The project itself was so initially thought-out that it is literally impossible to wrap my brain around how you created such a well-produced and explained video to accompany it. Down to the phrasing it answers every single doubt or question. You didn’t have to do any of this and here you are. Thank you
The fact that you came back almost a year later with such a detailed look into your awesome open source project, that could easily been monetized from the start, just blows me away. Thanks so much for this. Now let the community go wild with some custom esp-wroom-based WiFi ArtNet receiver and a powerpack solution and let's make these beauties addresable and wireless 😁
ws2812b individually addressable leds + esp32 (with WLED installed) would be a major upgrade . a DIY version of the popular (and $$$) Astera Titan/Helios/Hyperion tubes widely used at video production.
Sorry for missing this comment! Really appreciate it! I did update the rig to a new version that uses artnet! Not sure if you've seen the new video yet but definitely hoping the community can take the idea and run with it!
While it will make the control electronics more complicated, I would investigate addressable LEDs for v2. The lighting effects that become possible are one obvious benefit, but additionally, you could remove one conductor from the cables, and reduce the size of another one, which will probably save a bunch of cable costs. (addressable LEDs only require power, ground, and data pins, with data not drawing much current). Theoretically, you could also add a 24v to 12v step down module in each base, and further reduce the cost and spool size of the cables (while keeping the option to run 12v LEDs). For fixtures that don't require addressable LEDs, you could incorporate an inexpensive decoder board (quinleds dig2analog for example) in the fixture or base. With that, the entire strip acts as one "pixel" to the controller, so this would still allow daisy-chaining.
Amazing comment! You’ve pretty much outlined exactly what we are going to do with v2 (down to the Quinled dig2analogue board)! Would love to chat more with you on the discord
Thank you for these great videos! I used your idea with the flourescent tube, aluminum channel and parchment for my LED sticks. I decided to use a ESP32 w/ WLED, using Artnet to send DMX over Wifi.
Looking to create a DMX fixture very soon for my first piece of lighting hardware I’m so glad I stumbled across this video, your explanations and ideas not only give miles of inspiration for potential lighting but also it gives a comprehensive breakdown of what all goes into designing a Dmx fixture.
I am currently also building LED Tubes. And I decided to use Powercon as the connector. Powercon basically has a three wire connector and I am using the earth wire for the data line of the LED. This is an easy way so I can use normal Powercon Cables which I have always with me, as most lights have this connector (at least in Europe). My distribution box therefore has 8 Powercon Out sockets which are meant to be connected to the tubes. I also put stickers on the tubes that only the cable of the distribution box should be used (to prevent somebody from plugging in the LED tube - which is designed for 12V - into a normal power outlet).
I made two standing DMX lights a few months back following your original video. I made the bases out of Baltic birch plywood. I did use the plastic fittings for the connections and wiring. I can send some photos how I constructed my DMX LIGHTS.
A+ quality video gave me ideas on how to build stationary light tubes for my son’s college apartment. In my case each tube will consist of 4 quadrants each with 5volt individually addressable RGBW LEDs controlled by a ESP32 DigiQuad WLED controller with sound reactive microphone & motion sensors, each 2 meters in height.
Yo, I’ve been WAITING on this update! I’m a songwriter/producer/rapper looking to turn up my live sets to the next level and I’m very excited to use this info.
Dmxis was so great for an easy on-ramp and dmx busking. There were some limitations I found , but the ease of use was amazing. My box broke down and now, yeah out of stock for ever. I use Lightjams now for a different control vibe.
Your videos given me a few ideas to play with for my own lighting shenanigans. I'm definitely not a lighting designer (don't have the eye for it), but I love the technical stuff you can do in the lighting field. Got my theatre at work to play in so who knows what I'll end up doing.
I love it! I never had the eye for it either but just put in the hours and I feel like I'm getting somewhere lol. The technical side is definitely where I feel the most at home
Hey there, thanks so much for all of your research! I decided to build some LED tubes for my band aswell since I had a DMXIS laying around. For the aviation plugs I decided to change those to Speakon Connectors (maybe because of my job as a sound engineer) but it seemed like a good solution for the amperages used here. I have 8 speakon plugs on my distribution box where I connect the speakon cables wrapped around the bases. (just like in one of your designs) Inside the bases I connect them to female speakon plugs where I can just plug the LED tubes in with a tight lock, elimitating the need for springs. I'm trying my luck with the 24V LEDs in RGB with the DMX512 decoder you mentioned during the first video, since it is way easier and cheaper as you said. I tried all the connections so far but I'm currently still building the bases and tubes. (1,4M high tubes) Cable gague are as follows: 1.5mm cables for the connections inside the distribution box. 4x1mm cables for the connection between the box and the bases. 0.75mm cables for the connection from the speakon inside the tubes to the LED strips (easier to solder onto the LEDs, 0.50mm might also work) Looking good so far! Thanks again man, some real MVP content!
NL4 could be a good option, four pins and locking. If you got really creative you could make the base also accept NL4 and have the light tubes terminated in NL4. @@SuperValidDesigns
@@shaunoshaughnessy6728 that's exactly how they are going to work! The male NL4 will be attached to the bottom of the tube which will go into the bases. (the base will have a slightly larger diameter of tube to hold the LED fixture in place)
I have installed A LOT of LED lights in about every form you can use an LED for. That said, I can tell you from experience that the cheap Amazon/Ebay LED strip light will not last as long as a known name manufacturer will. The same can be said for the drivers. Heat will kill even the most expensive drivers and LEDs. Also, If you put your driver inside a container, I would suggest you add a fan to help circulate fresh air.
Appreciate this advice! I definitely feel the quality difference between the higher cost LEDs, but at 5x the cost, i think it might be hard to swallow for most people. But you can always upgrade the components after the fact. I think having these cheaper options are great to get started
Regarding cabling for v2.0, check out the automotive world. Cars require wire that can survive harsh environments but also need to be light weight and highly conductive (electrically noisy environment). As such there are two wire types specific to the automotive world: GXL and TXL. They both employ a super thin insulator (which was compounded by the conductor insulation and the overall assembly insulation in your exercise. You’ll have to combine each individual wire into an overall assembly - you can either DIY this or you can buy a pre assembled automotive cable. Just make sure it uses oxygen free copper to get the smallest diameter possible. You’ll find that as the quality of the copper goes up, the capacity increases and a smaller gauge can be utilized just fine. Bonus - automotive use case lives in the 12V realm so you aren’t doing anything super weird here. Some topics to research: 12v wiring automotive, Motorsport wiring harnesses, GXL and TXL wiring, Raychem shrink tubing Awesome work!
Dude thank you so much for making this video and being so open about the process. You've absolutely transformed the live show for one of the bands I play with
Im very greatfull. I came across your video I look forward to incorporating some of your techniques and ideas into some of projects , what a beautiful day and age of info we live thank you again for sharing, Gratitude 🙏 brother!!
This is a great design! The led strips attached to an aluminum strip and screwed to the inside of a Fluorescent tube cover lined with parchment paper. I will steal that idea! I'm not looking for mobile lighting, so i don't need the knock down system, but the design of the base sockets is absolutely brilliant! The pixel addressable LEDs would be a great idea! They can be controlled by an ESP32 computer board that's really cheap. Built in wifi! Plenty of examples of code online.
You can still go with 24v but fit a buck regulator in each fixture to drop the voltage down to that needed by the device. Doing this means all your infrastructure could be standardised around 24v with each fixture using regulators down to whatever voltage is needed, it's a bit like the electrical grid, distribute over distance at a higher voltage, then drop down where needed. This also means that you never need to worry about plugging in a 12v or 5v fixture into a 24v by mistake, and also means you can benefit from the huge amount of 5v pixel kit.
Of course I'm assuming Art-Net via WLED will be the control option rather than the DMX to PWM Mosfet modules that weem really expensive considering what they actually are...
Thanks so much! The new version uses a 24v infrastructure now and all my new fixtures are 24V BUT i will be making modules to convert down the voltage to use other LED products at 12 or 5v
going to attempt to build something based off these plans soon! thanks so much for taking the time to make a well thought out series of videos and such a smart design.
Dang! Swivel legs are sweet! Having built some random things in past, I’m super appreciating how solid your consideration of parts is and execution! Still watching the rest!
also consider the connectors too. if their cross section is smaller than the gauge of your wire it will effectively become a fuse. with the fuse being set to the max diameter of the connector pins. if your wire wont fit in to the connector housing, the gauge is too low. prolly upgrade to a more common connector like Deutsch rectangular. and prolly go with a larger pinned connector. better to put in a 6 conductor connector now and have the ability to run direct drive rgb or rgbw led's or addressable leds, or both at once. use a pin with a resistor to ground, and use a microcontroller to sense the resistor to determine if that connector is using a specific type of LED and change whats happening on the wires. this is a cool project i will certainly use for inspiration.
Ive built something similar to these and just found your video! I've been struggling with the voltage bit as well, and I've been toying with adding a DC-DC step down converter so I can run 24V out to fixtures, and then step down to 5V or 12V for the tape. There's a small efficiency loss, but not bad.
This is the route i have opted to go for version 2, and I've found that the 24v LEDs are actually pretty great so no need to step down, BUT you definitely can if you need to!
i'm crazy excited about the release of the new product when it comes..because i just know its going to interface with ableton in a way thats intelligent and seamless
Amazing work! Maybe Neutrik speakON could be an alternative for a connector? They might be bigger (and more expensive) but they are heavy duty, rated for the power and will fit your cable. The NL4 has four poles :)
NL4 is a great idea! That would give you the safety of the locking connection while having the ease of screw in terminals for the wires, plus you don't have to then deal with heat shrink.
One thing to possibly consider, is using pixel mapped leds for this type of system as well. You can run a 12 amp system, because while the fixtures would still need 4 wires, only two of them are power and the other 2 are signal lines, so if you can find a cable that has larger gauge power wires and 20-22 gauge signal lines, you would end up with a smaller overall diameter. Also, each fixture would still be swappable, because the different outputs themselves are actually what carries the individual "fixture id's" You could also always look at a 4 pin xlr cable, as oftentimes 4 pin xlr cables are used to power things, meaning most of them would have a large enough gauge to handle the power requirements. This takes your design which allows super quick setup and maximum flexibility, with a pixel mapped system which would be really awesome!! It would pretty quickly increase the cost of the entire rig though, because pixel mapped led tape is not cheap, nor is the pixel driver, but it would still be really awesome!!
Great suggestion! V2 will use addressable LEDs but I’m gonna be going the 24v route instead to use thinner cables (though it can be easily adapted to use 12v still)
after watching the build of the electrical contacts, I wonder if you could just use L14 connectors instead. While it would bring up the price, it would be easier to wire up and connect fixtures to the base and should be sturdier. As for the plug to connect base to cable that runs back to distro, in the ProAV world there is a connector called NL4, its a spekon connector as it has 4 connectors inside. Can easily take the gauge wire you want to use and would be faster to connect as well
Wow, thanks a lot! This is such an awesome tutorial! You make what seem like a professional show setup accessible to build to anyone with a few cheap tools, about thousand bucks and a bit of elbow grease. I'm joining the Discord and I'm totally building this!
I will be joining the discord, but here are my 2 cents.... decide common cathoid or anoid, or decide dedicated + and - trees of the 4 pins. This will let you not destroy lights if you plug them into the wrong base, but you can start standardizing data and clock for individual pixels. Also stadardize the WW and CW power lines. I would take your 4 connections, and add another 4. CW and WW, and data and clock. I would also standardize the connectors. 3 pin avaiation jack for 2812 pixels, 4 pin GX16 connectors for 12 v, and 4 pin gx 12 for 24v. It all looks so good, but it would be epic if I can have a base system, and can have fabricators create individual lights, and to know that it will work with a standard.
I'd be super interested if a future design incorporated more industry standard connectors. Like true1 or powercon for power to be safer and already have cables floating around venues and production houses. There may be other multipin connectors that could be cost effective, or even stick with standard 5 pin DMX but leave a pin unused. But overall this is a very cool and creative project with a very great end result!
NL4 connectors would be pretty much perfect for that huge of wire, but that would significantly change the design as they have a much larger footprint.
Have a look at ws2812b or sk6812 leds. Both are fully addressable and use less wires (only 3 (v+, gnd, data)) you would need a microcontroller like an esp32 to use them though Edit: WLED can handle either dmx or e1.31 or even other protocols. Also will work with no dmx/similar and just wifi
You should try to make a modular design that is initially small, portable, battery, and solar adaptable that kind of starts out about a foot long but extends out to full length with remotely. Now thats a light everyone would buy. Especially if you made them shock, water, and drop resistant. Something like that would make you rich and be very useful in an unlimited amount of situations.
I've always avoided wireless and batteries for Live Show use as on tour, all of our issues came from these two things, however for film or photography, a wireless, battery powered option might be worth experimenting with! Thanks for the idea!
for software, ChamSys MagicQ is a great free option. It does require a USB to dmx dongle to output the dmx. You can also purchase fader boards or aio systems from them that plug into the computer so you have physical control instead of software. Ive also heard that you can use midi controllers (ie: Omnitronic FAD-9 Midi Controller) but I am not sure if this would work. you might need an adapter from them
This project is spectacular. One quick question: if I created scenes by synchronizing an audio track with midi signals to manage the lights based on the song, I would just send the MIDI signal to the controller, right?
Pretty much! Though you'd send the midi notes to the software that controls the controller, which im using a software called touch designer now. I have a new rig that uses pixel leds (shown in my latest video) and touch designer is a great software for that rig
Legit tutorial, I'm hanging onto my DMXIS (w/ Ableton Live) as long as possible and even picked up a spare on eBay since my band relies heavily on our programmed light show (48-52 song sets). Hope it continues to work w/ Mac..Thanks for the tutorial and your well thought out design... I've started ordering tools to start this build and I can't freakin wait. How do you transport your lights from gig to gig?
Unfortunately, I can't find the T12 Tube Guards at local Home Depot or Lowes in the US. Amazon has them for $8 each but unsure if they are similar dimension
Such a great project! I was building small light sculptures and fixtures in the past myself and portability / modularity has always been a problem. I'd love to join the discord, but unfortunately the invitation link is expired. Any chance to get a new one?
This is very cool. Though don’t you feel that DMX is outdated? So much hardware and thick ass wires. I built a similar set up of led polls at a much lower scale, each poll had its own controller so there was only a small 5v wire going to each poll. Used WLED and LEDFx, had my brother write some super simple code for it. Def still lots of coding to do to be completely satisfied with the light shows. Been talking to my brother about making an AI learning bot for generating on the fly light shows, but all in all wayyyy cheaper than dmx and a lot lighter
This is very interesting. DMX is old but still the standard. The new version will use addressable leds though so artnet will control them. Cables will always be necessary imo though
for DMX control have you considered something like an ENTEK usb-dmx interface? ive used them in theatre setting and they work really well with dmx capable software (i was using Isadora but I imagine they will work pretty well with a bunch of things)
Wow thank you so much !!! I started to build it a month ago but I had to pause the project. Thanks to you I'll be able to continue with the base. In my country I don't have easy access to the aviation cables you're talking about, and I was thinking about using speakon cables and connectors. Do you think there will be problems with the cables thickness or is it alright?
Sorry for the delay! Speakon should work great! My new rig still uses the aviation connectors just because I had them on hand already but I designed the new rig to also use speakon or xlr connectors if you want to
Looking to build a similar system for my church to take to portable camps and such. Instead of the aviation plugs, would a 5 pin dmx connector be an option? (I’m wanting to run RGBW strips).
I think that should work! Just make sure the cables you are going to be using can handle the current you intent to put through them, but the 5 pion connector should be able to handle it!
absolutely. current rating is well within spec, and the bxx-14 boots (for up to 10mm cable) can be purchased individually. i'd probably pivot to using 5-pins myself, as they'd be more reusable than the oddball 4's if the project gets stripped for parts someday. only real upside of the 4's is that their rarity helps idiot-proof the system against incompatible devices.
Adding to my reply you could use 5 pin DMX connectors and use 22 gauge wire with 4 lead wires. I hope this makes more sense. Lucky building on DMX project.
Absolutely! My new rig still uses the aviation connectors because I had them on hand but I plan on changing to xlr connectors eventually and I've designed it to make swapping connectors a lot easier
This version was only ever non-addressable but the new version will be addressable. But this system can easily be built using addressable LEDs as long as you have the proper controller!
I’ve heard some folks are having trouble finding these especially if you aren’t based in North America. I’m currently working on finding a better source for higher quality tubes
Did i miss a step that indexes your fixtures in the socket, so that pin 1 is always pin 1? Or is it possible to insert the fixture at 90 degrees off so pin 1 becomes pin 2??
Ah good catch, I mentioned it in the first video but forgot to elaborate on it in this video. Currently you can insert the fixture wrong but I’m going to add a 5th screw and slot as an indexing pin to the 3d print file and also on the V2 model
@@SuperValidDesigns I see, great!! I'm never intending to build these (I don't have any use for them myself) but I really enjoyed your engineering ingenuity, and how you articulated the decisions and build process!!!! I also enjoyed your litter sifting video.... Infact I was pretty sad when I went looking for more videos and saw so few haha. So, I'm subbed!! Keep it up!! I'll watch em all! Id also like to see some CAD videos from you, if you're down for it (I am also a long time fusion 360 user/hobbyist, a d like to see how other people work). I was pleasantly surprised to see some of your workshop in that cat litter sifting video. You look to be really well-tooled!! What do you do for a living? I'm in IT. Anyway, I'm rooting for your channel to blow up -- thanks again for the content and keep it coming!
@@SuperValidDesigns also ... Just wanted to mention, I can def see how that 5th pin will help with those wanting to run RGBW strips while also providing indexing. But you probably could have spaced the original 4 pins unequally and also achieved indexing in your same v1 design. Anyway thanks again for being a super valid maker putting himself and his designs out there. I'm staying tuned for more
I think that would be a deceent work around. My only concern was that would thin out the plastic and could result in the bolts pulling through the plastic but you'd probably need pretty high forces to make that happen
I was using this rig tiny little bulb fixtures instead of the tubes (can be seen in my first video), albeit as complimentary lighting to the house lights, in venues for 1000 people and it was pretty effective! If you only had these lights with the tubes, I think you could get away with a 500 person venue and still be impactful. you would want some front of house lighting if you want to be able to see the band properly during parts of the show though
@SuperValidDesigns awesome! Yeah, I was looking for additional additive light to my current rig, and this seems to be the most cost effective way. Thanks for the perspective on this!
You should have calculated your voltage drop using DC instead of AC. While the math is the same there are some difference and it can affect your calculations. AC is used for the power grid because the voltage drop can be enough to cause problems. DC would cause the voltage to drop to much at the distances the you can go before more electricity is injected into it.
Somebody needs to explain and inform that the different types of programmable strips go with different types of controllers because of how data and power is connected.
While I applaud the engineering and work that went into this it seems like for the same amount of money and way less time you can just buy the lights you need....
Totally true, lots of good budget lighting options out there but my main purpose for the rig was super fast set up/tear down/ and the ability to design and build new fixtures quickly and cheaply. The cost being relatively low compared to other custom options was just a bonus really
Dip switches can be a bit confusing but there are a ton of great videos on that subject! I honestly need to refer to those videos everytime i need to use dip switches because I can never remember how they work lol
Im not too familiar with sound switch but this version of the rig takes standard dmx so if soundswitch can control regular dmx lights, it can control this!
I wanted to build something like this, but for the price I was able to buy 8 rgb flood lights 4 moving head floods 4 moving head gobos a dmx controller and 8 weird floods with a gobo built in.
@@SuperValidDesigns it’s great for me as an amateur. I’m only doing stuff for people I know and honestly I’m stunned how cheap some of the lights were and so bought extra expecting to have a few bad ones
@@SuperValidDesigns That is exciting! I've worked with DMX for stage lighting, and WLED for home projects but haven't crossed them over yet. Anyway I love the concept.
The project itself was so initially thought-out that it is literally impossible to wrap my brain around how you created such a well-produced and explained video to accompany it. Down to the phrasing it answers every single doubt or question. You didn’t have to do any of this and here you are. Thank you
Really appreciate this! I hope to continue to provide valuable content!
Nice to see young intelligent men willing to share demonstrating that technology begins as science and ends as art.
The fact that you came back almost a year later with such a detailed look into your awesome open source project, that could easily been monetized from the start, just blows me away. Thanks so much for this. Now let the community go wild with some custom esp-wroom-based WiFi ArtNet receiver and a powerpack solution and let's make these beauties addresable and wireless 😁
ws2812b individually addressable leds + esp32 (with WLED installed) would be a major upgrade . a DIY version of the popular (and $$$) Astera Titan/Helios/Hyperion tubes widely used at video production.
@@ArienLJRthis is exactly what I’ll be working on doing with these.
Sorry for missing this comment! Really appreciate it! I did update the rig to a new version that uses artnet! Not sure if you've seen the new video yet but definitely hoping the community can take the idea and run with it!
My new rig uses exactly this!
I wish every TH-cam instructional were as through, insightful and well considered as this. Thank you.
While it will make the control electronics more complicated, I would investigate addressable LEDs for v2. The lighting effects that become possible are one obvious benefit, but additionally, you could remove one conductor from the cables, and reduce the size of another one, which will probably save a bunch of cable costs. (addressable LEDs only require power, ground, and data pins, with data not drawing much current). Theoretically, you could also add a 24v to 12v step down module in each base, and further reduce the cost and spool size of the cables (while keeping the option to run 12v LEDs).
For fixtures that don't require addressable LEDs, you could incorporate an inexpensive decoder board (quinleds dig2analog for example) in the fixture or base. With that, the entire strip acts as one "pixel" to the controller, so this would still allow daisy-chaining.
Amazing comment! You’ve pretty much outlined exactly what we are going to do with v2 (down to the Quinled dig2analogue board)! Would love to chat more with you on the discord
You should look at the new 24v fcob adressable tape, would definitely simplify things, and they have rgbw versions as well. @@SuperValidDesigns
I agree, the new 24v cobs look incredible. Definitely going to use these for some fixtures
Thank you for these great videos! I used your idea with the flourescent tube, aluminum channel and parchment for my LED sticks. I decided to use a ESP32 w/ WLED, using Artnet to send DMX over Wifi.
This is the way
Am I gonna build all of this? Probably not, though I'd love to.
Is my entire day beyond made by the fact that I get to deep dive into this? YES.
Looking to create a DMX fixture very soon for my first piece of lighting hardware I’m so glad I stumbled across this video, your explanations and ideas not only give miles of inspiration for potential lighting but also it gives a comprehensive breakdown of what all goes into designing a Dmx fixture.
Subscribed for v2! I want to build these for a church set design..they look great.
I am currently also building LED Tubes. And I decided to use Powercon as the connector. Powercon basically has a three wire connector and I am using the earth wire for the data line of the LED. This is an easy way so I can use normal Powercon Cables which I have always with me, as most lights have this connector (at least in Europe). My distribution box therefore has 8 Powercon Out sockets which are meant to be connected to the tubes. I also put stickers on the tubes that only the cable of the distribution box should be used (to prevent somebody from plugging in the LED tube - which is designed for 12V - into a normal power outlet).
Powercon is a good choice! My new version 2 rig gives the option to use either xlr or powercon
I made two standing DMX lights a few months back following your original video. I made the bases out of Baltic birch plywood.
I did use the plastic fittings for the connections and wiring. I can send some photos how I constructed my DMX LIGHTS.
I’d love to see it! Feel free to post them in the discord!
A+ quality video gave me ideas on how to build stationary light tubes for my son’s college apartment. In my case each tube will consist of 4 quadrants each with 5volt individually addressable RGBW LEDs controlled by a ESP32 DigiQuad WLED controller with sound reactive microphone & motion sensors, each 2 meters in height.
That sounds amazing! I have since switched to 24v Addressable LEDs now, you can see it in the new v2 rig video!
Yo, I’ve been WAITING on this update! I’m a songwriter/producer/rapper looking to turn up my live sets to the next level and I’m very excited to use this info.
Dmxis was so great for an easy on-ramp and dmx busking. There were some limitations I found , but the ease of use was amazing. My box broke down and now, yeah out of stock for ever. I use Lightjams now for a different control vibe.
Interesting I’ll check that out! Thanks!
Your videos given me a few ideas to play with for my own lighting shenanigans. I'm definitely not a lighting designer (don't have the eye for it), but I love the technical stuff you can do in the lighting field. Got my theatre at work to play in so who knows what I'll end up doing.
I love it! I never had the eye for it either but just put in the hours and I feel like I'm getting somewhere lol. The technical side is definitely where I feel the most at home
You are the like Alton Brown of DIY music lighting. You pured this project!!
Hey there, thanks so much for all of your research!
I decided to build some LED tubes for my band aswell since I had a DMXIS laying around.
For the aviation plugs I decided to change those to Speakon Connectors (maybe because of my job as a sound engineer) but it seemed like a good solution for the amperages used here.
I have 8 speakon plugs on my distribution box where I connect the speakon cables wrapped around the bases. (just like in one of your designs)
Inside the bases I connect them to female speakon plugs where I can just plug the LED tubes in with a tight lock, elimitating the need for springs.
I'm trying my luck with the 24V LEDs in RGB with the DMX512 decoder you mentioned during the first video, since it is way easier and cheaper as you said.
I tried all the connections so far but I'm currently still building the bases and tubes. (1,4M high tubes)
Cable gague are as follows:
1.5mm cables for the connections inside the distribution box.
4x1mm cables for the connection between the box and the bases.
0.75mm cables for the connection from the speakon inside the tubes to the LED strips (easier to solder onto the LEDs, 0.50mm might also work)
Looking good so far!
Thanks again man, some real MVP content!
Sounds like you got a great system going! I think the speaking connectors are the right call for sure
NL4 could be a good option, four pins and locking. If you got really creative you could make the base also accept NL4 and have the light tubes terminated in NL4. @@SuperValidDesigns
@@shaunoshaughnessy6728 that's exactly how they are going to work!
The male NL4 will be attached to the bottom of the tube which will go into the bases.
(the base will have a slightly larger diameter of tube to hold the LED fixture in place)
I have installed A LOT of LED lights in about every form you can use an LED for. That said, I can tell you from experience that the cheap Amazon/Ebay LED strip light will not last as long as a known name manufacturer will. The same can be said for the drivers.
Heat will kill even the most expensive drivers and LEDs. Also, If you put your driver inside a container, I would suggest you add a fan to help circulate fresh air.
Appreciate this advice! I definitely feel the quality difference between the higher cost LEDs, but at 5x the cost, i think it might be hard to swallow for most people. But you can always upgrade the components after the fact. I think having these cheaper options are great to get started
amazing. you are the diy music tech guy we need on YT
Regarding cabling for v2.0, check out the automotive world. Cars require wire that can survive harsh environments but also need to be light weight and highly conductive (electrically noisy environment). As such there are two wire types specific to the automotive world: GXL and TXL. They both employ a super thin insulator (which was compounded by the conductor insulation and the overall assembly insulation in your exercise. You’ll have to combine each individual wire into an overall assembly - you can either DIY this or you can buy a pre assembled automotive cable. Just make sure it uses oxygen free copper to get the smallest diameter possible. You’ll find that as the quality of the copper goes up, the capacity increases and a smaller gauge can be utilized just fine. Bonus - automotive use case lives in the 12V realm so you aren’t doing anything super weird here. Some topics to research: 12v wiring automotive, Motorsport wiring harnesses, GXL and TXL wiring, Raychem shrink tubing
Awesome work!
Also - look into Deutsch style connectors. High pin density on a 12v system
Great suggestions thank you!
Dude thank you so much for making this video and being so open about the process. You've absolutely transformed the live show for one of the bands I play with
Glad it was helpful!
Im very greatfull. I came across your video I look forward to incorporating some of your techniques and ideas into some of projects , what a beautiful day and age of info we live thank you again for sharing, Gratitude 🙏 brother!!
Thanks so much for the kind comment! Really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment :)
This is a great design! The led strips attached to an aluminum strip and screwed to the inside of a Fluorescent tube cover lined with parchment paper. I will steal that idea! I'm not looking for mobile lighting, so i don't need the knock down system, but the design of the base sockets is absolutely brilliant!
The pixel addressable LEDs would be a great idea! They can be controlled by an ESP32 computer board that's really cheap. Built in wifi! Plenty of examples of code online.
Thanks! V2 will use addressable leds
You can still go with 24v but fit a buck regulator in each fixture to drop the voltage down to that needed by the device. Doing this means all your infrastructure could be standardised around 24v with each fixture using regulators down to whatever voltage is needed, it's a bit like the electrical grid, distribute over distance at a higher voltage, then drop down where needed. This also means that you never need to worry about plugging in a 12v or 5v fixture into a 24v by mistake, and also means you can benefit from the huge amount of 5v pixel kit.
Of course I'm assuming Art-Net via WLED will be the control option rather than the DMX to PWM Mosfet modules that weem really expensive considering what they actually are...
Thanks so much! The new version uses a 24v infrastructure now and all my new fixtures are 24V BUT i will be making modules to convert down the voltage to use other LED products at 12 or 5v
going to attempt to build something based off these plans soon!
thanks so much for taking the time to make a well thought out series of videos and such a smart design.
Let me know if you need any help when you build it! feel free to reach me on discord: discord.gg/9DrgG3NVAE
Dang! Swivel legs are sweet! Having built some random things in past, I’m super appreciating how solid your consideration of parts is and execution! Still watching the rest!
also consider the connectors too. if their cross section is smaller than the gauge of your wire it will effectively become a fuse. with the fuse being set to the max diameter of the connector pins. if your wire wont fit in to the connector housing, the gauge is too low. prolly upgrade to a more common connector like Deutsch rectangular.
and prolly go with a larger pinned connector. better to put in a 6 conductor connector now and have the ability to run direct drive rgb or rgbw led's or addressable leds, or both at once. use a pin with a resistor to ground, and use a microcontroller to sense the resistor to determine if that connector is using a specific type of LED and change whats happening on the wires.
this is a cool project i will certainly use for inspiration.
Good point! Wouldnt the wires inside the actual LED strip be the main bottle neck in the system though?
Ive built something similar to these and just found your video! I've been struggling with the voltage bit as well, and I've been toying with adding a DC-DC step down converter so I can run 24V out to fixtures, and then step down to 5V or 12V for the tape. There's a small efficiency loss, but not bad.
This is the route i have opted to go for version 2, and I've found that the 24v LEDs are actually pretty great so no need to step down, BUT you definitely can if you need to!
i'm crazy excited about the release of the new product when it comes..because i just know its going to interface with ableton in a way thats intelligent and seamless
Amazing work!
Maybe Neutrik speakON could be an alternative for a connector? They might be bigger (and more expensive) but they are heavy duty, rated for the power and will fit your cable. The NL4 has four poles :)
NL4 is a great idea! That would give you the safety of the locking connection while having the ease of screw in terminals for the wires, plus you don't have to then deal with heat shrink.
NL4 does seem like the best option moving forward!
👏That´s crazy, I saw your first part of this yesterday, and now this video today😅
One thing to possibly consider, is using pixel mapped leds for this type of system as well. You can run a 12 amp system, because while the fixtures would still need 4 wires, only two of them are power and the other 2 are signal lines, so if you can find a cable that has larger gauge power wires and 20-22 gauge signal lines, you would end up with a smaller overall diameter. Also, each fixture would still be swappable, because the different outputs themselves are actually what carries the individual "fixture id's"
You could also always look at a 4 pin xlr cable, as oftentimes 4 pin xlr cables are used to power things, meaning most of them would have a large enough gauge to handle the power requirements.
This takes your design which allows super quick setup and maximum flexibility, with a pixel mapped system which would be really awesome!! It would pretty quickly increase the cost of the entire rig though, because pixel mapped led tape is not cheap, nor is the pixel driver, but it would still be really awesome!!
Great suggestion! V2 will use addressable LEDs but I’m gonna be going the 24v route instead to use thinner cables (though it can be easily adapted to use 12v still)
For the cable i think you can use a 4pin speaker kable with speakon plugs so you also can use the cable for Speakers.
Super impressed with your innovation. Thanks for sharing.
This rig is definitely the direction I'm going for my band. The only thing I really want to make work is wireless control via iPad.
I’ll look into that!
I think it would be wayyy cheaper to buy lights
after watching the build of the electrical contacts, I wonder if you could just use L14 connectors instead. While it would bring up the price, it would be easier to wire up and connect fixtures to the base and should be sturdier. As for the plug to connect base to cable that runs back to distro, in the ProAV world there is a connector called NL4, its a spekon connector as it has 4 connectors inside. Can easily take the gauge wire you want to use and would be faster to connect as well
New version will be designed to fit L14 sockets in the bases and NL4 connectors instead of aviation plugs if desired
Wow, thanks a lot! This is such an awesome tutorial! You make what seem like a professional show setup accessible to build to anyone with a few cheap tools, about thousand bucks and a bit of elbow grease. I'm joining the Discord and I'm totally building this!
Thanks for watching! Look forward to seeing you on discord!
I will be joining the discord, but here are my 2 cents.... decide common cathoid or anoid, or decide dedicated + and - trees of the 4 pins. This will let you not destroy lights if you plug them into the wrong base, but you can start standardizing data and clock for individual pixels. Also stadardize the WW and CW power lines. I would take your 4 connections, and add another 4. CW and WW, and data and clock. I would also standardize the connectors. 3 pin avaiation jack for 2812 pixels, 4 pin GX16 connectors for 12 v, and 4 pin gx 12 for 24v. It all looks so good, but it would be epic if I can have a base system, and can have fabricators create individual lights, and to know that it will work with a standard.
Currently looking at standardizing for V2. Thanks for the input!
Damn! This is amazing. Such a detailed explanation. Thanks for the effort!
I'd be super interested if a future design incorporated more industry standard connectors. Like true1 or powercon for power to be safer and already have cables floating around venues and production houses. There may be other multipin connectors that could be cost effective, or even stick with standard 5 pin DMX but leave a pin unused. But overall this is a very cool and creative project with a very great end result!
I agree! NL4 seems to be the way to go
mate, you are great! this is something I was looking for! will keep looking and then repeating/practice! Thanks a lot!
This is so great, i really appreciate you sharing this and i hope you have great success with it
Since most of the current is in the earth lead, you could consider 6 core thinner cable, and triple up the earth lead for the same voltage drop
Interesting idea!
pretty awesome look into WLED with ESP32
Thanks! The new version will use a new brain with ESP32 and WLED for sure. Gonna release a video about it soon
NL4 connectors would be pretty much perfect for that huge of wire, but that would significantly change the design as they have a much larger footprint.
V2 will be compatible with NL4 connectors as an option
Have a look at ws2812b or sk6812 leds. Both are fully addressable and use less wires (only 3 (v+, gnd, data)) you would need a microcontroller like an esp32 to use them though
Edit:
WLED can handle either dmx or e1.31 or even other protocols. Also will work with no dmx/similar and just wifi
V2 will be addressable LED compatible
You should try to make a modular design that is initially small, portable, battery, and solar adaptable that kind of starts out about a foot long but extends out to full length with remotely. Now thats a light everyone would buy. Especially if you made them shock, water, and drop resistant.
Something like that would make you rich and be very useful in an unlimited amount of situations.
I've always avoided wireless and batteries for Live Show use as on tour, all of our issues came from these two things, however for film or photography, a wireless, battery powered option might be worth experimenting with! Thanks for the idea!
Awesome! Great timing , and also perfect for my esp32 project! Will check out the 3d files much appreciated!!!
for software, ChamSys MagicQ is a great free option. It does require a USB to dmx dongle to output the dmx. You can also purchase fader boards or aio systems from them that plug into the computer so you have physical control instead of software. Ive also heard that you can use midi controllers (ie: Omnitronic FAD-9 Midi Controller) but I am not sure if this would work. you might need an adapter from them
nope, chamsys requires license unlocking through chamsys hardware, you cannot plug in a midi controller and expect it to work
@@danb_ix I figured it wouldn't have worked. I've only ever used the software and their aio consoles so I was just making an educated guess
This project is spectacular. One quick question: if I created scenes by synchronizing an audio track with midi signals to manage the lights based on the song, I would just send the MIDI signal to the controller, right?
Pretty much! Though you'd send the midi notes to the software that controls the controller, which im using a software called touch designer now. I have a new rig that uses pixel leds (shown in my latest video) and touch designer is a great software for that rig
Very impressive. Love the work, love that you're going the open source route. Keep it up 👍
I love you (ie. I like your video and lights)
Nice project and great outcome.
Legit tutorial, I'm hanging onto my DMXIS (w/ Ableton Live) as long as possible and even picked up a spare on eBay since my band relies heavily on our programmed light show (48-52 song sets). Hope it continues to work w/ Mac..Thanks for the tutorial and your well thought out design... I've started ordering tools to start this build and I can't freakin wait. How do you transport your lights from gig to gig?
Thrift store golf club bag!
Amazing! Good luck!
I used a large ski bag for the lights!
Unfortunately, I can't find the T12 Tube Guards at local Home Depot or Lowes in the US. Amazon has them for $8 each but unsure if they are similar dimension
Yeah turns out these tubes are becoming harder and harder to find these days. We are working on finding a better source of tubes currently
the project is really nice but you forgot to change the AC to DC when calculating the correct gauge
I did forget to do this in the video but the calculations end up the same. Good catch
Such a great project! I was building small light sculptures and fixtures in the past myself and portability / modularity has always been a problem. I'd love to join the discord, but unfortunately the invitation link is expired. Any chance to get a new one?
Sorry about that! The link never seems to work after a while. Try this one! discord.gg/7rND758emt
This is very cool. Though don’t you feel that DMX is outdated? So much hardware and thick ass wires. I built a similar set up of led polls at a much lower scale, each poll had its own controller so there was only a small 5v wire going to each poll. Used WLED and LEDFx, had my brother write some super simple code for it. Def still lots of coding to do to be completely satisfied with the light shows. Been talking to my brother about making an AI learning bot for generating on the fly light shows, but all in all wayyyy cheaper than dmx and a lot lighter
This is very interesting. DMX is old but still the standard. The new version will use addressable leds though so artnet will control them. Cables will always be necessary imo though
why don't you post the 3D printing projects of the various pieces, congratulations, nice video.
I have the 3d models posted on the discord! discord.gg/7rND758emt
for DMX control have you considered something like an ENTEK usb-dmx interface? ive used them in theatre setting and they work really well with dmx capable software (i was using Isadora but I imagine they will work pretty well with a bunch of things)
That seems to be the next best option out there! Though the new rig can be connected via ethernet so I no longer need the dongle
Post one of your shows!
Wow!!!😊🎉🥰 I've been waiting for this!!!!!🎉🎉
Amazing! Thanks for making this video!
next thing i wanna see is a mic stand with a battery pack.... I WANT ONE!
Wow thank you so much !!!
I started to build it a month ago but I had to pause the project. Thanks to you I'll be able to continue with the base.
In my country I don't have easy access to the aviation cables you're talking about, and I was thinking about using speakon cables and connectors. Do you think there will be problems with the cables thickness or is it alright?
Sorry for the delay! Speakon should work great! My new rig still uses the aviation connectors just because I had them on hand already but I designed the new rig to also use speakon or xlr connectors if you want to
Looking to build a similar system for my church to take to portable camps and such. Instead of the aviation plugs, would a 5 pin dmx connector be an option? (I’m wanting to run RGBW strips).
I think that should work! Just make sure the cables you are going to be using can handle the current you intent to put through them, but the 5 pion connector should be able to handle it!
thank you so much for this you are a genius
Been waiting on this. you’re a god sent 🔥🔥❤️❤️
Thank you so much for this, you're just absolutely amazing! ❤️
You are!
Amazing video, thank you so much.
Glad you liked it!
Dude, you’re awesome! Thank you SO MUCH for putting these videos out
4 pin XLR would work well for your connectors. I believe you can even get them from neutrik that take thicker cables into consideration.
absolutely. current rating is well within spec, and the bxx-14 boots (for up to 10mm cable) can be purchased individually. i'd probably pivot to using 5-pins myself, as they'd be more reusable than the oddball 4's if the project gets stripped for parts someday. only real upside of the 4's is that their rarity helps idiot-proof the system against incompatible devices.
You could use a 5 pin DMX cable to make the connections
Adding to my reply you could use 5 pin DMX connectors and use 22 gauge wire with 4 lead wires. I hope this makes more sense. Lucky building on DMX project.
Absolutely! My new rig still uses the aviation connectors because I had them on hand but I plan on changing to xlr connectors eventually and I've designed it to make swapping connectors a lot easier
Did you get anything for the top of the led tubes? Like a cap or anything?
The T12 Tube Guards come with little caps on either end already! I just popped one back on the top after putting the rest of the fixture together
is the discord still alive? Planning to built something like this. Great work!
Yes, it is!
@@SuperValidDesigns the link was broken last week, can you check?
@timbomixx1212 sorry try this one instead discord.gg/3httTn9WHq. No idea why these discord links are expiring after selecting “never expire” lol
I love this project but is it only non-adressable led strips??
This version was only ever non-addressable but the new version will be addressable. But this system can easily be built using addressable LEDs as long as you have the proper controller!
I'm having trouble finding the tube guards
I’ve heard some folks are having trouble finding these especially if you aren’t based in North America. I’m currently working on finding a better source for higher quality tubes
Nice work Sir!!!
Did i miss a step that indexes your fixtures in the socket, so that pin 1 is always pin 1? Or is it possible to insert the fixture at 90 degrees off so pin 1 becomes pin 2??
Ah good catch, I mentioned it in the first video but forgot to elaborate on it in this video. Currently you can insert the fixture wrong but I’m going to add a 5th screw and slot as an indexing pin to the 3d print file and also on the V2 model
@@SuperValidDesigns I see, great!! I'm never intending to build these (I don't have any use for them myself) but I really enjoyed your engineering ingenuity, and how you articulated the decisions and build process!!!! I also enjoyed your litter sifting video.... Infact I was pretty sad when I went looking for more videos and saw so few haha. So, I'm subbed!! Keep it up!! I'll watch em all! Id also like to see some CAD videos from you, if you're down for it (I am also a long time fusion 360 user/hobbyist, a d like to see how other people work). I was pleasantly surprised to see some of your workshop in that cat litter sifting video. You look to be really well-tooled!! What do you do for a living? I'm in IT. Anyway, I'm rooting for your channel to blow up -- thanks again for the content and keep it coming!
@@SuperValidDesigns also ... Just wanted to mention, I can def see how that 5th pin will help with those wanting to run RGBW strips while also providing indexing. But you probably could have spaced the original 4 pins unequally and also achieved indexing in your same v1 design.
Anyway thanks again for being a super valid maker putting himself and his designs out there. I'm staying tuned for more
Pls more of this!!!!!❤
is it possible to countersink the bolts for the base legs then you don't have to notch the pipe?
I think that would be a deceent work around. My only concern was that would thin out the plastic and could result in the bolts pulling through the plastic but you'd probably need pretty high forces to make that happen
If you were to ballpark what venue capacity that this lighting rig looks best in, what would you guess? :)
I was using this rig tiny little bulb fixtures instead of the tubes (can be seen in my first video), albeit as complimentary lighting to the house lights, in venues for 1000 people and it was pretty effective! If you only had these lights with the tubes, I think you could get away with a 500 person venue and still be impactful. you would want some front of house lighting if you want to be able to see the band properly during parts of the show though
@SuperValidDesigns awesome! Yeah, I was looking for additional additive light to my current rig, and this seems to be the most cost effective way. Thanks for the perspective on this!
You should have calculated your voltage drop using DC instead of AC. While the math is the same there are some difference and it can affect your calculations. AC is used for the power grid because the voltage drop can be enough to cause problems. DC would cause the voltage to drop to much at the distances the you can go before more electricity is injected into it.
Good shout, I forgot to switch AC to DC in the video, but in this case it does end up with the same result
Somebody needs to explain and inform that the different types of programmable strips go with different types of controllers because of how data and power is connected.
Yeah I might do a video on this, though there’s great videos by internet.tech that I highly recommend
americans be measuring with 7/16th of an inch... gotta respect anyone that builds stuff over there
It's worse that Im Canadian lol, constantly having to convert between metric and imperial ahaha
Have you tried controlling these with QLC+ yet?
No! I will look into that
Thank you!
Very neat 😎
Take a Speakon NL4 or XLR 4 or 5 Pin Plug
V2 will have these as options
amazing video.
While I applaud the engineering and work that went into this it seems like for the same amount of money and way less time you can just buy the lights you need....
Totally true, lots of good budget lighting options out there but my main purpose for the rig was super fast set up/tear down/ and the ability to design and build new fixtures quickly and cheaply. The cost being relatively low compared to other custom options was just a bonus really
Legend
How du you operate the dip switches?
Dip switches can be a bit confusing but there are a ton of great videos on that subject! I honestly need to refer to those videos everytime i need to use dip switches because I can never remember how they work lol
instant like...👍👏
I've been waiting for this video for so long... thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Can it be controlled with soundswitch?
Im not too familiar with sound switch but this version of the rig takes standard dmx so if soundswitch can control regular dmx lights, it can control this!
I wanted to build something like this, but for the price I was able to buy 8 rgb flood lights 4 moving head floods 4 moving head gobos a dmx controller and 8 weird floods with a gobo built in.
Wow that sounds like a great deal
@@SuperValidDesigns it’s great for me as an amateur. I’m only doing stuff for people I know and honestly I’m stunned how cheap some of the lights were and so bought extra expecting to have a few bad ones
I’m still thinking about building those tubes but with pixel control
The v2 will have pixel control!
@@SuperValidDesigns That is exciting! I've worked with DMX for stage lighting, and WLED for home projects but haven't crossed them over yet. Anyway I love the concept.
Is it available to purchase all the setup
Not this version but working on a V2 that will hopefully be available as an easy to assemble kit
YES!!
awesome :D
I want to build this soo so much since the other video but i dont have money (brazilian avg guy here)
You can definitely start small and work up to a full rig!