Newbie wants to start with RGB Floods

[slbailey617]

Hello everyone... I'm not a total newbie... I've been doing my reading and my research but the more I read and the more I research the more I get confused.  This really seems like a "hands on" hobby but if you don't know what you're doing, you could wind up spending a bunch of money on something you really don't need so let me tell you my "step 1" goal and you can point me in the right direction.

 

I want to start with some rgb flood lights like they use on holidaycoro.  We want to use them to uplight our house and we don't have a source of power on the front of our house.  I liked this idea because I could just run some cat5 from my garage to the floods along the front of the house but if someone has a better idea, I'm open to that as well.  I also have the option of changing the color of the uplighting depending on the season... Maybe pink for valentines, blue for halloween, etc.

 

Ultimate goal would be to gradually step into a full on light-o-rama light show for Christmas in 2013 (even if it's a single controller).

 

Sorry if that's not a lot to go on but this is what I've got going on... Welcome some feedback.

 

Steve

[kelly jett]

hey steve,

sorry no one has responded to you yet.  i just saw it.  with an open ended list of questions like you have i'm really surprised you haven't gotten 20 different opinions.

 

1st of all i'm not knocking anything that holidaycoro has (they have some really good products) but what i would suggest is that you look around and check all of you options.

 

check out www.seasonalentertainmentllc.com they have some really cool plug and play as well as diy options.  look at the extreme floods and look at the wall runners.  the floods on the ground and the wall runners under the gutters.  the color of you house will also determine what will work.   they also have some videos that will give you ideas on what they can do.

 

i did a display for my city and used flood lights from seasonal  and can't say anything bad about the product or the service that i got from them. it worked out nice cause i could keep the brains in 1 area and run the cables out to the lights and have full control.   pretty easy to use.   i did have a couple of issues and greg went out of his way to fix my issues.  1 was his but most of my problems were with my lack of knowledge.  he was more than helpful. and was great about answering all of my questions.

 

something you will have to check into though is if your are wanted to get rgb/dmx devices (smart ones that you can control) then you are going to have to make sure you have the right level of software.  for what i did i had to have the advaced version. $70 extra that i didn't want to spend but will save me lots of money in the long run with the options that i have now.  plus i let my customer cover my upgrade to run his show.  he cost was my benefit.

 

if you have any questions let me know.  i'll help if i can if not i know a few members with more knowledge.  just remember rgb is really cool but their is a pretty good learning curve so take your time and ask lots of questions.  the worst question is the one you don't ask.

[jrh129]

If you are on facebook find the "group intro to rgb" they sold a "trainer" kit that was assembled by a vendor for them and are going to do some webinars on the basics. I bought the trainer kit and can't wait to learn how to make it work but I am sure even without the kit the information in the webinars should be helpful. I had a 1 controller display for christmas 2012 and am just trying to learn about  all of the rgb pixel dmx and other advanced stuff myself and I agree completely the more research I do the more confused I become.

[gmac]

I agree with kelly about the RGB floods,  I found out the ones from HC really arn't that bright, depending on your needs that is!!! 

 

The ones from Seasonal are much brighter IMO.  So you would use less units maybe keeping your cost down by using less units to achieve

 

the same brightness. You may also want to consider the ones from LOR they may cost more but you get the best warranty in the business and VERY easy to hook up

Edited February 21, 2013 by gmac

[marsh28]

I used RGB floods from Ray Wu on AliExpress last year and they were awesome.  He is currently selling 10Watt RGB spots with internal dmx encoders for about 40 bucks a pop.  Although the seaonsal entertainment spots are good, the 10 watt spots sold by Ray are almost 3 x more expensive for the same price.

[Santas Helper]

 the 10 watt spots sold by Ray are almost 3 x more expensive for the same price.

I'm confused. 3 x more expensive for the same price?

I used RGB floods from Ray Wu on AliExpress last year and they were awesome.  He is currently selling 10Watt RGB spots with internal dmx encoders for about 40 bucks a pop. 

 

What's the cost for shipping on these from Ray?

[Santas Helper]

Steve,

First of all, welcome aboard (noticed it was your first post on here).

If you are wanting to connect with Cat5 cable, here is another post talking about it.

http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/26405-10w-rgb-flood-light-reverse-engineering/

 

The 10W RGB floods are way more brighter than other floods mentioned here. I know, I compared.

Then there is the 20W, 30W & 50w. It's crazy how bright these things are getting.

You can get the 10W RGB for $20 each on ebay, shipping included.

[big joe]

Big Joe here!!  Hi.... i've been waiting for the cosmic color floods to get back in stock..., i called last week into LOR to see and they said they have some sort of problem

 

with the red sticking on., so until they fix em they ant' going to sell them.  i need them for this years display.... So if they don't come soon i will be forced to go over to the

 

"seasonall entertainment kind."  not that this is a bad idea - just don't want to have to get the brain and the differt dongles and learn a new format to control them as i'am

 

still learning the LOR

[Santas Helper]

Big Joe here!!  Hi.... i've been waiting for the cosmic color floods to get back in stock..., i called last week into LOR to see and they said they have some sort of problem

 

with the red sticking on., so until they fix em they ant' going to sell them.  i need them for this years display.... So if they don't come soon i will be forced to go over to the

 

"seasonall entertainment kind."  not that this is a bad idea - just don't want to have to get the brain and the differt dongles and learn a new format to control them as i'am

 

still learning the LOR

Go with the 10W (or higher) RGB floods and reading the link provided earlier, you won't have to worry about the brain or any dongle. You program them as normal RGB strands.

I'm tellin ya, some LED floods out there right now are gettin to be old news really fast. Just a hint.

[TonyD]

I'm tellin ya, some LED floods out there right now are gettin to be old news really fast. Just a hint.

 

I'm not smart enough to know what that means... can you elaborate? I'm planning on getting some floods but I know i will not have any time for DIY so i'm looking for plug and play. I already have a DC controller.

[marsh28]

if i were you, i'd use something like these.  http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/10W-RGB-DMX-flood-light-DC12V-input/701799_550394253.html

 

 

or if you want something REALLY cool, get some of THESE babies.  http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/High-power-led-wall-washer-36-1W-RGB-1-meter-long-DMX512-compatible-AC100-240V-input/701799_317209918.html

 

i bought six of those 36 watt wall washers from ray last year at about 110 per light [including bulk shipping].  they were amazing.  similar lights from chauvet would cost over 300 bucks a pop.

[Santas Helper]

I'm not smart enough to know what that means... can you elaborate? I'm planning on getting some floods but I know i will not have any time for DIY so i'm looking for plug and play. I already have a DC controller.

 

What I'm sayin is these new RGB and white 10W (and higher wattage) LEDs in the housing are getting alot cheaper and a heck of a lot brighter than the paranha LED types out there.

When you can get a 10W RGB flood in a weather proof housing for under $20, you know things are a changin.

And it's only February so there is still time for DIY. But if not, then you might have to settle for the "other" LED floods using a DC controller.

[kelly jett]

Big Joe here!!  Hi.... i've been waiting for the cosmic color floods to get back in stock..., i called last week into LOR to see and they said they have some sort of problem

 

with the red sticking on., so until they fix em they ant' going to sell them.  i need them for this years display.... So if they don't come soon i will be forced to go over to the

 

"seasonall entertainment kind."  not that this is a bad idea - just don't want to have to get the brain and the differt dongles and learn a new format to control them as i'am

 

still learning the LOR

joe its not as confusing as you think it is.  you don't need to learn a new format to run these floods.  with seasonal (what i have) all you do is create an rgb channel in your sequence then you tell it that its a dmx device.  then you assign the dongle in the control panel and lor talks to it on its own.  the only extra thing you have to worry about is you will have a usb coming out for lor and a usb coming out to control your dmx devices.    its really pretty simple. 

 

also now you can get many different dc boards that can control multiple devices.  if you think a little ahead now when you get your hardware you can make life alot easier in the future.

Edited February 27, 2013 by kelly jett

[kelly jett]

I'm not smart enough to know what that means... can you elaborate? I'm planning on getting some floods but I know i will not have any time for DIY so i'm looking for plug and play. I already have a DC controller.

 

tony its not that your not smart enough you just have to look at it a little differently.   you already have a dc controller so all you need is whatever dc unit you want to add (floods, wall runners, spots, ribbons) and the connections(dongle)  to get it to talk to lor.

diy is an option but if you want to, get a unit and add it to your sequence and then plug it into your dc controller.   there are lots to choose from.

[PKingRoch]

Big Joe here!!  Hi.... i've been waiting for the cosmic color floods to get back in stock..., i called last week into LOR to see and they said they have some sort of problem

 

with the red sticking on., so until they fix em they ant' going to sell them.  i need them for this years display.... So if they don't come soon i will be forced to go over to the

 

"seasonall entertainment kind."  not that this is a bad idea - just don't want to have to get the brain and the differt dongles and learn a new format to control them as i'am

 

still learning the LOR

 

This is not great news.  I was planning the same and I missed the sale on the other kind...

 

Is there any additional update on the CCF's?

[marsh28]

This is not great news.  I was planning the same and I missed the sale on the other kind...

 

Is there any additional update on the CCF's?

I'd skip the CCFs.  The CCRs LOR makes are great, as are the original 16 channel controllers.  However, there have been pretty inconsistent results with the CCFs.  Personally, I'd go the cheaper route and buy some DMX RGB floods from Ray Wu and connect them with an Enttec dongle.