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Part 5 — The sACN Page and Connecting Vista or grandMA

Goal: the viewer can switch to Live Input, start the local receiver, point Vista 3 (or a grandMA3 / grandMA2) at it over sACN or Art-Net, patch the X2 footprint so Vista's channels land on the right simulated units, map Vista faders onto Wave Studio's virtual faders, and hand Vista the fixture build sheet and cue-list CSVs exported from Wave Studio — or hand a grandMA the GDTF, MVR and XML package from Export For grandMA.
Runtime: 8–9 minutes.
You need: Windows PC with Vista 3 and Python 3.10 or newer installed, the Wave Studio Windows receiver package extracted, and the studio open. For the recording, Vista and Wave Studio on the same PC is simplest.
Images: images/p5-modes.png, images/p5-receiver-dialog.png, images/p5-patch.png, images/p5-mapping.png, images/p5-export-vista.png.

Scope to state on camera: the receiver is receive-only. It listens for sACN from Vista and feeds the simulator; it never transmits DMX, sACN or Art-Net to anything. The Vista export is a CSV and build-sheet package you import or build in Vista by hand — it is not a native, encrypted Vista fixture file.

Vista 3  ──sACN (UDP 5568), universe 1──▶  receiver.py (Start-Wave-Studio-sACN.cmd)
                                                   │  http://127.0.0.1:8765
                                                   ▼
                                         Wave Studio · Live Input mode
                                         DMX Patch: U1, 6 ch per unit

5.1 Live Input mode and the receiver dialog

Start the receiver

5.2 Vista side: Connect Universes

5.3 Wave Studio side: DMX Patch

5.4 Console mapping: Vista faders on Wave Studio's faders

5.5 Export For Vista 3: fixture build sheet and cue lists

5.6 grandMA2 and grandMA3: live input and the grandMA export

Wave Studio's receiver speaks standard sACN (ANSI E1.31 "Final", plus the older "Draft" packet format grandMA2 still offers) and Art-Net, so a grandMA3 or grandMA2 console — or onPC software with MA hardware attached — drives the simulated units exactly like Vista does. Nothing changes on the Wave Studio side except which console's output menu you set up; the receiver, the Live Input mode, the DMX Patch and the console mapping from 5.1–5.4 stay the same. The Export For grandMA button in Layout Controls (next to Export For Vista 3) flows the other way and gives the MA a fixture type, a patch with stage positions, and the cue sheets.

grandMA3 / grandMA2  ──sACN (UDP 5568) or Art-Net (UDP 6454)──▶  receiver.py  ──▶  Wave Studio · Live Input
Wave Studio · Export For grandMA  ──▶  GDTF + MVR (grandMA3) · fixture type + layer XML (grandMA2) · CSV sheets

Universe numbering

The console's own patch universes are "Local Universe" (grandMA3) or "Local Start" (grandMA2). Patch the X2 units in console universe 1 and send that universe out as sACN universe 1 or Art-Net port address 0; the exported package already uses this convention (Wave Studio port 0 = MA universe 1).

Receiver console presets

Every receiver front end has a console choice. It sets the hint text, the status line ("Listening — waiting for grandMA3") and the tab the Vista & MA Receiver dialog opens on; the UDP input itself is the same standard protocol for every console.

The receiver accepts multicast and unicast sACN, E1.31 Final and Draft packets, and ignores Art-Net ArtSync, so grandMA3's Unicast sACN mode and grandMA2's Draft protocol both work without changing the console. The status counters on the local page show how many Draft packets arrived.

grandMA3 output (console or onPC 2.x)

1. Start the receiver on the Wave Studio computer with the grandMA3 console preset (Windows app Console drop-down, Mac menu option 4, or Start-Wave-Studio-grandMA.cmd), enter the IPv4 address of the network the grandMA3 is on, and select Live Input on the local page.
2. On the grandMA3 press Menu, tap DMX Protocols, then sACN. Edit the first line: Enabled = Yes, Mode = Output Multicast, Local Universe = 1, Amount = 4 (or the number of universes the layout uses), sACN Universe = 1, Priority = 100. Tap Enable Output at the top until it is On.
3. If the console is on its own (not in a session) also switch Send sACN If Idle Master on; in a session only the Global Master transmits. Preview Only may stay on: the receiver accepts preview-flagged data because Wave Studio is a visualizer.
4. Art-Net alternative: DMX Protocols → Art-Net, Enabled = Yes, Mode = Unicast with the receiver's IP as Destination IP (or Broadcast on a dedicated rehearsal network), Local Universe = 1, Amount as needed, Art-Net Absolute = 0, then Enable Output and Send Art-Net If IdleMaster on. Use the Art-Net launcher Start-Wave-Studio.cmd instead of the sACN one.
5. Watch the receiver status on the local page: the datagram counter climbs as soon as the console outputs. If it stays at zero on onPC, remember MA's rule: grandMA3 onPC outputs no parameters without grandMA3 hardware (onPC command wing, fader wing, xPort node or processing unit), and onPC systems are limited to 4,096 parameters. Each X2 unit takes six.

grandMA2 output (console or onPC 3.x)

1. Start the receiver with the grandMA2 console preset (Windows app Console drop-down, Mac menu option 5, or Start-Wave-Studio-grandMA.cmd → 2) and select Live Input as above.
2. On the grandMA2 open Setup → Network → Network Protocols and the sACN tab. Add a line: Local Start = 1, Amount = 4, sACN Universe = 1, Priority = 100, Protocol = Final, Mode = Output Multicast. Switch sACN Output Active on; on a single station switch Network DMX if Alone on as well.
3. Protocol = Final is preferred, but Draft works too: the receiver reads both packet layouts and counts Draft packets separately in its status line, so an old show file set to Draft needs no change.
4. Art-Net alternative: Art-Net tab, Local Start = 1, Amount as needed, Mode = Output Unicast with the receiver IP (or Output Broadcast), Network = 1, Subnet = 0, Universe = 0, then Art-Net Output Active on. grandMA2 onPC picks its Art-Net interface IP automatically. Use Start-Wave-Studio.cmd.
5. grandMA2 onPC likewise needs MA onPC hardware (command wing, fader wing or 2Port Node onPC) to unlock output parameters, up to 4,096 in total.

Export For grandMA: what is in the package

MA show files (.show, .show.gz) are not a documented interchange format, so Wave Studio writes the formats MA Lighting documents for import. The dialog asks for the width, depth and height in metres that the units cover (outermost units define the extent, centred on the stage origin) and remembers them on this device.

Fixture types, patch and positions import directly; cue contents need one programming pass per cue from sheet 04 because MA consoles do not import cue values from CSV. Program from the sheet (select units, pick the Program channel set, Arm = Armed, then Ignition = Fire for one Go), store, and use the Wave Studio receiver to check the result live. The GDTF Only button saves just the fixture type when the patch already exists on the console.

5.7 The MA panel: a grandMA command section inside Wave Studio

The MA panel sits directly under Layout Controls (since 0.34; phones show it as a detachable MA Console card on the Stage tab with Float MA, a minimize button and long-press drag to dock it above or below Layout Controls or the Layout view; Add Panels → MA in a custom workspace). It is the command section of a grandMA2 or grandMA3 — Go+, Go−, Pause, Store, Fixture, Thru, At, Please, the number pad, the executor X keys — and every key does the closest thing Wave Studio can do. Press keys on screen, type the same words on the command line, or press them from a real grandMA console through the control universe. The Key set menu shows the grandMA3 keys, the grandMA2 keys (Channel, Label, Tools, <<< / >>>) or all of them.

Command line grammar

Commands read like MA: function, object list, value, Please. Numbers run together on the key pad (1, 2 = 12); Thru builds a range (Thru alone runs to the last unit); + and − add or remove numbers. Exec 2.3 is page 2, executor 3 (fader 13). Typing works too: fixture 1 thru 4 at 30 then Enter, or the shorter f 1-4 at 30.

Lit keys (Blind, Freeze, Prvw, Highlt, Solo, Align, MA) show an underline; held keys turn orange; a key pressed from a physical console flashes the same way as a mapped flash button. The feedback line under the command line says what happened or why a command was refused. In Live Input mode the programmer keys still work but playback keys answer “Live Input owns playback”.

Pressing the keys from a real grandMA console

Wave Studio never talks to a console directly; the MA panel listens on the same control universe as the Vista fader mapping (5.4). Each key is a button target: a channel at 128 or more presses it, under 128 releases it.

1. Open the Physical grandMA console drawer at the bottom of the MA panel, choose a first channel (default 101, so fader and flash channels 1–43 stay free) and click Patch Keys In Order. The 84 keys take consecutive channels in the order of 06-ma-keys.csv from Export For grandMA; Bank & Mapping Controls → Console mapping shows and edits them under the heading grandMA keys.
2. On the console, patch one generic Dimmer fixture per key in the control universe at those addresses (grandMA3: Patch → Add fixtures, type Dimmer, quantity 84, starting at universe 1 address 101; grandMA2: Setup → Patch & Fixture Schedule → Add Fixtures, Generic Dimmer 00). Name them after the keys in the CSV.
3. Give each dimmer an executor button or a macro: store the dimmer at Full in a cue and set the executor button to Temp (grandMA3: Assign Menu → Button → Temp; grandMA2: Assign → Temp) so the key is pressed while the button is held. A macro such as Fixture 101 At 100; Fixture 101 At 0 presses and releases it once.
4. Start the receiver in sACN mode (Start-Wave-Studio-sACN.cmd or Virtual SFX Lab.command), send the control universe from the console as in 5.6, open the console mapping dialog and press Connect. Lower every mapped channel once; the MA panel then follows the console keys.

Executor faders on the console still map to Wave Studio faders through the fader channels (5.4), so a grandMA desk can run faders, flash keys, macros and the full command section at once. Nothing is sent back to the console.

Troubleshooting

Notes and sources

• Vista 3 Release 5 introduced importing cues from a CSV file, per the Chroma-Q Vista 3 Release 5 notes and the Vista forum thread on importing a CSV cuelist.
• Patch lists can be imported from CSV; see the Vista manual (AC Lighting edition).
• Fixture profiles are imported through File > Import; see Chroma-Q technical bulletin CQTB004 — Importing Fixture Profiles in Vista 3.
• Vista fixture definition files (.v3f / .fix2) are encrypted, which is why Wave Studio ships a build sheet instead; see the Vista forum thread on fixture definitions.
• Channel ranges come from the Explo X2 Wave Flame Fixture Build Sheet generated by Wave Studio's Export For Vista 3.
• grandMA3 sACN and Art-Net output menus: grandMA3 help — sACN, grandMA3 help — Art-Net, Transmit DMX using Art-Net; onPC parameter rule in Network and how to output DMX.
• grandMA3 MVR and GDTF import: Partial Show Read, Import GDTF fixture types, Patch import/export.
• grandMA2 network protocols and import: grandMA2 help — Network DMX protocols, Add fixtures / import fixture types, layer import commands, release notes (XML version rule).
• File formats: GDTF specification, MVR specification, ma.tools PatchImporter. The grandMA2 XML follows the structure of fixture types exported by grandMA2 3.4; verify in onPC before relying on it.

Recap

• Live Input + local receiver (Python, Start-Wave-Studio-sACN.cmd, http://127.0.0.1:8765), receive-only.
• Vista: Connect Universes → Streaming ACN, universe 1, priority 100, same IPv4; UDP 5568.
• DMX Patch: slot 0 = universe 1; six channels per unit; Apply.
• Console mapping: control universe, Fill Channels 1–43, Save, Connect; buttons ≥128 pressed, faders 0–255.
• Export For Vista 3: Fixture Build Sheet + ZIP with patch CSV and a cue-list CSV per stack.
• grandMA3 / grandMA2: same receiver over sACN (Final or Draft, multicast or unicast) or Art-Net; choose the console preset in the Windows app, Mac menu or --console; onPC needs MA hardware to output. Export For grandMA: GDTF + MVR, grandMA2 fixture type + layer XML, patch and cue CSV sheets, 06-ma-keys.csv.
• MA panel: grandMA command section (Fixture 1 Thru 4 At 30 Please, Store Cue, Go+, X keys); keys map to control-universe channels so a real grandMA2 / grandMA3 presses them over sACN.

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