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System Overview

PRISM is a software lighting console. A lightweight server owns the show file and DMX output; any number of devices connect to it as clients over the network.

How It Works

  1. The server runs on the machine connected to your lighting rig (mini PC, Mac, or Raspberry Pi). It owns the show file and drives the DMX output.
  2. Clients — desktop, tablet, or phone — run the PRISM app and connect to the server. Every client sees the same show state, updated in real time.
  3. One show file serves any number of clients. Multiple consoles can work on the same show at once, with a session master coordinating them (see Multi-User Sessions).
  4. Offline deployment: you can export the entire show file to a single file and import it on a disconnected console (see Remote Access & Show File Portability).

What the Server Does

  • Holds the show file: fixtures, sequences and cues, groups, value sets, presets, playbacks.
  • Runs the show: cue playback, intensity masters, flow effects, and overlays.
  • Outputs DMX over the network (Art-Net / sACN to your output hardware).

What a Client Does

Everything you would do at a console: program cues, run playback, adjust masters, browse the patch. A desktop client gives you the full multi-window workspace; smaller screens adapt down to single-purpose views.