Addressable LED Chase Lights Expertise

[HoustonHorn 1062]

Working on a small project and need some help regarding very specific LED lights. Any help is appreciated.

I need short runs (5-10') of Addressable LED Chase lighting that can adjust the color and also have a "gap" so that there are only 1-3 sequential lights illuminated at any one time in the entire length, but still chase. It does appear that a longer strand could be cut to the necessary length, but that would result in a lot of waste.

I understand that addressable lights can be programmed to have specific patterns/colors/speed/etc. But I don't have that knowledge or any idea where to start. Seems most of the addressable LED lighting solutions are from manufacturers in China. So instead of trying to describe what I'm looking for to any of those companies, I figured I'd check the Surly collective.

Anyone knowledgeable about LED lighting/programming?

 

[Bevo 13661]

What is it for film, yard, dj, or grow? There are different control boards available for each.

[HoustonHorn 1062]

Thanks, it for an art project to cast some shadows. just needs to be a continuous chase with a few lights lit at a time where the speed and color is variable.

[Bevo 13661]

18 minutes ago, HoustonHorn said:

Thanks, it for an art project to cast some shadows. just needs to be a continuous chase with a few lights lit at a time where the speed and color is variable.

I am a little behind the times but this page ma help: https://tigoe.github.io/LightProjects/addressable-leds

It does suck that all the manufacturers seem to be Chinese. But, I think if anyone can help you here describing the project in more detail - wattage needed, goal, etc. would be helpful.

[HoustonHorn 1062]

19 minutes ago, Bevo said:

I am a little behind the times but this page ma help: https://tigoe.github.io/LightProjects/addressable-leds

It does suck that all the manufacturers seem to be Chinese. But, I think if anyone can help you here describing the project in more detail - wattage needed, goal, etc. would be helpful.

Cool, thank you, checking that out now. 

The simplest way to explain what I'm looking for is something like the Christmas decorations that hang from trees that look like icicles and the light goes down like its cascading. I just need a flexible LED strip that does this same thing and can change colors and has adjustable speed. Preferably in 3-10' sections with a controller.

 

[Bevo 13661]

24 minutes ago, HoustonHorn said:

Cool, thank you, checking that out now. 

The simplest way to explain what I'm looking for is something like the Christmas decorations that hang from trees that look like icicles and the light goes down like its cascading. I just need a flexible LED strip that does this same thing and can change colors and has adjustable speed. Preferably in 3-10' sections with a controller.

 

That should be easy to find in a kit. I'll look into it.

[HoustonHorn 1062]

3 minutes ago, Bevo said:

That should be easy to find in a kit. I'll look into it.

Awesome, thank you. It seems like it would be readily available off the shelf, but I couldn't find anything that had the cascading effect other than the Christmas lights. Then diving deeper, it took about 2 seconds to exceed my knowledge of lighting. That website above is very interesting, but way way beyond my level of comprehension of lighting and programming. I did see the section on fading light which gave me flashbacks to learning C++ 25 years ago and which I never learned other than to create a random number generator.

This video seems to show it kindof. Its from 2013 at the 20 second mark.

 

 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10492]

All comes down to if you can find an off the shelf effect specific to what you want. The controllers like in video just contain a preset number of coded effects. If you need a more specific one you have to code it and update to a controller (the physical component parts are pretty DIY friendly).

The other big item would be how you plan/want to power it - battery or wall plug, etc.

[Bevo 13661]

From the site that you pointed to:

 

choose the one you prefer

https://www.superlightingled.com/holiday-led-string-lights-c-6_15.html 

 

choose an LED controller

https://www.superlightingled.com/addressable-dream-color-controllers-c-7_51.html 

 

choose power supply

https://www.superlightingled.com/led-power-supply-drives-c-16.html 

[Bevo 13661]

After you think you know what you want, send an email to the company with the specifics of what you are trying to accomplish and see if what you chose will work for what you are trying to achieve. It sucks that all the companies are Chinese because it makes customer service pretty annoying.

[HoustonHorn 1062]

3 hours ago, Bevo said:

From the site that you pointed to:

 

choose the one you prefer

 

https://www.superlightingled.com/holiday-led-string-lights-c-6_15.html 

 

 

choose an LED controller

 

https://www.superlightingled.com/addressable-dream-color-controllers-c-7_51.html 

 

choose power supply

 

https://www.superlightingled.com/led-power-supply-drives-c-16.html 

 

 

2 hours ago, Bevo said:

After you think you know what you want, send an email to the company with the specifics of what you are trying to accomplish and see if what you chose will work for what you are trying to achieve. It sucks that all the companies are Chinese because it makes customer service pretty annoying.

Cool, thank you! I'm going to go with an LED strip I think since its going to be attached to the inside of a frame.