Final Update!
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Oct 06, 2023 at 04:05:15 PM
Dear MaestroDMX Backers,
We are ecstatic to announce that we are in the final stretch with MaestroDMX, and our contract manufacturer has confirmed we will be shipping by the end of the month! It's hard to express our immense gratitude to everyone who believed in this product and helped bring it to life through your support.
Production is in full swing, and our dedicated development team is nearing the completion of the release of candidates for the MaestroDMX software and web app.
In terms of certifications, we've achieved North American approval. However, the EU/UK and Australian certifications are still in progress. We remain optimistic and anticipate these approvals being granted before our shipping date.
It's essential for us to manage expectations transparently: Our manufacturer has only guaranteed production of 500 units by month's end. With approximately 700 orders in the pipeline, we acknowledge the possibility of a slight delay in the shipment of a few units. For those falling outside the initial batch, rest assured we expect it to be only a short span of an additional week or two past October 30.
Our shipment strategy is rooted in fairness and gratitude. Those remarkable Kickstarter backers who cast their faith in MaestroDMX over a year ago will be the first to receive their units. This will be followed by Backerkit pre-orders up to August and then pre-orders from our new e-commerce website launched in August.
To further enhance your MaestroDMX experience, keep an eye out for a series of tutorial videos over the next few weeks. These tutorials will offer insight into the operation of the MaestroDMX system, and you'll also be treated to new demo videos highlighting the system’s capability across various musical styles.
In our ongoing commitment to ensure a seamless experience once you have MaestroDMX in hand, we're launching a support portal, hiring a Community Manager, and creating a Discord community. These platforms will be live before MaestroDMX ships. This means you'll have access to all the support and community-driven insights you might need from the get-go.
Your patience, support, and belief in MaestroDMX have been the driving force behind this journey. We promise the wait will be worth every moment.
Warm regards,
Justin Love, CEO
Limbic Media
MaestroDMX Project Update, July 21, 2023
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 01:38:01 PM
GENERAL NEWS
We’ve made a lot of progress in the past 6-weeks, and we are still on track for an October 30th ship date.
We hired a brand consultant since our last update, and we’ll be debuting a fresh new look for MaestroDMX on August 1, alongside our official e-commerce website launch.
Certification has been going well, and we have almost completed EMC/EMI testing for North America, with the UK/EU up next.
We are currently doing a pre-production run of 10 MaestroDMX units for marketing, development, and safety certification testing and to evaluate the quality and repeatability of our overseas contract manufacturers. I’ll post pics when they arrive!
As mentioned in my previous update, the MSRP for MaestroDMX will increase from 500 to 750 USD on August 1. Pre-order now to get MaestroDMX at the lowest price it will ever be available again!
Pre-orders available here until July 30th
https://maestro-dmx.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders?utm_source=preorder-index-page
Warm regards,
Justin Love, Founder & CEO
Limbic Media
TEAM UPDATES
Software
- Improvements to pan/tilt motion algorithms
- Upload / Download Stages and Fixture Profiles
- Real-time synchronization of parameters and current running states between devices
- Ability to modify attribute parameters and observe the results in real-time
- Continued experimentation and testing of audio feature extraction algorithms
- Additional palette design, including palettes with UV, Amber, and White channels
- Added more fixtures to the Fixture Library
- Consultations and Interviews with Beta testers and lighting designers
- Improved responsiveness for the use of the web app on mobile phones
- Enhanced mobile experience and branding
Hardware
- Certification prep
- EMC/EMI testing for North America
- Pre-production run of 10 MaestroDMX units
- Designed programming PCB for flashing MaestroDMX firmware
Business Development
- Hired a brand consultant
- Created a MaestroDMX brand and style guide
- Designed and built the MaestroDMX e-commerce website (launches August 1)
MaestroDMX Project Update, June 2, 2023
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Jun 03, 2023 at 11:52:21 AM
General News
The beta testing program is up and running! As expected, we encountered many issues with our first beta release. Thank you to the beta testing team for helping us crush them! Our second beta release is imminent. We will showcase some of our beta tester videos after this release.
After consulting with our finance team at The Finance Stack, we’ve decided to increase the MSRP for MaestroDMX from 500 to 750 USD. This price increase will enable us to sell MaestroDMX through distributors and ensure that we make enough revenue to continue adding new features to MaestroDMX for years to come. You got a MEGA deal if you got MaestroDMX at a discount from the current MSRP. If you are still on the fence, we won’t raise the price until August 1, so you still have two months to get an incredible discount. Pre-orders are available here:
https://maestro-dmx.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders?utm_source=preorder-index-page
Warm regards,
Justin Love, Founder & CEO
Limbic Media
TEAM UPDATES
Software
- Beta systems are in the wild!
- Beta users have sent us videos using MaestroDMX at home and in the field.
- The development team has been responding to bugs reported by the beta testing team and recommendations for UI improvements.
- This next release will open pan/tilt functionality to beta users.
- Includes the ability to configure offset and width for pan/tilt attributes.
- The first Beta user survey is coming soon and will include testimonials and initial impressions.
- We have been iteratively improving our Fixture Profiles library, moving towards settings and default values for fixtures to make them more plug-and-play.
- FX Palette support
- FX Palettes allow users to manually override DMX values and attribute parameters to enable custom light cues for specific user requirements.
- Audio feature algorithm improvements.
- Aesthetic improvements.
- Ongoing improvements to the patterns and effects in MaestroDMX.
Hardware
- We worked on getting a certifiable wifi solution in place.
- The certification path has been established for NA, UK, and the EU. We plan to head to EMC/EMI testing for NA by the end of June.
- We are working on EOL testing and programming infrastructure for overseas manufacturers.
- We switched from an extruded plastic to an aluminum-based case.
Business Development
- YTD organic (no marketing) pre-sales at $34,730.
- We booked a 10’x20’ booth at LDI 2023.
- CanExport grant submitted to cover 50% of certification costs in the EU and UK and LDI expenses. We’ll know if we are successful by the end of June.
- Alacrity Canada is drafting a MaestroDMX Digital Marketing Strategy via our successful Canadian Digital Adoption Program grant application (CDAP.)
MaestroDMX: All Updates To Date
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 01:52:58 PM
Doing an uber-post of all of our previous updates. To date, they were only visible to Kickstarter backers.
MaestroDMX Project Update, April 2023
I hope this message finds you in good spirits. Today, I have an important update on the MaestroDMX project.
While our journey together has been incredible so far, I’m writing to inform you that the ship date for MaestroDMX has been extended by four months and has a new ship date of October 30, 2023. The new ship date results from our development team's recent backlog assessment for our Minimal Viable Product Roadmap (MVP.)
We know this news might be disappointing, but we are determined to deliver a truly exceptional product that will surpass your expectations.
To make sure we hit our new target ship date, we’ve hired an additional Front-End Developer. In addition, our CTO, Manj Benning, has put his programmer hat on and jumped back into the development team.
Thank you once again for your support and understanding. Your belief in our vision fuels our passion and creativity, and we're excited to embark on this final phase of the journey with you.
Stay tuned for more updates, and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Warm regards,
Justin Love
Founder & CEO, Limbic Media
Team Updates
Software
- Audio Feature improvements
- Improvements to boundary detection
- Added the ability to monitor and adjust kick drum detection sensitivity
- Continued development of beat-tracking algorithms
- Continued development of sound-responsive pan/tilt motion
- Ability to select multiple color gradient palettes for use with Maestro cues
- Ongoing Aesthetic / Pattern development
- Solidified the “FX Palettes” design, allowing users to override fixture channel outputs at the cue level for user-specific customization
- Web UI
- Fixture Profile setup
- Fixture Patcher
- Audio Settings page
Hardware
- Sourced and acquired a large volume of DMX chips that there is a global shortage of.
- The prototype case was finalized and printed for testing and certification.
- The PCB and mechanical files were sent to CM for assessment and quote.
- Researched compliance and certifications for North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia.
- Got quotes on intentional and unintentional radiator testing (NA and International)
- Got quotes for safety certification (NA and International)
Demo Program
Demo units ship at the end of April!
Business Development
- $10,000+ in further pre-sales
- Applied for a 50K CanExport grant to cover international certifications and IP costs.
- Applied for a Canadian Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) for a 100K interest-free loan to spend on an e-commerce website, digital marketing consulting, and digital advertising.
MaestroDMX Project Update, January 2023
Software
- Made significant progress on the new Web UI, bi-directional communication, and streaming updates.
- Support for extended palettes (R, G, B, W, A, UV, H, S, V, C, M, Y, K.)
- Additional work on pan/tilt functionality.
- The Maestro prototype was deployed successfully at two events over the holidays.
- Hired Dr. George Tzanetakis — an expert in Music Information Retrieval (MIR) — as a consultant to work on the MaestroDMX AI.
Hardware
- Supply chain management.
- Design verification infrastructure for audio codec testing.
- Looking into getting the DMX chipset pre-flashed by the manufacturer.
Demo Program
- Applications for the demo program are opening Friday, February 3!
Business Development
- Over $10,000 in organic sales since the Kickstarter ended.
- Firing up the marketing machine again in February.
MaestroDMX Project Update, Month of November 2022
Software
- Competitor research, resulting in additional user stories to inform our architectural refactor.
- Major back-end architectural refactor. We needed to address differences between commercial fixtures we support and stage lighting fixtures.
- Improvements to audio feature processing, e.g., allowing users to add a threshold to the audio activity level
Hardware
- Secured 750 microcontrollers and warehoused them in China.
- Minor BOM/PCB changes based on the supply chain.
- Looking into an alternate plan in response to DMX chip delays.
Demo Program
- Applications in January 2023
- Shipping demo units in February 2023
MaestroDMX Project Update, October 2022
Software
- Addition of standard lighting palettes
- Added a dimmer channel
- Completed REST interface for the web interface
- End-to-end web app displaying MaestroDMX system info
Hardware
- Preordering and inventory of critical hardware components
Business Development
- Additional 8K in sales via the MaestroDMX pre-order page
- Interview with Made In Canada
- In discussion with several Japanese companies for MaestroDMX distribution in Japan
MaestroDMX Project Update, September 2022
Software
- Silence detection and non-responsive pattern support
- Parametric control of MaestroDMX lighting patterns
- Visualization environment set up for R&D (MagicQ)
- Sourcing more fixtures for R&D
- Added web server functionality to MaestroDMX for serving a new web application-based mobile app
Hardware
- Hardware files prepared for 3rd party manufacturing
- Quotes for PCB printing, component procurement, case fabrication, contract manufacturing, and Certification costs from a partner company in China (pending)
Logistics
- Looking into a partner company in China handling global fulfillment and shipping
Business Development
- Interview with CrowdCrux, Crowdfunding Blog (publication pending)
- Consultation with “Rock Paper Scissors,” Music Tech PR firm (in progress)
- Hired temp Japanese SDR to investigate Japanese Kickstarter potential
- Working on a partnership with a new Chinese company started by a previous Limbic Media employee for MaestroDMX distribution in the PRC (in progress)
Project Update: August 12, 2022
Software
- Beta Test planning
- Completing Minimum Viable Product (MVP) backlog
- Purchasing test gear for R&D
Hardware
- Updating Bill of Materials (BOM), parts procurement, and supply chain
- Vetting multiple Contract Manufacturers (CMs)
Logistics
- Vetting Third-Party Logistics Providers (3PLs)
- Prepared Backerkit survey for shipping information
Business Development
- Looked into the Japanese version of Kickstarter
- Looked into Indiegogo OnDemand for ongoing Pre-Sales
Justin Love, Founder & CEO
Limbic Media
MaestroDMX Project Update, April 2023
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 04:14:51 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
