RGB Advice and information

[LightFly]

I am new. I am NOT a techie by an stretch of the imagination. I currently have one set of 10 dollar LED lights setup around my roof line. That's it. 

I am really interested in doing something for the 4th of July/Halloween because I think it is too late for Christmas this year.

I REALLY like the concept of the RGBs and the ability to essentially have any display at any given time.

My plan would be to have a few rows on my roof, then outline my roofline, windows, garage, trim etc. additionally, For Christmas I would line my sidewalk and bushes.

I like the look of traditional lights, but the ease of ribbon installation makes them super appealing.

 

 

A: Can you program the RGB ribbons to look like traditional lights or should I just go with the RGB pixels?

B: If I go with the pixels, can I achieve the same effects as the ribbons? such as text and images (like a waving American flag, or snow falling on the rooftop?)

 

 My plan would be to leave them on steady for most of the evening in a traditional manner, in the early evening I would run a show and then put them back to steady after that for the rest of evening.

 

 

C: Can I just hook up once controller to an outlet and run the roof on one channel, the roofline on another, the trim on a 3rd and my bushes/sidewalk on a 4th? Is is that simple?

D: should I go with a DMX controller to have the added effects of a fog machine in October, Smoke/sparks on the 4th of July, etc.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[Ron Boyd]

http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/32270-cmb-24-videos/?p=297149

 

In this post I made awhile back, is probably most of what you need to know to get RGB up and running.

 

A: If you're wanting a traditional look, then I would go with Pixels or nodes as opposed to Ribbons. LOR CCBs will give the C9 look and there are 100 pixels in a set with 6" spacing.

B: To get these effects, it will depend on your spacing and how far away from your viewers the element will be. My 180° pixel tree is roughly 50' from viewers and has 3" spacing. The legs are about 10" apart and the text and images are fine.

C: If you're referring to the LOR AC controllers, no. Well, you can, but you'll only get 5 RGB channels. Plus, there's the whole AC/DC power issue with that. There are several DC controllers on the market. This is assuming Dumb RGB Nodes, the LOR CMB24-D can be ran as a LOR controller for RGBs or can be ran as a DMX controller for RGBs. You would have 8 RGB channels, 3 channels for the red, green and blue LEDs and a 12v+ for the power for each set of outputs. If using Smart pixels, such as the CCBs, that is a different animal.

D: I have no experience with a fog machine, so I can't help you with this one.

 

Look over the links, watch the videos and then ask the questions for the parts you don't understand. It's seems to be overwhelming at times, but it's really quite simple.

 

Hope this helps,

Ron

[LightFly]

Thanks Ron. Great info.

[Ron Boyd]

You're welcome. Just as an after thought, put your location on your avatar and there may be someone close that can help further. It doesn't have to be specific, just a state and/or city. just a thought.

[chandalen]

For halloween I had 3 fog machines going and with the LOR system.  There is a relay that Radio shack sells, that you have to attach to the remote for the smoke machine.  It basically overrides the smoke machines switch, and when the LOR controller turns on the 'light' it tells the smoke machine to turn on for the duration.

 

The relay I used was a 12-120v 3 amp DPDT (dual pole dual throw) switch.  If you want specifics let me know and I'll take pictures of what I did, and how I did it.