DIY: 4 upright LED BARS with addressable LED stripes

[ARNONYM]

Hi ladies and Gentlemen,

I am a big fan of this lighting software. For our stage show, I plan to integrate four LED bars that stand upright in addition to the usual DMX devices. These four LED bars should each be approx. 2 m high. With these LED bars I would like to use addressable LEDs so that I can address each individual LED pixel individually. I know that every single pixel will use multiple DMX addresses. I also plan to address every single upright LED bar with its own DMX to SPI controller. I would like to assign each of these DMX controllers their own DMX start address. It would also be practical if each DMX controller provided its own effect programs for each LED bar, which I could then control via DMX. I would prefer 5V. I'm a little bit confused about the whole thing, about the possibility and problems which may occur.

I would like to use the following hardware:

* LED STRIPES
TOPXCDZ SK6812 RGBW RGBWW Led Strip Light 4 in 1 Ähnlich WS2812B 1m 5m 30 60 144 LEDs Einzeln adressierbare RGBWW Led Lights IP30 65 67 5V (5M 60LED/M, Black Pcb Ip67 Rgbw) https://amzn.eu/d/IFOC5W6

* THESE LED CONTROLLER FOR EACH BAR:
DMX512 Decoder 3/4 Kanal DMX Controller LED Decoder Werbung Modul https://amzn.eu/d/a4MW8nY

Can you give me a tip on how I can basically achieve this? Which hardware as DMX controller and LED strips can I use to realize this project? That would be helpful. Thanks a lot.

[MichelSliepenbeek]

Not the best way to make a good impression with your first post.

The first link comes up with a "Page Not Found" message.
The second link is to a standard 3/4 channel decoder, so not a DMX to SPI Controller (you could have a look at the SP201E. It will work with WS2818B, you need to find out if it will also handle SK6812).

Be Aware that if you go for 2 meters of tape with 144 LED's per meter in RGBW, you will need 1142 channels .
My advice would be to reduce the length a bit, so that you end up with 1024 channels (for which you will need 2 DMX Universes for each Led Bar).

You could watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVjcrUqbEbk


Some remarks:
- you will need 8 universes to control your 4 LED Bars, best way is to buy a 8 node ArtNet controller.
(Have a look at this post viewtopic.php?p=71195#p71195 . Now you know what not to buy).
- if you use WS2818B tape, you need a 5V power supply (for about 2 meters of tape you will need a 20A/100W version).

[ARNONYM]

Thank you so much for your reply. And sorry for my first impression...

[ARNONYM]

Hi Michel,

thanks for your answer . Can you recommend an artnet controller in a reasonable price range?

Not the best way to make a good impression with your first post.

The first link comes up with a "Page Not Found" message.
The second link is to a standard 3/4 channel decoder, so not a DMX to SPI Controller (you could have a look at the SP201E. It will work with WS2818B, you need to find out if it will also handle SK6812).

Be Aware that if you go for 2 meters of tape with 144 LED's per meter in RGBW, you will need 1142 channels .
My advice would be to reduce the length a bit, so that you end up with 1024 channels (for which you will need 2 DMX Universes for each Led Bar).

You could watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVjcrUqbEbk


Some remarks:
- you will need 8 universes to control your 4 LED Bars, best way is to buy a 8 node ArtNet controller.
(Have a look at this post viewtopic.php?p=71195#p71195 . Now you know what not to buy).
- if you use WS2818B tape, you need a 5V power supply (for about 2 meters of tape you will need a 20A/100W version).

[MichelSliepenbeek]

If you ask me, i would recommend you not to follow this road.

The led tapes might be cheap, but ik you look at what an Artnet Node (500 - 800 euro), Power Supply and DMX to SPI controller (together 70 - 100 euro per unit) will cost you, the whole setup is going to be quit expensive.
Furthermore i'm afraid that the result is going to disappoint you. These Led Tapes are designed for Home Entertainment, if you use them on Stage together with other Fixtures, you will learn that they are not so bright as you hoped for.
So a lot of the Effects (that look so nice on the YouTube videos) will hardly be noticed, just because the individual LEDs are too dim.

[GGGss]

Ehhmm...

It would also be practical if each DMX controller provided its own effect programs for each LED bar,

Question: And WHY do we need EACH DMX controller to provide its program for EACH LED bar? Do not think in DMX controller terms... there are way way more (traditional) sliders inside QLC+.
Answer: QLC+ can drive many many universes of DMX signals from a lightweight PC / Raspberry with one click! ONE click!
HowTo? You can combine numerous scenes into one click. How do you manage that? That is well up to you.
QLC+ provides you an (empty) platform at first, but after studying the tutorials, and reading a bit in this forum, you will quickly find A solution to B problems. Rest assured.
We will help you!

[ARNONYM]

Very interesting points. I checked all the mentioned arguments. ARTNET is at the moment over my budget. I would like to go the road to build 4 DMX-LED BARS. I plan to control these bars with one DMX-Controller. I try not to make the setup too complicated, with hundreds of adressable pixel dmx-adresses.

QUESTION:
* can someone recommend RGBW-LED stripes?
* with led-segments that I can reach via one DMX-adress? So icn Programm some FX

Thank you very much for your support.

[GGGss]

There are many led pixel controllers in the wild... or they have a DMX interface (in my experience, the number of addressable pixels here are limited), or they possess an ethernet connection and signals are sent over the Artnet protocol.

[MichelSliepenbeek]

If you are looking for a Cost-Effective solution, you can follow 2 directions:

- go for a DMX-SPI controller that has built in Effects and only use those.
The problem here is that all those inexpensive Chinese controllers either do not provide a manual at all, or if they do it only says "Program 1", "Program 2" etc.
You probably have no orther option then to buy one and find out which off those programs are usable.

- go for an Artnet-SPI Decoder (like H807SA or H802RA). That way you already save money by not having to buy an Artnet Node.
Next step would be to decide on beforehand only to use 1 DMX Universe per Led Bar, so stick within 512 Channels.
This means you have to restrict yourself to (512/3) = 170 RGB LEDs or (512/4 =) 128 RGBW LEDs (per Led Bar) .
As most LED tapes have 30, 60 or 144 LEDs per meter and you want your Led Bars to be 2 meters high, 60 LEDs per meter is the best choice (RGB and RGBW will both do).

As the Artnet-SPI decoder is the Bottle Neck, there are only a few types available that are also affordable, you have to select your LED tape from the ones it supports.
If you want the Led Bars to be brighter you could stick a number of tapes next to each other and connect them to your controller in parallel .
Make sure that you use a Power Supply that produces enough power (one LED/Pixel uses about 0,3 W). If necessary you can use a repeater/signal amplifier (like a SP901E) , each with its own Power Supply.

Finally: don't use WIFI (use cables).

[ARNONYM]

Thank you Michel

If you are looking for a Cost-Effective solution, you can follow 2 directions:

- go for a DMX-SPI controller that has built in Effects and only use those.
The problem here is that all those inexpensive Chinese controllers either do not provide a manual at all, or if they do it only says "Program 1", "Program 2" etc.
You probably have no orther option then to buy one and find out which off those programs are usable.

- go for an Artnet-SPI Decoder (like H807SA or H802RA). That way you already save money by not having to buy an Artnet Node.
Next step would be to decide on beforehand only to use 1 DMX Universe per Led Bar, so stick within 512 Channels.
This means you have to restrict yourself to (512/3) = 170 RGB LEDs or (512/4 =) 128 RGBW LEDs (per Led Bar) .
As most LED tapes have 30, 60 or 144 LEDs per meter and you want your Led Bars to be 2 meters high, 60 LEDs per meter is the best choice (RGB and RGBW will both do).

As the Artnet-SPI decoder is the Bottle Neck, there are only a few types available that are also affordable, you have to select your LED tape from the ones it supports.
If you want the Led Bars to be brighter you could stick a number of tapes next to each other and connect them to your controller in parallel .
Make sure that you use a Power Supply that produces enough power (one LED/Pixel uses about 0,3 W). If necessary you can use a repeater/signal amplifier (like a SP901E) , each with its own Power Supply.

Finally: don't use WIFI (use cables).

[Yestalgia]

If you want a show-stable option I'd recommend going with ENTTEC pixies and their brand of tape. They'll give you great support and you'll have a very robust solution.
https://www.enttec.com/product/addressa ... ontroller/

Alternatively you could likely run the whole lot off a single Octo. Not discouraging the solutions here though.