Luminair Reviews

by Bobbyboi

Used to use Luminair flawlessly for four years now all other versions have been great experienced crashing now and then but not to the point where I was worried to use it for a show. Then luminaire four comes out they start a subscription model where you have to pay every month I came in and I do it because the pop-ups in the watered down version of this app for that was trying to be passed as the legacy this app was way annoying I also wanted to use certain effects features that were not accessed in the legacy version. But Luminair consistently crashes now all I’m trying to do is pick a color the second I click on it boom crash I force close Luminair open it back up try to do it again crash. Seems like this should be getting better considering now that we’re paying monthly, and I thought that was the point but here we are isn’t the only problem I found that I’m seriously disappointed and I wish there was an option to revert to an older version that was more stable and reliable. I’ve recommended Luminair to many people who have loved it but sadly I will be turning people away from it unless any of this gets fixed.

by Joey USA1776

Prior to recent subscription update, there was the ability to add multiples of a light fixture and add them as different channels. Now since the update they are acting like this is a premium feature set. There was also the ability to change how you could adjust colors on LEDS. But that’s a premium feature as well? Also saving and transferring a lighting show is now a pain in the neck because of the new subscription based model. I get that the company needs to make money. But turning their backs on faithful customers, doesn’t seem like the way to appreciate someone staying with you for so long. I’m sure they are going to continue to attempt to switch all previous customers to the new subscription model by continuing to claim that more basic features are “premium”.

I would love to talk about how good Luminair is, but with what they are continuing to do, I don’t have a whole lot of nice things to say about them currently.

by JnJMU

I arrived at a remote lake resort without cell access only to find that the update had downloaded, and refused to run. Has been fine for years, now they deliberately broke it on an update.

Big 4th of July event, and my lights don’t work. Never again will I trust this app. I’ll spend all weekend setting up something else, but I’ll never send these thieves another cent.

by CirqueSanity

When you pay $100 for a premium App, you expect the developer to include you in basic updates to the software. 1 month later the company cuts off its entire paid user base and requires a subscription to use any of the new (basic) features. It’s not that functionality has been removed, but considering the price of Luminair, there was an expectation that it would improve over time.

It would be appropriate to grandfather-in your loyal users who predated this update since they’re mostly quality of life improvements rather than radical changes.

As a long established entertainment provider in LA we have influenced a number of professionals to try your app and we are very disappointed that you have gone this route without including your paid customers.

by Bazzlive

Glitchy and crashes, not expected from a app that was $99, I have a lot more to worry about at my events than a glitchy app. Lights will be set to sound activated like before and now I’m out almost $200 for having to buy a app twice since instead of offering a update for the original version, they made the original version incompatible with current operating systems so you must purchase at full price again. Not cool

by Skafunkdude

Used this program for years, they upgraded it changed it to pay to play. None of my files work and you can’t go back to the version 3 that worked. After paying for it twice when it worked I will be moving on. the statement from support that you can use version 3 only works if you don’t upgrade to version 4, you can’t get version three back.
There is no free trial if you have the previous version, it’s gone once you update.
It is completely unfair for long time users to get screwed like that. No answer from support will fix anything.

by SouthernEndGuy

I very rarely take the time to comment but this is absolutely frustrating for a loyal customer who paid a huge amount of money for a single app to be forced to update and join a subscription model. I was locked out of my projects as they were updated to the new version and no longer able to be opened in my already “bought” version. To add insult to injury, my “purchased” version is now gone under my purchases and I only have the subscription based version 4. I cannot believe this is how you do business!!!

by Hena Gaijin

I bought this software to allow me to control an array of Philip Hue lights for multimedia art performances. This is the only software that I’ve found that can fully automate my Hue lights, including changing the brightness and colors of the bulbs and switching between scenes, in tandem with other software that I use for music and video playback. In the future, I would like to see the developer add more features for controlling smart lights, such as the ability to store animations on the Hue bridge for smoother and faster playback; making preset animations such as fire and lightning simulation, strobing effects with speed control, etc.

by DecSlater

this app is simple and useful, because it has editable scenes with faders that can be easily changed.

this app has always been very buggy since the very very beginning, and that has not changed very much over the years honestly. Luminair still often crashes randomly, especially when saving project files, or creating a custom button icon with the camera, despite the latest iOS updates and app updates. Luminair also loves to suddenly set all channels to off (BLACKOUT) when first loading a saved project file, despite that it was not saved in that state. The workaround for that bug is to turn off the output in Luminair , load the project, then turn the output back on again. That will prevent the sudden “BLACKOUT” (for no reason) from happening. I often find Luminair’s simplicity frustrating, especially with the highly limited effects options available, and the inability to use those effects easily, without needing to create duplicate faders mapped to duplicate channels that have those different effects patched into them. I have found the developers have not been very willing to make suggested changes, like the ability to lock project, scene and channel editing ability with independent separate special passwords, in order to make Luminair more useable in a permanent install environment. Oh well... Luminair is better than most apps, and a sharp stick in the eye...

by Buster7200

So i was forced to upgrade to v4 , i subscribed but Luminair doesn’t seem to work with my system. It recognizes the arcnet interface ,ode factory ,but faders have no effects , other apps work fine but don’t give me the flexibility Luminair does.

System for testing is an 8 ch led rgbw 8 dmx faders 16bit ( tried 8bit) master fader up blackout off, simple setup just doesn’t work

Very dissatisfied 3 worked fine and not happy about subscription as i’ve paid a lot already

by MerrilM

If you add, delete, or change fixtures in your rig, Luminair is a pain to use. All new fixtures are added with all channels enabled and automatically added to every scene that previously existed. That means every existing (basic) scene has to be updated for every fixture you add. Luminair has no way to import or merge program data; so if you want the same fixtures and fixture-specific scenes (or palettes) for different colors, beam shapes/gobos, position/movement, and intensity (dimming, strobe, pulse) in more than one program, you have to create them all separately in every program for every fixture (over and over). I have asked for features that would fix this issue, and have waited for years, but they just won’t do it. Luminair looks slick, but unless you have a small set of fixtures that never changes, I would not recommend it. If you want different programs for different locations or events (with a different mix of lights), look somewhere else.

by PLR Pilot

This has been an awesome program— 5 stars. Then the program offloaded my shows to the cloud and won’t download them. I use this on an iPad and an iPhone. I can’t build a show on each device. It’s too much work. It did this right before my last show and I was literally building an emergency set 10 minutes before the show.

Until this is fixed, I cannot recommend it. The features are awesome. But if you can’t save a show, those features are useless. We need a toggle that prevents Luminair from ever deleting a local copy of the show. Please fix.

by Debzdoodle007

I have been using this app for years and it has its limitations - not as much controllability or customization capability as some pc apps, it is only one universe and definitely has some quirks - but it works! I can control my lights relatively well from my iPad and Luminair saves me having to use wired controller or having to bring my laptop to each show.
However, I was annoyed that I had to pay full price to upgrade to the current version 3 having only purchased version 2 one year earlier and that once I did I could no longer use my iPad.
I then had to purchase a newer model iPad because there was too much response latency caused by the larger bit size.
Add to that the cost of the ArtNet DMX dongle and it hasn’t been a cheap set up BUT the reliability and convenience has been great.

by Hot Strike Lighting

Please update all fixture profiles to have the Mode or Protocol number listed, and list it first. For example in the Astera Profiles there is no way to find Mode 90 or any other Mode number. It’s just listed as the channel/fader control IE: CCT DIM GM HS DIM, this makes it really difficult to decipher what mode each profile is. Listing the Mode/Protocol number first will help exponentially. Thank you.

by Sauvé Sound

I have been using Luminair for a couple of years now. Primarily for a number of school districts that I work for and their in-house dimmer racks. It’s been a very intuitive and easy app to use, especially for students. We go out of our way to use it versus a regular lighting console. It’s also has been great for musicals and special events when we need to add special lighting.
That being said, it seems there hasn’t been a cure for a long time bug about assignment of fixture's DMX address if not in order. Also, tends to crash if you make a lot (70-80plus) scenes. Say for like, a musical. Other than that, I am recommending this setup for capital projects from now on.

by Tacrab

Use this app 3 on a mobile rig for stage lighting using an iPad Pro. As with any technology there’s always room for improvement and options but overall worth the $$ for me

by Watts219

My application for using Luminair is for Mobile DJIng. I’ve never had an issue outside user error(lol).
Quick and easy to use. You can patch in any fixture, even Chinese off brands.

by Val.zs

After setting up all, accessing the scene is great. But if you have a lot of channels and needed to make a change on a particular channel, it may be hard to find because you will have to scroll through many pages and all fader looks the same.

If the text label on top of the fader is bigger or a large translucent text under fixtures faders would help finding channel with ease.

by Hi-Grade

I have some Chauvet lights and tried to use the Obey controller by Chauvet and its was so difficult to use I stopped using the controller and used the foot pedal switches that came with the 4Bars. And let the moving heads do it’s own thing via a preset program.
I found out about this this app app and wow, it’s easy to use just load in make and model of lights and off you go. I even use Luminair to make a moving head do the job of a Follow spot . Not to mention how cool and hi tech it looks when you are controlling the lights via iPad. I would give it 10stars if I could.

by BHudson85

Love all that this app can do! And so glad it includes Hue lights. I’d love if it could include more smart lightning control, for example Lutron Caseta. It works great as house lighting, so if it could be controlled via this app then it would be even more useful for affordable/lower budget and amateur event spaces.