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Thread: Hacking The lights and sounds of Christmas

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Raleigh, NC
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    2,292

    Default

    Sorry about that. Here is the link: http://www.usbmicro.com/

    Yea, it's cool to have laser and Christmas lights control in one nice show. You can do that with Spaghetti, too. Consider getting something like a DMX controller, though. Then you can control a lot more devices from one controller by daisy chaining and you will be able to easily control some very exotic devices such as par cans, snow machines, etc. Just a thought.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Bordentown NJ USA
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    286

    Default Link, DMX, LDS

    Thanks for the link John I will check it out. Yes agreed DMX gives a lot more options it would be great to use both TTL and DMX TTL for the christmas lights and DMX for additonal lights fog machine ect.. I was looking into some RGB LED pars I found some for around 47 bucks each if you buy four http://www.cheaplights.com/cart/page13.html 112-UPL86x4 It would be nice to paint the house with different colors I think they could be faded as well So far the support from Raytrix GmBH the makers of LDS has not been great on DMX. I sent Lennart an email before the holidays asking about the DMX support and he replied they only support the easylase interface on this at the moment. When looking at the manual they say they support
    www.soundlight.de and that there is a driver for it in the program I have not found that driver and have I asked Lennart for more information on this since the company seems to cater to the european market specifically Germany and does not give a clue on where to purchase there USB controller here in the states, but he never replied. So far I love LDS for all of the things it does at the price point you can get it for but the support and documention is sketchy at best Dr. Lava has been a great resource, and also I have picked a lot up on my own just by working with it. To be fair I have had a lot of past experience with Pangolin's Laser Show Designer Professional and was a beta tester for Rick Gebhardt in the early days of Laser Illusions Alpha software, plus I have done a ton of professional digital video editing and Adobe After Effects work so the learning curve was not that bad for me. Dr. Lava is in the process of redoing the manuals and I have offered to help I will also be doing some tutorials as well (as time permits) the software deserves a better rep than it seems to be getting I am judging this based on what seems to be very little in the way of comments or interest by this community on the product, and I think updated manuals and tutorials in english will help greatly to get more Laser folks to start using it. If there are users out there please lets start a user group dont just let it collect dust.

    Michael


  3. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Orlando, Florida
    Posts
    1,156

    Default

    Mmulher,

    Johnny Yayas first name is not John, that is just his screen name.

    Lazerjock

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    2

    Default

    does any one know how to connect a wireless mr. christmas up to a computer and what software to use to sync my lights together also if possible links on how to set the syncronization up properly im new at all this and am looking for as much information as possible in lamens terms plz

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Bordentown NJ USA
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    286

    Default

    Hi
    I am not familiar with the wireless version but if you open up the receivers and find a relay board in there you can bypass the wireless part and wire it up to TTL like I did but you will need a software interface that outputs + 5 VDC ttl triggers to open an close the relays. thus switching the lights on and off and a background in electronics to wire it. Keep in mind there is no way to fade lights in and out just on and off you will be able to put your own soundtrack in and program which is much better than the preprogramed MIDI stuff that comes with the lights and sounds of Christmas

    . You may want to go to a place like www.cheaplights.com if all you are doing is syncing up lights and are not working with lasershow software and projectors. They have DMX controllers and other off the shelf devices that may work better for your needs.

    Best of Luck
    Michael
    Dreamcaster Multimedia
    Visit our website:
    https://dreamcasterlasershows.com/

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    2

    Default thanks alot 2 more ?'s what is a ttl n how to wire it nd would vixen software work

    Quote Originally Posted by mmuhler View Post
    Hi
    I am not familiar with the wireless version but if you open up the receivers and find a relay board in there you can bypass the wireless part and wire it up to TTL like I did but you will need a software interface that outputs + 5 VDC ttl triggers to open an close the relays. thus switching the lights on and off and a background in electronics to wire it. Keep in mind there is no way to fade lights in and out just on and off you will be able to put your own soundtrack in and program which is much better than the preprogramed MIDI stuff that comes with the lights and sounds of Christmas

    . You may want to go to a place like www.cheaplights.com if all you are doing is syncing up lights and are not working with lasershow software and projectors. They have DMX controllers and other off the shelf devices that may work better for your needs.

    Best of Luck
    Michael
    thanks alot 2 more ?'s what is a ttl n how to wire it nd would vixen software work

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Bordentown NJ USA
    Posts
    286

    Default Vixen Software

    Hi
    I believe Vixen software is MIDI based which is another way to sequence lights as far as I know Vixen does send out TTL I have no experience with it and you may want to hit the vixen user forums for more information on Plugins that work on available interface boards for it.

    Now for TTL and how to wire it TTL is either on or off its voltage a maximum output between 3.3 and 5VDC that comes off of a digital to analog converter DAC in most cases 8 channels per board, these would be wired to the relays on you lights and sounds of Christmas.

    There are most likely DAC boards that interface with your USB port on your computer that are compatible with Vixen software you would need to consult with the support forums that are on the Vixen website.

    Remember TTL is on or off no fading which does limit what you can do with your lights. The lights and sounds of Christmas is on or off no fading in and out of lights. DMX would be a much better way to go you would use a Vixen compatible board and an analog to DMX converter to DMX dimmer packs that would drive your lights.

    Analog allows you to go from 0 to 5vdc which will in turn bring a dimmer up and down allowing lights to fade in and out. you could use a combination of both analog and ttl to get more control outputs to your lights some would fade and others would turn on and off.

    Here is a link to a forum discussing Vixen and TTL you may want to jump in on that one.
    http://www.efx-tek.com/php/smf/index.php?topic=1934.0

    We are laser light show heads here on photonlexicon the stuff we do is a lot more expensive, not that what you are trying to do is cheap.

    But If you get the Laser bug look out its kind of like the saying for any one who owns a boat "break out another thousand".


    Hope this helps
    Good Luck

    th
    Quote Originally Posted by craigger58 View Post
    thanks alot 2 more ?'s what is a ttl n how to wire it nd would vixen software work
    Dreamcaster Multimedia
    Visit our website:
    https://dreamcasterlasershows.com/

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    2,292

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mmuhler View Post
    Hi
    I believe Vixen software is MIDI based which is another way to sequence lights as far as I know Vixen does send out TTL I have no experience with it and you may want to hit the vixen user forums for more information on Plugins that work on available interface boards for it.

    Now for TTL and how to wire it TTL is either on or off its voltage a maximum output between 3.3 and 5VDC that comes off of a digital to analog converter DAC in most cases 8 channels per board, these would be wired to the relays on you lights and sounds of Christmas.

    There are most likely DAC boards that interface with your USB port on your computer that are compatible with Vixen software you would need to consult with the support forums that are on the Vixen website.

    Remember TTL is on or off no fading which does limit what you can do with your lights. The lights and sounds of Christmas is on or off no fading in and out of lights. DMX would be a much better way to go you would use a Vixen compatible board and an analog to DMX converter to DMX dimmer packs that would drive your lights.

    Analog allows you to go from 0 to 5vdc which will in turn bring a dimmer up and down allowing lights to fade in and out. you could use a combination of both analog and ttl to get more control outputs to your lights some would fade and others would turn on and off.

    Here is a link to a forum discussing Vixen and TTL you may want to jump in on that one.
    http://www.efx-tek.com/php/smf/index.php?topic=1934.0

    We are laser light show heads here on photonlexicon the stuff we do is a lot more expensive, not that what you are trying to do is cheap.

    But If you get the Laser bug look out its kind of like the saying for any one who owns a boat "break out another thousand".


    Hope this helps
    Good Luck

    th
    Spaghetti does TTL. You could do what the above using Spaghetti.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Ok i have a 6 channel holiday brilliant spectacular light and sound show. My problem that i have is that you have to have the music up very loud for it to react to the music. Is it possible to add a audio in jack to the main controller and just add a tee for the speaker or fm transmiter. Not sure if it is pressure sensitive or actual sound picked up by a low quality built in mic

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    DC/VA metro area, USA
    Posts
    554

    Default

    Possibilities:

    Tape a headphone over the mic hole and adjust the volume as needed to get the results you want.

    Open the case and look for a sensitivity adjustment pot near the microphone or microphone wires.

    You could replace the mic with a line level driven voltage divider network, but that would be more involved. I suspect option number two is the best bet.

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