DL.3 Digital Light User Manual 105
Chapter 10: Graphic Functions: Synchronizing Content
After designating a master fixture, you can synchronize the content of
other Axon or DL.3 fixtures to any Object on the master in terms of
playback time, rotation or both.

Synchronization Overview

Any DL.3 Axon or DL.2 media server can synchronize playback between graphic objects
projected from different servers linked to the same Ethernet network. Synchronization is not
“Slaving”. With “Slaving”, the master’s DMX values for the synchronized function(s) overrides
(replaces) the slave DMX values. When synchronizing content for Axon or DL.3 and DL.2
fixtures, the appropriate DMX channels for all the “synced” fixtures and the “master” fixture
must be set to the same values.

Fixture Identification

A fixture ID default of 1 is assigned to every DL.2 and Axon server on your Ethernet fixture
network. For synchronization to work, you will need to assign each DL.2 and Axon server a
Unique Fixture ID from 1 to 255 using the CMA (see “DL.3 and DL.2 Media Server
Configuration Options” on page 16-208 and “Axon Media Server Configuration Options” on
page 16-211) or through the onboard Menu System (for DL.3 and DL.2 fixtures).

Playback Timing

Synchronizing playback sets all applicable fixtures to a master clock so that all fixtures have
a definite, synchronized starting point when playing back their sequences (or loops). The
master fixture determines the sequence length for all the other fixtures in the link, regardless
of the number of programmed scenes or the sequence length of the individual fixtures
synchronizing to the master.
When the master fixture reaches the end of the selected media file segment, all fixtures will
restart at In Frame point of their media file segment (regardless of whether the playback has
come to the selected Out Frame) and all the clocks will be reset to zero. For example, if a
synchronizing fixture’s media segment has a shorter sequence length than the master
fixture’s media file segment, it continuously repeats its sequence until the master fixture
resets all the clocks. If a synchronizing fixture’s media segment has a longer sequence length,
it restarts at the In Frame point before completing its entire sequence.