stage light: stage lighting unit (see also fixture, moving head, PAR, wash).
• Stage right: the left-hand side of the stage seen from the audience (called “jardin” in French).
• Standalone player: small box (ESP32, Raspberry Pi, mini-PC) that replays an exported show without a PC. See The standalone player.
• Strobe: device, or shutter setting, that produces rapid flashes. DreamShow never triggers it automatically from a wizard or an AI.

T

• Tap tempo: giving the tempo by tapping in rhythm on a button (TAP) or a key.
• Tilt: vertical tilt of a moving head.
• Timecode: time signal (hours:minutes:seconds:frames) coming from a sound track, a desk or software, which starts each scene at its time. See Timecode (LTC / MTC).
• Timeline: a scene's strip of time, with its tracks and blocks. See The scene timeline.
• Track: horizontal line of the timeline that carries blocks. A scene can have several tracks that play at the same time.
• Trajectory: movement of moving heads described by key frames, placed on the timeline like a block. See Trajectories.
• Trigger: the way a scene moves on to the next: Manual GO, Auto (after a delay) or Chained (when everything it contains has finished).

U

• uDMX: small one-universe USB-DMX interface.
• Universe: a set of 512 DMX channels, that is, one DMX line. A large venue uses several.
• Upstage: the part of the stage farthest from the audience.
• USB DMX PRO: USB-DMX interface (Enttec DMX USB PRO type), recognised by Windows as a COM port.

V

• Venue: the place described in DreamShow: its dimensions, its fixtures placed in metres, their addresses, their groups, its screens, its DMX connections. A venue can serve several shows.
• Visualiser mode: mode where DreamShow receives DMX from other software or a lighting desk (Art-Net or sACN) and displays it in its simulation, without sending anything. See Visualiser mode.

W

• Wait: timeline block that stops playback until a key, a length of time, a time of day, a date or sunrise / sunset. See Waits.
• Wash: fixture (often a moving head) with a wide, soft beam, which “washes” a surface with light.
• Web remote: phone or tablet on the network that drives the show from its browser. See The web remote.

Z

• Zone: tool that draws a zone on the plan; the selected moving heads cover it. In the moods: stage right, centre, stage left, downstage, upstage or the whole stage.
• Zoom: setting of the beam's opening, from the tightest to the widest.

See also

• Welcome to DreamShow
• Main screen overview
• Keyboard shortcuts