DIY Singing Faces more questions

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bcer960

Member
I didn't want to hi-jack the other thread, so I started this one.

I have questions:

Each singing bulb has 193 nodes. I have 4 singing bulbs on a 4 X 8 sheet of coro. From what I understand I can have 170 nodes (max) on each universe of my E682. So I am not sure what the best way to wire them up.

I am coming to understand that I should not max each universe. So, what is a good amount 150 nodes per?? I am also not sure how to map out the nodes if I "cross populate" the singing bulbs?

I am curious how others are doing this. :hmm:

Thanx in advance

Ray
 
You are confusing delivery (universes) and media (ports). You need to look up the maximum number of pixels each port on your controller will support. Then you need to decide the refresh rate of your show. A 25ms refresh rate results in a max string length of just over 600 pixels. As for delivery, it takes 1800 channels (bytes) to run 600 pixels. An E1.31 universe has 512 channels 1800 / 512 = 4 universes to fill a 600 pixel port. 512 channels does not fit well in a pixel count. 170 pixels use 510 channels. This is where the 170 pixels per universe limit comes from. However, not all controllers loose those last two channels.

The general rule would not be "Don't use the whole universe", it is "You may not want to completely fill a port". From a network efficiency point of view, you DO want to fill a universe.

In my show I use three F16 boards, 41 universes, almost all of them are full, aka 512 channels per universe. The controller then distributes the channels to my ports independently of the universe boundaries.
 
Ok, yes. I re-read the 682 operating manual this morning. Yes, it says 170 pixels per universe. But I don't know how many pixels, or universes per string (taking out the need to power inject the pixels) The only other thing I can find is if I go to more than 1190 pixels, I need to use the unicast over the multicast system.

I did a search on this forum, and others, and am about as lost as when I started. I found this thread:

http://doityourselfchristmas.com/fo...y-help-e682-controller&highlight=e682+strings

One guys says 170 pixels per string, 16 strings , another says up to 999 pixels per string, but a max of 2040 pixels.

So, assuming that it is more likely the 999 pixels, it seems like a big waste to only hook up 193 pixels to a string.
 
Maybe I'm asking the questions wrong.

I have 4 singing face light bulbs I am at work right now, and don't remember the exact number of pixels per but this will be close:

50 pixels for the screw base

50 pixels for the bulb

52 bulbs for the mouth

41 pixels for the eyes.

How should I wire this all up?? Please be specific.

Thanks
Ray
 
As Martin said, I think you are getting the nomenclature mixed up. There are ports (physical outputs), Universes (limited to 512 channels, but 510 is divisible by three), pixels (an RGB node or RGB LED), and channels (3 channels per RGB node). So each universe could have 170 pixels (510 channels). I have never gone over 100 pixels per port (12v) because I don't want to power inject. Each controller is different, but the e682 manual states that in Unicast mode, you can get "up to 12 universes or 6,120 channels." That equates to 170 pixels or 510 channels per port. How you hook up your pixels is up to you. Depending on where you bought your singing bulbs, there may be a layout or model of how the wiring is laid out.
 
You can wire them anyway you want. The limits in this case are imposed by the capacity of the pixels and the refresh rate you want. A single port at 35 ms (40 frames per second) can handle up to 600 (more like 630 but math gets icky). A 50 ms (20 frames per second) refresh rate gives you 1200 pixels per port (if the controller can do that many). You will map a set of universes to your port. then you will map your channels to the universes and on the sequencer you will map your elements to channels.

If you need specifics, output of controller to input of base 1, output of base 1 to mouth 1, output mouth 1 to eyes 1, output eyes 1 to outline 1, output outline one to base 2 etc.

Inject power at base-to-mouth, mouth-to-eyes, eyes-to-outline, outline-to-next bulb.
 
you can have as many pixels/channels per port as you want(practically) dont worry about the universes, it just uses up the next universe if you have more than 510/512 channels on the port.
what matters is the more pixels per port you have, the longer it takes to "refresh" the pixels.

so its a balance, numPixelsPerPort vs RefreshRate .

you also have to find your own balance for number of portsUsed vs number of wiresPerProp

as a general rule i use 150PixelsPerPort to get a good refresh rate
and if i have a prop that has 190ish i bump up that port to what it needs.

i choose 150 because 5m pixelstrpis are 150leds.
also pixelNodes are sold in strings of 50, so 3 strings perport
also i aim for 80fps

many things to consider
 
also, i have 13 e682s, so im not worried so much about using every last pixel on the e682, maybe you are and you will have to adjust as needed etc..
 
MrDudeMan said:
also, i have 13 e682s, so im not worried so much about using every last pixel on the e682, maybe you are and you will have to adjust as needed etc..
Click to expand...

At the moment I only have 2 E682's. Although I have the bulbs built with the pixels in them, they are only half wired up. It is something I really need to get back too.
 
not too sure, but im kinda thinking,
1 singingbulb per port.
so 4 ports set to 193pixels/port

wire each bulb the same incase you split them up ever
 
At 193 pixels per prop, you can easily do full motion video (25ms refresh rate) with three props on a port. Since you have four props, I would put two on each prop just because I like the symmetry.
 
MrDudeMan said:
oh, anotherthing though, 193pixels will be drawing roughly 12amp, and the e682 comes with 5amp fuses.
Click to expand...
That's at 100% white. You'll probably find yourself lowering the output to 50% or under because the colors look more pleasing. 100% brightness all anyone sees is a big glob of light. I run my show at 25% and the advantage to that is I can run more pixels with less power injection and I got rave reviews that my show looked much better this year because of the lower reduction. No one went home blind.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk
 
My show is also running at reduced brightness. However, I hate going out in sub zero F temps to replace a fuse. I design everything to run at 100% and choose to run at a lower value.
 
Does anyone have the spacing measurements between lights on the singing faces . Or is there a pattern of some sort ? My original home made ones were done out of 3/4” plywood and are getting too much to take up and down to attic as they are rather large and heavy also I didn’t have all the correct mouth parts as I made these for incandescent minis my first year.
So in need of a remake on a budget .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
wilmar said:
Does anyone have the spacing measurements between lights on the singing faces . Or is there a pattern of some sort ? My original home made ones were done out of 3/4” plywood and are getting too much to take up and down to attic as they are rather large and heavy also I didn’t have all the correct mouth parts as I made these for incandescent minis my first year.
So in need of a remake on a budget .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Wilmar,

I made one from rope lights, PVC and chicken wire. I built it to 4'x4' but it is still very light weight.

Tony
 
ChiefWarrant said:
Wilmar,

I made one from rope lights, PVC and chicken wire. I built it to 4'x4' but it is still very light weight.

Tony
Click to expand...

Thanks , I have an idea I’m working on and I have the numbers of lights per each item only thing I don’t have is spacing ...guess I’ll just have to lay it out in computer and try to find best arrangement.


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