randr Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 First off start with ledwiz only first. Get dof working with that. Save addressable led's for last. You setup your dof account simply by mapping your setup then generate the config. Kinda like ledblinky setup I suppose it's very easy. Once you get all toys working with ledwiz then everything you need for addressable rgb strips is in this thread and you can start working on them. But trust me get dof going first with ledwiz Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 1, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 1, 2016 First off start with ledwiz only first. Get dof working with that. Save addressable led's for last. You setup your dof account simply by mapping your setup then generate the config. Kinda like ledblinky setup I suppose it's very easy. Once you get all toys working with ledwiz then everything you need for addressable rgb strips is in this thread and you can start working on them. But trust me get dof going first with ledwiz Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Roger that, will do. Is it worth it using 10 solenoids instead of 8? Since I have only 32 outputs (1 led wiz, non-usb sainsmart for FP compatibility), I'll be using: 15 for RGB flashers 10 for solenoids 1 for strobe 1 for beacons 1 for start 1 for launch 1 for blower fan That equals 30, with 2 left over for gear, and shaker for a total of 32. Is it worth the extra two outputs for 10 bumper versus 8? I was thinking about using one output for my central "FIRE" button, and maybe another for a "Faux" chime / bell / knocker (solenoid hits something like a bell). Not worried about a real knocker yet. For my RGB "Flashers", I will be putting a RGB LED strip on the left side and right side of my playfield (above my addressable strips), as well as one in each of my speaker holes. That still leaves one more to act as the center flasher, and I don't know where I'm putting that yet. Is it worth having 5 flasher versus 3 flasher? I was thinking of maybe using my undercab RGB lighting as the center flasher. What normally triggers the dedicated undercab RGB lighting in DOF? Any suggestions? I know there are DOF test tables for VP, so I'll use that. Is there anything I can do to test the addressable LED strips themselves outside of setting everything up through DOF? I just want to make sure they work before doing all the soldering for the matrix, etc... (normal RGB LED strips are all working fine) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlson18 Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hi, got a involight DMX RX 350 Lightbar if it possible to this with the Teensy and RGB Stripes together? Greetings kalle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Is there a tutorial available on how to wire this up and exactly all the parts required? I am a complete newb when it comes to things like this. Thanks, Lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randr Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 Gosh everything you need is in this thread I would think Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 I realize that randr. However not everyone has the technical knowledge to understand everything in this thread. I was hoping that there was something available that was written that did not assume this knowledge and could walk someone through the steps. If there is nothing available, a simple answer would be no. Lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohusky Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 There are links, diagrams and photos throughout the whole thread. A dummy like me figured it out. You just got work your way slowly through the thread and links. If you get stuck ask a specific question and we can try and help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Thanks neohusky. Will do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randr Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 I realize that randr. However not everyone has the technical knowledge to understand everything in this thread. I was hoping that there was something available that was written that did not assume this knowledge and could walk someone through the steps. If there is nothing available, a simple answer would be no. Lance That is what this thread is...everything is answered here. That is the simple answer. If you cannot find it here just ask answer is always just a post away Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 24, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 24, 2016 Well hot damn! My addressable LEDS are installed and working! They look fantastic! I'm amazed I got it all working without a hitch the first time. (Thanks to randr and other cabinet.xml examples in this thread) The only thing I still need to get is some plexi-glass / tint / privacy screen for the back matrix. So for now I just turn down the "brightness for flashers and matrix" in the DOF config tool. This works great, however I don't want my normal 5 RGB flashers turned down as well (since they are in the speaker holes and are too dim). Questions: Is there a way to turn down the brightness on just the matrix (an example would be great)? Also, the LED-Wiz equivalent entries in cabinet.xml.... are these just for whatever I configure for the LED matrix (effects, flashers, etc) on whatever ports I choose in the DOF config tool (under WS2811 device)? I'm assuming the only things I can choose for this are the entries with "MX" I'm still getting to know the software side of things... any help would be great guys! ...and THANK-YOU! This part of my cabinet build was done in one night and was by far the easiest upgrade so far, thanks to all the people in this thread. Swisslizard and Arngrim....amazing work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 25, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 25, 2016 Allright....so after more reading I was able to figure out how to adjust the brightness of the matrix LEDS separately from the RGB flashers. Use <FadingCurveName>Linear0To16</FadingCurveName> in your cabinet.xml file, and change the 16 to whatever level of brightness you want. 16 is the lowest setting. Nice thing is each led strip / matrix can have a different level of brightness as well. This allowed me to have the back matrix really low (until I get it plexi / tinted) while having the sides nice and bright. So on to my next issue. I can't for the life of me get any strobes or beacons to show up on my back matrix on ANY tables. All the normal flasher effects (square) and animations (side animations, sparkles, etc) are there on most tables....but not anything else. I noticed that the "back beacon mx", "left / right / back effects MX" are not configured for ANY tables on the DOF Config Tool site. However I have seen videos of others getting beacon and other effects on their tables. Here is my configuration of the DOF tool: Here is a link to my cabinet.xml and other files: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/te4t6gtuv5flt2t/AABM-5p8qe6J2lpo8fYbeezRa?dl=0 here is a new ini file with every tables present in config tool. I took Swiss's ini file in my private config and added the missing tables from 5 flasher conf. also added flipper button Mx. I used variables so as we can use the shapes The config used is port 1 back playfield Mx port 4 right playfield Mx port 7 left playfield Mx port 10 flipper button Mx https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/98865673/directoutputconfig30.ini Strange thing is, if I use gech's file, I now see beacon effects on the back matrix, as well as shapes, etc. However my left and right playfield led strips are both on the left now, and I don't know how to get them to be the same as mine, since configuring them the same as him in the DOF tool doesn't help since its creating a new directoutputconfig30.ini file... unless I'm doing it wrong... So are there any beacon and strobe effects for these tables by default, or do I have to configure them, or use someone else's file (if possible) ? Or is my configuration messed up? Also I can't get Pinball X to show anything on my addressable LEDs either while browsing tables . (the DOF plug-in works fine) Any help here would be soooooooooooo helpful guys..... thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 25, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 25, 2016 Why is it that I always find answers when I troubleshoot a problem forever....and its not until shortly after I've posted that I find a solution. I'm not sure if this matters, but I changed the order of my led strip definitions to match the order of the Led-Wiz Equivalent outputs. I then made them match gech's order, and I used his directoutputconfig30.ini file and now it works fine! I'm now seeing smiley faces and beacons on the back matrix! I also got rid of the other MX outputs and only kept the "flasher" and "flipper" outputs as they seem to be the only ones used right now? So I guess I'm still asking weather beacon / strobe effects only show up if someone adds them in? ...and I still can't get anything to show up on Pinball X..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gech Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 I am adding strobes to dof config tool .. just wait a week or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 25, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 25, 2016 I am adding strobes to dof config tool .. just wait a week or two. Thank-you very much! That sounds awesome! Will we need to have "back strobe mx" configured for that to work? I just needed to know if my thinking was right. I'm still trying to understand the software side of DOF. Lots of info to sort through. It would be very cool if there was a standardized way to configure whatever shapes we want for back matrix flashers.... kind of like what you did with your variables gech. That made it easy to change things up real quick. I also noticed that alot of the tables that didn't have MX effects before....now had lots of effects with your file. Was that all your work? If so thank you! Were you able to get Pinball X to work with addressable leds? Any word on matrix beacons in the DOF config tool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gech Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 I took swisslizard, randr, and every ones (big thank you to all of you guys )work I found on the net and mixed em all with adding the updates and the shapes. The blanks are my job (not so much but a little) I added every flipper button mx. I am currently filling every Back flasher mx Strobe mx Back effect mx Right and left flasher mx (not every but a lot) Right and left effect mx (not every but a lot) Beacon mx will be done in a second time. (If I found time) We are in discutions with Arngrim to incorpore the shapes to the config tool and we shall have a discussion about the pbx mx. I also planned to add back flasher pbx mx using swisslizard's pinballx big line... When all this will be done, it will be (normally) public. It will be time to tutorial how to use those new lines (combo powa) and fill the blanks You just have to have a drink and wait a little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 26, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 26, 2016 Thanks for filling in alot of the blanks in my reading for answers.... I was going nuts thinking I was missing something in my configs, etc... I will wait patiently.... and enjoy what amazing stuff you guys have done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 26, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 26, 2016 I took swisslizard, randr, and every ones (big thank you to all of you guys )work I found on the net and mixed em all with adding the updates and the shapes. The blanks are my job (not so much but a little) I added every flipper button mx. I am currently filling every Back flasher mx Strobe mx Back effect mx Right and left flasher mx (not every but a lot) Right and left effect mx (not every but a lot) Beacon mx will be done in a second time. (If I found time) We are in discutions with Arngrim to incorpore the shapes to the config tool and we shall have a discussion about the pbx mx. I also planned to add back flasher pbx mx using swisslizard's pinballx big line... When all this will be done, it will be (normally) public. It will be time to tutorial how to use those new lines (combo powa) and fill the blanks You just have to have a drink and wait a little Could you help me understand what each of these thing are supposed to be: Flipper Button MX.... what does this actually do? Right / Left / Back Effects MX... are these the same as the animation effects shown on the sides? (AFM launch ball, etc) It seems that with your config file, you have a lot of these effects in these tables by only using left / right / back flashers MX. So are ANY of the other MX options in the config tool, even usable at all at this point, and will it eventually be where we can just simply only enable what effect we want in the config tool, via each of these effects per output enabled? Just trying to understand the state of the software at this point.... thanks for any clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 27, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 27, 2016 OK, so just to update you on what my problem was with Pinball X not showing anything with the addressable LED strips.... Pinball X worked fine for me with the DOF plug-in enabled....showing flashers while browsing menus, etc, but nothing with the addressable leds strips. I even tried *30.ini files from randr and gech, but no change. I had read the wiki 3 times on the Pinball X plug-in.... but somehow missed this line: Important: If you use a GlobalConfig files for your DOF installation, please create another GlobalConfig file for PinballX. This global config file must be named GlobalConfig_PinballX.xml. It is recommended that you use the GlobalConfig editor tool in the DOF directory to create this file. THAT, was my problem! I'm so sorry guys if it seemed like I was pestering you. I'm usually good at solving most of my own problems, and this one had me a bit frustrated. Most of the answers ARE in this thread somewhere like randr said. It may lead you to other wiki pages with lots of information, but its there. Thank-you again, randr, gech for your help. It looks amazing, and I will post pics / video when I get a chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted July 29, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted July 29, 2016 Well here's some pics: These LEDS are REALLY bright on max brightness. To cut down on that and also to make it so you can't even see the led strips when they are off.... I had a custom piece of tinted plex-glass (5mm) made for the back matrix. That alone wasn't enough, so I needed to add window tint to the front of the plex-glass. I put on 20% tint. This combined with the plex-glass tint was perfect and hid the leds completely until they light up. Now I want to do the same for the sides, but I don't know if I can get plexi-glass cut that small and long. Success! After setting up the DOF software, the leds strips look amazing! Here is a picture showing the back matrix displaying animations while browsing in Pinball X. ....and here is a video describing what the setup is, and showing what is looks like in Pinball X! I'll make another video that will show some gameplay that shows off the cool effects while playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinPete Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Terry, great job. Looking forward for your next video with the LEDs in gameplay. A few questions: What length of the LED stripes did you buy? 1m and cut in halve on the backboard? Did you wire it in one single row? I think someone else already mentioned using multiple individual lines would be preferable for lower response time. The plastic channels you've used on the sides is just to make them removable in case you have to lift up the PF TV, right? Did you put the tinted plexiglass directly in front of the stripes or leave some room for ventilation? Are the stripes getting hot, when they are lit for a longer period? Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted August 3, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted August 3, 2016 Terry, great job. Looking forward for your next video with the LEDs in gameplay. A few questions: What length of the LED stripes did you buy? 1m and cut in halve on the backbord? Did you wire it in one single row? I think someone else already mentioned using multiple individual lines would be preferable for lower response time. The plastic channels you've used on the sides is just to make them removable in case you have to lift up the PF TV, right? Did you put the tinted plexiglass directly in front of the stripes or leave some room for ventilation? Are the stripes getting hot, when they are lit for a longer period? Cheers Pete I bought two 2 meter, and two 1 meter strips. 144 leds per meter strips are soldered together every half meter, so it doesn't matter what length you get. They won't be seamless beyond half a meter, unless you cut and solder them closer together. In my case, 1/2 meter lengths were the perfect size for my back matrix. I just left the strips on the side alone with the visible solder joints...mainly because I didn't have access to a good soldering iron (mine is 21 years old). I used one continuous DATA line like randr did. You can do it other ways, but this works fine for me. We aren't exactly taxing the Teensy to the max for response time, etc.....even with only one DATA line.....unless you were going to need more than 1000 + LEDS! I also tapped in 5V and GND at the beginning of my right playfield, the beginning of the back matrix, and the beginning of the left playfield. I used connectors at the beginning and end of the right strip, the beginning and end of the back matrix, as well at the beginning of the left strip. I also used channels for the side strips to be able to remove my TV, yes. I only need to remove one side channel, really. The tinted Plexi is screwed on overtop of the back matrix. I used plastic "spacers" with the screws to allow a little bit of room between it and the matrix. Heat doesn't seem to be an issue, even with letting them run in Pinball X with lots of animation going non-stop for along time. The only issue is the adhesive....it may not be the greatest, so you may have to add too it..... only some of my strips have this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinPete Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Interesting, I didn't know they actually are half meter strips soldered together. You cut them with a scissor I assume? With a back matrix of 6x half meter strips and 1 m on each side, I'd be fine with 5x 1m strips. Your cab might be longer than mine. I think they come with a connector cable already soldered to one end, right? Did you use it? I've browsed a bit through eBay and it seems all the offers are more or less the same. Maybe they all come from the same Chinese manufacturer. Differences aside from number of LEDs per meter are just the color of the strip (of cause black for our usage) and whether they are enclosed in a silicon tube aka. "waterproofed". Do you know whether there are differences in quality or brightness and how to distinguish between these by numbers? What material is the backboard for your matrix? Wood painted black, plastic or aluminum? And thanks for the hint about the non-sticking adhesive. I'll be very careful to clean the surface where I'm going to apply them. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider TerryRed Posted August 4, 2016 Content Provider Share Posted August 4, 2016 Leds strips with less leds / meter than 144 (60/m, etc) may not come with half meter strips. I don't know for sure. Yes the strips came with connectors (male / female) on each end, which also have an extra RED / WHITE lead so you can tap your 5V and GND into each strip much easier. I ordered extra connectors anyways because I needed some. I just de-soldered the half meter strips from the middle of my 2 meter strips for the matrix, and used the end strips with the connectors for the beginning and end of the back matrix The only wires I had to solder on to an LED strip directly was for a connector for the DATA line from the right playfield to the back matrix, and another connector for the DATA line from the back matrix to the left playfield. I had 5V and GND from my 5V supply wired to a connector that plugs into each side strip, and another that plugs into the back matrix. I couldn't tell you the difference between led strips by number / quality. I got mine at Ali-Express. I went with the non-waterproof ones to make it easier to work with for soldering, and in case of replacing bad leds. My back matrix is just 1/4 inch MDF board covered in carbon fibre vinyl to match the rest of my cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinPete Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Terry, many thanks for your detailed tips. I've already ordered an Octo board for the Teensy with 2 convenient Ethernet connectors, so I might wire separate data lines to the individual parts just because I can. For the backboard I might choose black anodized aluminum to help with cooling. For the side strips I'll use a router to recess them into the side walls of the cabinet. Maybe I'll put a strip of tinted plexy on top to hide it when not lit. For everything else I likely follow your build. But I don't expect to have this finished before fall because of excessive work. :-( Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rablack97 Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Hello all, does anybody object to a AIO summarized tutorial on this subject, I dont mind putting one together. Would just need some input on a few things. Photos of led and teensy wiring setup DOF config screen shots direct links to helpful sites etc d2bs server integration I think it would be helpful for new users as the sheer magnitude of the back and forth through multiple sites and having to pinpoint key factors is mindblowing. Also, is it possible to use these as an alternative? http://www.aliexpress.com/item/P2-5-Indoor-full-color-LED-module-1-16-scan-SMD-2121-3in1-RGB-160-80mm/32475082626.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.80.xkzdEt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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