In this tutorial we'll see how to control groups of LEDs with a lighting console.
We want to control the color and/or intensity of each shape with a console.
The idea is to send RGB or intensity values from your console and map these values to the individual shapes.
We'll create a stage where each strip is collapsed to one pixel. So by controlling this pixel, you control the whole strip.
First, select all strips. Then right-click in the strip list and select the "new stages from strips/each strip collapsed on a new point" menu item.
This command does all the hard work for us. It duplicates all strips in a new stage and resize each strip to be exactly one pixel.
The new stage has a width of 81 (1 pixel per strip). So if we map a 81x1 video on it, every pixel of the video would control one shape.
Let's change the merge mode for the stage by going in the stage manager. We'll use the multiply merge mode in order for the values sent by the console to act as a filter for the main stage.
Let's look at this new stage.
There are 81 little squares, one per strip.
All overlapping LEDs take the color of the same pixel of a media.
Now let's see how the stage multiply merge mode works by using the testing feature.
The pixels of the main stage are multiplied (filtered) by the pixels of the new stage.
Let's activate the "test selected strips only" option to locate each strip and see what it does in the monitor.
Since our new stage multiplies the main stage, only the strips being located are visible.
It's clear now that each strip in this new stage corresponds to a one shape in the main stage.
What we want to do now is to receive DMX from our console and map the DMX channels on the individual shapes.
The trick is to add a DMX Bitmap media, which converts DMX to a video. Then we'll use it on our stage.
We have 81 shapes, so we set the bitmap width to 81 and the height to 1. The console can send RGB or intensity (dimmer) fixtures.
We want to receive starting at universe 2, in order to leave universe 0 and 1 to control stages (if needed).
The DMX Bitmap is a media like any other. You can map it on your LEDs like you want. Open the monitor to see the generated video.
At the moment, it's empty. We need to play it on our stage and configure the DMX remote.
Next, we configure the DMX remote by going in the settings/remote tab.
We'll receive DMX via Art-Net.
Now we can go in our console and patch the fixtures for the DMX Bitmap.
We'll use Lightjams for this, as it works with any console able to send Art-Net or sACN.
Let's patch 81 RGB fixtures, one per shape we want to control.
We patch starting at Art-Net universe 2.
Ok, now let's create a simple intensity chase that will activate one shape at a time in ELM.
We'll move one source over the intensity attributes.
Now back in ELM, we see the DMX channels being converted to a video. The video has a width of 81 like the stage. The mapping is exact and each pixel controls one of our shapes.
Let's bring back the main stage monitor to see what's going on. As expected, exactly one shape is active at a time.
At this point, you have full control of all individual shapes from your console. Enjoy!