Need help with my plans for 2012

[joeengler]

Well after adding several RGB/DMX items to the display this year, we want to change our MegaTree to a Pixel RGB tree next year(2012). which has brought several questions I thought you guys might be able to help with. The current plan is to use 48 strands with about 45 pixels spaced about 5 to 5.5 inches a part.

1) What type of pixel node would be the best fit for this application?

2) I used LSP 2.0 this year and had very goos results, but with a MegaTree coming close to 6,500 channels is this still the best method to program it with? I have herard a lot of talk of Madrix high cost looks like.

 

[jstjohnz]

It will be interesting to see if LSP evolves enough during 2012 to be viable for large RGB displays. I think the handwriting's on the wall, and RGB is the future of this hobby, and any software that won't handle RGB well is going to be left behind.

Re your mega-tree I would suggest considering strings of 42 pixels, maybe space them a tad farther apart, as it's a nice match that gives you 4 full strings per DMX universe.

You would need the 16-universe version of Madrix, and that lists at $1,500 US. The beauty of Madrix is that you can create stunning effects in literally a matter of seconds, and it's ideally suited to a mega-tree style arrangement. Keep in mind though that Madrix isn't 'sequencing' software in the normal sense, and has no ability to sync with an audio track.

If you take advantage of Madix's remote control capabilities you can put together a 'best of both worlds' system where you use Madrix to drive the mega-tree pixels, and use a few channels of your regular sequencing software such as LSP, vixen, etc, to tell Madrix which preset "scene" to display.

The sequencing software would drive other display elements directly, either non-RGB stuff, or pixels that lend themselves better to direct sequencing, such as rooflines, arches, etc.

If the folks at Madrix would adjust their non-European pricing to reflect the recent devaluation of the Euro it would help somewhat. The list for the 1U version is 1000 euros, which is roughly $1,300 US today, but the US list price is still $1,500. So, depending on discounts, you might get a better price from a European vendor.

 

[joeengler]

Thanks for the recomendations, sounds like I will need a few more of your boards for next year. I noticed that on AliExpress several vendors have Madrix is it the same software, Ray Wu even sent me a link for documentation however it is called Ledwalker Madrix