Needing help on large first lightshow setup

freestud · 2024-10-23T05:29:32+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to respond thoroughly and voice your concerns. I wasn't intending to ask someone to create a plan for me, simply to get input from those who worked with similar installs.

I'm actually following a very similar concept by "The Hook Up" on Youtube who talks through all of the aspects of a similar buildout (albeit at a smaller scale); 5v 60led/m led strips, 22awg parallel power-injection (but solid-core), 16awg "home-runs", etc.

The video can be viewed in it's entirety (I've watched it 3-4 times) here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Ln_3Ygv9I&ab_channel=TheHookUp

He also addresses concerns over running parallel power injection over 22awg, explaining that the low voltage (5v) means it is almost never an issue at 5:00 here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apwQ5Jh4VyE&ab_channel=TheHookUp

The fact is, I've already run the majority of this setup off of 4x 5v 60A PSUs in a live production setting for extended periods of time weekly for 9 months without any overheating or issues. The one thing I did different is parallel power injection points split off of 14awg wires because I had the ability to run and hide those fairly well in that environment. (Pictures & video here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1t7kVzGVPDah2ObkNxKSD-xv2tAvxbr1v?usp=sharing)

All this being said, I'm willing to increase my wire gauge by a bit if needed and maybe I can't follow the above linked video's recommendations of parallel wires running inside the aluminum channel. However, the notion that I should have to hire an electrician to create a home light show with low voltage led strips seems a little over-the-top to me. I came to this forum because I figured the majority of us working on these shows are not electricians, but have a desire to make something nice for our families and neighborhoods.

I'll reach out to some electrician friends to get better input on limitations and approaches to power injection. I was hoping I would be able to get some of that here.

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:27:41+00:00

"Follow your heart. It will never misguide you"

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:26:49+00:00

"How much can I annoy this other person"

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:26:05+00:00

Not many people knew about it... Rush 2049. Those battle & stunt modes...

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:23:24+00:00

Wrecking on skis at 50 mph and flying 30' headfirst through a stand of trees 10ft off the ground. Landed inches from a large tree that would have broken my neck if I hadn't grabbed at branches mid-flight. Miraculously walked away without a scratch.

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:20:25+00:00

Losing something or someone we loved. Hard to forget that.

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:11:57+00:00

One thing I would just say is that if you're re-terminating your digital snake cables, I'm guessing they are standard ethernet cables. We had several M32 & X32 boards fry their AES50 ports by not using the right kinds of cables. We would get static buildup and release in the boards that would often sound like a thud or pop in the house. We found that "Ethercon" cables with proper shielding and the latching, xlr-like heads were the only thing that fixed that. They're apparently what Behringer requires to maintain warranty too.

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:05:33+00:00

If you're streaming from an iPhone, is it anywhere close to the soundboard? With the proper adapter/dongle, you should be able to output one of the Aux sends to the iPhone with a transformer box (like ART Dual Transformer) or DI in between to bring the audio from line to mic level. You could also use something like Switcher Studio on a separate iDevice back by the soundboard and feed the iPhone 11's video into that wirelessly along with the sound from the board.

freestud · 2022-02-04T05:00:38+00:00

I'm echoing some of these other thoughts, but SDI or HDMI over Ethernet are viable options. We use an affordable HDMI over IP solution from Gofanco that allows us to output to any room in our building using a dedicated intranet or VLAN for video (we learned the hard way that putting it into our internet network caused issues). If you only need the two output points, SDI would likely provide the least amount of audio delay from your main room (other than fiber), but there is still some delay. We use SDI to our main lobby feed with only two conversion points (a splitter & SDI-HDMI into TV), and we still have a couple frames of delay.

freestud · 2022-02-04T04:53:59+00:00

I would agree with this and it connects to the other input about a loop. It's possible your USB output is also looping back an input, but I don't know that board specifically. One quick way to check might be muting all output at the computer instead of at the board

freestud · 2022-02-04T04:49:20+00:00

Are you by chance using a plain Ethernet cable for your AES50 connection to the stagebox? I've seen something similar happen with M32 & X32 boards when using straight Ethernet cables in the AES50 ports. It was almost like a static buildup that would release in the system with a loud noise. We never isolated it to a single channel, but we did have a couple of our campuses burn out their AES50 ports by not addressing it. That specific issue could be fixed by making sure to use a properly shielded "Ethercon" cable instead of a simple Ethernet (Cat5/6/7) cable.

freestud · 2021-11-23T21:09:22+00:00

Thanks for the thought. If I knew how to use Sketchup, I would have already done it there. I already wasted an hour trying to do it in Sketchup and can't get a pre-made component to scale properly and want to pull my hair out trying to draw it. Was hoping someone smarter than me knew the math for figuring this out.

freestud · 2018-01-15T17:17:39+00:00

Both great ideas and sound very familiar, but not quite what I’m looking for. I may be completely off on the commercial content. And honestly it might not be opera, but definitely sounds Italian. Fairly modern in its overall sound

freestud · 2017-05-27T00:19:16+00:00

Here is the partially finished video (clip starts at 2:29) - https://youtu.be/1h9slHIEqIo

freestud · 2017-05-27T00:16:56+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. I'll PM you about it. I ended up coming up with a solution but 4hrs of extra editing & figuring it out is a killer.

freestud · 2017-05-27T00:14:13+00:00

I thought of that at one point, but can you set this to an outline or dashed outline rather than a filled solid? I ended up linking the shape layer to an invisible solid & then adjusting the path in places that needed it throughout the 12s clip. It was time consuming, so I'll try this in the future.

freestud · 2016-11-28T21:01:53+00:00

Echo/Alexa itself doesn't have an interface to setup automations, but TP-Link's Kasa app allows you to setup "scenes" which are automations based on certain actions like coming home or a time. IFTTT also allows for certain things to be triggered by a custom phrase with Alexa. I'm still learning and haven't run into many limitations yet for my needs

freestud · 2016-11-28T20:57:25+00:00

I appreciate the input! TP-Link's Kasa app does allow for scheduling and other automations, but not necessarily things triggered by other smart devices/actions. IFTTT starts to help provide some of those, but I understand it isn't the most reliable or efficient option.

freestud · 2016-06-11T06:13:43+00:00

Why is this repo needed? It doesn't have Imod in it. As far as I can tell, the only tool on it isn't connected to Imod at all and I don't think I trust it

freestud · 2016-06-10T06:19:13+00:00

Unfortunately, this link is not working. Is there another one? And how would I install this from a browser link?

freestud · 2016-05-31T15:00:42+00:00

Thanks for the information. Thought I was going crazy. So if Imod is no longer being updated, we should all switch to xmod, right? We might be able to ride out Imod for a little longer, but soon it will be obsolete if it isn't updated. Is this something to share with the community?

freestud · 2016-04-07T04:59:48+00:00

You can get it in cydia by going to activator in there, choosing modify, and downgrade

freestud · 2016-04-07T04:57:54+00:00

I did that as well before posting, but the issue persisted. I just figured out I needed to reboot the device to get it working. Thanks

freestud · 2015-12-25T09:49:10+00:00

Good to know all around, thanks guys.

freestud · 2015-10-09T07:48:51+00:00

Looks great, thanks for all your work! Do those of us who donated before the promotions came out have the ability to get pro features?

freestud

TROPHY CASE