Can EMP Build It? Turning a Pixel Effect into a Film-Set Solution

Sometimes a customer comes to us asking about a product.

What they actually need is a solution.

We had a great example of this recently when an enquiry came in about our PX1 wireless pixel controller.

The client wanted to control a 16 × 16 RGB pixel panel to create a fire effect on set.

They'd already experimented with ESP-based controllers and knew they could generate the effect they wanted.

The problem came when they wanted to integrate it into a professional film lighting setup using CRMX and DMX.

256 Pixels. 768 Channels.

A 16 × 16 panel contains 256 pixels.

With individual red, green and blue control, that's:

256 × 3 = 768 control channels.

A single DMX universe gives us 512 channels.

So immediately there was a problem.

To control every pixel individually from the lighting desk, the fixture would require more than one universe of control.

But did the lighting desk really need to control all 768 channels?

No.

And that's where the conversation became interesting.

Move the Intelligence to the Fixture

Rather than transmitting the state of every individual pixel over CRMX, we suggested approaching the problem differently.

The fire effect could be generated locally by the controller.

We could adapt the PX1 firmware to contain the effect itself, while still allowing the lighting desk to control the parameters that actually matter.

Instead of 768 channels, we could potentially reduce the entire fixture to around eight DMX channels.

Those channels could control parameters such as:

• Overall brightness

• Flame intensity

• Effect speed

• Flame height

• Flame width

• Colour

• Colour variation

• Other characteristics of the effect

The controller then takes those eight values and generates the hundreds of individual pixel values required to create the effect.

The gaffer or desk operator still has live creative control.

The difference is that we're transmitting eight channels instead of 768.

From Hobby Electronics to Something Designed for Set

There was another important part of the original enquiry.

The client had already demonstrated that the idea could work using readily available electronics.

But making an effect work on the bench and making it work consistently and reliably on a film set are two different challenges.

That's exactly the gap we like working in.

In this case, the answer isn't necessarily to design an entirely new piece of hardware.

We already have much of what is needed in the PX1.

Instead, it's about understanding the application and adapting the technology around it.

The result could be a compact wireless controller that receives CRMX like any other fixture, gives the lighting department the controls they actually need and handles the complex pixel generation locally.

No unnecessary universes.

No complicated setup.

Just the controls that matter.

"Speak to EMP – They Do This Sort of Thing"

This is exactly the sort of enquiry we want people to bring us.

You don't need to arrive with a finished specification.

You don't even necessarily need to know what technology you need.

Sometimes the starting point is simply:

"I've got this thing I'm trying to make work on set..."

That's enough.

We'll talk through what you're trying to achieve, work out where the real engineering problem is and see whether something we already make can be adapted — or whether we need to build something completely new.

Can EMP build it?

There's a good chance we can.

And sometimes, the solution is much simpler than you thought.