The DPW MegaCtrl Box is a custom solution designed for a niche market but one that there was a clear gap and need for. Designed for the ETC ecosystem (in particular the ETC EOS Nomad setups) where the EOS software runs on a standard PC or Apple Mac device. Without the physical interface of a real lighting console, it is often the physical control that a lighting programmer / designer will miss the most when using these types of setups, which are becoming increasingly common, particularly in pre-visualisation contexts and portable setups for travelling designers.
The DPW MegaCtrl Box connects to the lighting computer over a single USB C connection, reducing the need for a network setup. This the communicates with the ETC software using OSC (Open Sound Control – A network protocol that uses UDP or TCP using a wired or wireless network.)
This additional freestanding, self-contained device contains 4 encoders which follow the 4 onscreen virtual encoders which are always visible at the bottom of the screen in the EOS software. These virtual encoders change parameters and uses depending on the currently selected lighting fixture / fixtures. If you select multiple different types of lighting fixture on the command line then EOS will try to display parameters for all of these fixtures (however please be aware this can sometimes cause issues as parameters don’t match – this is out of my control as it is built into the lighting software.
The MegaCtrl Box also incorporates a physical level wheel which recreates the expected behaviour of a level wheel on a typical lighting console, particularly ETC; the level wheel only controls the intensity of what is currently on the command line.
This product comes fully assembled. You will need to supply your own USB C cable as the box will not be shipped with one, it requires a data transfer capable USB C cable rather than just a power delivery cable. You will then be required to install a driver for the device to work. This is available to download and install for free (external website) from the following address: https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/software/CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver.zip – As this is an external website I cannot be responsible for any repercussions caused by you accessing / using / downloading from this site, but please let me know if the link is broken so I can source an alternative. This requirement to install a driver is due to the underlying technology I have used to build this product (ESP32) requiring an additional driver to connect to desktop computers.
This product will be available to purchase via eBay for shipping globally very shortly. The link will be added to this page when available – Please be aware that they will be released in small batches as they are all made in my own home, the casing personally 3D printed, and completely wired and assembled by myself, therefore I cannot produce these in batch quantities unless I later discover that there is a huge demand for them.
If you require any support or have custom requirements, please let me know via my email address on my contact me page or via social media and I will do my best to assist where I can, but please understand that I am a student and this is a side project for me, so I cannot dedicate a huge amount of time to tech support. Please be aware of the technicialities required before purchasing this device, and ensure you are technically competent enough to set it up and operate it. This product has no use unless you are a user of the ETC EOS software.
Warnings / Disclaimers:
I am a single (student) developer working on this project after identifying a gap in products available to purchase online. As a result of this, there may be bugs in the code and therefore I advise you to do your own testing and have a back up plan incase the device stops working as expected.
Panter-Wray Event Productions as the distributor of this device and myself (Dawson Panter-Wray) are in no way connected, affiliated or sponsored by ETC and there should be no connection between these entities and/or companies. You use this device at your own risk and we are not responsible for your use of it.