Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a major update to a project I’ve been working on for my own smart home setup, which might be useful for others looking to use budget-friendly DMX hardware.
I have updated my Home Assistant App to act as a hybrid gateway between a cheap physical uDMX USB dongle, network-based Art-Net nodes, and your MQTT network:
GitHub Repository: https://github.com/3for1hund-sudo/homeassistant-udmx-artnet-bridge
Why this app?
I wanted a reliable way to control cheap DMX LED controllers without expensive professional hardware, and I wanted it to be natively managed directly inside Home Assistant. With this new release, it now bridges both USB and network DMX hardware simultaneously.
Key Features:
- Hybrid Hardware Engine: Output via physical uDMX hardware and network Art-Net broadcast/unicast streams at the same time.
- Pure Art-Net Mode (Zero Limitations): If no uDMX dongle is connected, it runs as a lightweight, lightning-fast network node maintaining 43+ FPS across hundreds of channels.
- Thread-Safe Core: Fully protected using internal locking to completely eliminate race conditions or stalls between incoming MQTT packets and the high-speed DMX render loop.
- Cross-Platform / Universal: Runs seamlessly on both ARM64 (Raspberry Pi) and x86_64 (Intel NUC / PC) architectures thanks to a .NET 9 framework-dependent runtime.
- Dynamic Channel Management: Uses an integrated Python script to automatically calculate channel requirements and compile the necessary XML config layout (
default.cfg) on the fly, based entirely on your HA UI configuration. - RGBGROUP Linking: Automatically reserves helper sub-channels for multi-channel fixtures (RGB, RGBW, RGBWW), linking them to the master channel.
- Supported Effects (Colormodes): Includes native support for
fade,pulse, andcmorph(continuous cycles through custom color lists). You can now configure loop speeds and random modes individually per fixture in the UI. - Live FPS Logging: Outputs the actual effect render FPS directly to the Home Assistant logs so you can easily monitor your hardware and network limits.
Moving Heads & Stage Lights
Even though it’s optimized for LEDs, you can easily use it to connect professional stage lights. For instance, you can assign physical pan/tilt channels as a standard White (W) channel slider to control the position of a moving head right from your dashboard!
Quick Note on Installation
Since it communicates directly with the host’s USB controller, you must disable Protected Mode in the app settings before starting it.
Feel free to check it out, add the repository link to your local App Store, and let me know what you think!
Best regards,
3for1hund-sudo