Free up to 16 DMX channels

Show control for theatre companies

Deus ex machina listens to the actors and follows the script: on the right line it changes lights, sound, video and surtitles. No internet needed, on macOS, Windows and Linux.

From script to stage in three steps.

1

Mark the lines in the script

You load the PDF or Word file, or paste it, and select the words that fire a cue.

The script in the editor, with the lines that change the lights marked in colour
2

Choose what changes

For each line the lighting scene, the sound or the video, with delay and fade.

A cue open in the editor: the scene, the threshold, the delay and the line
3

Try it before the performance

Type the lines into the simulation and see which cue would fire, and when.

The simulation: three typed lines and the lighting cues they fired

The control booth follows the actors

The microphone hears the lines on the computer itself, with no internet. At each marked line the cue fires by itself; when needed you fire it with GO, or stop everything with Panic.

The light follows the actor.

You mark the line in the script once: at every performance the cue fires when the actor says it, even if the pace changes.

Several lines per cue

The cue fires on the first one the actor says.

One microphone per actor

Each line can listen only to the microphone of whoever says it.

Delay and fade

Each cue can wait a few seconds and come up slowly.

Every line moves four departments. Lights, sound, video and surtitles from the same script.

Drives the lights over DMX

Art-Net, sACN or a USB interface, no console needed. Each scene remembers the level of every light.

PAR stage leftScene “Ricordo figlia” Test
Intensity80 %
Amber35 %
Art-NetsACNUSB

Plays sound and music

Every sound has its own volume over time, with fade-ins and fade-outs.

  • Light rain started−6 dB, 3 s fade-in
  • Distant thunderOnce only, on “tre anni”
  • Closing music queued8 s fade-out

Projects video and images

Full screen on the second display, without QLab and never on the control booth’s screen.

8 files in the library
  • Mare di notte.mp4 Video
  • Alba.png Image
  • Titoli.mov Video
  • Pioggia.wav Sound
  • Pianta.png Image
  • Applausi.wav Sound
  • Finale.mp4 Video
  • Tuono.wav Sound

Shows translated surtitles

Cards from the script, translated offline or with Claude. On stage they move on with the actors.

Card translations
3 of 5 languages
  • Italiano, 48 cards
  • English, 48 of 48 checked
  • Deutsch, 48 of 48 checked
  • Français, draft by Claude
  • Español, offline draft

Prices

Free for lighting, with no expiry and no account. A licence adds channels and departments, for life or yearly.

Free

€0.00 for ever

Download
  • Lighting, up to 16 DMX channels
  • Lightkey, OSC and MIDI for lighting
  • Speech recognition with no internet
  • The scene desk, with sequences and effects
  • The simulation and the control booth, from a tablet too
  • The first setup of each script

With a licence

Soon

See prices
  • From 64 channels to every DMX universe
  • Sound and video, from the program or from QLab
  • Surtitles in the audience’s languages
  • More setups and the venue archive
  • Extra functions one by one, or all together
  • To move up a tier you pay only the difference

On its own or with Lightkey and QLab

Each theatre chooses where every department goes: to the program’s own engine or to the programs it already uses, over OSC. The script stays the same.

Lightkey and QLab over OSC

Consoles over OSC or MIDI

DMX on Art-Net, sACN or USB

Questions

Do I need the internet during the show?

No. Speech recognition runs on the computer: you only need the internet to download the program and the language model.

What does the free version include?

The whole program for lighting: 16 DMX channels, or Lightkey, OSC and MIDI, and the first setup of each script. More channels, sound, video, surtitles and more setups come with a licence.

Which DMX interfaces does it use?

Art-Net and sACN over the network, Enttec DMX USB Pro and Open DMX USB over USB.

In which languages can the actors perform?

Italian, English, German, French and Spanish, with one speech model per language.

What if an actor skips a line?

The cue waits for its line. From the control booth you fire it with GO, jump further ahead in the script or stop everything with Panic.