LED Effects Tips? On a Hog 3?

[Flyboy]

So I have been recruited to program a new LED floor installation at one of our neighboring casinos, and they want some dynamic effects. The floor is made entirely of 3-channel LED tiles, and the idea is that we are going to program the effects on our Road Hog, then feed the DMX stream into their controller (I haven't heard which model). Bada bing, bada boom. However, these floor tiles are arranged in columns of varying lengths, and are spaced irregularly (naturally). The designer wants color fades that will start at the center of the center column, then radiate up and down that column. Also, the effect needs to radiate from the center of the column outward (left and right). Lastly, each effect needs to hit a number of key colors in its sequence, which I wil have to be able to modify onsite.

I already suggested that the best way to accomplish this effect would be to use something with pixel-mapping capabilities, but nobody wanted to cover the cost. It has been decided that I will be using the Road Hog (which I can't even network to a visualizer) to build the wanted effects.

So my question is: Does anyone know any tricks or shortcuts to do this? The best I've been able to come up with would be a series of linked chases which incorporate preset color palettes that I can then modify onsite...but it would take alot of time to update any timing onsite. I thought about creating effects palettes that I could plop onto groups (columns) and offset them from each other, but it would take forever if I needed to update a color.

Or, does someone know of any extremely cheap pixel-mappers?

 

[LuxMax]

You are correct in that you will probably need to manually write a lot of cues to do the specific looks and use palettes for your colors so they can be updated later without rewriting cues. This will take you a long time to do unfortunately, so to help things along, it is a very good idea to make lots of groups and use graph paper to 'visualize' your cues.
The effect engine will help you here and is worth experimenting with it, and it is important reading the effects section of the manual. You can spread an effect out from one end of a column to the other, but you can also choose to have the effect start in the middle and work its way outward as you desire. Having the effect hit a particular color is tricky but can be done. Also in the effects section you can use Groups and Buddys to get some interesting looks. It's all covered in the manual.
All said, without a visualizer it is difficult to see what you are doing with the effects engine, it's best to be on-site to see the results. Without pre-viz and onsite programming, manually cueing is probably better since you are programming exact steps with timing and color. You just need to 'storyboard' your sequences with graph paper or some other low-tech approach.
Granted some kind of matrix editor would be very helpful and speed things up a lot. MagicQ from Chamsys has a good LED matrix section and is free with one universe, but I don't know how many tiles you have there (more than 170 and you need another universe).
Also, what playback controller are they using? It sounds like something that has streaming DMX recording capability. If that is not the case then you have bigger problems.
Let me know if you have any more questions, I've done a ton of LED programming and used the Road Hog on a bunch of it although it was not fun. Lately I've been using GrandMA, Ecue, and Madrix to save time and get better results.

 

[meatpopsicle]

I already suggested that the best way to accomplish this effect would be to use something with pixel-mapping capabilities, but nobody wanted to cover the cost. It has been decided that I will be using the Road Hog (which I can't even network to a visualizer) to build the wanted effects.

Who decided that you were going to use the Roadhog? Great board but the Ma would be better suited for this. It has pixel mapping and the ability to do visualizing built in. Sounds like using the right (or better) tool might save time and money.

 

[Flyboy]

LuxMax: Thanks for the info. I'm checking out MagicQ right now, but I don't think I will be able to get the DMX Universe in time...naturally, I have to have something ready by Monday. I am very familiar with the effects engine in the Hog, but like you said, without a way to see what I'm doing, I can't really utilize it well. I had resigned to linking cuelists so that I could quickly update the color palettes onsite, and I will definitely be "story-boarding" my cues; I would be completely lost otherwise.

I have used and prefer a GrandMA for this kind of programming, but we don't actually have any in our area. I would have to get one shipped to me, and as I said before, my boss didn't want to cover the cost. I don't think I made it clear how much time it would end up saving...The Road Hog is the moving light console that we have in our shop, so it is what was decided that I will use.

Funny how I was recruited to do this because I'm the "Moving Light Programmer," but they didn't hear me when I said "That's the wrong board."

 

[LuxMax]

Funny how I was recruited to do this because I'm the "Moving Light Programmer," but they didn't hear me when I said "That's the wrong board."

Isn't it though? Truth is you can program a really good show on any console, but the big factor that comes into play is time. Certain tools are right for the job, others take longer. A lot of folks who write the checks don't seem to understand that. If you spend an extra couple hundred bucks on the right console, you will get the job done the right way and faster, saving everyone from saying 'why it isn't done yet?' when you are under the gun.