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New to pixels


James Hill

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Hey there 'Light Guys'

Considering jumping into pixels...thinking of adding mini pixel trees with double star topper. Thinking of 6 runs of 15 pixels with a star of 10 pixels surrounded by another star of 20 pixels (total 120 pixels per tree)....Thinking of 5 trees like this and 3 posts with stars. Looking at the Pixie 8. However it says "Each port can control up to 100 smart RGB pixels over a standard LOR network"...but later states "Each Pixie4/8/16 controller port is fused at 4 amps and can typically power up to 100 pixels.  More pixels on a port requires power injection that Light-O-Rama does not currently support"  Does this mean I have to limit to 100 pixels? What is meant by LOR doesn't currently support power injection? I would be running these from an Aux Network with a RED USB adapter. Can I push it to 120 pixels? or do I have to power inject?

Thanks in advance

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30 minutes ago, James Hill said:

Hey there 'Light Guys'

Considering jumping into pixels...thinking of adding mini pixel trees with double star topper. Thinking of 6 runs of 15 pixels with a star of 10 pixels surrounded by another star of 20 pixels (total 120 pixels per tree)....Thinking of 5 trees like this and 3 posts with stars. Looking at the Pixie 8. However it says "Each port can control up to 100 smart RGB pixels over a standard LOR network"...but later states "Each Pixie4/8/16 controller port is fused at 4 amps and can typically power up to 100 pixels.  More pixels on a port requires power injection that Light-O-Rama does not currently support"  Does this mean I have to limit to 100 pixels? What is meant by LOR doesn't currently support power injection? I would be running these from an Aux Network with a RED USB adapter. Can I push it to 120 pixels? or do I have to power inject?

Thanks in advance

You can control a max of 170 pixels per port with a pixie controller.

My max run on my roof is 156 with NO power injection.

It is based on the situation and at 100%.

You are using S5 , you can turn down the intensity to 30% and should not have any problems.

I have a lot of pixies and have built over 100. 

If you are buying an already made pixie you may want to add a power supply so you have a power supply for each bank. Instead of 1 that is powering 2 banks.

PI- is outside of a manufactures responsibility, if you burn your house down because you think or decide you need PI then LOR has no liability. (in easy terms)

Everyone thinks they need to be the cool man and have PI, I read these comments every day. It is only required if you need it and do not have another solution. As I stated I have no PI in my entire display. But I build my own since my first Beta pixie16 and never looked back. Adding PI adds another situation that can create problems down the road.

You will also need PRO level license. They have to be run on the ELOR  (Enhanced LOR Network) you only get that limit with PRO

JR

Edited by dibblejr
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2 hours ago, dibblejr said:

You can control a max of 170 pixels per port with a pixie controller.

My max run on my roof is 156 with NO power injection.

It is based on the situation and at 100%.

You are using S5 , you can turn down the intensity to 30% and should not have any problems.

I have a lot of pixies and have built over 100. 

If you are buying an already made pixie you may want to add a power supply so you have a power supply for each bank. Instead of 1 that is powering 2 banks.

PI- is outside of a manufactures responsibility, if you burn your house down because you think or decide you need PI then LOR has no liability. (in easy terms)

Everyone thinks they need to be the cool man and have PI, I read these comments every day. It is only required if you need it and do not have another solution. As I stated I have no PI in my entire display. But I build my own since my first Beta pixie16 and never looked back. Adding PI adds another situation that can create problems down the road.

You will also need PRO level license. They have to be run on the ELOR  (Enhanced LOR Network) you only get that limit with PRO

JR

Thanks DibblerJr. I was planning on moving to Pro and picking up a Red USB and setting up another Network just for pixels. I was just concerned about the pixel count. Now I can start working on the next step. Good tip about the intensity settings but I really only need to drop it down when full on white...individual colors should be ok. Have never worked with motion rows yet...jumped from S2 to S5 last Feb and still getting to know the new program. Gotta figure out grouping channels as I have a 16ft. snowflake comprised of 19 pieces controlled by two and a half CMB24D cards...eventually I will switch it over to pixels but want to learn some with these new props before starting that. If you have any tips or tricks I should learn to make things easier...I am all ears!

 

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The pixels are plenty bright even at 30%.

I will bee testing 20% for next year which may net better videos.

Very hard to video an entire show and be able to see anything on a CCR tree.

They are just that bright. Everything becomes a big blur 

The problem with having to do it in S5 and not the controller, the preview screen dims as well. Makes it difficult to sequence darker colors.

JR

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I was running at 100% brightness and the videos just came out white. 60% was better, but now I'm at 30%. Honestly, I can't tell a difference, but my camera sure can. The only downside I've heard is that with lower brightness you don't get as much range out of gamma, which impacts your ability to hit some colors.

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3 minutes ago, jstorms said:

I was running at 100% brightness and the videos just came out white. 60% was better, but now I'm at 30%. Honestly, I can't tell a difference, but my camera sure can. The only downside I've heard is that with lower brightness you don't get as much range out of gamma, which impacts your ability to hit some colors.

Even at my 30% the ccr tree is mostly not visible on video. This is why this year before I take it down I will be playing with 20%. The problem with that inS5 is the preview also darkens making it difficult to sequence. I tried to get up close and personal with the drone and got for the first time ever "electronic interference" warning and the drone immediately dove in to my pixel tree. Luckily there was no damage other than a couple notches in the props. The next dat DJI came out with an update for of all things, controllability. You would think after all of this time they would have it figured out.

JR

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I would never dim in sequencing.  If the display is too bright, I dim it in the pixel controller.

 

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3 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

I would never dim in sequencing.  If the display is too bright, I dim it in the pixel controller.

 

In S5 and for the pixies the only way to dim them is in Prop Def and that effects the preview screen. You can dim them in the sequence but why since they are all the same for the props involved. Fix it once in prop def and be done with it.

I needed to clear that up before someone came in and beat me up.

JR

Edited by dibblejr
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That's a limitation of the Pixie controllers.  So far, that is the only pixel controller I have seen that does not have the ability to dim a string or the whole controller.

 

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46 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

That's a limitation of the Pixie controllers.  So far, that is the only pixel controller I have seen that does not have the ability to dim a string or the whole controller.

 

Some limitations made them affordable for new members to get in to pixels. its a trade off. At least most new users are in S5 so they have the option. it may not be easily recognizable or to find but if they ask some of us can assist them.

JR

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Okay, aren't the LOR Singing Trees Pixie Controllers? {Pixie2D?}, I can dim the entire string on them.  So I'm confused by Jim's statement the Pixie Controllers aren't or can't dim the string or [whole controller]?  Not sure what [whole controller] means here.    I dim mine all the time or am I missing something?

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54 minutes ago, Orville said:

Okay, aren't the LOR Singing Trees Pixie Controllers? {Pixie2D?}, I can dim the entire string on them.  So I'm confused by Jim's statement the Pixie Controllers aren't or can't dim the string or [whole controller]?  Not sure what [whole controller] means here.    I dim mine all the time or am I missing something?

Orville, what  am talking about is to go into a pixel controller settings and reduce the level for whatever string or strings that you want.  For example, you spent half the year sequencing, and then put the lights up in November and find that the such and such prop is WAY too bright.  With most pixel controllers, you can simply change a setting to make each string for example 30%.  In less than a minute, you just brought the light level down for those strings.  Can't do that with the Pixie controllers.  Another example is that when you try to shoot video, that prop is too damn bright and is just washed out.  Drop the level really low so it looks good on the video.  After you are done shooting video, turn it back up to whatever level is normal for that prop.

 

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Orville,

This is the port configuration page for a Falcon controller (happened to be the only pixel controller currently powered up and on the network).  The Red arrow is the brightness setting for each port of the controller.  The green oval shows where I have selected the level for the 5th string and it is showing the dropdown for the level set for that string - currently set to 100%.  As you can see, I can set the level to many different options from 10% up to 100%.  Any lighting commands sent to that string will be reduced by the amount selected.

If your browser does not show the screen capture, I included a direct link to it.

Pixel_controller_string_level_set.png

http://www.newburghlights.org/images/Pixel_controller_string_level_set.png

 

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5 hours ago, Orville said:

Okay, aren't the LOR Singing Trees Pixie Controllers? {Pixie2D?}, I can dim the entire string on them.  So I'm confused by Jim's statement the Pixie Controllers aren't or can't dim the string or [whole controller]?  Not sure what [whole controller] means here.    I dim mine all the time or am I missing something?

Means no where in HU can they be dimmed, not even a dip switch.

Only writing the sequence with lesser intensity data,

In S5 I can dim the entire controller for good as long as I keep my prop definition. Its the only solution.

When I beta tested the pixie in the HU I was using the tester thing (sorry cant remember what its called, looks like a piano) I thought it was actually working for my pixie however I later discovered it wasn't and it was my perception that it was dimming my lights) 

JR

Edited by dibblejr
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6 hours ago, dibblejr said:

In S5 I can dim the entire controller for good as long as I keep my prop definition. Its the only solution.

So you are setting the "Dimming Curve" per prop ??

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8 hours ago, dibblejr said:

Means no where in HU can they be dimmed, not even a dip switch.

Only writing the sequence with lesser intensity data,

In S5 I can dim the entire controller for good as long as I keep my prop definition. Its the only solution.

When I beta tested the pixie in the HU I was using the tester thing (sorry cant remember what its called, looks like a piano) I thought it was actually working for my pixie however I later discovered it wasn't and it was my perception that it was dimming my lights) 

JR

So the S5 HU doesn't have the "Settings" box at the lower right where it shows "Starting Intensity", "End Intensity" and "Fade Duration"?  Like S4 HU does?    Because I can dim my LOR Singing Trees using these options in the S4 HU, as well as any other RGB Controller I have {CCB100D x 12} with no problems.

So did they remove this ability in the S5 HU?  I haven't even looked at that yet.  I just played around with the sequencing aspect of it since my controllers were already set, I just never bothered looking at the HU in S5.

 

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6 minutes ago, Orville said:

So the S5 HU doesn't have the "Settings" box at the lower right where it shows "Starting Intensity", "End Intensity" and "Fade Duration"?  Like S4 HU does? 

Still there. How does that help dim a string of pixels.

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Thanks for clearing that up Jim.  I didn't catch that this was NOT a LOR Controller.  And that's what kept me asking questions.  Now I know and it now it makes sense.

 

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Just now, PhilMassey said:

Still there. How does that help dim a string of pixels.

If the LOR RGB Controller is selected {Pixie2D or CCB100D, only 2 I have experience with}, and you select ALL ports and any color you want from the color drop down box and turn on the lights, you can move the sliders {Fade Duration set all the way left to 0.1 sec}  in the Start Intensity back and forth {0% to 100% back to 0%}, End Intensity can be set to any % you want the string to end at, I leave it at 100%.  Then you can dim the strings on BOTH ports at the same time.   I've used it to do this to test the intensity {where the starting illumination begins to light up the bulbs to full brightness} of the RGB strands I have.

 

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