Muse plugin
ych
Posts: 50
Muse's development tools haven't been updated for a long time. Will other development tools be updated in the future?
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ych
Posts: 50
Comments
Automator and the Muse firmware will get larger updates soon, together with the release of the AVX Suite for BSS Omni. The AVX Suite will also include a new version of the Manager tool.
Will the amx muse series update other development tools? New API interfaces can be added to the existing Netlinx Studio to maintain the previous product and enable more people to quickly get started with the AMX MUSE controller!
while there are possibilities to interact between a Muse and NetLinx Controller (the Muse Controller can create Virtual Devices into a NetLinx System, to interact by channels, levels, strings and commands with the program in the NetLinx system), I don't think that there will come a "NetLinx Persona" that interacts side by side with Automator and the script languages.
In case of existing NetLinx platforms, I don't think that there will be any development for new functions than on its current levels. The existing tools like STudio, TPDesign etc may get maintenance, but no new features.
The NX masters still get fw updates, but pretty sure no deeply new features as this would require to develop the NetLinx compiler, too.
In case of the panels, Varia panels are the latest platform, and their "AMX G5" persona gets maintenance, but pretty sure no new features from within TPD5. New design tools may come up in conjunction with the Omni platform, but they pretty sure will not be native ICSP devices. For example, the new Omni Keypads are native Hcontrol devices, they can be used in NetLinx by the open API, but will not become native NetLinx (same like the N2600/3300/4321D streaming boxes, or the CE boxes).
NetLinx (hardware and software) is still maintained as platform, but I think will get no new features.
When developing new products, consideration should also be given to the usage habits of the previous generation. From the Axcent controller back then to the later NX3200 controller, the usage habits between them have been continued, not like the current Muse, which is completely different. This will make more people choose to give up, and product promotion will become very difficult!
While the path AXcess -> NI -> NX was more an evolution, Muse is designed as a Next-Gen environment and ecosystem, not just a new hardware platform as a next evolution step for the NetLinx language.
NetLinx and Muse are independent platforms, and NetLinx will still be available long term. So it is no problem to stay on the NetLinx platform.
Muse offers more common tools and programming languages and technologies, for a way easier jump into programming control systems, as it uses common tools like Automator(Nodered) and common languages Python, Javascript and Java. And Muse was just the start to the "Hcontrol ecosystem", which will soon include also BSS Omni and its keypads, Crown Amps, etc.
I know that for us who programmed in the AXcess/NetLinx language for decades, it would be or is a cut, learning the methods a Muse system gets programmed. But for the next generation of programmers, who learn such common languages like Python, Javascript or Java, or as new entry into the world of control by Automator/Nodered, it is much easier to learn that few Harman-specific things (e.g. how to turn on a relay in the MU controller by the correct object path or node) in addition to the languages and tools they already use, instead of needing days and weeks to learn about the, more or less proprietary, NetLinx environment.
I know from some of our integrators that e.g. the "old guys" say "no, I will not learn a new language or environment anymore. But we have a new colleague here, he learned Python from scratch, he also is programming Python as hobby, so Muse is the right platform for him."
Like said, the NetLinx platform will still be available long term beside Muse. So nothing speaks against it, to still use the NX platform even in new installations, if it fulfills your needs.
Maybe to think about a hybrid system setup, a NX controller and a MU that work together...
Our demo center was built in 2019, so based on NetLinx. In early 2025, we replaced the previously installed SVSI stuff with the N2600 series, and control of them is done by a Muse MU1000 with an Automator program. The MU creates virtual devices into the NetLinx systems, so channels, levels, strings and commands can easily passed forth and back (like with a module).