PCStage Index

Important note

Updated 28/4/2013

PCStage development ceased in 2008, the last code issued being version 4.7.2 Beta 7, which still works just fine.

To use PCStage fully you need to have either one of the specific DMX512 interfaces made for the product, or a licence key issued to you. The hardware interfaces as well as being the output device do double duty as a dongle, and enable the licenced features of the product.

Without one (or more) of the interfaces, there will be no DMX512 output possible.

In the unlicenced state (ie no interfaces or licence key) the Multimedia output (ie audio playback) will cease after one hour's operation. The registration feature for multimedia playback was introduced in 2005; versions 4.7.0 Beta 2 and earlier have no limit on multimedia playback.

The show control features appear to be unaffected by licence presence.

Obtaining and Installing PCStage

The official PCStage website is here, but is sometimes down; The useful files have been mirrored for your downloading pleasure.

To set up a PCStage system, go to the download page of the official website (or the mirror as linked above) and download and install the current production version (4.7.1) of the product.

The program should be installed in c:\pcstage.

Next, optionally!, you can if you wish upgrade to a beta test version, which if you are just playing with PCStage is not a harmful thing to do. PCStage Betas are generally production stable, and often have cool new features.

The last beta version, 4.7.2 Beta 7, is available from this page. Download, and copy over the fully installed existing PCStage.exe file. You may wish to make a copy of the existing file before overwriting it, just in case.

Finally, following the links on the download page, download plugins to taste. These are installed in a c:\pcstage\plugins directory, which you may need to create yourself. Documentation for each plugin is in the form of an HTML file in the plugins directory.

There are, as I write this, over a dozen plugins available, which provide a significant chunk of PCStage's capability, so you really need to view the list.

Pricing

PCStage software is priced at zero dollars / pounds / yen / euro / [whatever your currency is] for all uses except DMX512 lighting control. If you need to do lighting, and I encourage you so to do :-), you need to purchase the PCStage DMX512 output device, as detailed on the official PCStage webpage. No other DMX512 "dongle" will work. It is through the sales of these boxes that the ongoing development of PCStage is encouraged.


You can contact the author by using this contact form.