A Guide to Blackout Effects Engine
Overview
The Blackout Effects Engine allows you to create virtually any lighting effect with the right tweaks and understanding of its core principles. This comprehensive guide covers everything from basic setup to advanced techniques for creating professional lighting effects.
Prerequisites and Important Considerations
Connection Requirements
Avoid Bluetooth: Effects are not supported over Bluetooth due to its slow protocol speed
Use Wired or Wireless DMX: Art-Net, sACN, or CRMX wireless connections are required
Hardwired Connection: For best performance, connect your iPad directly to the network via ethernet
Profile Selection
Keep profiles simple: Avoid ultimate modes unless you have intimate knowledge of the profile. You will find most of the time the effect you can create in Blackout is better...and you can save precious channel space and headaches of dealing with poorly made profiles.
Recommended profiles:
16 bit CCT + RGB profiles are my favorite. I prefer these over HSI as you have more control with color effects and the ability to blackout the light (pun intended) by sending the RGB channels to 0 rather than changing the intensity is more useful in complex effects than you might initially realize.
The common example I give is if you're doing a "car process effect" on 8 titan tubes (more or less a simple chase), and then in the middle of that you need to have a cop car go racing down the tubes. This is a pretty tricky effect since the cop car needs to be flashing on its own but also needs to chase down the tubes. These are essentially two intensity FX stacked on top of each other. Having two ways to create a blackout is very useful.
Basic Effects Engine Concepts
Core Components
Every effect requires at minimum two steps:
Step 1: What's going to happen (e.g., ramp to 100%)
Step 2: Where it falls back to a background state or does another action (e.g., return to background)
Step Parameters
Each step has four key timing parameters:
Time: Time to reach the target value -- Think "Ramp Time" or "Fade Time"
Dwell: Time to hold at that value
Key Settings
Duration:
Infinite (default) -- The effect will loop until stopped
Number of cycles
Number of seconds
Grouping:
Spread: Distributes across entire selection
Number of groups: Divides selection into specified groups using interleave
Trail:
Controls time between steps
Smaller trail = longer, smoother effects
Larger trail = shorter, choppier effects
Solo trail: 100% trail/ Longest possible
Even trail: Evenly distributes steps across selection
Direction:
Forward (default)
Reverse
Bounce (goes from one end to other and back)
Randomization:
Random groups: Randomizes selection and grouping
Random rate: Affects total time with low/high percentage ranges
Random step: Randomly chooses which steps to send the fixture(s) through rather than going in a linear order
Effects are best used for anything that Loops! While Effects can be set to single cycle, I often recommend using sequences/looks for anything that will be triggered or that is a "one shot"
Creating Your First Effect
Basic Setup
Patch your fixtures in Blackout
Create a selection (e.g., Fixture 101.1-16 for a 16-pixel tube)
Record the selection into an effect
Adjust parameters as needed
Example: Simple Chase
Selection: Channels 1-16 Step 1: Ramp 1s → 100% → Dwell 1s Step 2: Ramp 1s → Background → Dwell 1s Trail: Even, 50% Total Time: 4 seconds
Common Effect Types
1. Fluorescent Flicker
Concept: Whole fixture acts as one unit with quick pops
Setup:
Selection: Head channel only
Step timing: 0 seconds (instant pops)
High point dwell: 0.1 seconds
Low point dwell: 0.3 seconds (longer)
Random rate: Enabled
Background value: Set via channel intensity
2. Fire Effect
Concept: Randomized timing with baseline level
Setup:
Selection: Individual pixels
Step 1: Ramp 0.3s → Background → Dwell 0.2s
Add a bunch of steps in with relative intensities like +10, -20 +30 etc etc
Random groups: Enabled
Random rate: Enabled
Background: 20% intensity for baseline
3. Police/Emergency Lights
Concept: Alternating sections with multiple flashes
Setup:
Selection: Half tube (using offset with 2 groups)
Multiple steps: On, Off, On, Off, On, Off (for 3 flashes)
Then switch to second color ( You can just do this with the fixture's BG settings so the left half is always red and the right half is always blue)
Total time: ~1 second for quick strobing
4. Lightning Effect
Concept: Quick flash with fade-down timing (again this may be best done with a series of Follow looks rather than an effect)
Setup:
Selection: Head channel (whole fixture)
Step 1: Ramp 0s → 100% → Dwell 0.1s
Step 2: Ramp 0s → 0% → Dwell 0.05s (quick off)
Step 3: Ramp 0s → 100% → Dwell 0.1s (double flash)
Step 4: Ramp 0.4s → Background → Dwell 0.5s
Random rate: Enabled
Manual triggering: Set duration to 1 cycle
5. Rainbow Chase
Concept: Sequential color progression
Setup:
Seven steps with different colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
Load colors directly into effect steps
Keep intensity at 100% for each step
Adjust total time for desired speed
Advanced Selection Techniques
Using Groups and Offset
Creating Selections:
Straight: Basic 1-2-3-4 order
Inside Out: Using offset to start from center
Rows: Channels per group = fixtures per row
Columns: Use interleave with appropriate grouping
Odd/Even: Number of groups = 2, with interleave
Group Management
Record different selections as groups for quick switching
Use offset to create complex selection patterns
Save effect presets to apply settings to new selections
Interleave Function
Distributes groups throughout total selection
Essential for columns and alternating patterns
Can be used in offset creation or directly in effect grouping
Working with Large Fixture Arrays
Grid Effects (Example: 10x12 Grid)
Row by Row:
Channels per group: 12 (fixtures per row)
Results in sequential row activation
Column by Column:
Channels per group: 10 (fixtures per column)
Enable interleave
Results in sequential column activation
Diagonal Effects:
Use grouping numbers that don't divide evenly
Example: 11 groups creates diagonal down
Example: 13 groups creates diagonal up
Use reverse button to change direction
Poor Man's Process:
Select first two rows (channels 1-24)
Number of groups: 12
Creates synchronized pairs across rows
Color Management in Effects
Important Color Transition Principles
The Problem: When transitioning between colors, fixtures may pass through unwanted intermediate colors.
The Solution: Pre-load the destination color in the previous step.
Example:
Look 1: 3200K with blue color wheel position set (crossfade at 0%)
Look 2: Red color (crossfade at 100%)
Without pre-loading: Transition goes 3200K → Blue → Red
With pre-loading: Transition goes 3200K → Red directly
Best Practices:
Set color wheel positions in advance
Use crossfade channel for smooth transitions
Test color transitions to avoid fringing
Consider using favorites for consistent colors
Loading Colors into Effects
Use light setting button in effect steps
Can load from favorites or set custom colors
Uncheck "use background color" to override
Each step can have independent color settings
Performance Optimization
Network Considerations
Hardwired iPad connection recommended
Monitor universe capacity (512 channels per universe)
Consider fixture addressing when planning effects
Effect Efficiency
Simpler profiles = more fixtures per universe
Use grouping in effects rather than complex selections when possible
Test effects with visualizers like Capture for development
Trail Optimization
1% trail: Very smooth, long chase
10% trail: Smooth chase
50% trail: Balanced
100% (Solo): Each fixture completes fully before next starts
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Effect Not Visible
Check background values (may be transitioning from 0 to 0)
Are you using virtual dimmers? If so you need to activate the VDimmers in the "Light settings" for each step.
Verify fixture intensity is set appropriately
Ensure proper connection (not Bluetooth)
Unwanted Color Transitions
Pre-load color wheel positions
Check crossfade settings
Verify color mode settings in fixture profile
Timing Issues
Adjust trail percentage for desired smoothness
Check total time setting
Verify dwell times in individual steps
Don't forget: You can add Effect Timing on faders! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTyBJKAWHNA
Selection Problems
Use offset preview to verify selection order
Test with flash function before recording effects
Consider using channel check (flash flash) to verify
Tips for Success
Start Simple: Begin with basic two-step effects before adding complexity
Use Presets: Save effect parameters as presets for reuse
Test Thoroughly: Use visualizers or test fixtures to verify effects
Plan Your Universe: Consider addressing and universe capacity
Document Settings: Keep notes on successful effect parameters
Background Values: Always consider what the fixture was doing before the effect
Manual Triggering: Use single cycle duration for manually triggered effects like lightning
Conclusion
The Blackout Effects Engine provides powerful tools for creating professional lighting effects. Success comes from understanding the relationship between selections, timing, grouping, and color management. Start with simple effects and gradually build complexity as you master the core concepts.