is there a single string controller that works with xLights?

[everettdale]

I'm going to start working with pixel type lights, and just want to dip my toe in. I run a Haunted House so this year is almost over and I have a whole year to get this figured out.

right now I'm lookin to make a stand alone prop. A "TICKETS" sign and don't need a controller that can run a whole house show. I can get away with 100 pixels with no music. is there a controller out there that will work with xLights and handle just a single string of lights. (and doesn't cost a ton) I'm fine with soldering and adding power supplies etc.

thanks.

 

[Indigogyre]

There are many small controllers out there that will work with xLIghts. You can look for WLED type or espixelstick type controllers. I have hooked up and used some Dig-Uno's for testing wh en I first started to get my feet wet ansd investigate things.

If you install and open xLights, go to the controller tab and click the "Add Ethernet" , it will create a blank controller. You can look under the vendor option of the controller to see all the supported vendors, and if you select a vendor you can then see the models supported.

 

[everettdale]

There are many small controllers out there that will work with xLIghts. You can look for WLED type or espixelstick type controllers. I have hooked up and used some Dig-Uno's for testing wh en I first started to get my feet wet ansd investigate things.

If you install and open xLights, go to the controller tab and click the "Add Ethernet" , it will create a blank controller. You can look under the vendor option of the controller to see all the supported vendors, and if you select a vendor you can then see the models supported.

sweet! Thanks

 

[MikeKrebs]

And even if they are not directly supported in xLights, you can likely make make them work so long as you can either send it e1.31, DDP or better yet (especially in your case) run directly off the controller. If I was you, I'd look up WLED and find some hardware that works with it. ESP32 based would be good start. Something with a SDCard if you can find it. WLED has a bunch of builtin effects that would be perfect for a "tickets sign". You can control WLED from a browser assuming you have wifi in the area so easy to change it up during show time. If you load up espixelstick on the device, it has built in support for sdcard playing .fseq. So, you can could have custom effects. But for a standalone tickets sign, I'd probably just stick with wled.

One such device is a QuinLED-ESP32-AE+. You can google it and read about it and if you want to get it to try out some things, the store is https://shop.allnetchina.cn/products/quinled-esp32-ae I don't have any affiliation with them. I am fan of the work he has put together.

 

[Juddge]

Hanson Electronics - Rpi-28d - Mini controller - has 2 Pixel outputs - that would do what you want

 

[everettdale]

Hanson Electronics - Rpi-28d - Mini controller - has 2 Pixel outputs - that would do what you want

I just looked at this. Do you know if it can only be run from a raspberry PI or can it run off a laptop running xlights/xscheduler

 

[thewanderingpine]

It's not really a "mini controller". It's a "pi-hat" -- so it doesn't have its own brain -- it needs a pi to actually run. Once you have it joined with a pi -- your show player can still be xscheduler.

the WLED suggestions (like the dig-uno) are generally pretty good ones for getting started + standalone boards.

 

[Juddge]

I just looked at this. Do you know if it can only be run from a raspberry PI or can it run off a laptop running xlights/xscheduler

this is a Pi hat - requires a Raspberry pi with FPP installed , then you can run it from xlights , or use the FPP player thats part of the OS

 

[Martin Mueller]

ESPixelStick V4 runs on 15+ Platforms (much like WLED) and at least have of those are 4 ports or less. The Dig Unos are a great choice.

 

[everettdale]

And even if they are not directly supported in xLights, you can likely make make them work so long as you can either send it e1.31, DDP or better yet (especially in your case) run directly off the controller. If I was you, I'd look up WLED and find some hardware that works with it. ESP32 based would be good start. Something with a SDCard if you can find it. WLED has a bunch of builtin effects that would be perfect for a "tickets sign". You can control WLED from a browser assuming you have wifi in the area so easy to change it up during show time. If you load up espixelstick on the device, it has built in support for sdcard playing .fseq. So, you can could have custom effects. But for a standalone tickets sign, I'd probably just stick with wled.

One such device is a QuinLED-ESP32-AE+. You can google it and read about it and if you want to get it to try out some things, the store is https://shop.allnetchina.cn/products/quinled-esp32-ae I don't have any affiliation with them. I am fan of the work he has put together.

I've been looking into the ESP32 project boards, and the WLED software. The only question I'm having trouble finding an answer to is what happen if you shut it down. If I have spent a bunch of time setting up a custom "sequence" for my project, and it's running fine, then I shut it off, does that sequence come back on when I turn it back on? Or do I have to go into the app and tell it to run the one I want. Everything I've found says that it goes to the default setting. That seems odd to me. Especially if you have 3 or 4 (or 10) of these running lights in in your house and the power goes out you'd have to reset everything each time?

 

[Whitey-]

Not my area of expertise (yet), but I've found FPP as my scheduler will automatically reconnect to the ESP32 when it comes back online. WLED is happy with this, and displays a 'something else is in control' screen if you try and access the web UI.

 

[Martin Mueller]

If I interpret the use of "Sequence" to mean you have created a sequence on xLights and then use a show player to send that sequence to your controllers, then everything is fine. Show players save your sequences and know what time it is. The have schedulers that you set up to "Play" your sequences. The scheduler runs as long as the show player has power. Notice that the show player does not care about the state of your controllers.

FYI: Vixen, xLights, HLS, FPP all have show players you use for unattended operation.

 

[everettdale]

If I interpret the use of "Sequence" to mean you have created a sequence on xLights and then use a show player...

I'm having some trouble being clear on this because it can be confusing with terminology that can mean different things. what I meant by "sequence" was playing around in the WLED software and setting up a light pattern that you like. The simplest would be to use the "Solid" preset and choose a color like red. No Xlights or anything involved. but when you power off the esp32 an turn it back on it goes to it's default "program (sequence)" which is solid amber. I was looking for a way to get the esp32 (with WELD) to come back on in the state that it turned off. Red instead of default amber. As far as I can tell this isn't possible. there should be a checkbox that says something like "save last setting" or what ever. There isn't.

As it turns out, what you have to do is save it as a preset, name that preset, give it a number and then buried in the settings menu is a check box that says "run preset on boot" and you need to check that box, and tell it witch number preset you want. Also you sometimes need to go into the JSON script and change a setting from False to True to tell it to start at Boot. It's a bit of a hassle for something that should be straight forward.

anyway, thanks for the help. It will be useful later if I decide to use the ESP32 boards in my Xlight shows.

 

[Martin Mueller]

ESPixelStick V4 has a fairly robust set of effects and they are played whenever configured and as long as no other data (E1.31 or DDP) is being received. You can also create a "Playlist" that includes various effects and premade sequences so you can create custom sets and have them play automagically.