Wirelessly program lights to music?

[BrettBaker]

Hi. I’m a noob when it comes to programming. I need to know how to program wireless lights to music. The style is very similar to Team Ilumminate. (Team iLuminate - YouTube). It won’t be nearly as complex as this, all I need to do is turn off and on the lights on each person, but the keyword is wirelessly.

What I need:
A program to run the show
A usb device that outputs the signals
Wireless transmitter for each person (8-20 people)
Wireless receiver and battery pack for power.

Basically I need to know how to wirelessly turn off and on lights in a sequence and be able to sync it up with music. I’m using EL Wire because it’s cheap and doesn’t take much power.

By the way, this is for an indoor drumline show so I need the lighting to be as precise as possible.

Preferably, I need this to be as “DIY” as possible to bring costs down. (We’re just a bunch of high schoolers).

I would love some feedback on this and maybe some tips to push me in the right direction!
Thanks so much!

Brett

 

[Footer]

The Team Illuminate stuff is commercially available, one of our members has a connection to the technology: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...m-iluminate-final-10-americas-got-talent.html. Making it yourself will not be something that is cheap or easy.

Now, on the flipside, I have the guys from Lightwire Theater on my stage at this very moment and they went the other direction, everything they do is individually controlled and choreographed. Be aware, the EL wire is not something that is easy to do. It is rather fragile stuff and very temperamental. Also, it is NOT at all bright. We have our entire stage blacked out for this show. With the exception of isle lights and exit signs, everything is off.

 

[cpf]

http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/28553-putting-leds-into-costumes.html this thread discusses a lot of the issues you may run into, and lots of ideas on the topic

 

[BrettBaker]

Can I get some direction on how I can achieve this?

 

[Footer]

Can I get some direction on how I can achieve this?

iLuminate - Rentals

If you have an electrical engineer friend who wants to get in on it, they can help with the hardware. A good software designer can help with the software. Wireless and precise control are not something that is easy to do. You could do some type of simple playback device based on arduino that would work, but it is still not going to be easy. You could also use wireless DMX to do that, but is is not going to be cheap. The old cheap, fast, good really applies here. As far as how to build this system from the ground up goes, that is really outside of the context of what we do around here. Most people on this forum are end users, not developers/designers of a system such as this.

 

[azarett]

I have done a lot of work with EL Wire.
I'd say its not really fair to even bring up LED threads as a reference point. EL wire doesnt respond like LED's.

Ways to sync it without spending a fortune -
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9203

Some other helpfull info - There is a lighting product called Light-o-rama. Its not made specifically for EL Wire, but they make software ( and hardware) that gives timeline layout / controll to lighting. Its NOT stage console / theatre lighting, but it can tell a light to turn on or off within 1/10 a second. It outputs DMX, and you can use there stuff with a 12v controll board to feed some EL Inverters.

You might also consider soemthing like LightJams as it would generate a DMX response to your drum line / live audio.

Light-O-Rama  Computerized Shows - Light o rama - Software for timeline DMX & 12v DMX Dimming boards
Sound to Light Interface [FreeStyler Wiki] - FreeStyler ( live sound2light / DMX )
Lightjams - DMX Lighting Controller for Live Performances - another sound to dmx / live performance driver.

http://welightupthenight.com/wp-content/gallery/christmas-2010/pb250141.jpg - a link to one of my el wire pieces.

Hope some of that helps.