Thread: New User - Need Help with Equipment

HI folks, new to the system but I have lots of ambition to make a great show. I hope to pull from your vast knowledge.

Goal:
LSP controlled show with RGB Smart Strings, guitar, and various traditional LED strings.

Problem is I'm starting from scratch, both in gear and knowledge. I'm not even sure what the starting point is. If I could get pointed in the right direction, I should be off and running! Sooo...

Help Requested:
1. What gear do I need to put together a basic system? I only have the LSP software so far.
2. Trustworthy sellers of the gear needed?
3. How does it connect together? i.e. box A into cable B into string C.

Thanks in advance!

Wow that's a loaded question and a matter of preference. What you will need in basic form is a dongle of some type to communicate with what ever hardware you decide. The dongle is basically your interpreter for the language. A controller(s), Cat5 cable is pretty standard for connections. LSP will drive almost anything so your choices are wide open. Light-O-Rama is a proven solid out of the box setup as is Animated Lighting. If you like to solder or "do it yourself' projects then Lynx at DIYlightanimation would be a good place to look around. All I can say is get ready because this is ADDICTIVE!!!!

Thanks for the reply, rdebolt. I guess to clarify what direction I'm going, I'm aiming for RGB LED Smart Strings, controlling down to the light, or pixel. From what I've found so far I'll need some type of controller for each string, addressing, and of course programming. And probably other things.

From what little I know about LOR, they would not be able to control RGB pixels? The effect I'm going for is something like this.

I found some good RGB Basic training at another site as I try to cram it in. Funny thing is, it strangely makes sense.

Originally Posted by Warrant

Thanks for the reply, rdebolt. I guess to clarify what direction I'm going, I'm aiming for RGB LED Smart Strings, controlling down to the light, or pixel. From what I've found so far I'll need some type of controller for each string, addressing, and of course programming. And probably other things.

From what little I know about LOR, they would not be able to control RGB pixels? The effect I'm going for is something like this.

I found some good RGB Basic training at another site as I try to cram it in. Funny thing is, it strangely makes sense.

Well depending on whether you want to Do It Yourself (DIY) or get equipment already assembled here are couple options for you.

DIY light animation DiyLightAnimation - Index Home the Lynx line or DIY controllers including "Smart Strings". All the equipment here you must solder yourself and is sold either in coops (cheaper but you may have to wait) or you buy the PC boards and order the parts yourself (quicker but more expensive). Very strong support from the members there but you must invest in learning from the wiki and board.

D-Light D-Light Designs, LLC Both DIY and assembled controllers with your choice of LOR/D-Light protocol or DMX. Carries FireFli pixel string system.

Light O Rama Light-O-RamaÂ* Computerized Shows Like D-Light above both asssembled and DIY controllers. Has the Cosmic Color Ribbon (CCR) pixel string system.

SanDevices SanDevices Pixel controllers in both DIY and assembled. You have to purchase the RGB pixel strings on your own but there controllers support many different styles of pixel strings and the controller is a E1.31 device (DMX over ethernet)

Holiday Coro HolidayCoro.com - The Home of Orginal Coro Designs for Serious Holiday Decorators Mostly design elements for your display they also carry a line of RGB stuff and David Moore the owner is both very knowledgeable and helpful.


Hope these help in some way

More great info, thanks for your patience. The learning continues. One thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is the basic layout for a couple strings. Here's what I think I know so far:

PC-CAT5-Dongle-CAT5-DMX Controller-CAT5-RGB


So to add additional RGB strings, I'm assuming I'd need a dedicated 3-Channel DMX controller for each one. But to add strings, where would I add it? Would I also need some sort of hub, or do the DMX controllers connect in line? i.e.:

CAT5---DMX1-----DMX2----DMX3


I'm not circuit board savvy so I'm leaning to the direction of nearly or completely built systems. I have basic soldering skills (burn twice, solder once) so can make my way through simple splicing and wiring. I also want to ensure that the parts and pieces I get are compatible.

I'll probably get the small kit from HolidayCoro to experiment with LSP and controlling RGB's.

Originally Posted by Warrant

More great info, thanks for your patience. The learning continues. One thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is the basic layout for a couple strings. Here's what I think I know so far:

PC-CAT5-Dongle-CAT5-DMX Controller-CAT5-RGB

So to add additional RGB strings, I'm assuming I'd need a dedicated 3-Channel DMX controller for each one. But to add strings, where would I add it? Would I also need some sort of hub, or do the DMX controllers connect in line? i.e.:

CAT5---DMX1-----DMX2----DMX3


I'm not circuit board savvy so I'm leaning to the direction of nearly or completely built systems. I have basic soldering skills (burn twice, solder once) so can make my way through simple splicing and wiring. I also want to ensure that the parts and pieces I get are compatible.

I'll probably get the small kit from HolidayCoro to experiment with LSP and controlling RGB's.

You don't need a a controller for each string. If you are going to do DMX this attachment might help.

Great document, even though my brain now hurts.

On the many references I'm researching, the Light-o-Rama site has diagrams for example systems. The one for the Cosmic Color Lights shows the path goes from the controller, to the DMX box, to the next DMX box. That's why I was thinking I daisy-chain the DMX's. My thought of a DMX controller is the little 3-channel white box. Or is that actually called a "dimmer"?

In the DMX 101 document is shows a controller that has 4 channels (to control 4 stage lights). From what I've learnd so far, I'll need a single 3-channel controller to control 1 smart strip (3 channels, 1 each for R, G, and B).

So would I daisy chain multiple strings end-to end, i.e. making a 5M strip into a 15M strip?

Now with mutiple strings all over the house, I don't think I'll be able to daisy chain one, long continuous light strip. Sooo.... I'm thinking I would need several DMX's around the house.

How would I add another section of lights to a different part of the house? Still wrapping my noggin around this...so close! Thanks!

This is my house. Total DMX using J1 systems E1.31 board via ethernet, The E1.31 is DMX out. 4 universes. Lightshow Pro V2 software.

I am using 5050 led strips. with 2801 smart IC (self addressing.) i connect 3 strips (150 Pixels ) then add 2/3 of the 4th strip to maximize channels to 170 1 universe. The J1 system has 4 universes out so i am running 14.5 rolls of flexible strip lights.

I inject power direct off the power supply to every 5 meter strip. daisy chaining the power or 1 continuous runof 12 volts dc will have too much line loss and voltage drop.

Test-Show


I would be Very happy to help you out as much as I can. although.. probably 90 % of the people here would be very happy to help all they can as well.

Mike

Wizard, love the lights. I especially like the sequence that has just a few random colors with random spacing. It almost looked like the lights were crawling along your house.

Could you make a diagram of your layout? I think that's where I need the most help, how things are laid out, that way I can start to see how they interact and operate. Thanks!