Standard AC Lights sequencing using Vixen

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byrnet13

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So I'm building my 32 channels Arduino controlled box, Possibly adding FPP to it. As I set up Vixen I have my connections just listed as Outlet 1 to 32 for now. I'm using standard Christmas lights and NOT pixels at least for this year.
So in the sequence editor what effect is it just to turn on and off a string of lights? All the effects seem to be Pixel-related. I'm thinking maybe "SET LEVEL?" All I need in on or off and duration.
Any help would be great.
 
It depends on what function your controller has. If it is just a relay box with off on, then set level is really the effect you will use. If you have dimming, then the world opens up a bit and many more of the Basic effects will have some use. I would strongly encourage you to model the display and not the controller or outlets. If outlet one controls a string of lights on the roof, then call it roof. You may get to where you have super strings on some item. Say the roof line has a red string and a blue string running along side each other. You will have two outlets on the controller wired to them, but it is still a singular item called roof, but it supports 2 colors. Then you can have effects on that single item that target either the red or the blue, but you are still thinking about what color should the roof be instead of which outlet I need to turn on. This will make things much easer to sequence when you are thinking about items in your display instead of the physical arrangement. It will also go a long way to helping you add pixels if you decide to in the future.

Hope that helps.
 
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Are you building a dimmable Arduino controller?
What sketch do you plan on using on the Arduino?
If you plan on using FPP, are you going to run it from a Raspberry Pi or from your computer" Wired or wireless?
 
jeffu231 said:
It depends on what function your controller has. If it is just a relay box with off on, then set level is really the effect you will use. If you have dimming, then the world opens up a bit and many more of the Basic effects will have some use. I would strongly encourage you to model the display and not the controller or outlets. If outlet one controls a string of lights on the roof, then call it roof. You may get to where you have super strings on some item. Say the roof line has a red string and a blue string running along side each other. You will have two outlets on the controller wired to them, but it is still a singular item called roof, but it supports 2 colors. Then you can have effects on that single item that target either the red or the blue, but you are still thinking about what color should the roof be instead of which outlet I need to turn on. This will make things much easer to sequence when you are thinking about items in your display instead of the physical arrangement. It will also go a long way to helping you add pixels if you decide to in the future.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jeff,
I do see what you mean.
I am using SSR but not designed to dim, zero cross type. Will have to upgrade them.

Thanks
Tim
 
kev said:
Are you building a dimmable Arduino controller?
What sketch do you plan on using on the Arduino?
If you plan on using FPP, are you going to run it from a Raspberry Pi or from your computer" Wired or wireless?
Click to expand...

Hi Kevin,
At the moment it's an Arduino Mega driving Sainsmart SSR's. I just found out about Falcon FPP so I might try to incorporate that from a Raspberry Pi. I'm thinking Wired currently.

I am trying to sequence using Vixen. I found a guy on Youtube (Dee Higginbotham) and his "Cheapskate" series and kind of followed his with the exception of mine being smaller and no pixels.
I would love dimmable but the SSR's I have are just zero cross over. The spec sheets don't acknowledge these for dimming.

Tim
 
To expand on what Jeff said, the Basic Lighting effects will be more relevant to your type of display. There's a few in the pixel effects that could be relevant like Colorwash. But most of the magic of the pixel effects won't have much meaning to a simple AC display. That doesn't mean Vixen isn't well suited to your AC display. It works very well for that.
Effects like chase and spin and twinkle work best on groups. So if you group your elements into similar items, you can do fancier things across the groups by placing the effects like chase on the group.
 
jchuchla said:
To expand on what Jeff said, the Basic Lighting effects will be more relevant to your type of display. There's a few in the pixel effects that could be relevant like Colorwash. But most of the magic of the pixel effects won't have much meaning to a simple AC display. That doesn't mean Vixen isn't well suited to your AC display. It works very well for that.
Effects like chase and spin and twinkle work best on groups. So if you group your elements into similar items, you can do fancier things across the groups by placing the effects like chase on the group.
Click to expand...

Thanks,

I guess I can group at least my porch strands as the 1st group and maybe the archway as the second. I'll have to research grouping to see how to do that. I think currently I have everything thing grouped as "Outlet" when I matched it with the Arduino.

I greatly appreciate the help!

Tim
 
byrnet13 said:
Hi Kevin,
At the moment it's an Arduino Mega driving Sainsmart SSR's. I just found out about Falcon FPP so I might try to incorporate that from a Raspberry Pi. I'm thinking Wired currently.

I am trying to sequence using Vixen. I found a guy on Youtube (Dee Higginbotham) and his "Cheapskate" series and kind of followed his with the exception of mine being smaller and no pixels.
I would love dimmable but the SSR's I have are just zero cross over. The spec sheets don't acknowledge these for dimming.

Tim
Click to expand...

A lot of people follow his instructions. If you need any help with any of that hardware setup, just ask.

Depending on how handy your are with electronics, you could build your own dimmable SSR boards for about $2-$3 per channel ($16-$24 per 8 channel board). When I designed and built mine a few years ago, the cost was about $1.60/channel or $13 per 8 channel board.

2016 setup.jpg
 
kev said:
A lot of people follow his instructions. If you need any help with any of that hardware setup, just ask.

Depending on how handy your are with electronics, you could build your own dimmable SSR boards for about $2-$3 per channel ($16-$24 per 8 channel board). When I designed and built mine a few years ago, the cost was about $1.60/channel or $13 per 8 channel board.

View attachment 44867
Click to expand...

Kevin,
Ironically my background is in electronics. Just never did any programming.
I'll look into making my own dimmers unless I find some that would be cheaper than me building LOL

Thanks,

Tim
 
Hey all,
Since I "Grouped" the porch I tried the Chase effect and it works surprisingly well on part of my new sequence for "Wizards of Winter!"

I have a long way to go but your hints and tips helped a lot.

Thanks again,

Tim
 
Look into the Renard line of controllers if you are going to stick with AC lights for a while.
 
kev said:
Look into the Renard line of controllers if you are going to stick with AC lights for a while.
Click to expand...

I second this. I have several that have been in my show for years. I have moved a large percentage of my show to pixels, but I still have some of the trusty Renards running a few things.
 
Same here. SS16s and SS24s are still kept in working order. Feed them from the DMX output of a Falcon F16V3. Works very well.
 
I've been using Vixen 2 and before that Vixen 1 to control my Halloween display since 2007. I've tried to move up to Vixen 3 a few times and found I couldn't make heads nor tails of it, it has a completely different feel and I could not figure out how to just click in the grid set the brightness of a light or add a simple effect so I've kept going back to Vixen 2. I use an Entec Open DMX and self built dimmer packs, my lights are 100% line voltage incandescent and are going to stay that way. I'd like to move up to something more modern on the software side since the laptop running WinXP is getting long in the tooth to say the least but the newer stuff all seems to be heavily focused on pixels which I have no interest in at all and am never going to use in my display. Not to suggest that I'm a Luddite, I was an early adopter of LED bulbs for general illumination and I have not used an incandescent bulb in my house in 20 years but the holidays are all about nostalgia for me and nothing quite matches the cozy glow of incandescent decorative lights. I recently tried xLights since it will run natively on Linux but my first impression is that it is even more complex and foreign feeling than Vixen 3. It's possible I just need to persevere and learn how to use it, but I get the distinct feeling that it's a case of trying to force a round peg into a square hole.
 
I'd give Vixen another chance. Yeah it's got a learning curve compared to what you're used to. But it will be less of a jump than xLights would be. In vixen, its really just a matter of setting up your props first. Organize them into logical groups as it makes sense for your layout. Then in the sequencer, you just put the effects where you want them. If you want to set a light to a certain level, use a set level effect. If you want to ramp it on or off, then it's the pulse command. If you want to do things like chases, then you're using effects on the logical groups rather than the individual props.
 
AC lights are still a first class citizen in V3. I recall the hours I spent working in V2 adjusting chases and on off to line up with timing. With the change to V3 is was so nice to just drag things around to where they belong, let the software manage how to distribute the chase parts over a time range. All those tedious things went away and I could spend more time being creative. There are many of us willing to help if you decide to give V3 another go.
 
jeffu231 said:
AC lights are still a first class citizen in V3. I recall the hours I spent working in V2 adjusting chases and on off to line up with timing. With the change to V3 is was so nice to just drag things around to where they belong, let the software manage how to distribute the chase parts over a time range. All those tedious things went away and I could spend more time being creative. There are many of us willing to help if you decide to give V3 another go.
Click to expand...

Jeff, is there a good tutorial available to that shows more about how to set the groups up? I have a set of pillars on my porch that i would like them to run in sequence or chase.
 
Assuming you already have the individual pillars set up: In display setup. Just create an item in the element list. Call it something like "Pillars" Then Drag the individual pillar elements into that group.

If you don't have the individual pillars set up yet, then do it all in one step. In the Add box at the top, select "generic numbered group" Call the group name "Pillars" and the item prefix "Pillar-" and the item count to however many pillars you have.

It's so simple, it took me longer to fire up the screen recorder and upload the video than it did to actually do the setup.
https://youtu.be/GUofOMDBn7I

Note that since prop names need to be unique, i named one group manual and one group auto just to show the two different methods.
 
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