Enginursday: Using Resolume to Control Custom Lighting Fixtures
ArtNet DMX is an industry standard in wireless lighting control. Let's figure out how to create our own ArtNet node so we can control pixels over the WiFi. We'll also figure out how to set up our custom fixture in Resolume Arena 6.
In this Enginursday, I ended up setting up an ArtNet DMX node on an ESP32 as a proof of concept that I could create wearables that can be run by the popular video jockey software, Resolume Arena 6. I ended up having to create a custom pixel map in Resolume so the software knew where each pixel was in space. Once I had this map set up, I had to ensure the ESP32 was making proper sense of the DMX data and writing to the proper LED. A simple video showing the final product of my experiment and control interface is shown below.
This sort of set up opens up a whole world of possibilities as far as controlling wearable lights. This allows for all sorts of custom lighting fixtures in a live performance, and the location mapping of pixels in Resolume allows for quick and easy generation of incredibly complex lighting patterns, without having to write code for each individual pattern.
If you'd like to make a custom ArtNet DMX device of your own, check out the tutorial!
Neat idea! The thought occurrs to me that it could be integrated into a "Christmas" display to get away from having to use separate power cords for each "segment" -- I have one friend who has [had] a huge display, and lamented that he spent more on a plethora of extension cords than on the lights or controllers. (He'd still need some extension cords to get power, but no longer need to worry about control.) I'll have to send him a "heads up" to look at today's SparkFun blog!