CA State Thespian Festival 2026

We discuss the history of control of lighting fixtures, from manual control
through analog control through the DMX control that we use today. We talk about how
DMX was developed and why it has become the industry standard. Next, we learn how DMX
is transported through network systems and what those topologies look like. We talk about
how basic systems are laid out and why it matters. Finally, we discuss some technologies
being deployed in today’s fixtures that will likely become more prevalent, and how these new
features will impact the topologies of the future.