D.I.Y. DMX/Midi - Lighting midi remote controller and wireless DMX

Started by gumtown, April 29, 2014, 05:22:00 AM

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gumtown

After the second time my DMX240A lighting controller dumped it's memory on a gig night,
I decided to move to a laptop based DMX lighting controller system for a trial.
Thought the free "FreeStyler-512" DMX lighting software would be nice to try.
http://users.telenet.be/freestylerdmx/
It offers the standard array of fixture designer,cue list and step sequenced scenes, sound to beat/tempo, and MIDI Control !!

I had to sort out the live control issues, and came up with this..
A compact foot pedal type midi controller - based on the "Wireless Guitar Controller" project here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=7984.50
Which sends cc# midi messages from each button, and from the two knobs, and receives a DMX stream and transmits that wirelessly over the ISN radio band to the stage lighting.

This is what i came up with


WHAT IS IN IT??
It is a PIC16F876 micro chip controller with 10 button inputs, 2 knob A/D inputs, and a USART port for midi I/O, and another 6 I/O pins used for the LCD display.
Inside is a 4 port USB hib (squiddy type), cheap USB/Midi cable, USB/RS422 FTDI serial cable, and one of the DMX wireless boards from eBay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-4Ghz-Built-in-DMX512-Wireless-PCB-board-Controller-Receiver-for-stage-light-/171309817515?pt=US_Stage_Lighting_Controllers_Dimmers&hash=item27e2dc5eab
which I can't rave enough at how useful they are (in all my lights).
The box is a flat sheet of aluminium plate folded in an offset U shape, and a ply bottom plate and sides.
It has a USB socket in the back, an antenna for the (up to) 400 meters range, and next to the red led in the back is a button,
for the 126 channel hopping transceiver can select one of the 7 groups of channels (or 7 universes).


The front panel has the 10 buttons, which can select preset scences, sequences, chases, and strobes, also a Blackout scene.
The knobs to the Master Fader and sequence/tempo speed.
The LCD display (after going through startup scrolling dialog displays) shows the current scene selected, toggles the Smoke/Fog back to the last scene when released, and the current values of the Fader and Speed as they are adjusted.


Will try to get some video footage of it in action from this weekends gig.

This project will be mutually beneficial to the Wireless Guitar midi controller project, as the wireless DMX tranceiver boards used here are far superior to the wireless guitar controller ones, as they have radio 'hash' issues causing micro controller interupt 'annoyances' and time loss.

I am awaiting the arrival of a micro controller chip upgrade
PIC18F26K80-I/SP, 8 bit PIC Microcontroller 64MHz 64kb Flash, 1024 EEPROM, 3648B RAM, I2C SPI 28-Pin SPDIP
This one has 2 x USART ports, so one can be for midi I/O (cc# data out and it's own sysx midi subsystem for remote editing),
and the other for DMX out, so it can be used as a stand alone DMX controller with saved scences and sequences.

Here is a screen photo  ;D of the FreeStyler-512 DMX software, the 9 of the buttons select a scene from the Cue list (bottom/right),
1 button does the Fogger manual trigger (top/right) the speed knob controls the Yellow tempo bar (extreme right/bottom),
1 knob does the Master Fader (top/centre).
Left/top is the lighting fixture layout, bottom/left is the Sound Trigger set to advance squence steps once every 4 beats.


I used 9 of the wireless tranceivers in the bars of fixtures, the wireless DMX card is boot strapped to the controller supply inside one lighting fixture, the rest of each bar fixtures DMX chained with XLR cable.
A transceiver and DMX decoder/driver board also fitted in the Fogger machine.
   

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Elantric


Elantric


gumtown

Just got 12 of those wireless DMX boards for a friend who does show lighting hire.
The secret of wireless DMX has been unleashed.

I used the lighting system at my last gig and it worked super awesumly !!!
I got lots of comments after the show on how good and effective the lighting was,
and that no other band has anything like it.
Didn't capture any video footage yet.

A monster PIC chip has arrived with 64k of memory, so i can bypass the need for the PC software lighting controller and build that into the chip.
It is a pin for pin drop in replacement.

With these half finished projects over the last couple of years, are all looking to point towards a vision of grandure i have.
To be rid of the 13 pin cable and run a GK guitar using only a regular TS jack cable, and or wireless.
Imagine this..
a GK guitar where the GK pickup and controls are digitised to a data stream 8 channels of 24bit 44.1kHz at the source,
a regular guitar cable carries 12 (or 7) volt DC power upward and as a data stream downward (using HP/LP passive filtering at each end).
If the guitar does not sense a presense of DC supply in the guitar cable, then the electronics drop out and leave just the normal P.U. in, like a regular guitar to a regular amp.
The other end is a box with jack input to 13pin output, with D/A converter inside.
That suits a regular guitar cable in between, now what about wireless?
Imagine a reciever that uses just a regular guitar patch lead into the jack/13pin box, just a reciever which also is powered from the patch cable.
The guitar end would be a beltpack with just a TS jack and patch lead, a transmitter and rechargable lithium battery pack to power the transmitter and the GK guitar electronics.

Found some quite impressive 8 channel A/D and D/A converters, with programmable oversampling filters and 24bit data rates up to 192kHz (44,1 would be sufficiant).

That's is where I would like to take GK guitaring, where the connection is indistinguishable from a regular guitar. I am sure that would appeal to the masses than relying on a fragile, expensive proprietry cabling system.



Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Elantric

The tech is  within our grasp

Quote
With these half finished projects over the last couple of years, are all looking to point towards a vision of grandure i have.
To be rid of the 13 pin cable and run a GK guitar using only a regular TS jack cable, and or wireless.
Imagine this..
a GK guitar where the GK pickup and controls are digitised to a data stream 8 channels of 24bit 44.1kHz at the source,
a regular guitar cable carries 12 (or 7) volt DC power upward and as a data stream downward (using HP/LP passive filtering at each end).
If the guitar does not sense a presense of DC supply in the guitar cable, then the electronics drop out and leave just the normal P.U. in, like a regular guitar to a regular amp.
The other end is a box with jack input to 13pin output, with D/A converter inside.
That suits a regular guitar cable in between, now what about wireless?
Imagine a reciever that uses just a regular guitar patch lead into the jack/13pin box, just a reciever which also is powered from the patch cable.
The guitar end would be a beltpack with just a TS jack and patch lead, a transmitter and rechargable lithium battery pack to power the transmitter and the GK guitar electronics.

Found some quite impressive 8 channel A/D and D/A converters, with programmable oversampling filters and 24bit data rates up to 192kHz (44,1 would be sufficiant).

That's is where I would like to take GK guitaring, where the connection is indistinguishable from a regular guitar. I am sure that would appeal to the masses than relying on a fragile, expensive proprietry cabling system.

QuoteFound some quite impressive 8 channel A/D and D/A converters, with programmable oversampling filters and 24bit data rates up to 192kHz (44,1 would be sufficiant).

I have experience with this 8 Channel A/D  -
Cirrus CS5368
CS5364/66/68
114 dB, 24 bit @192 kHz 8-Channel A/D Converter
http://www.cirrus.com/en/products/cs5364-66-68.html


about 15,000 of the JSD-100 I co-designed are in daily use at movie theaters running 16 hours every day 

http://www.uslinc.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=43&category_id=17&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=66&vmcchk=1&Itemid=66

gumtown

The CS5368 is the very chip that I was looking at in the GK/guitar end.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

CodeSmart

Really awesome vision you have there Gumtown  :D

I suggest the transmitter having both a TS jack (with the features you've outlined) and a 13-pin input for existing guitars with 13-pin connector. (Unfortunately would need creating +/- 7volt from the battery pack in that case).

But I got more gear than I need...and I like it!

gumtown

Here is a quick phone video clip on the lights and controller in action.

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

CodeSmart

But I got more gear than I need...and I like it!

gregerr

hey how much did you spend putting this together do you have any building plans, would love to have one.
let me know.
Greg
Custom Stratocaster with EMG
GR-55
5150 or Special 130

MrSparkle

Just saying... wireless 13-pin (ala Line 6 Relay) tech would be the greatest guitar thing since pickups. Running around  wirelessly with VG tones would make life easy.

gumtown

4 years on and I am still using this controller, since replaced the tiny buttons with proper footswitches.
But it is soon to be replaced with a new improved one.

A conversion from this thread
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101.msg179135#new
has now moved here...

Here is where I am at,
I have Screen Monkey software, acquired various youtube clips and resized them to 3072 x 768, setup the Screen Monkey to use a 3 monitor extended desktop, which will be 3 video projectors to cover the whole back of the stage from side to side.
The software can use various sources as clip event triggers, I  am using midi cc# with my current build project, USB midi foot controller with 4 pipes of midi up stream and serial DMX down stream.
One USB midi pipe is for the DMX lighting software (FreeStyler),
One USB midi pipe is for Screen Monkey video software,
One USB midi pipe is for synth playing to Z3ta+ software,
One midi pipe left maybe for midi PC control of hardware.
The serial DMX is relayed through to an RS485 converter for an XLR DMX port and my wireless DMX transmitter.

The time will come to start a new thread/topic on my total media control (the whole band show package),
but here is a rough video on where I am at with the video software, and using as a VJ controller. 

The Screen Monkey software from here
https://www.screenmonkey.co.uk/Home



The software does 4 layers of video, and also an Audio layer, so you could theoretically use it as a midi controlled sample player too.

Quote from: sixeight on November 14, 2018, 10:38:08 AM
And it looks like you built a dedicated MIDI controller for it. Looks great.
Yes, a quick throw together some parts, used some of your V-Controller V1 code for the button matrix and neopixels in a Teensy LC.
USB mode set to Midix4 and Serial, for 4 midi pipes upstream and Serial DMX 250kb/s downstream.

Quote from: sixeight on November 14, 2018, 11:42:26 PM
.
You make it sound like you built it on one rainy afternoon. It looks fabulous for a quick throw together of some parts. Nice form factor as well.
Yes, that was how it happened, cut a piece of aluminium plate, laid out the foot switches an display on the plate, marked and drilled some holes, even the display rectangular hole was made from many small round holes, then a file.
It looks quite ugly inside, lots of hot melt glue and point to point wiring.
The foot switch led rings are transparent rubbery furniture leg cups which you would use under chair legs on carpet, the 10mm leds poke through the plate into one of the ring's 8 holes underneath.
The 10mm neopixel leds come on a prewired string of 50, and just cut off the required amount.
And a USB mini plug to USB B panel mount cable.
most of the parts are from eBay.
16 x foot switches
12 x led rings
12 x neopixel leds
1 x 4x20 lcd display + I2C board
1 x Arduino Teensy LC
1 x DMX XLR panel plug
1 x wireless DMX transceiver module
1 x small vero solder strip board
1 x mini USB to USB B panel mount cable
2 x 5k linear potentiometers
2 x Marshall clone gold top knobs
2 x aluminium plate (top & bottom)
1mtr x 19 x 20 mm pine sides
miscellaneous wire, resistors and capacitors.

and the magic code, which is currently an evolution.
schematic and source code to be posted at some time if there is any interest.

most useful tool was a stepped drill.
 
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/