DMX Synchronization

What type of customer can benefit from this solution? #

DMX synchronization is great option for those that don’t want to or could not have the PC at site running at all times. Since you only require a controller with prepared effects on an SD card, this can be considered a standalone, offline solution. You can synchronize multiple controllers that can each control from 1000 to 4000 pixels.

How can I play animations using DMX synchronization? #

This type of synchronization offers several options. You can send an HTTP command to trigger the scenes. We love Shelly switches for its versatility and easy setup. With this kind of Smart controller, you can trigger your scenes with simple wall mounted buttons using your Wi-Fi network. Another option is to use a web-based player that is integrated in our controller. You can run this from your mobile phone or tablet, since it only requires that you are connected on the same network as the controller. Since firmware version 3.54 of the LED Ethernet Controller 3/SPI Matrix you can use DMX as trigger while still utilizing DMX Synchronization!

What is needed for the DMX synchronization to work? #

You can choose from two types of controllers – SPI Matrix or LED Ethernet Controller 3. Both of these will serve as your Master devices and Content players. You can then combine the two in the chain with another one of our digital pixel controllers – SPI LED Controller.

Mapping #

Each controller will have an SD Card with effects. In order to create those effects, you need to create mapping. In mapping, you will setup the number of pixels each device controls and what is their position in your installation. We recommend to upload a background photo of your project into the software, so that you can then trace the lines representing your LED strips in real environment.

Export effects #

Consider this – you have multiple controllers, each has multiple outputs. Also, you have different number of pixels hooked up to each output. Therefore, you need to export effects for each controller separately. For SPI LED controller, since you can not connect to it directly, follow this tutorial. For LEC 3 and SPI Matrix, you can follow this link. A good thing is that once you have the SPI Matrix and LEC3 connected to your network you can upload the effects without the need to physically put the SD card to your PC.

DMX Patch cables #

The content playing from your controllers is synchronized with help of bunch of DMX channels and magic. Anyone interested in more details, let us know by email, because its both out of scope of this article and author’s brain capacity. However, it should be clear enough by now that you are using both DMX IN & OUT to connect the devices together. With DMX you can easily connect two controller that are pretty far away from each other. Which is another added benefit of using DMX.

When you add SPI LED Controller to the mix, you need a RJ45 nd XLR cable. This can be easily manufactured or you can simply go online and purchase your preferable length.

Which controllers are capable of utilizing DMX synchronization? #

You need to distinguish two types of controllers in your project when considering synchronization by DMX. You first controller in line, we can call it a Master device, needs to be either SPI Matrix or LED Ethernet controller 3. As mentioned, you can also use SPI LED Controller in the mix.

How many pixels can I use with DMX synchronization? #

Standard recommended limit of 32 devices per single DMX line can also be applied in this case. You can test more, less will definitely work. Though possible, we recommend to not use this function with that many devices, and rather opt for our Ethernet synchronization. Here you also will eventually hit a ceiling due to the capacity of your network. Building a more robust, thus faster local network, will future proof your project and ensure that you can send big files over it with no issues.

What is the limit for animations I can play from the devices? #

In general, you can use 255 animations. That is the maximum the controller can read from your SD card. The LED Strip Studio software is packed with different chases and effects that you can use for your projects, so make sure to download the demo and check it out.

You can also consider using any video file. The software will handle any size or shape, which gives you creative freedom.

How can I customize the web based animation player? #

This option is currently available on request as a paid feature. You can still use the default player, which is perfectly fine. The option for custom design however might be useful if you want to select the animation based on its name rather then the index. Also, if you want to add your logo to promote your brand on screen that is accessible by public. Or in any kind visible to someone else except your staff.

Password locked settings #

In order to prevent unwanted change of settings, you can protect the Web config with a user name and password. Scroll all the way down in the All settings tab, tick ON in Use Password, and set your login details.

What can I customize in the web player? #

You can compare the standard player and one that we customized for this tutorial. You can namely change the logo, size of the tiles or buttons, the displayed name and the total number of displayed effects.

How can I setup my controllers to use DMX synchronization? #

The DMX synchronization requires same configuration for all devices, that is both your Master device and those synchronized by it. One exception is SPI LED controller, where you need to export a text file.

Web configuration for LEC3 and SPI Matrix #

In order to allow the DMX synchronization, you need to allow this feature in all controllers that you are using. For LEC3 and SPI Matrix, you can enable this in Advanced settings tab.

In the DMX tab, you need to set the DMX mode to SD Card for all devices.

Settings file for SPI LED Controller #

Since this small device does not offer Ethernet connectivity, you need to upload a small .txt file that we call Settings or Configuration file. This holds all the information needed for your controller to work as intended. You can export it and upload manually to your SD card along with the effects.

In top navigation pane, select Other in Settings, and click on LSS SPI Settings

Hardware connection #

In our case, we are working with 3controllers. In order for the DMX synchronization to work, you need to connect the devices using their DMX ports. While SPI Matrix and LEC3 are using 3PIN XLR, small SPI LED controller uses RJ45 on one end and XLR on the other.