Smart RGB Bulbs (Smart CCB String) Flash wrong color at start of color change

[kharisma]

I am working on adding some Smart RGB Bulbs (Smart CCB Strings) to my show. When doing testing in sequence editor (controlling the actual lights), the some of the bulbs on the string flash a different color at the start of the event and then they all show the correct color. 

The problem sometimes occurs when fading up to a color and it sometimes occurs when the bulb is turned on to 100% (from 0%).

I've searched the internet and this forum and I can't find a fix.

Anyone have any ideas for what I can do to fix this?

I'm trying to upload a video of the issue as well but the video file is too large to upload

[kharisma]

Uploaded the video to YouTube

 

 

[k6ccc]

Does the error happen in exactly the same way every time you play the sequence, or is it different every time you play the sequence?  If it's the former, it's almost certainly in your sequence with the error.  If it happens differently every time you play it, the problem is something else.

If the problem is in the sequence, CAREFULLY check to make sure there is not some extra sequencing for the affected channels.  It is REAL easy to have a less than 10% leftover from some copy / paste operation that you can't even see, but will radically affect the colors.  For example, if you have a segment of yellow (100% red, 100% green, 0% blue) for several seconds, but in the middle, there is a quarter second of 5% green in the middle, the result will be yellow with a flash of red in the middle.

 

[kharisma]

1 hour ago, k6ccc said:

Does the error happen in exactly the same way every time you play the sequence, or is it different every time you play the sequence?  If it's the former, it's almost certainly in your sequence with the error.  If it happens differently every time you play it, the problem is something else.

If the problem is in the sequence, CAREFULLY check to make sure there is not some extra sequencing for the affected channels.  It is REAL easy to have a less than 10% leftover from some copy / paste operation that you can't even see, but will radically affect the colors.  For example, if you have a segment of yellow (100% red, 100% green, 0% blue) for several seconds, but in the middle, there is a quarter second of 5% green in the middle, the result will be yellow with a flash of red in the middle.

 

Good question, it's not always the same

Also: some bulbs are different than other bulbs on the same string (and I've copied and pasted the entire row to each of the bulbs).

[TheDucks]

I saw a slight pause in color changes in places

You might check your network speed. that almost looked like sluggish data. 56K ain't gonna cut running pixels for real (it might work in HU).

 

[kharisma]

15 hours ago, TheDucks said:

I saw a slight pause in color changes in places

You might check your network speed. that almost looked like sluggish data. 56K ain't gonna cut running pixels for real (it might work in HU).

 

Thanks. I just upped my network speed to 115.4K and that didn't help

It looks like I can't go higher because I have the USB485B Adapter.

Should I get a http://store.lightorama.com/usbrs485hs.html Adapter and run my LOR network on that to see if it helps? I could up the speed to 500.0K then, I think...

Edited September 15, 2019 by kharisma

[k6ccc]

You never mentioned how many channels you are driving on that network.  Your video shows 36 bulbs which would not be an issue even on a 56K network.  However I suspect that is not all.  So, how many channels are in the sequence (not how many bulbs are connected)?  The old rule of thumb was six CCRs (300 pixels or 900 channels) on a 115K non-enhanced network.  Obviously a faster network can handle more and using enhanced networking also increases the number.

 

[kharisma]

16 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

You never mentioned how many channels you are driving on that network.  Your video shows 36 bulbs which would not be an issue even on a 56K network.  However I suspect that is not all.  So, how many channels are in the sequence (not how many bulbs are connected)?  The old rule of thumb was six CCRs (300 pixels or 900 channels) on a 115K non-enhanced network.  Obviously a faster network can handle more and using enhanced networking also increases the number.

 

Thanks for the reply

I have 3 - 16 channel non CC boxes, 3 RGB Floods and 6 - 100 bulb CCBs in the sequence. At the time of the test, I only had the 3 - 16 channel boxes and 1 - 100 bulb CCB connected to the network.

I also used the hardware utility to do some testing:

• The twinkle test (with a non Red/Green/Blue color like Purple) shows mostly red and blue twinkles with very few purple.
• If I fade (with a non Red/Green/Blue color like Purple) it flashes some reds and blue before it shows all purple.

I just ordered a http://store.lightorama.com/usbrs485hs.html. Let's hope that fixes my issue.

I'll post here if it doesn't work.

[default]

On 9/14/2019 at 11:26 AM, kharisma said:

The problem sometimes occurs when fading up to a color and it sometimes occurs when the bulb is turned on to 100% (from 0%).

You say that the problem occurs during fading, yet I am not seeing this done in the example picture you posted.

A better way to troubleshoot this would be for you to upload this .loredit file (no music needed) or to create a new animation files (again no music) and add a couple of effects to the problem props. This allows anyone who who is trying to troubleshoot this issue to download and look at it from our end. By doing this it will show your Preview file, how you have your channels, Unit id's, etc. setup. Basically it lets another set of eyes view it. Going back and forth will probably get you the answer you want, it just takes longer if we have to wait for you to vefiry a setting, etc...

If you don't have a way to post this file, I'll pm you my email address, I will post the .loredit here for people to download and help in the troubleshooting.

Alan...

[k6ccc]

59 minutes ago, kharisma said:

I have 3 - 16 channel non CC boxes, 3 RGB Floods and 6 - 100 bulb CCBs in the sequence. At the time of the test, I only had the 3 - 16 channel boxes and 1 - 100 bulb CCB connected to the network.

If I added it up right, that is 1,857 channels.  That is too many for a 115K network.  It does not matter at all if all 1,857 channels are hooked up or only 1 channel.  The show PC or director is sending the data for all of the channels.

1 hour ago, kharisma said:

The twinkle test (with a non Red/Green/Blue color like Purple) shows mostly red and blue twinkles with very few purple.

That is correct.  A twinkle randomly flashes the individual channels.  The only time you would see purple is when the red and blue both happen to be on at the same time.

 

[kharisma]

5 hours ago, default said:

You say that the problem occurs during fading, yet I am not seeing this done in the example picture you posted.

A better way to troubleshoot this would be for you to upload this .loredit file (no music needed) or to create a new animation files (again no music) and add a couple of effects to the problem props. This allows anyone who who is trying to troubleshoot this issue to download and look at it from our end. By doing this it will show your Preview file, how you have your channels, Unit id's, etc. setup. Basically it lets another set of eyes view it. Going back and forth will probably get you the answer you want, it just takes longer if we have to wait for you to vefiry a setting, etc...

If you don't have a way to post this file, I'll pm you my email address, I will post the .loredit here for people to download and help in the troubleshooting.

Alan...

Thanks - I ordered a High Speed adapter. If that doesn't solve my problem, I will provide the .loredit file

[Crimson Lane Lights Etown]

ok here's my two cents:  macro channels have crap in them.  clean the macro channels out!  and those blue bunnies taste terrible :)

[kharisma]

On 9/16/2019 at 12:26 PM, Crimson Lane Lights Etown said:

ok here's my two cents:  macro channels have crap in them.  clean the macro channels out!  and those blue bunnies taste terrible :)

Thanks for the idea, but the macro channels are clean!

[kharisma]

UPDATE: I ordered a High Speed USB Adapter (http://store.lightorama.com/usbrs485hs.html) and put my RGB devices on an auxiliary network with it (I left my 16 channel non CC boxes on my old "slow" network).

Everything is working as expected now.

Thanks to everyone for the help!

Edited October 2, 2019 by kharisma

[dibblejr]

It’s great that you took the time to update everyone that helped.

This May save others with the same problem later on.

Thanks

JR

[metallus2000]

On 10/2/2019 at 10:16 AM, kharisma said:

UPDATE: I ordered a High Speed USB Adapter (http://store.lightorama.com/usbrs485hs.html) and put my RGB devices on an auxiliary network with it (I left my 16 channel non CC boxes on my old "slow" network).

Everything is working as expected now.

Thanks to everyone for the help!

I had the same issue, and purchased the high speed adapter as well. I would recommend buying a second high speed adapter as a back-up.

[brianfox]

On 10/2/2019 at 7:16 AM, kharisma said:

UPDATE: I ordered a High Speed USB Adapter (http://store.lightorama.com/usbrs485hs.html) and put my RGB devices on an auxiliary network with it (I left my 16 channel non CC boxes on my old "slow" network).

Everything is working as expected now.

Thanks to everyone for the help!

That is exactly what I had to do years ago.  My old 16 channel boxes simply could not live on the same network as Pixels.

One thing to note: The USB-RS485B is certainly capable of 500K speeds.  I have about 5 networks in my display - some enhanced (pixels) and some not (16 chan controllers) - and each uses the little black cube.