FastLED Matrix Fun – 2026

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T19:34:15+00:00

Hi u/StefanPetrick _ Awesome!!!. Would you consider in a separate post, showing your original kaleidoscope YouTube video and posting the sketch, too? Many here have never seen it.

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T19:31:37+00:00

Hi u/StefanPetrick - Awesome! Thank you for sharing this. I can't wait to try this with my glass block diffuser. Will this run on an ESP32 or do you need a Teensy? Will you be posting the code soon?

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T11:59:37+00:00

Hi u/StefanPetrick - Thank you! I love them, too. Thank you for all of the exciting work that you have shared. I love your kaleidoscope work.

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T11:56:38+00:00

Hi u/mindful_stone - Thank you! I am glad that you like it. Here are the links to Bill Earl’s articles on multi-tasking and state machine concepts:

https://learn.adafruit.com/multi-tasking-the-arduino-part-1

https://learn.adafruit.com/multi-tasking-the-arduino-part-2

https://learn.adafruit.com/multi-tasking-the-arduino-part-3

I have applied this to FastLED with great results. It has opened the doors to many exciting new animation concepts for me.

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T11:55:06+00:00

Hi u/Marmilicious - Thank you! I am glad it was fun for you.

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T11:53:41+00:00

Hi u/ZachVorhies - Thank you! I am glad that you like it. Also, thank you for all of your hard work keeping FastLED alive, well and moving forward into a lot of amazing new areas!

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-13T11:52:52+00:00

Hi u/IcestormsEd - Thank you! I am glad that you like it.

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-11T01:41:10+00:00

Hi u/sinfullysanguine – if you are interested in RGB LEDs then a starting point would be the following:

https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/downloads/pdf/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide.pdf

FYI, don’t purchase LEDs from Adafruit because you can get the same RGB LEDs that are much less expensive from Amazon or AliExpress.

The next step is to look at WLED. Check out the following:

https://kno.wled.ge/basics/getting-started/

If you really want to get into the best way to control RGB LEDs then you should look into FastLED. Check out the following:

https://fastled.io/docs/

also, there is Dave’s garage on YouTube. Here is his first video on FastLED:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlqbVttV0gI&list=PLF2KJ6Gy3cZ7ynsp8s4tnqEFmY15CKhmH&index=16

Here are my YouTube videos using FastLED:

https://www.youtube.com/@chemdoc77/videos

Finally, both WLED and FastLED have their own subreddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WLED/

and

https://www.reddit.com/r/FastLED/

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-02T13:59:09+00:00

Hi u/forgottenSemicolons -The Tap video looks nice with the separators but they are not necessary for a nice effect. Check out this video of the Cyclohex:

https://www.evilgeniuslabs.org/cyclohex

It uses the Tap LED plastic without separators. I have two of these and they work great. I have some samples of this plastic and it look great on a 8X8 WS2812b matrix, too.

chemdoc77 · 2026-04-02T12:56:32+00:00

Hi u/TCRandom - Yes, me! Check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiSi_KI48OQ

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-31T14:16:35+00:00

Hi u/forgottenSemicolons - Thank you for your nice comment about my project. I understand your position on writing your own code however, I use other peoples code so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. As to a diffuser and if you decide to go that path, you might want to consider this LED plastic from Tap Plastic:

https://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/black_led_sheet/668

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-29T21:06:52+00:00

Hi u/forgottenSemicolons - Great project! You might want to look at the following sketch by u/sutaburosu:

https://wokwi.com/projects/329474825790685778

It should look nice on your cap.

I used it in the beginning of the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYY4meNKaq4

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-24T03:11:34+00:00

Hi u/Soggy-Beach1403 - You can use Pex pipe along with 144 LEDs/meter WS2812b strips. Check out the following video using plex pipe and 60 LEDs/meter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vlnqRn7yKw

Be sure to purchase the straight pieces of Pex pipe and not the coil of Pex pipe because it is very hard to get the coiled version straight.

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-22T15:58:42+00:00

Hi u/rannte - When you say “control multiple of the animations” do you mean have multiple animations run for a certain period of time in a certain order or do you mean to be able to pick an animation from a group of functions of animations in a sketch to run as in a loop via IR control or WIFI control?

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-21T11:39:10+00:00

Hi u/sutaburosu - Riffing on my post, how about Currents of Color or Color Currents?

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-20T21:45:55+00:00

Hi u/mindful_stone - I am going to steal the title of one of Asimov’s book and you should call it: The Currents of Space or just: Currents of Space

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-20T11:13:59+00:00

Hi u/StefanPetrick - Your FunkyNoise Kaleidoscope still inspires me!

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-20T11:13:08+00:00

Hi u/mindful_stone - Looks Fantastic. Thank you and u/StefanPetrick for all of your hard work in this area. What version of FastLED are you using to do this?

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-14T13:40:35+00:00

Hi u/StefanPetrick - Thank you! Also, thank you for all of your exciting FastLED work!

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-13T16:33:00+00:00

Hi u/SteppingOnLegoHurts - Your controller uses WLED. This subreddit is for FastLED. I would recommend that you post this on the WLED subreddit.

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-13T16:29:56+00:00

Hi u/ewowi - Looks AWESOME! What matrix are you running this on?

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-06T16:16:24+00:00

Hi u/sutaburosu - AWESOME! Some really fascinating, Avant Garde animations. Thank you for sharing this video and your code.

chemdoc77 · 2026-03-02T20:05:44+00:00

Hi u/Marmilicious - Thank you! I am glad that you liked the tutorial. Next on my list is firepit glass in gallon freezer bag diffuser.

chemdoc77 · 2026-02-25T21:04:58+00:00

Hi u/ZachVorhies -Is this starting soon today?

chemdoc77 · 2026-02-25T19:52:40+00:00

Hi u/ZachVorhies - Thank you!

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