This is sort of a long shot, but here it goes. I started out with Vixen Lights 2 and Arduino years ago. I spent many hours doing very detailed sequences for 16 channels of old fashioned single color LEDs. I spent countless hours on the project (I made my own 12 volt LED spotlights for my Halloween display. It was really cool, a large graveyard with over 100 little LED spotlights, some skeletons with light up eyes (before you could buy them from every store like nowadays) and singing pumpkins. It was all pwm to music. When it worked, it was amazing. That's the key- when it worked. The arduiono project box was sketchy as hell as I'm not an electrical or circuit person at all, and between that and Vixen, it began to glitch a lot over the years. I gradually gave up and just ran a "random" light show. I tried to learn Vixen 3 when it came out, but I couldn't convert my sequences to Vixen 3 successfully. Flash forward to well over 10 years later now and Vixen 3 has been around for a bit. My big questions are- is there any hope of converting those old sequences to Vixen 3, and is a DMX controller perhaps something a bit more stable for someone like me to use? I still have single color 12 vold LED's (16 channels worth) that I just want to use on/ off and pwm or dimming and my old Vixen 2 sequences. Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hail Mary Question
- Thread starter Goneferal
- Start date
I had weird glitching in Vixen 3 with my three Arduino Mega controllers. I found it was because the laptop running Vixen only had a single USB 'root hub'. The USB controller inside the laptop couldn't keep up and a controller would constantly show disconnected.
DMX is a good way if you wish. DMX relays or DMX dimmer modules off AliExpress/Amazon work well.
And a bonus is that DMX is widely used in other programs, like xLights, if you ever go down that route.
Personally I'm a believer in using what you have first before buying more.... so how sketchy is this DIY controller? Maybe parts can be salvages/repurposed?
DMX is a good way if you wish. DMX relays or DMX dimmer modules off AliExpress/Amazon work well.
And a bonus is that DMX is widely used in other programs, like xLights, if you ever go down that route.
Personally I'm a believer in using what you have first before buying more.... so how sketchy is this DIY controller? Maybe parts can be salvages/repurposed?
MartinMueller2003
Supporting Member
ESPixelStick gives you a better alternative. You connect via ethernet. USB is no longer an issue.
It sounds to me that there's not reason to move away from Vixen 2 if that's what you want.
If you are planning on staying in the single color realm(i.e. not pixels), I would highly recommend looking into anything Renard. Its rock solid. Be very careful though, Most variants are for ac dimming. It sounds like you want dc. Its still very easy to do, you just need to be sure you're using the right stuff.
As for Vixen 2, and its sequences: I ran my display using Vixen 2 for years and still use it to sequence. Now I export the sequences to fpp and run my display from there. This combination has been great.
If you are planning on staying in the single color realm(i.e. not pixels), I would highly recommend looking into anything Renard. Its rock solid. Be very careful though, Most variants are for ac dimming. It sounds like you want dc. Its still very easy to do, you just need to be sure you're using the right stuff.
As for Vixen 2, and its sequences: I ran my display using Vixen 2 for years and still use it to sequence. Now I export the sequences to fpp and run my display from there. This combination has been great.
MartinMueller2003
Supporting Member
FYI: The importer that takes Vixen 2 and turns it into Vixen 3 data is working. You have to set up a map between the channels and then the data gets imported. I suggest you try Vixen 3 to see if you are comfortable with it. When I moved, the biggest mental change was learning to not think in 25ms blocks and start thinking in terms of how long I want an effect (color) to run and just set the start and end points for the color, ignoring the actual alignment to the 25ms time frames.
Just want to make sure you've ruled out unrelated causes for the sketchiness. Running PWM on zero-cross SSR's will absolutely make it sketchy. I run DMX through USB, but it's through an FTDI cable, using Xlights, and no Arduino, and whenever I get behavior that I would call sketchy it's almost invariably temperature-related. Something's getting hot.
First, I remember interacting with you back in the day (as much as anyone as old as me remembers from that far back). Good to see you posting again.
Second, I agree with Mark's post above about re-using what you have. My vague memory places you somewhere in Idaho, where weather can affect show hardware. At the moment I'd be more inclined to fix what you have, unless you really want to bring you change your show. So how were things not working well?
Second, I agree with Mark's post above about re-using what you have. My vague memory places you somewhere in Idaho, where weather can affect show hardware. At the moment I'd be more inclined to fix what you have, unless you really want to bring you change your show. So how were things not working well?
As I recall, they're running low-voltage DC LEDs, nothing to do with zero-crossing. Of course, my memory from that time is being over-written with new data.
Ha ha, the whole setup is sketchy, I'm not good at soldering much so it's all jump wires and a few breadboard. I'm using darlington (sp?) arrays between the arduino and the outputs. The sketchiness also may be in my arduino sketch itself. Add those all up and the wrong channels were "firing" instead of the right ones. So say when a skeleton''s eyes were supposed to fire, a string of spotlights would go instead. The problem would compound over the course of a night's program. It sometimes works great, then, things would start misfiring and the problem would compound over time. I've had the individual arrays burn out, and switching them is really stressful as the project box is like playing the game Operation. I'm sure my jump wires weren't getting plugged into the wrong channels. I don't know if breadboards can just cause the problem themselves with overuse. Very long story short, I'm not confident in the setup. It's very old, so there isn't a lot of money invested in it. The whole set up is probobly about 14 years old. I did rewire all my props and made better spotlights since then (aside from replacing a mega here and there, and the breadboards and chips over time. I'm more invested in my spotlights than the project box.
Oh, I am running 12 volt DC, good memory! I'd rather have a new piece of more reliable hardware than my old project box. I could happily keep using Vixen 2, I did do my sequencing in smaller time chunks than the original setting used in Vixen. There is a lot of fading in and out. A LOT. I'm just so excited that anyone replied to my post, let alone so many people. Thank you all! I'd love to maybe get a DMX "box" and just use everything else I already have. I don't see me doing a switch to RGB any time soon. Switching from old LEDs to that wouldn't work with RGB as I have say green going at the same time as blue, so a switch from one color to the other wouldn't work with the sequences I have. It's only 16 channels, but the sequences are very precise and intricate. I spent hours and hours on those.
MartinMueller2003
Supporting Member
I would suggest moving to a renard DC controller. It would get you out of the breadboard model and into a protocol that has tight control over the data being sent to the controller (as opposed to generic serial which can loose sync).
MartinMueller2003
Supporting Member
A ren 64 can connect to your DC SSRs and give you DC dimming.
Also note that the Renard platform can also run DMX firmware. There is a lot of information in the forums on it and I would suggest you check some of them out before you dive it. If I remember correctly the DMX firmware doesn't work exactly like other DMX's in that it still consumes the channel data and only passes on what it doesn't use. So, I would assume you wouldn't want to daisy chain different DMX devices in the same run.
Don't take what I just said as rule, maybe others can chime in to confirm or deny what I said.
Also, for what its worth, the Renard 64 with DC ssrs is exactly what I'm adding to my display this year to replace some ropelight props with led strips (the ropelights just aren't that bright).
Don't take what I just said as rule, maybe others can chime in to confirm or deny what I said.
Also, for what its worth, the Renard 64 with DC ssrs is exactly what I'm adding to my display this year to replace some ropelight props with led strips (the ropelights just aren't that bright).
The reason that I'm pushing for making the current setup work is that until you find out why the Arduino setup is flakey you risk bringing the same problems to the new rig.
When you say 'darlington array' I'm thinking that you mean ULN2803 (or similar) chips, and that 'breadboard' means a solderless breadboard like this one. And you're using a generic serial module with Vixen 2, and some sketch or other on the Arduino,
When you say 'darlington array' I'm thinking that you mean ULN2803 (or similar) chips, and that 'breadboard' means a solderless breadboard like this one. And you're using a generic serial module with Vixen 2, and some sketch or other on the Arduino,
You are correct on all accounts.
My problem is that when I search for one, none come up. It looks like the website Renard Plus has a few things, but I'm not seing one for 12v DC.
I guess I just see my old setup as that it has so many points at which it can fail. I'd like something a bit more reliable. I'm comfortable with more DIY than a Light O Rama, but was never that solid with arduino, plus sketch, plus breadboards, plus wires, etc...
Or this:
I was wondering if something like these would work. I only need 16 channels for now, not RGB.