icedogger Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Happy holidays from sunny Southern California! Aside from my "traditional" light setup, I wanted to add an RGB light show covering my garage door only. Basically, I envision several RGB light strips forming a "screen" thus enabling me to scroll holiday messages, simple images, etc. That's all I really need. From what I gather, I definitely need the Pro level license of the ShowTime Sequencing suite but after I'm not sure if I need "dumb RGB" lights or the smart ones or if I need the CMB24D or a different controller. I know it's too late to get this done this year, but at least I'm giving myself plenty of time to get it ready for next year. :-) Any info or advice would be much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 For the scrolling affect that you want you will need a Pixcon and smart RGB's or CCR's. Dumb RGB's are all on or all off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 You will want smart strips. Each LED is individually controllable. You will want about 12 minimum for text. The more you have the clearer images and text and the more you have length ways the more text you can fit on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpageler Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Merry Christmas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icedogger Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Mr.P and EmmienLightFan, thank you for the advice! I really appreciate it. So basically, I would need:- Pro level license of the ShowTime Sequencing suite (with ShowTime add on and USB485 adapter)- (1) PixCon16 controller- (approx 12) Cosmic color ribbons Let me know if I would need anything else. Merry Christmas to you too, mpageler! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Do yourself a favor and get the red high speed USB485 adapter from the get go, it's only $2 more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 So basically, I would need:- Pro level license of the ShowTime Sequencing suite (with ShowTime add on and USB485 adapter)- (1) PixCon16 controller- (approx 12) Cosmic color ribbons Well, you only need either the Pixcon16 or Cosmic Colour Ribbons. Light-O-Rama sells Cosmic Color Ribbons (CCRs). These are 5 meter long strips of pixels. They connect directly onto a Light-O-Rama network (Or DMX but I don't want to overcomplicate things). These are a ready to go pixel strip package that comes with the controller and strip and power supply and all necessary accessories. The Pixcon16 is a pixel controller. It takes in either E1.31 (DMX over ethernet) or Light-O-Rama protocol. If you use it in the Light-O-Rama mode, it connects in with your existing controllers or a dedicated network just like Cosmic Color Ribbons would. It is recommended to use E1.31 to stop lag issues and it means you can have more channels, so more pixels. The Pixcon16 has 16 SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) output. Each output can control two strings of 170 pixels in DMX mode, and only 1 string of 170 pixels in Light-O-Rama protocol mode. To each output, you connect a pixel strip or string that you buy elsewhere. Different strips and strings use different versions of SPI. Common ones are WS2811 and WS2801. The Pixcon can control both. One of the best places to buy strips, is Ray Wu's store. He is a seller on a website called AliExpress, in China. He sells a lot of things. I used one of these strips for my roofline at Halloween. It was very good.http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-WS2811-LED-digital-strip-60leds-m-with-30pcs-WS2811-built-in-the-5050-smd-rgb/701799_653641294.html It is a 5v strip. Strips and strings come in 5v and 12v (Sometimes 24v for special items such as domes and squares). 5v is cheaper and power drop is not much of a problem in matrixes as power is often injected at the beginning and end of each strip. You will need a power supply if you use the Pixcon as well. Using the Pixcon is normally cheaper than CCRs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/775.htm this product might do exactly what you want with ease. On the product page look at the second video down for a demonstration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/775.htm this product might do exactly what you want with ease. On the product page look at the second video down for a demonstrationI was going to mention that but I forgot. Good if using pixel nodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 The company is very good at walking you through how to use their product. They would be able to sell you everything you need to set it up. In fact for extra cost I think they would even set it up for you you would just need to give them the dimensions (don't quote me on that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 The company is very good at walking you through how to use their product. They would be able to sell you everything you need to set it up. In fact for extra cost I think they would even set it up for you you would just need to give them the dimensions (don't quote me on that) You mean HolidayCoro? Their warranty only lasts 60 days on most of their products. One of the reasons I have not brought anything from them. I have heard mixed reviews. Either very good or very bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I wasn't talking warranty I was only talking about a company that could walk him through the process. We're lucky we get a warranty at all on things we take out of the box and immediately start cutting up and modifying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icedogger Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Thank you EmmienLightFan for that fantastic info, I really appreciate it. Thank you Mr P and Ebuechner as well. I'm going to have a lot of fun preparing for next year!! :-D You guys have a great Christmas and take care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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