Domaudeo RGB LED Control Solution using DMX and the Engineering Solutions RS-232 DMX Engine

Transcription

1 Domaudeo RGB LED Control Solution using DMX and the Engineering Solutions RS-232 DMX Engine Introduction: Version 1.5.8, 2016/03/26 DMX512 (Digital Multiplex) is a standard for digital communication networks that are commonly used to control stage lighting and effects. It was originally intended as a standardized method for controlling light dimmers, which, prior to DMX512, had employed various incompatible proprietary protocols. It soon became the primary method for linking controllers (such as a lighting console) to dimmers and special effects devices such as fog machines and intelligent lights. DMX has also expanded to uses in non-theatrical interior and architectural lighting, at scales ranging from strings of Christmas lights to electronic billboards. The use of DMX can now be used to control almost anything, reflecting its popularity in theatres and venues.* The Control4 driver use Engineering Solutions RS-232 DMX Engine as a bridge to communicate with a single DMX Universe. This allow the control to the whole 512-channel of this DMX Universe. It is also possible to use multiple DMX Engines to grow to an unlimited number of DMX channels. Features: - Native Control4 Dimmer Control of all DMX Channels - Exclusive RGB Dimmer with Master Dimmer for RGB segment - Master Dimmer can dim and bright a custom color done with R-G-B child dimmers - Ultra-fast response time and feedback - Native Control4 scene support with no popcorn effect - Smooth fades and color transition - Built-in color loop and chase effects - Exclusive Effect Switch to easily build color loop or chase effect - Exclusive ColorChanger dimmer to manage RGB Fixture with a single slider - Highly optimized algorithm with no CPU overhead and multiple possible simultaneous tasks - Highly customizable - Intelligent design that will prevent effect overlap - Compatible with Control4 button linking - Keypad button LED color sync - White Channel Override for RGBW fixtures - Include tools to easily control huge number of lights - DecaBox (Hardware) Scene management *Source: Wikipedia RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 1

2 Requirements: The driver requires the following to work properly: - RS-232 DMX Engine (firmware v or newer) from Engineering Solutions Inc. - DB9 Cable that does NOT connect Pin 4 - Control4 Controller with free serial port or a supported Serial over IP device Any Control4 controller that can run OS 2.5 will be compatible with this driver. Follow Control4 s recommendation for controller model and system sizing. Older OS are not compatible with this driver. Older controllers such as HC-200 and HC-300 are supported and will be able to handle a DMX project. Expect some slight delay with turning on color effect of old controller but this it will still play very smoothly. Note for HC-250: The HC-250 feature a different Serial controller than all other Control4 controllers. Although it is supported by this driver, it is still NOT RECOMMENDED to use and HC-250 to CONNECT to the RS-232 DMX Interface. The 250 can run the project is the DMX Interface is connected elsewhere, for example on a Global Cache unit. Note for Global Cache itach: The Global Cache itach is fully supported but you MUST use the GC-100 driver to connect to the unit and NOT the Universal GC driver. The GC-100 driver is fully compatible with either the real GC-100 or an itach. Test before installing We strongly recommend that you test the driver in a lab environment prior or deploying to client site. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 2

3 DMX Basics: DMX is a daisy-chainable protocol that allow up to 512 devices to by connect together on a single universe. Each device have an Input and Output connector, the basic is to parallel connect the output to the input. In RGB LED world, you will typically use DMX RGB Decoders to connect your LED strips or fixture to the DMX circuit. The DMX Decoder has a DMX Input and Output on a side and PWM LED output on the other side that allow LED strip to be connected directly like this image: DMX Data cable that connect each devices to other is typically XLR Cable but DMX can also travel through Cat.5 cable. Check DMX specs and documentation online for more information. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 3

4 Setup Instructions: Add the RS 232 DMX Engine Driver to the project: The driver ZIP package contain a number of files. Copy all the.c4i files to your My Documents\Control4\Drivers folder. Add the RS-232 DMX Engine Driver to your project: - Open Composer - In System Design, click Search, then type: dmx - Add RS-232 DMX Engine to the project. Enter a valid license key: You need to enter a valid license key prior or making any connections or configuration within the driver. In the Properties of the RS-232 DMX Engine Driver, enter your license key and click Set. The License State will change to Valid and the driver will be ready to work. Since version 1.4, the driver support both Offline MAC-Based license and online Houselogix-based license. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 4

5 Connect the RS 232 DMX Engine Driver: The RS-232 DMX Engine Driver must be connected to a Serial port. To connect the driver to a Serial port, go to Connection, select the RS-232 DMX Engine Driver in the Control A/V list, then select the Serial RS- 232 Control Connection in the Control and Audio Video Connections section and drag it to the serial port where the DMX Engine is physically connected. Remember to use a DB9 Serial Cable that does NOT connect Pin 4. This apply to all Control4 Controllers with DB9 Serial connectors, HC-200 or HC-250 does not connect Pin 4 anyway so they will work with the Control4 1/8 to DB9 cable. Check connection status: If connection process goes well, you will be able to see the DMX Engine firmware in the driver properties. Default Scene Handling: Default Scene Handling is something that can be set anytime, this feature tells the driver how to an Advanced Lighting Agent scene will be handled by the DMX Interface. Simultaneous will trigger all the RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 5

6 DMX loads part of the scene simultaneously, this allow a perfectly synchronous scene with no popcorn effect. Although this is the recommended way to handle scene for the best looking result, it may be necessary to switch the Sequential mode when lot of DMX loads in part on a scene mixed with Control4 load. In sequential mode, all DMX load in the scene will be turned on one after each other. This happen very quickly but may product a slight popcorn effect. Hardware Scene Control: Show or hide some special properties that allow managing the DMX Engine hardware scenes. The Hardware Scene are stored into non-volatile memory on the DMX Engine, the scene is then recallable via Programming. Hardware Scene Control properties are: Save Current DMX Buffer To Scene: To build a scene, simply use any DMX dimmers drivers or Direct Level Set in programming action to turn ON the DMX Channels you want to be part of the scene, then chose the hardware scene number (1-60) where you like to save the current DMX levels of the whole universe (512 channels). Boot up Scene: Chose the hardware scene to be loaded at DMX Engine boot. Each time the DMX Engine will reboot, this scene will be activated. Boot up Scene Recall: Hardware of Software recall. Hardware require firmware 4.86 or later and allow the scene to be recalled by the DMX Engine without the need of Control4, Software will work with firmware 4.85 and require the Control4 controller to be up and running for the scene to be recalled. Scenes Backup And Restore: This feature allow to copy all the Hardware Scenes stored into the DMX Engine into the driver. This is a useful feature to replace a DMX Engine and copy the scene from a previous unit. The Backup and restore feature does not convert the Hardware scenes into Control4 Advanced Lighting Agent, it only serve as a backup feature in case of a DMX Engine failure. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 6

7 Advanced Settings: Show or hide some special troubleshooting properties: Controller Type: To enable a special workaround when the RS-232 DMX Interface is connected on the serial port of an HC-250. Although this should help keep the driver to work correctly on a HC-250, this is NOT recommended to connect the DMX interface on an HC-250. Poll Interval (min): This option enable a timed polling (in minute) to the DMX Engine for monitoring its connection state. It also progressively query each DMX Channel level to help fill up the cached buffer and speed up the light level queries. You can disable this feature by setting a Poll Interval of 0 but we recommend keeping this feature enable to insure an automatic reconnect to the DMX Engine in case of a temporary outage. Query Mode: Cached mode is used to speed-up Level Queries by caching the DMX level data locally. It s usually best to keep it in Cached mode but you can revert to Query if the fixture s light level get out of sync. Wait mode will add a delay between each Light Level Query to avoid flooding the DMX system, this mode is more a troubleshooting tool that is rarely used. Query Wait/Send Queue Size: Are advanced settings to tweak the driver core and help troubleshooting. Those settings should remain untouched unless extreme situation. Adding DMX Devices: It is mandatory to have the RS-232 DMX Interface driver before beginning to add DMX devices, this is required to get proper Advanced Lighting Agent Scene support. Once you have successfully connected your RS-232 DMX Interface, you can now start adding the DMX devices you want to control and monitor from Control4. Each added devices driver will bind automatically to the DMX Engine driver if this one is already installed. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 7

8 To add devices drivers to the project, in Composer got to System Design, then search for domaudeo dmx. You will see all the available device drivers. Double-click on the one you want to add to your project. DMX Dimmer Single Channel Dimmable Light The DMX Dimmer driver is intended to be used with single DMX Channel fixture or non-color changing LED Strip. The driver allow the full control over a single DMX load including Ramp To, Set Level. The light will also give feedback of Light Level Changes. DMX RGB Dimmer RGB Light with Master and White Override The DMX RGB Dimmer driver is intended to be used with RGB or color changing LED Strip. It provide a Master Dimmer that can dim or bright the current R-G-B levels set, build-in color loop effect and White Override option to tie with a single-channel White Channel that will take precedence over the RGB Channels. DMX Group RGB Dimmer RGB Light with Master and White Override The DMX RGB Group Dimmer driver is intended to be used with a group RGB fixtures without having to add an RGB dimmer driver to each one. The group of fixtures can use sequential or random channel number and it is also possible to set the number of channel to use per fixture and then avoid extra channels like built-in effect channels. DMX Group Dimmer Single channel Light Group Dimmer This driver present a single dimmer able to control a range of DMX channels. The channel range can be sequential or random. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 8

9 DMX Effect Switch and Chase Scroller Effect triggering switches Those driver are designed to control special effect created from specific parameters. Check the Color Effect section of this document for detailed instruction how to use those Effect Switches DMX Effect Brightness Live Effect Brightness Control A complement of the DMX Effect Switch to allow Brightness Control over the effect. It present a dimmer slider that can dim or bright a live playing effect, can also be bind to a keypad. DMX Switch Single Channel Non Dimmable Light Intended to be used with single DMX Channel fixture, DMX Relay or non-color changing LED Strip. The driver allow only ON/OFF control over a single DMX load. DMX ColorChanger Single Slider to Control Color An exclusive driver that present a single slider to control one or more RGB light s output color. Color will change by playing with the slider, can also be bind to a keypad for a smooth and easy light color selection tool. DMX Scene Trigger Hardware Scene Control A special switch driver that allow to trigger DecaBox Scenes (also called Hardware Scenes) right from Navigator or as part of an Advanced Lighting Scene. Hardware Scenes must be created using the RS232 DMX Engine driver. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 9

10 DMX Lights Drivers Properties: DMX Dimmer Properties DMX RGB Dimmer Properties: Dimmer Information: DMX RGB Child Dimmers This is native Control4 Proxy settings, work the same as any Control4 dimmers. For the DMX RGB Dimmer, those parameter will be applied on the Master Dimmer only, the R-G-B child dimmers all have their own parameters of the kind. LED Information: The button color changing option from the Control4 Light Proxy. Will do the same as any Control4 dimmer except for the DMX RGB Dimmer that feature a Button Color Sync that can use the LED Button Color to match the actual LED Fixture/Strip color. Driver Version: Tell you which driver version you are currently running RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 10

11 DMX Address / Red, Green, Blue Address: Those are the DMX Channel of the light to control. Should be set same channel your DMX Fixture/Decoder are physically set from 1 to 512. Note that Red, Green Blue channels does not have to be adjacent but most DMX RGB decoders are made this way and this simplify the creation of color effects. Even if this will work, it is recommended to not set multiple DMX Dimmers to the same DMX Channel. Default Red, Green, Blue Level: Those settings will set the default level of the child R-G-B dimmers when the Master Dimmer turn ON. It s important to understand those will NOT set the default ON level of each R-G-B dimmers, let s say those default level let you build the default color the RGB fixture will have when the Master Dimmer is turned ON. Those levels can be easily modified with live feedback from the RGB Fixture using the Button Color Sync feature. Button Color Sync: This option will enable color synchronization between the Top Button LED Color from the LED Information section of the Dimmer properties and the current color of the controlled RGB Fixture/LED Strip. You can use the Button LED Color to quickly change the color of the controlled light and see the result live. It can serve as the easy way to find a particular color. It will also modify the default Red/Green/Blue levels and then become the new default ON color on the Master Dimmer. White Override: This option allow the use of any Light load as a White Override source. That mean this particular light will always turn off the RGB Dimmers as soon as this light turns ON. Typical use would be RGBW fixtures that provide a separate White channel but this also work with any light load, even Control4 dimmer. Another good use of that feature would be a mix of RGB ceiling LED light mixed with halogen, when the halogen turns ON, it s not always desirable to keep the RGB lit, so this offer a simple option to switch from party light to useful light with no programming. Scene Handling: Use this setting to set the scene handling of this particular light. Using the Default setting will use the Default Scene Handling configured at the RS-232 DMX Engine driver. For Scene Handling details, check the previous RS-232 DMX Engine section or this document. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 11

12 DMX Group Dimmer (Single Channel / RGB): The DMX Group Dimmer is intended to control large number of DMX fixture without having to add individual dimmers for each fixture. There is a Group Dimmer driver made for RGB (3-channels) Lights and another for Single Channel light, both share similar properties: DMX Group RGB Dimmer Properties: Group Type: Sequential or Comma Separated Random, depending how the group s channel are configured. Number Of Fixtures: Defines the number of fixture in the Sequential group. Channel Per Fixture: Defines the number of channel to reserve per fixture. The driver can only control RGB fixture so there s a minimum of 3 channel to reserve per fixture. If your fixture use special extra channel beyond the first RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 12

13 R-G-B, you need to enter the total number of channel this fixture use to have the driver skip those channels. Typical use of Sequential channels with RGB fixtures: In this example, four RGB LED Strips segments are controlled each by their own DMX decoders. We have set the channel of each decoder to sequential value and we will configure the Group Dimmer as follow: First Red, Green, Blue Channel: Defines the Red, Green and Blue channel number of the first fixture. Those channel number will increment by the Channel Per Fixture properties until it reach the Number Of Fixtures. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 13

14 Master Dimmer Type: In Virtual mode the Master Dimmer will be emulate and will control all R-G-B dimmers at the same time proportionally of their current value. In Real mode, you will define a real channel that will be controlled by the Master Dimmer Typical use of Sequential channels with RGB + Master/Effect channels: Typical DMX Fixtures with Effect Channels Channel 22 to 28 Channel 15 to 21 Channel 8 to 14 Channel 1 to 7 In that situation, we need to reserve seven (7) channels per fixture and use a Real Master Dimmer as follow: All fixture channel higher than the first three (or four in case of fixture with built-in Master Dimmer) are skipped so there s no risk of triggering the fixture s built-in effect while controlling the fixture group. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 14

15 Comma Separated Random example: That setup require the use of the Comma Separated Random group type. The first Red channel of each fixtures is entered separated by a comma. There is no need to configure the number of channel per fixture or other Green/Blue channel because the driver will assume Green and Blue follow the Red channel. Command Mode and Proxy Update: Command Mode define the way the system will send command to DMX, Simultaneous will send all commands simultaneously for perfect all together result. Sequential will send command sequentially one after each other, Sequential with Delay will add a configurable delay between each command, useful to make stair effect where each light comes ON progressively one after each other. Proxy Update should be disabled if you don t use individual Dimmer driver for the channels driven by the Group Dimmer. Enable it if you want to see the individual Dimmers follow the levels of the Group. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 15

16 DMX RGB ColorChanger: The DMX RGB ColorChanger work similarly to the RGB Group Dimmer but is intended to control large number of RGB DMX fixtures using a single dimmer slider. The Slider will change the color of the light based on the level and palette used. DMX ColorChange slider: Color of the DMX lights: (based on palette) You can also bind the Top and Bottom BUTTON_LINK of this dimmer to the UP/Down button of a Keypad and use the buttons to smoothly scroll the color to the desired one, just release the button to stop the color change. The Toggle BUTTON_LINK does not change the color, it simply toggle the light based on the Level 0 Action and Level 100 Action in the properties. Available Level 0 Action are First Palette Color or Off Level 100 Action are Last Palette Color and White Override witch will turn of the connected external White Override load instead of using a palette color. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 16

17 RGB Color Change and Effects: One of the primary goal of this driver suite is to offer easy to use Color Change, Chase and RGB Effects. There is three ways to build color effects: 1 Using the DMX Effect Switch (recommended): This is the easiest way to build color effect. The DMX Effect Switch act as a regular Control4 switch and will be presented as an ON/OFF device in Navigator to easily start and stop the effect from touch screens or bind it to a keypad. Also, the DMX Effect Switch can be added multiple time in a project and then allow many preset effects to be turned on or off at any time even all together on multiple RGB lights. To start an effect with the Effect Switch, simply turn ON the switch and the preset effect will start. See page 20 for complete explanation of the DMX Effect Switch properties. 2 Programming on DMX RGB Dimmer or the Group Dimmer: Programming of the DMX RGB Dimmer or Group dimmer will allow only the use of Direct Level Set and the Color Loop effect on this particular RGB Dimmer. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 17

18 3 Programming on RS 232 DMX Engine driver: Programming of the RS-232 DMX Engine Driver will allow the generation of color effect without the need of any other driver in the project. Most color effect are available there but only one can run at a time. Built in Effects Description: Direct DMX Level Set: This serve for directly controlling specific DMX Channel(s). It can send a Direct Level command at one of more channels. channel@level: use the channel number followed and the level. For multiple channel to set, separate each command by a comma. Example, to set channel 3, 5 and 7 to level 127, 200 and 255 respectively, use the following command: 3@127,5@200,7@255 Fade Over (seconds): The fade time in second from actual level to the desired levels. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 18

19 Multi Channel Color Loop (RS 232 DMX Engine Driver only): This is a special effect that serve or building a color loop from non-adjacent channels. You can use any channels from each color to build the color loop. For example, you have 3 RGB Strips separate in different rooms, first strip channels is 1,2,3, second strip channels is 7,8,9 and last one is 20,21,22, the parameters to use are: Red Channels: 1,7,20 Green Channels: 2,8,21 Blue Channels: 3,9,22 Then configure the next parameters to personalize the color loop: Loop Style: Chose from the following preset loop style: - Rainbow: Will create a loop that will goes through all rainbow colors - Random: Will use pseudo-random colors - Cold: Will go between bluish and greenish tints to create a cold mood - Hot: Between reds and yellows - Love: Pinkish to purple colors for romantic mood Fade Over (seconds): The time the crossfade between colors will take. The higher this number is, the longer the crossfade will take, and the smoother the fade will be. Hold For (ms): The time a color will stay static before crossfading to the next Auto Stop: This parameter allow the effect to be stopped by any other effect or level change on its participating channels. For example, if a color loop is running on channels between 10 and 20 and you manually change the level on a channel within this range using a touch screen, the loop will stop. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 19

20 Stop All Fades (RS 232 DMX Engine Driver only): Stop All Fades as it said, will stop all running fade on all DMX devices on the system, whatever the Auto- Stop feature is enabled or not. Proxy Update: Setting this to Yes will force a query of all DMX value of all channels once the fades stops. This allow the proxy update and Navigator touch screen dimmers levels update. Blackout (DMX Effect Switch): A basic function that simply turn off all channels and stop all currently running fades or effects. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 20

21 DMX Effect Switch: DMX Effect Switch Properties: The Effect Switch Properties will change according to the selected Effect. Available effect are: Ranged Color Loop, Basic Chase Effect, Advanced Chase Effect, Random Loop and Blackout. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 21

22 Ranged Color Loop: Ranged Color Loop is the simplest way to build a Color Loop effect. RGB Fixture(s) with adjacent channel values is required for this effect. This allow also to run the color loop on multiple RGB fixtures. For example, you have three RGB Strips, the first use channels 1-2-3, second and third 7-8-9, then you can have them to do the same color loop effect simultaneously using 1 as First Channel and 9 as Last Channel. First Channel: Is the first channel of the range Last Channel: Is the last channel of the range Color Loop Style: The color preset to use for the loop. Rainbow (loop into all rainbow colors), Random (use random colors), Cold (from blue to green), Hot (from yellow to red), Love (from pink to purple), Xmas (from green to white and red) or Custom. Custom colors settings: You can configure up to 12 custom colors to be part of the Color Loop, you need to fill the property field of each color using its RGB value (0-255) separated by a comma. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 22

23 If the color is valid, it will be displayed between brackets. Brackets are not required to be entered manually, they will appear automatically to confirm that the RGB values is valid. Also, you don t have to fill all 12 custom color properties, the Color Loop will use only the field with validated RGB value. Activation: Merge will activate the effect by merging with actual levels of the member channels (from First Channel to Last Channel). Blank will turn off all member channels before starting the effect. Deactivation: Define what happen when the effect is stopped. Stop will stop the effect and let the member channels at the value they are when doing the effect. Blank will turn them all off. Fade Over (seconds): The time the crossfade between colors will take. The higher this number is, the longer the crossfade will take, and the smoother the fade will be. Hold For (ms): The time a color will stay static before crossfading to the next Auto Stop: Allow the effect to be stopped by any other effect or level change on its participating channels. For example, if a color loop is running on channels between 10 and 20 and you manually change the level on a channel within this range using a touch screen, the loop will stop. Cue Protected mean that the effect will not stop if a command on the ranged channels happen within a very short delay after the effect is started, thus protect the effect for stopping when multiple DMX commands is scripted to run one after each other using Composer Programming. This is a typical script that require the Cue Protected option: In this example, stopping the fade on a Group Dimmer and stopping an effect on another DMX Effect switch while having those driver configure with Proxy Update will take some time to update all Proxy level value so this may be long enough to stop the last command witch is to start an effect. Disable Cue Protected only if you need instant stop, whatever happen with other DMX devices. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 23

24 Basic Chase Effect: The Basic Chase Effect will create make the light chase over the member channels, on each after the other, skipping the number of channels in Step. Basic Chase Effect use a single channel as the Chase base and will make it goes over all member channels. First Channel: The first channel where the chase will start. It is also the reference channel for the light level used in the chase. The chase will use the actual value of this channel or if it is OFF, it will turn it ON at 100% and use this value as the chase reference. This value will be passed to the next channel within the range and the first will turn off, creating the chase. Last Channel: The last channel when the chase will stop. Step: This control the number of channel to skip between chase steps. The primary use of this parameter is when channels are not adjacent or if you use RGB fixtures. For example, with RGB fixture the basic chase will skip channel by one at each step, so instead or going from fixture to fixture, it will only change the color on the first fixture, since this fixture use 3 channels. To fix that, use a step of 3 and then the light will jump from fixture to fixture and create a great looking chase. Chase Style: Those are presets that create different chase style - Repeat: will chase the light from the first to the last channel repeating at every two channels steps, to make it look like an infinite chase. - Scroll: will chase the light from the first to the last channel, and will restart at the first channel, and so on. - Wave: Will turn on all lights one after each other and then will turn them off in the same fashion and order. - Knight Rider: You will know what this preset is if you are a kid of the 80 s RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 24

25 Advanced Chase Effect: The Advanced Chase Effect do something similar to the Basic Chase for will use all the channels in the range as the Chase reference. In other words, it will scroll all the current color set on the fixtures from one to the other until the Last Channel. This can be created from presets or from a custom pattern you create using each channel DMX Dimmers are chase members. Chase Preset: Those presets tells the driver how to build the chase. - Save Current Levels: Will use the current level set of First Channel to Last Channel and save it to build the chase. The save occur each time a parameter is changed in the properties and override the previous saved pattern, it will also survive a power cycle. Once the parameters are set and the save occur, you can recall the color pattern each time you will turn this effect switch ON. - Use Current Levels: This is similar to Save Current Levels but it will not save the current color pattern, instead, it will use the current color pattern set at the moment the Effect Switch is turned ON. So this enable a fully custom chase to be built live and animated on the fly by the Effect Switch. - Rainbow: The preset will produce a 12-colors rainbow across the chase member channels. It needs 36 total channel to be able to produce all the colors but will still work with less. RGB: Will produce a similar pattern as Rainbow but with only 3 colors. White: A repeating on/off pattern. Primary use is for single channel fixture. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 25

26 Chase example: 8 separate RGB LED Lights current (ugly) colors: Using Use Current Levels settings, with step of 1 While the chase is running, color will fall to the next RGB Strip, rotating the whole pattern: Light 1 Light 2 Light 3 Light 4 Light 5 Light 6 Light 7 Light 8 chase starts:... chase is running, color switch to the next light.. and so on RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 26

27 Random Loop: Random Loop will randomly turn on and off a single or multiple lights within the range from First Channel to Last Channel. As with other effects, it can use preset patterns or the current light level to build the loop. Simultaneous Lights: Defines the number of lights to be turned on at the same time Random Style: Single or Multiple colors. This apply only when using more than 1 Simultaneous Lights. Single Color will make all the current light that are turned ON to be the same color, Multiple Color will make the lights each a different color. Color is based on the Random Preset parameter. Random Preset: This sets the color bank to use for the random loop. Rainbow will use the 12-colors rainbow gradient, Random will use random color values, Xmas will use green, red and white, Halloween is Orange and white, Use Current Levels will use the current colors sets on the lights within the range. OFF Color: Defines the color to use when the light is considered Off. Sometime it may be useful to get the light to turn White when Off. You can also use the current color that is currently set before starting the loop. This will make the light goes back to its original color when turned off by the random loop. Trigger: Hold Timer will use the Hold For (ms) properties as a delay before going ahead and switch to the next random pattern automatically while External will require either a Contact of Keypad Button connection to manually switch to the next random pattern. See Sound-to-Light section for more info. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 27

28 Brightness Control: Starting at version 1.5.4, the Effect Switch Driver will now allow Brightness control over the effect using three added settings: Brightness (%): Is the current brightness used for the effect whatever it is running or not. Default Brightness (%): Will reset the effect brightness each time it stops. Minimum Brightness (%): Defines minimum value of brightness to use. Not all LEDs allow dimming to 1%, some turns off, some flicker, this option prevent this. For easier Effect Brightness Control, we recommend using the Effect Brightness driver that act as a complement for the Effect Switch. Select one or more DMX Effect Switch using the button. This will be the Effect Switch which brightness will be controller by this Effect Brightness driver. When only one Effect Switch is selected, the brightness control of a static or running effect will be possible, when more than one Effect Switches are selected, only running effects will react to brightness control. Now you can control the effect brightness live using an added slider: RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 28

29 Sound To Light: This feature will bring a discotheque mood to Control4 with only the need of few RGB DMX lights. This effect work with either the Random Loop or Advanced Chase effects. Sound-to-Light connection requirement: You need to feed a Contact Input with audio the same audio output that is diffused in the room where the lights are. Recommended wiring method is to use a dedicated audio output of a Control4 Audio Matrix to feed the Contact Input. Connection example of an Audio Matrix to and HC-800 (work only with analog output): Back of the HC-800 Positive to SIG, Negative to GND Back of Audio Matrix Crank the Matrix Output Volume and Bass up (adjust if effect does not play well) RCA Jack to Audio Out RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 29

30 You will need to do some programming in Composer to insure the Matrix Output you re using for Sound-to-Light will output the same audio signal as the main one in the room: The simplest way is to bind the Matrix Output to a dummy room: Then program a CURRENT_DEVICE_SELECTED variable change when the main room audio device change: Effect Switch Driver Properties settings: Driver Connection settings: RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 30

31 Application examples: Master Dimmer: The Master Dimmer goes to 100% because it s the highest level of the R-G-B Child Dimmers. Let s play with the Master Dimmer level: All child dimmers dim proportionally of the Master Dimmer level, it will dim or bright the current color. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 31

32 DMX Effect Switch: White Override: RGB Dimmer Driver properties: White light OFF: White light ON (RGB turns OFF): RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 32

33 Domaudeo Control4 DMX Driver Known Issues: - Advanced Chase effect with Use Current Levels preset can get out of sync when using very small Hold For delay, like 250ms this is caused by the fact the Interface cannot absorb fast enough the required commands (at the current baud rate) to run the chase that fast. Try using higher Hold For delay. If you absolutely need a very fast chase, it s possible to set the interface at higher baud rate and use a special release of the DMX driver to work this higher baud rate. You must communicate with us before attempting to set the interface at higher baud rate because the actual driver will not work anymore. - The RS-232 DMX Interface used with this driver DOES NOT work well when connected to an HC-250 serial port. Any other Control4 controller does not suffer this issue and will work correctly. If an HC-250 is used as the only controller in the project, we STRONGLY recommend the usage of an external serialto-ethernet device like the Global Cache itach (using the GC-100 driver only!) RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 33

34 Troubleshooting Before opening a support ticket, check these simple resolution to common problem that happen frequently. Trouble No control over DMX lights Scene does not trigger and cannot control large number of DMX Lights Resolution Check if the RS-232 DMX Interface is connected Confirm that you are using a DB9 Serial cable with NO Pin4 Confirm that you see the firmware version on the driver properties HC-250 user, don t use the build-in Serial port (1/8 plug) of the HC-250, use external serial device like a Global Cache or an old HC-200. Not all features are working Confirm that you are running at least firmware version Advanced Chase Effect does not look good The scene does not activate anymore with Simultaneous handling mode The color I set does not stay static Parallel tasks does not react well You may have selected a range of channels that may be too large to be smoothly processed. Try smaller channels range in the parameters. Check the Step parameter. If you are using RGB lights, you will most likely use 3 as step setting. This will happen if you have removed and re-added the RS-232 DMX Engine Driver while it as already some DMX Dimmers and scenes configured. To resolve that, select the project tree home in composer and switch to List View tab, I don t know why, but this rebuild the scene database and resolve most DMX scene issues. This may happen if a color loop effect is running somewhere with the Auto-Stop setting turned Off. To resolve that, go to the RS-232 DMX Engine Driver properties, click Action and select Stop All Fades or Turn All Channels Off You may have too many effects that run with very little Hold For delay, using very little delay require more commands to be sent quickly thus may saturate the serial bus. RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 34

35 RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 35

36 Thank you for your support! Check out our DMX Demo Video and Tutorials at: For support, visit the Control4 Dealers Forum at: or public forum at: domaudeo advanced dmx rgbrgbwled and low voltage light control solution/ RGB LED DMX Driver for Control4 36