LOR RGB programming

[tatankawij]

I am a newbie as dense as it comes. I can't comprehend the programming in the sequence editor.

Does the RGB channel take up one channel on the controller or 3?

If you go to DMX via e1.31 controller does that take up one channel then disperse into universes?

You guys are the greatest and most patient people I know by way of some of the topics I have read. Can you send me in the right direction. Currently running Advanced version 3.8.2, 2 controllers 32 channels. I want to take advantage of the sales to go to RGB's. Thanks in advance

[jerry72]

RGB uses 3 channels. You have to have a special controller to run RGB.

[dgrant]

As Jerry said, each RGB pixel, node or LED, uses 3-channels. These are not used with LOR's AC controller. RGB devices come in two main types...dumb and intelligent and each have their own type of controller.

 

Dumb: Use LOR's CMB24D DC Controller. It has 24 channels which will control 8 dumb RGB devices such as strips, floods and etc...you'll need an enclosure and a 12 VDC power supply. It works by supplying +12V to all lights on the strip but changes each of 3 -12V signals to obtain whatever color you program. In the case of strips, the entire strip will be any color and changeable on the fly in the sequence and you can fade, twinkle, shimmer and so on.

 

Intelligent: These are normally E1.31 controlled strips/nodes. They typically have thousands of channels available in just one controller. An intelligent strip or strip of nodes is where each LED is addressable with 3 different colors each. The result is that each LED can be any of millions of colors, all programmed by you. The controllers are all different and each have their own capabilities and limitations so you must do your homework first. With few exceptions, most run on a TCPIP E1.31 comm buss which means, Ethernet, which is NOT compatible with LOR's RS485 buss but they use the same Cat5/6 cables...so you MUST not mix them up or things will burn in either the controller and/or your computer. You'll need an enclosure of course and a power supply of the proper voltage and wattage for what you are controlling. Some devices are 3-wire nodes and others are 4-wire nodes and the controllers will handle them but as I said, there are limitations based on the controller type. LOR sells their CCR(Cosmic Color Ribbon) which is an intelligent strip with their custom power supply/controller. Its only 1 strip though but LOR stands by their products. Intelligent types can be used for chases with color changes and so on but put together in groups, can be used for animated displays such as pixel trees or matrix displays.

 

Edit: CCR's will operate on the RS485 comm buss

Edited January 7, 2016 by dgrant

[drivemewilder]

As for programming in the sequence editor....you will need to right click on one of your existing controllers and "add device below."  Without looking out it from the office, I think you will select what kind of device (CCR....ect). Once you get the new device added with the appropriate number of channels, you will see it in the sequence editor.  Right now you see your controllers and when you click the + it expands to see all 16 channels on that controller.  With the new device you just added, when you click the + it expands and you will see (for example, if you added the CMB24) 8 channels.  When you click on any of the channels it will then expand so that you can see the RGB channels within that channel.  So....8 channels x 3 = your CMB24.  Make sense?  Is that what you were asking?

[tatankawij]

Thank you all , you made it very easy for me to understand.Makes sense now. I hope I can do the same for someone someday.

[Steven]

As Jerry said, each RGB pixel, node or LED, uses 3-channels. These are not used with LOR's AC controller. RGB devices come in two main types...dumb and intelligent and each have their own type of controller.

 

There is nothing preventing you from making 3 channels on an AC controller into 1 RGB channel, but it may not look exactly right. I have several bushes with red, green, and blue (AC) light strings, that I configure as RGB channels in the sequence editor mainly so they take less vertical room on the screen. The potentially misleading issue with doing that is the colors don't combine if they are separate strings, so if I make one of my bushes yellow in the sequence editor, it actually shows up as red and green.

 

However, if you have red, blue, and green (AC) flood lights plugged into an AC controller that are all shining on a fairly white background (like snow), then the RGB color combining would work.

[dgrant]

Steven is correct! I've seen someone do a mega tree with only 3 channels total...lots of strings and grouped in sets of 3 colors. He could only change the whole tree's color but it worked.

[Don]

There is nothing preventing you from making 3 channels on an AC controller into 1 RGB channel, but it may not look exactly right

 

At the old house I stumbled upon this. When adding Blue/White to the Red/Green C6 LED's I had on the roof I just happen to put the blue next to red. Didn't think anything of it at the time. 

 

However the first time I saw a fade from Red to Blue, you could absolutely see a purple light (if you will) coming from the house. Was a very nice effect.