garageCube

[mbirame]

Hi folks,
I have worked my way through this tutorial:
http://www.madmapper.com/controlling-le ... madmapper/

So I got that working and in the process, I bought the Enttec Open ODE and that 12 V power supply. That tutorial was awesome and I learned a ton, but the LE strip is not the individually addressable LEDS. Then I saw the tutorial that is available when you log in to the garagecube site where the guy is using a Teensy Arduino sketch.

So here's my question:

Can I use the Enttec Open ODE to control individually addressable LEDs? If not, am I stuck having to now buy something like this:
https://www.advateklights.com/shop/mant ... oller.html

or can I use an Arduino in combination with the Enttec?

Thanks for any help!

[mad-matt]

Yes, you can control "individually addressable LEDS" (what we generally call "digital LEDs") with Enttec ODE. But you need LED hardware with DMX input that supports individual control.
If you use LED strips directly (without a DMX controller built-in), the advatek PixLite is a great hardware, cheap and reliable.
Cheers

[mbirame]

The main problem with PixLite is that the DMX output can only receive sACN and not Artnet. With a PixLite, I can control LED strips, but I can't also control PAR lighting through Madmapper.

I then looked at the AlphaPix, and it CAN send info to the DMX output when receiving Artnet, but the problem there is that they don't support APA 102 strips-only the older addressable strips (2811, 2812, etc).

So from what I can tell, there is no way to control BOTH APA102 strips AND dmx PAR cans with one controller running from Madmapper.

At this point, it seems like I'd need something like an ethernet hub to plug my computer in and then from the hub send artnet to an ODE to the PARs and send Artnet to the PixLite for the strips. That's a major bummer because it adds a lot of cost and complication simply because Madmapper doesn't support sACN....is that support coming soon?

I will be very happy if I hear that I am wrong so that I can finally get everything working correctly.

[mad-matt]

Adding SACn in MadMapper is an option. We should also ask Advatek to add DMX output support from ArtNet. There's no reason for it not to work. It might just be a few changes on their side and they're quite reactive.
Actually you can use a Pixlite for LEDs and an ArtNet ODE for ArtNet->DMX. It doesn't complicate your setup. Well, it's 200$ more but it's a good product.

[mbirame]

The Enttec ODE is $275 on Amazon. I disagree that it is not more complicated:
PixLite
Enttec ODE
network switch
more cables

vs:

PixLite and one ethernet cable.


Yes-it would be great if PixLite or Madmapper would address the issue.

My limited understanding is that Artnet is older and less capable than sACN and so it makes a lot more sense to me for Madmapper to support sACN than to try and get companies to support older and less industry standard technologies. But that's just me being grumpy. I already returned an ODE because it do what a PixLite did. Now I'm looking at having to reorder one....

[mad-matt]

SACn is planned but it won't be in a the coming month. I contacted Advatek, I let you know when I get news

[mbirame]

Great to hear that it is at least in the works! I really appreciate the forward thinking nature of Madmapper and this community.

[mad-matt]

So the feedback I got from Advatek:

We never designed those DMX outputs to be a professional quality converter. There's no isolation or good level of protection like you would find on a commercial grade art-net adapter. So we never added art-net capability for it because DIY users all just use E1.31 and professional users still usually use art-net. We plan to bring out a separate product that does both art-net and sACN with very high quality circuitry

So for the moment you can use an Enttec ODE or another ethernet->DMX node or wait for SACn in MM, but we don't promise any deadline.
Cheers !

[yntrimd]

I found this dialogue is very useful. Thanks for all of you!
Yet, I got bit confused in the middle and hopefully someone can help me out to understand it clearer.

If I want to just control LED strips (with addressable LEDs) through MM, Can I just use PixLite without Enttec ODE? ( My computer> router > Pixlite)
Or do I still need Enttec ODE?

The thing is, I want to connect a number of PixLite in the end. If I need ODE, shell I connect it like following?: My computer> Enttec ODE > router > Pixlite 1, 2, 3...

Might be a repetitive question for whom but it would be very appreciated if someone can confirm this because Enttec ODE - including shipping cost to my town - is bit pricy.

[mbirame]

The PixLite will control LED strips.

The ODE will control DMX lighting.

So if you only need to control LED strips, you only need the PixLite. You can control lots and lots of LED strips with one PixLite so you can just go computer->ethernet cable->Pixlite.

If for some reason you need to control more than what one PixLite can do then I think just computer->ethernet switch->Pixlite 1, 2,3, etc.

In either case, unless you are controlling DMX lighting, you do not need the ODE.

[mad-matt]

Yes, just Pixlite. A trick for you: Pixlite works up to 100 Hz, while ArtNet protocol defines a maximum of 44 DMX frames per second. So if you want things to be very fluid, there is a hidden flag (will be in preferences in next update) to raise the maximum FPS of ArtNet. You can enter that in Terminal:

defaults write com.garagecube.MadMapper artNetOutputMaxFps 1000

By settings the maximum FPS to 1000, you just say MadMapper to send ArtNet universe data as soon as it changed. For instanc if you have a movie at 60 FPS (or a syphon stream), it will send 60 ArtNet frames per second.

Cheers

[sigmasix]

if you use more than 2 pixlites, you should also consider using unicast artnet, otherwise the other pixlite will have difficulties reading all the universes before parsing the ones it needs.

[josh33]

The APA102 are more expensive than the WS2812 and newer, so if you are a beginner with LEDS, I would suggest you stick to the WS2812b, since there is tons of examples and support for these out there on the internets. I haven't found anything close as much on the AP102 LEDs.

[Xaver2k]

Hey guys, sorry for reactivating an old post but right now i am also considering in buying an pixlite controller any update to sacn or artnet support here?

[mad-matt]

SACn is still not supported by MadMapper.
ArtNet works fine between MadMapper and Pixelite, at up to 100 FPS and up to 4096 DMX universes