Mr Rays Box reimagines how teams manage and automate lighting control in live events and broadcast environments. This modular control solution delivers precise timing, wireless flexibility, and scene based automation for complex venues.
Designed for touring companies, houses of worship, and corporate presentation spaces, Mr Rays Box centralizes channel intensive setups into repeatable show files. The platform emphasizes reliability, real time monitoring, and straightforward integration with existing fixtures.
| Product Variant | Core Channels | Wireless Protocol | Maximum Universe Capacity | Typical Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box Lite | 256 | Wi-Fi 6 | 4 Universes | Small venues, houses of worship |
| Box Pro | 1024 | Dual band Wi‑Fi & wired Ethernet | 16 Universes | Mid sized touring rigs, corporate events |
| Box Max | 4096 | Wired Ethernet + optional LTE backup | 64 Universes | Large venues, broadcast, outdoor festivals |
| Box Edge | 512 | RF mesh node | 8 Universes | Distributed truss and perimeter lighting |
Fixture Compatibility and Supported Protocols
Native Fixture Support
Mr Rays Box natively supports major moving light families, including profiles, washes, and blinders from leading manufacturers. The control engine automatically detects fixture models and applies manufacturer specific parameter mappings.
Industry Standard Protocols
The platform ships with built in support for sACN, ArtNet, RDM, and sMPTE 2110 workflows. Users can mix protocols on the same network while maintaining strict timing and frame synchronization across all universes.
Show File Management and Scene Libraries
Mr Rays Box organizes lighting designs into scene libraries that group cues by show, act, or department. Version control tools allow designers to compare iterations and roll back to prior configurations without disrupting live runs.
Cue stacks support timed, manual, and MIDI triggered launches, enabling seamless transitions during both automated and hand run shows. Integrated tag and search functionality makes it easy to locate scenes by fixture type, channel range, or creative intent.
Network Architecture and Redundancy
Unified Network Fabric
All Mr Rays Box nodes join a single unified network fabric where sACN, diagnostics, and management traffic coexist without VLAN complexity. The system uses intelligent packet routing to avoid congested segments and preserve sub frame latency targets.
Failover and Resilience
Built in automatic failover protects against switch, node, or controller loss. Hot standby universes and session mirroring ensure cues continue playback even when a primary path is interrupted during critical moments of a performance.
Installation, Calibration, and Maintenance
Physical installation follows a straightforward node discovery process, where each Mr Rays Box unit is detected and provisioned through a central manager application. LED status indicators and a web based diagnostics dashboard simplify troubleshooting at the venue.
Maintenance routines include periodic firmware updates, network health checks, and fixture channel calibration. Guided test patterns help verify intensity, color consistency, and motor positioning across moving light assemblies.
Operational Best Practices and Recommendations
- Use dedicated VLANs for Mr Rays Box management traffic to reduce interference from guest networks.
- Schedule recurring backups of show files and fixture profiles after every major update.
- Leverage tagged scene libraries to simplify cue calls and speed up crew rehearsals.
- Enable sRamping and rate limiting on moving light fixtures to reduce mechanical wear.
- Run periodic RDM discovery and channel mapping checks to catch configuration drift early.
- Document network diagrams and node placement so troubleshooting is faster during events.
- Validate failover paths quarterly to ensure redundancy works as designed under real load.
FAQ
Reader questions
How does Mr Rays Box integrate with existing lighting consoles and show control systems?
It connects via standard sACN, ArtNet, and RDM, appearing as one or more universes on the console network. No extra middleware is required, and sMPTE 2110 workflows are supported for broadcast infrastructures.
Can I configure Mr Rays Box to work with proprietary fixtures that are not natively listed?
Yes, the RDM mapping editor lets you define custom fixture profiles and channel layouts. You can save these as user profiles and apply them during production while keeping sACN and ArtNet exports consistent.
What happens to active cues if network connectivity is lost between nodes during a show?
Automatic failover and local buffering keep scenes playing on the last known good state. Reconnection triggers a sync handshake, and the timeline resumes without cue loss when the network stabilizes.
Is it possible to run Mr Rays Box in a fully automated cloud managed environment for multiple remote venues?
Yes, the enterprise edition supports cloud orchestration, remote node monitoring, and over the air firmware deployments. Central dashboards provide health metrics, uptime statistics, and automated alerting for distributed infrastructures.