Control/Dimming Guidance on Controlling LED RGB Strips through DMX.

Hi,

I was wondering if you guys could help me with being able to control LED RGB light strips using DMX. I would like to be able to control many strips individually through some sort of interface. I am completely ignorant when it comes to these things, even though I have been trying to educate myself.

What would I need, like what kind of controller? Do I have to connect the controller to some other thing? And what should I do to be able to control everything via my computer?

If you need to know anything else, please let me know.

Thank you so much!


-Manny
 
What is your general budget? What strips are you using? Do you have them already, or are you still shopping for that as well? Are you also looking to control anything else, or just the strips? How many strips? Do you see yourself significantly expanding in the near future?

There is a wide range of solutions available, so it will help to narrow down what you are looking for.
 
What is your general budget? What strips are you using? Do you have them already, or are you still shopping for that as well? Are you also looking to control anything else, or just the strips? How many strips? Do you see yourself significantly expanding in the near future?

There is a wide range of solutions available, so it will help to narrow down what you are looking for.

I am not looking on spending too much on this, since I am just trying to do this as a hobby. I do have the strips already, but I'm not sure if you are looking for specific info on them, I just know they are 12V. Right now I am working with only 3, but yes, in the future, I would like to be able to expand to hundreds of strips.

Thank for your prompt response BTW :)
 
The cheapest reliable computer option would probably be an Enttec USB-DMX Pro (~150) and Chamsys MagicQ software (free).
 
The cheapest reliable computer option would probably be an Enttec USB-DMX Pro (~150) and Chamsys MagicQ software (free).

Would the Enttec USB-DMX Pro be the only thing I need to make this work? Does it connect to both the light strips and the computer.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, it's just that I've been reading about DMX consoles, controllers, and decoders, and I don't know if those are all the same or different items.
 
A basic DMX system consists of 2 (3) things/categories: The controller(console) and the fixtures. Of course, you also have the DMX cables between everything. In a larger system, these categories can expand to include splitters, networking equipment, etc. In this scenario, MagicQ will allow your computer to be used as the console. The Enttec unit is basically an adaptor to connect the DMX cables to your computer.
 
Niche DMX and "low cost" don't go together unless you love DIYing fiddly electronics. When you say the strips are "12V," do you mean they have 2 wires coming out of them that, if attached to a car battery (or a 9V, probably) gets them to light up? If that's the case, the most cut-and-dried solution would be RC4's wireless dimmers, but they aren't going to be cheap. Next up is a DFD DMX24DIM ($1500 MRSP) coupled with some simple electronics, giving you 24 channels of DMX control.

If those solutions are too rich, read up on basic electronics and Arduino programming. If I were doing what I think you're doing, I'd build a simple controller circuit around an Arduino, then BatchPCB myself the amount required for the "hundreds" of strips, then hook them all up to a computer that's reading the IPDMX data being sent by the console software. Total cost <$1000 (rough estimate), plus the time to debug the circuit, write the middleware for the PC and the arduino, etc. Not trying to discourage you, but it sounds like you've got yourself quite a large and/or expensive task no matter which way you go about it.

On the other hand:
If these LED strips already have DMX control, then your job is much easier. See above posts.
 
...If those solutions are too rich, read up on basic electronics and Arduino programming. If I were doing what I think you're doing, I'd build a simple controller circuit around an Arduino...

Someone already did the dirty work, but with an AVR. He also explains how to program it, but requires a serial or parallel port.

DMX Demultiplexer

Look around on his site, there is firmware and adaptations available to drive lots of stuff. I've built a few receiver boards, and they work nicely.
 

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