Just wanted to show you guys what I’ve been working on:
My trusty Chauvet Intimidator Scanner LED was given some modern control with my new code base and an iPad. With the new java codebase, adding any sort of control or light effect is a breeze. I can try out what I want in a couple minutes and iterate through different types of controls really fast.
Hopefully soon, light control will be as real-time as playing an instrument.
After playing with Processing, I decided some Java libraries would be useful, then realized Eclipse would be much better to develop in, and finally learned that I could just import Processing into Eclipse and create an entire Java project. So that’s what I ended up doing and now I have this:
It’s built as properly as I know how to so I can adapt the code to nearly any input interface or platform. I want everyone to be able to start from a universal codebase. It’s also, of course, designed to optimize my LightDeck USB to DMX Converter.
I’m focusing my efforts on live lighting control with respect to user interfaces and the hardware needed for this to occur. Let me know if you’re interested in the capacities of the LightDeck USB to DMX Converter for any of your projects.
Well the first show was a great success according to my friends at Sensory Sync:
Bryant: Dude it worked perfectly last night! Thanks again Flo!
Flo: That’s fantastic! Thank you guys for making my dream come true! Did the audience go nuts?!
Bryant: Oh yeah fucking wild animals man
In the last few days leading up to the tour, we managed to implement a couple more features. The light controller now has error correction and framing code in the firmware. During stress testing, we discovered that occasionally, after running for 8+ hours, it would suddenly fail. Moreover, this only occured with Touch Designer and not with Processing. So I added some firmware code that compensates and is able to recover from bad serial data.
Next step is creating some more boxes for all you guys! Thanks for everyone support, I can’t wait to see more wild animals dancing with smiles on their faces!
Here’s some press and more information about what Sensory Sync’s work and the involvement of my box:
Sensory Sync Behind the Skrillex Summer Tour
So to help out Phil, I finished up my latest LightDeck light controller:
I had designed and ordered these sheet metal enclosures a while back but never finished them. All that was left to do was to paint them and order some risers for the board inside. I also splurged on some nice black screws and plastic rivets. Clean and simple.
The box receives a string of bytes from a computer and stores this data into memory. It then generates a DMX signal on its own that any attached light can interpret. This means you don’t have to worry about generating a DMX signal continuously; just send the channel values you want displayed and the box handles the rest! Read the help file to see just how easy it is: How to control my DMX lights with the LightDeck USB light controller
I did it …kind of. I managed 255 channels at 60 fps! It took some optimizing of the firmware on the propeller, completely changing the way the serial communication works, and changing from Quartz Composer to Processing. I know, I know. I was a big proponent of Quartz Composer but it simply wasn’t good enough in terms of serial performance and reliability. Alas, I’m so happy to be over this hump. Onward to the full 512 channels of DMX at 60fps!!!!
But first, I’m going to help out my buddy Phil (same guy who I helped with the Kinect setup) with building Skrillex’s light setup for his tour! I can’t believe my stuff is going to be enjoyed by thousands of people! I don’t want to divulge too much info, but I’ll post about it all here when I can.
Hey everyone, I apologize for being MIA for so long. Work has been sending me all over the place to support our customer sites and right now I’m in China supporting manufacturing.
I’ve been breaking down my ideas for LightDeck into short term and long term goals. I’l be revealing these soon. In the mean time, I wanted to share with you some cool stuff being done with Quartz Composer:
Quartz Composer doesn’t get enough credit and I hope to find more examples of awesome stuff being done with it to share with you guys.
First of all, let me start with: I’m NOT anywhere close to an electronics student/hobbyist/practitioner/whatever. It’s darn near black magic to me; I’ve always struggled with electronics hence why I studied mechanical engineering. Up until now, I’ve been relying on demo boards to run my firmware. However, back in May 2010 I hunkered down and tried learning Eagle to create my own board. I had the 2 layer board made locally and spent 4 days debugging the thing to find out the solders weren’t well done. I fixed it but put it on the shelf after it magically stopped working again. Today, I decided to see how it was doing since my working Light Controller is at Phil’s place.
Testing the new controller board
It worked! No idea why (probably the black magic) but I’m totally stoked. Next version I want to reduce the footprint by a half and build a little better enclosure for it. This one’s just some sheet metal a local fab shop made from a CAD model. I tried to keep the cost down as much as possible but I’m not happy with the results: feels cheap, looks cheap, tough to assemble. The target was for something small and industrial I could throw on my light truss or leave on the DJ table.
But for now I can work on improving the firmware. 512 DMX channels at 60 FPS here I come! I have a few ideas for improving and simplifying the software side, which will come in a future post. Good night for now.
I helped out my buddy Phil with linking up his Kinect + Touch Designer setup to some DMX lights. Check out the result:
Kinect + Touch Designer DMX Light/Laser Control from Phil Reyneri on Vimeo.
So this is what I’ve managed to get to work so far:
In the past, I’ve also rigged up some arcade buttons on my microcontroller so I can mash down while I’m performing. However, I found that the iPad is REALLY convenient to prototype new light control user interfaces quickly and offers a lot more flexibility. Plus, it can display feedback of what’s running such as changing the labels on the fly. More on this in a future post.
This system has worked surprisingly well so far. I’ve done 5 gigs with this setup one of which tallied 600 people; lots of fun. It’s definitely not optimized as it’s unstable and little flakey when I try to send 42+ channels. I’d like some help in figuring out the electronics if anyone is experiences with this. Let me know if you have any questions or want help duplicating this setup.
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