Network Setup

A Spectralite Node advertises itself on the local subnet as soon as it finishes booting. Configuration happens from inside Spectralite Studio, through the Spectralite Controllers panel; the Node has no web interface and no physical buttons. This page walks through the panel end to end and explains every configurable option.

Opening the panel

The panel is not bound to a specific workspace. Open it from the panel browser by selecting Window > Add panel > Spectralite Controllers, or drag the panel in from the panel list if you already have one open. Every online Node on the subnet appears as a row in the table within about five seconds of the panel opening.

Reading the table

Each discovered Node is shown with four columns and a pair of row actions.

The Status badge tells you how recently the panel heard from the Node. Nodes broadcast a discovery packet every five seconds, so the states map directly to that cadence.

• Online (green): a packet was received in the last five seconds.
• Missed (outline): nothing seen for more than fifteen seconds; still tracked.
• Offline (red): nothing seen for more than twenty seconds.
• Rebooting (outline): the Node flagged itself as rebooting, usually after saving a setting that requires a restart.

Two row actions sit at the end of each row. The pencil icon opens the configuration dialog. The plus icon is a shortcut labeled Quick add fixture: it creates one multi-part Fixture (a generic-led-bar with one part per Node output) starting at the next free DMX address and links it to this Node. Use it when you have just plugged in a fresh Node and want a complete patch without building it by hand.

Editing configuration

Click the pencil icon on a row to open the Edit Controller dialog. Fields are grouped into identity, output, and network.

Device ID and Device Type

Both are read-only. The Device ID is the hardware serial assigned at the factory; the Device Type identifies which build the device is running (the Node reports spectralite-node). You cannot change these from the panel.

Name

Any string from one to sixty-three characters. Empty values are rejected. Naming matters when you have multiple Nodes on the same network, because the table sorts by name and fixtures address the Node by its network address rather than its label.

Start universe

An integer in the range 0 to 32767. This is the first Art-Net universe the Node listens on. The number of universes actually consumed is derived from LED count and color mode: at the default 144 LEDs per strip across eight RGBW strips, a Node consumes nine consecutive universes, so choose start values that leave space between devices.

LEDs per strip

An integer from 1 to 1000. Must match the physical length of the strips connected to the Node. If you set a higher value than the strips actually have, the trailing portion of each universe is discarded. If you set a lower value, the last pixels on every strip stay dark regardless of incoming data. Changing this value triggers a reboot on the device, which the panel reports via the Rebooting status.

Color order

A dropdown with thirty options, covering every permutation of R, G, B, and W byte positions used by commercially available strips. The list splits into two groups:

• Three-channel orders (index 0 to 5): RGB, RBG, GRB, GBR, BRG, BGR. Use these for RGB-only strips such as WS2812B.
• Four-channel orders (index 6 to 29): all twenty-four permutations of R, G, B, and W. Use these for RGBW strips such as SK6812 RGBW.

The default for a stock Spectralite Node is GRBW (index 8), which matches the RGBW strips it ships with. If your own strips come from a different vendor, the fastest way to find the correct order is to enable Test Mode (below), save, and then cycle through options: the rainbow output only looks right when the order matches.

Test mode

A checkbox. When enabled, the device ignores incoming Art-Net entirely and cycles a full-spectrum rainbow across all strips at sixty frames per second. This is the simplest way to confirm a Node is alive and to identify which physical device matches a given row in the table, especially when several are on the same network. Remember to disable Test Mode before returning to a live show, otherwise the Node will keep painting its own rainbow over whatever Studio sends.

Use DHCP

A checkbox. On by default. When enabled, the Node asks a DHCP server for an address on every boot; if no server responds within fifteen seconds, it falls back to a link-local AutoIP address in the 169.254.x.x range. When disabled, the three static network fields below are required, and the Node applies them on every boot.

Static IP, Gateway, Subnet Mask

Only editable when Use DHCP is off. Each field accepts any valid IPv4 address; the panel validates the format before sending. Static IP is the address the Node will bind to, Gateway is optional but required if you need cross-subnet routing (Art-Net from Studio usually does not), and Subnet Mask defines the local network size. The defaults that ship on a fresh Node are 192.168.1.171, 192.168.1.1, and 255.255.255.0.

When to use DHCP vs static

DHCP is the right default for bench work, prototyping, and any situation where the network already has a DHCP server. Static IPs are worth the effort for production rigs where addresses must stay stable across router swaps, switch reboots, and cable reordering. Static also avoids the AutoIP trap: a DHCP network that temporarily loses its server will push every Node to 169.254.x.x addresses, which work in isolation but do not route back to the host if the host is still on a regular subnet.

Saving changes

The Save Configuration button sends a single UDP packet to the Node over port 46245. The Node applies the change and, for fields that require it (LEDs per Strip, color order, static network), reboots. Within roughly five seconds you will see the Node come back through discovery with the new configuration reflected in the table. The panel shows toast notifications for both success and failure states, and if a validation error is caught before send, the packet is not transmitted and the problematic field is flagged.

If a save appears to go through but the Node never reappears in the table, check that it has not moved to an address your host can no longer reach. A common case: switching Use DHCP off without setting a static IP on the host's subnet produces a Node that is configured correctly but unreachable. Power-cycle with DHCP re-enabled, then reconfigure.

Related

• Spectralite Controllers Panel: full panel reference
• Boot Indicators: read device state from the LEDs
• Art-Net Setup: configuring the host-side Art-Net output