A novice's project w/ Color Kinetics, elementary help needed. Project thread.

[Snakepit]

My first post in this part of tje forum will be this.

On ColoKinetics site they say itsnpossible to use a third party light system manager instead of theirLight System Manager. Philips Color Kinetics - LED Lighting Controllers - Light System Manager
As total novice i have not a clue what to look for or what they mean, therefor i ask here for some guideance on what a third party LSM would be.
Maybe someone could put some link to other manufacturs of LSM's. Ive been looking for over a week now without really understanding what im looking for.
i bought the Iplayer 2 from Ebay, but now i see it cant be used with all my equipment.
After looking at drawings on CK website i see that im missing a LSM.

I hope i you guys understand what i mean

Ill hit my bed now, its 1.30 a.m here so its time to sleep, hopefully i have some links to click on tomorrow.

Ill get back in another thread later of my project im about to make, and ill alsompost all my gear that i have, but for now i need answers to the above question.

Best regards Sasha

 

[doctrjohn]

Re: Third party substitute for Color Kinetics LSM?

Are you just looking for the software to create shows that you can then download to your iPlayer 2? If so, you can download ColorPlay version 1.8 here:
Philips Color Kinetics Downloads Archive

Or are you looking for a show controller that can control all of the devices you have? If this is the case then please post back with a list of your kit and what you are hoping to do with it and we can certainly provide some suggestions.

Best,
John

 

[Snakepit]

A novices project w Color Kinetics, elementary help needed. Project thread.

Hi guys

Even though my english is limited i would really appreciate if you took the time and read this thru.

Im making a new thread and ill try to keep all my questions in here. Seems its better i start to explain it all from the beginning.
I have never even looked this way before, at lighting that is.
I own a restaurant/pub in Sweden. I fantasized for some time to put some nice lighting in the restaurant to wash the walls and ceiling. I understood that it would cost a lot to do that, so i looked at alternative lighting like rgb stripes and christmas lighting leds (dont laugh please) to put behind frosted glass in my bar and some other places. Well, that was just thoughts, i even bought a strand with christmas leds and put behind glass and saw how beutiful it could end up with the real things.

As i coincidence some time after that i went on an online auction of a night club that was closing. I was looking for a double fryer and some furniture. Call it luck, coincidence or even faith, but there they were. Color Kinetics fixtures lying in a box. 40pcs IColor Cove MX Powercore. I went on to look more detailed about the auction items. There was everything i have dreamt of, a lot of RGB led lighting.
Seemed like nobody was specially interested in them or didnt really understand what it was but it ended up me buying all RGB lighting from that night club for a price that i think is like almost getting it for free?
You guys maybe can tell me if it was a good buy/price? Many of the Cove MX i found under floors, and all Cove EC in the walls. Nobody knew about them before, but the auction company let me take them also for free if ibjust cleaned up the mess after taking it all down.

For 12500SEK, approx 1900$ i got the following:

Color Kinetics:
5 x Data Enabler Ethernet #106-000003-05 Data Formatting Power Supply for LED lighting- Philips Color Kinetics


17 x Power/Data Supply #109-000020-02 Philips Color Kinetics PDS-60ca 12V
(strangely, there isnt any info on CK website of this item. 1 DMX out, 1 combined DMX/Ethernet in)


6 x Power/Data Supply #109-000020-03 Philips Color Kinetics PDS-60ca 12V
(DMX/Ethernet)


6 x Power/Data Supply #109-000016-02 Power Data Supply for LED Lighting - Philips Color Kinetics PDS-60ca 24V
(Ethernet)


3 x Eth Ctrl Keypad # 103-000017-00 Philips Color Kinetics - LED Lighting Controller Accessories - Ethernet Controller Keypad
(no info on CK website, found a http://www.colorkinetics.com/support/datasheets/EnetKeypad.pdf


170 x iColor Cove MX Powercore #123-000004-?? Philips Color Kinetics - Cove LED Lighting Fixtures - iColor Cove MX Powercore
Theres no last 2 digits on the item number so i dont know the beam angle.


64 x Icolor Cove EC #101-000022-00 Philips Color Kinetics - Cove LED Lighting Fixtures - iColor Cove EC


20+ x Icolor Flex SLX strands #101-000053 Philips Color Kinetics - LED Lighting Fixtures
Mixed white and black colors cable. White translucent domes.

Also there was numerous of ethernet switches, 1 Asrock 330ht(which i thought was the hardware to controll all, but wasnt), numerous ethernet cables.
____________


Iplayer 2 w. Ps60 power supply. This item i bought from US for 275$, thought i needed it to control things. Well I can use it with the Cove EC, but not with the Cove MX due to powersupplies are ethernet and not DMX.

Ive looked on all drawings at CK website and it seems that i miss CK Light System Manager. I found one today for 1000$, should i buy it?
_________

What do i want to do and accomplish with all this?
This are my thoughts about it all. I want to put color on my walls and ceiling, behind glass in the bar. I want to give the restaurant a warm nice feeling. Sorry if i suck at expressing my self and use wrong words, i do the best i can.
I know just putting it all up will be a lot of work but i really need to know if this is the right equipment for me?

The walls: i want light to shine down on them, not necessary all the way down but 6ft at least.
The ceiling: same as walls
the Bar: ill have either white mat plexiglass or real frosted kind of glass tha i want to shine and change colors.
Bathrooms: some plexiglass in walls.

My knowledge about lighting = 0
Thats why im here, hopefully ill learn a lot in the process of making my project come to life.

I feel like im maybe not so good at expressing my self and that it makes hard for you guys to understand, but i hope some of you got the hang of it. I really need help here.

So, ive put all my equipment up, i tried to explain what i want to do, and if theres anything more that i missed just tell me and ill write it down.

Best regards Sasha

 

[techieman33]

From some quick google searches there is at least $50,000 US in equipment, so yeah you basically got it for free. Hopefully you have all of the control cables too so you can connect it all up. It honestly sounds like your in way over your head, and it would be very hard if not impossible for us to walk you through all of this. The best course of action would probably be to find a lighting company in your area that deals with theatrical or architectural lighting to help you figure out exactly what you have and how to hook it up and control it.

 

[Snakepit]

From some quick google searches there is at least $50,000 US in equipment, so yeah you basically got it for free. Hopefully you have all of the control cables too so you can connect it all up. It honestly sounds like your in way over your head, and it would be very hard if not impossible for us to walk you through all of this. The best course of action would probably be to find a lighting company in your area that deals with theatrical or architectural lighting to help you figure out exactly what you have and how to hook it up and control it.

I spent almost 4 weeks there taking apart allt the walls and ceiling. I saved all cables that were connected to all the switches etc.
There was 6 x moving heads there also that i didnt bid on and i remember the controlbox for them laid in the Dj booth and looked a lot like the CK LSM. Probably they were connected to this and also the lighting.
As you can see in my list theres a lot of fixtures and power supplies. The place looked like a demolition site after me ripping all apart to get hold of the lighting. I even numbered all cables with stickers and put all numbers corresponding on the switches so id remember what goes where.

The strands of Flex is over 1000 domes. They were installed in the ceiling forming 3 enourmous stars( with 13-14) rays on each.
I think i did a good job on numbering everything, because when i saw all power supplies inside the walls i thought, ****, i better number all this beause i will NEVER EVER put it together again if i just take it down without any sort of numbering.

I am very aware of the size of this project and i know it will demand a lot of me to learn a huge amount of information.
What i think ive figured out is that the only thing im missing is the controller Light System Manager, but ive found one in Italy for 1000$. It should be worth it to get all things working, right?

If i decide to hirensomeone for it, i dont even know what that occupation is called. What kind of guy am i looking for? dMX512 controller engineer? What is is it called?

I know that this is huge, but im confident if i get some help here and with my will to fullfill my dreams about making my restaurant look like i fantasize, ill be able yo do this. It may take a long time, but im bot in a hurry

So what do you think? Willing to read my posts from time to time and maybe contribute with some knowledge so i can learn this amazing stuff?

 

[derekleffew]

It's not that we don't want to help, but this project may be beyond the capabilities of an Internet forum.

Here's a wild and wacky idea:
From the website Philips Color Kinetics - LED Lighting Systems, LED Lights find out who the manufacturer's representative for your area is. Contact them with the name of the defunct club, and see if they can tell you the company that did the original installation. (If not, ask for a suggestion of another company local to you.) That company can then help you re-use/re-purpose what you have, and offer suggestions. The Light System Manager for $1000 may be the best solution and all you're lacking, or there may be something brighter/bigger/faster/better/cheaper! from CK's, or another manufacturer's, current offerings.

... If i decide to hire someone for it, i dont even know what that occupation is called. What kind of guy am i looking for? dMX512 controller engineer? What is is it called? ...

I'd guess the person you're seeking would call him/herself a "Theatrical/Architectural Lighting Systems Designer/Integrator," but you're unlikely to find that in any phone directory.

One more thing that may or may not need to be said, but I'll say it anyway...
Electricity is dangerous and can cause deadly bodily harm. When in doubt, always consult a local professional in person. I have no idea how building codes/inspections work in Sweden, but here in the US, all electrical wiring for a commercial building must be performed by a state-licensed electrician/electrical contractor, under a permit so that the work will be inspected. Please meet or exceed the most stringent of local, state, and federal, building, electrical, and fire safety codes as you plan and execute your installation.

 

[millamber]

I'm going to ignore for the moment the setup part of all of that. You are correct in your assumption that you will need the Light System Manager in order to program the Ethernet controllers. The keypads are for playback of pre-programmed light shows which you must first create using the LSM.

Regarding the setup and installation of all the parts, if you have everything labelled as to where it came from and where it goes, you should be ok putting it back together. The Power Supplies are the only thing that need to be connected to building power, and you will want an electrician to install those for you. The fixtures receive power and data from the power supplies. The Data Enablers are for the Powercore MX fixtures and the PSU's are for the others.

There is an outside shot that the keypad controllers still have their old programming saved in them. It wouldn't allow you to make changes, but you could get the lights on without the LSM at least for testing purposes. It at least couldn't hurt to try...