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web activated shows


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I have been running DMX LED based lights for some time. I have a little command line option to run shows I create from a dos prompt or batch file. Using a product called Homeseer, I am able to create web pages with a button that when clicked, launches a batch file and runs a show.

This year I added LOR. Wow, cool stuff. I have created 2 music shows that look really nice. I want to be able to launch them from the web. Is there anyway to start LOR with a show and have it run.. ie... c:light-o-ramalor.exe myshow.xxx /P ?

This would be so helpful as I have a fully automated home that is web based and would really like to add in my LOR shows....



Thanks.

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if you already have the capability to run a sequence via the command line, then you're almost there.

all you need to do is be able to issue a command line (shell command) via the webpage. i know you can do this from php or asp, but a pure javascript solution would probably be easiest if you don't have scripting available on your web server.

what's your setup?

Edit: you might look at http://www.komar.org/cgi-bin/xmas_webcam, as i'm sure it's doing something similar to what you'd like to do. i believe he's using < input type=image > to submit the clicks to a script in cgi-bin.

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deweycooter wrote:

Edit: you might look at http://www.imafraud.org/cgi-bin/xmas_webcam, as i'm sure it's doing something similar to what you'd like to do. i believe he's using < input type=image > to submit the clicks to a script in cgi-bin.

You just mentioned He whose name must not be spoken (I broke the link above out of spite). "He" does it by faking the whole dang thing. He misled the media, was an attention freak (I'd rather use another word but it's not family-friendly). After his moment in the sun, he then revealed that he faked the whole thing with static pictures.

This was one of the main reasons that nobody believed that Carson's display was real.

-Tim
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Deweycooter, thanks for the info. I already have the ability to launch scripts and commend line options via the web. That is not the problem. I just have not found a way to do it with an LOR show. THrough the years, I have done a lot of crazy things via remote inputs, web pages and shell scripts.



G.

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I remember the hoax last year Tim and I personally thought it was pretty funny ... but I have a sense of humour.

Alex claims it is real for 2005 and I've seen the 3 ChristmasCams (from my PC) at night with the lights changing - one is in is office - he spends a lot of time on the computer. Plus it looks like he has already raised almost $3,000 for Celiac Disease Research for the University of Maryland.


From what you wrote, you would think he would be jealous of Carson's lights/fame ... but he gives Carson a big atta-boy on his blog.

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sorry gherd - guess i misunderstood - you're looking for cmd line options for the executable...

as for the hoax - i remember reading about in years past and didn't know till ya'll pointed it out here that it was a hoax - yeah, i'd have to agree that he was pretty much a weasel for doing it. and the webcams this year: there's really no proof that any of them are real-time except for the one in his office since it has a clock. the other 3 still could be a fraud. i guess we'll just have to take his word for it... ;)

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RonZ wrote:

I remember the hoax last year Tim and I personally thought it was pretty funny ... but I have a sense of humour.



I didn't find it funny, but wasn't particularly offended by it last year like many others were here.

That changed this year when everyone across the internet pointed to his hoax as "proof" that Carson's display was fake.

The guy is an attention hound. In the short time he was on PC, virtually all of his posts were to draw attention to himself (like the fact that he mentioned he had a huge inflatable Hulk in just about all of his posts...) I tolerated it all, but the hoax was the final straw. He came back here and was basically "c'mon guys it was FUNNY" and was basically kicked out of this community. Even Chuck suspended the "family friendly" rules and publically posted that we were allowed to verbally thrash the guy.

As an aside, I don't really see what the point is of doing 'web controlled' shows. I do my display for people to come and see. The internet is an extension and allows us to show our display to people via pictures, but it isn't the same. The fact that people can turn on and off lights from the web just makes your display blink in crazy ways that make no sense to a viewer actually at the display. This is just my opinion, and I don't mean to offend anyone who's doing this or looking into doing it. Like I always say, "we all have different display aesthetics and none are absoluetly correct".

ETA: Against my better judgement I read the charity link posted above. I groaned to see he actually worked the Hulk mentioned above into that article. But if he's raising money for a good cause, at least something good will come of that scandal.

-Tim
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I don't think you should dismiss the internet as an unuseful tool with light displays - I know you were referring to web-control specifically, but look at what a 3-minute video has done to this community! Was LOR on backorder this time last year? :)

I just wonder what kind of excitement streaming video with the ability to cue up sequences would generate? There's gotta be another idea out there that someone with a creative mind - unfortunately, not me ;) - will come up with. You're correct in that the hoax was definitely a step backwards in the public's opinion of light displays - people who heard of the hoax won't be as quick to believe others aren't faking it somehow.

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I remember seeing this on the web last year, i guess i never realized it was a hoax... I saw carson on the today show and was very proud of that, and so much thanks has to go to chuck, dan, and everyone who owns LOR stuff, could you imagine if carson had mentioned LOR on TV, dan would be out of his mind right now... i think that if someone could go to a web page and make christmas lights do what they wanted big deal, thats not the reason for the season or why we do it, its the Spirit of chrismas and Him that keeps it all alive, and makes it such a joy!

:happytree: :tree:

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I just found a Christmas Website like that. It just dawned on me that this could be the same thing when someone was talking about a large inflatable incredible hulk. He had one in the background that you could inflate. Is this the same thing? Man, I have been punked. On his website he was asking if anyone could loan him a webcam. I know he already had two. This wasn't a hoax was it? :shock:

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tfischer,

The reason for wanting 'web' based control is this: This is the first year I have played with LOR. My wife is not sold on the idea of having lights flashing and blinking to music. I have created a couple of shows to music and they look good. But, to keep peace in my house, I agreed to play them only when requested from neighbors and friends. The computer that controls the shows is not convieniently located. I have a web activated home and designed a web page that fits the screen of an iPaq pda. The pda has wireless. So, the intent is to have the ability to control my shows via a wireless remote. While web pages are available via the internet (if you have the correct security login info) the mane use is via IntrAnet. I have had occations when someone has called me on my cell while I am out and about and needed me to activate this that or the other thing. It comes in real handy when the furnis guy shows up and I can unlock the house remotely and then monitor him via we cams.

Also, from a control standpoint, Homeseer is a home control package with fantastic scheduling features. In addition to controlling x-10 devices, it also controls audio and video equipment. In order to contol 3rd party software and devices not written for homeseer, there needs to be command line options. Homeseer also allows for triggered events... I live on a dead end with very little traffic. Why let a show run all night with no one to see it.. So imagine this.. A wireless motion detector is placed in the driveway or out by the road. When a car approaches, the static show that normally runs shuts down (via command line) and a musical show begins.

I could probably go on for hours about what you can do with web based control but I think you get the idea.

I am not here to toot my own horn. I am looking for ideas and looking to help others in areas I understand. THe only way I know how to do that is to let people know what I am doing and answer any questions people throw at me. If someone feels they are the king of this forum and I am threatening them, say so and I will go away. I get the feeling from the tone of this thread that there may be some out there who have taken my request the wrong way.

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Not sure if I've ever posted in the LOR forum but there's a first time for everything.

Why not use something like VNC (http://www.vnc.com). That way, from the web, you could 'take over' the PC running LOR and do anything you want. I use this for two purposes - one, in testing outside, I can take a wireless laptop and run portions of my show and two, when I travel, if there are any problems, I can troubleshoot and diagnose remotely.

It's not an answer to command line requirements but it's an option.

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Actually, that is what I am doing now. But the goal is to have my entire display automated through a single control point. For example, I have 15 x-10 controlled devices. The exist on various channels and are part of a bigger system (one that is used year round). I dont want to have to use multiple products.

Your idea is a very good one and does work.

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I may have figured out a way to launch LOR shows on a trigger or through a web page but I have a few questions...

1. Can the scheduler be launched already enabled?

2. Can the scheduler be launched using different config files?

3. If not, what files does the scheduler need to work? For example, if I create multiple directories what files would each need to let scheduler completely run and function?

My thought is, have multiple installs of the sheduler, each with a different musical seq. listed to play 24 hours a day. In a batch file, call scheduler to run. When it does, it starts playing its designated song. Using a free utility named kill.exe a "End" batch file is made which kills the scheduler process. And, because we know the exact length of shows, it is possible to have the kill process run X minutes and seconds from the start of the show, thus ending it when it runs through the number of times desired, multiplied by the legth of the show.....

sample batch ...

start

sheduler.exe
wait 1225 < pauses batch file for 1225 seconds

kill scheduler < kills the scheduler and stops the show

cdblank my lights directory

scheduler < starts the install of scheduler which runs a show to blank the lights (or calls another show)

wait 5 < waits 5 seconds

kill scheduler < kills the scheduler that is run last

exit < ends the batch file.



note: kill and wait are external free utilities.



Now, buy launching the batch file for the song you want, you can call different shows. The batch files can be run either through a web interface or...........

Using X-10, you can let anyone select what song they want with the touch of a button.



Any thoughts on this would be appreciated..

G.

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gherd wrote:

The reason for wanting 'web' based control is this: This is the first year I have played with LOR. My wife is not sold on the idea of having lights flashing and blinking to music.

You know .. let her see the looks on children's faces when the lights start dancing to the music. Let her hear the reaction from the kids how cool it is, and how much they want to stay, or come back. Let her hear people say it's the coolest thing they've seen, and they are going to bring others by. Let her hear people thank you for putting on the display.

Unless she's a heart of stone ... she'll change her mind quickly.
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gherd,

Web control is not a difficult thing to accomplish. Using VNC, to me, would be a bad solution for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is people editing your sequences, starting & stopping shows at random, etc.

If I were setting up a remote control solution for LOR - and I will be next year - I would use uICE. uICE is an infrared remote control software. It allows you to setup infrared triggers for HTPC use. For example, you might want the remote control for your DVD player to instead control a software DVD player. Via an infrared receiver on your PC, you teach uICE the button for "play", for instance. Then you apply that button to a sequence. An example sequence would be, "Load the DVD player software, or make that window active if it's already loaded, and send the hotkey 'p' to it."

Easy enough, but you're not talking about infrared control. That's OK; uICE works fine with rs232 as well, and that's how I use it. Here's an example configuration:

1. A user comes to your web server and clicks "Start show x."
2. The web server launches a simple application (you'd have to write this). That application works as follows:

2a. Decides whether a show is already running or not. I'd do this with basic timing. If a show lasts 3:10, the application knows it executed show x and it's only been 2:40 seconds so the show must still be running.
2b. If the show is still running, inform the user and don't do anything else.
2c. If a show is not running, send a 6 character text string over an rs232 connection to the LOR computer. I'd go with, "p00001" (for, "play show 00001"), or p00002 for show 2, etc.
2d. uICE, monitoring the serial port, receives this sequence and intreprets it as an infrared command. It then executes the appropriate sequences to start the show: Make LOR the active window, hit "file, open", type in the name of the show, hit "OK", hit "play". Or, whatever you need to do to start a show.

This is REALLY EASY to script in uICE. Your most difficult task will be the writing of the CGI application to send the strings. It would take me about 15-30 minutes to code something in Perl.

I do virtually this exact thing with Winamp events. My touchpanels send a command to my AMX Netlinx master controller; the master sends a text string over rs232 to a computer running uICE and Winamp; uICE receives the command and hits the appropriate Winamp button. The end result is I have little diagrams of Winamp on my touchpanels throughout the house and I can control my whole house audio & MP3 collection from any touchpanel.

Applying the same principles to LOR to allow visitors to launch shows would not be difficult. I plan to use buttons in front of the house instead of web control, but it's the same thing.

Hope this helps in some way.

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