DiyLightAnimation
Fun => The Porch => Topic started by: combustionmark on June 15, 2012,
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Day one was a blast. Have some new toys to play with, and a lot of new ideas.
Met RJ, and he even checked out my ether dongles for me, Now I know I am having software problems, The dongles work perfect.
Thanks RJ.
I attended haunt animation class, video class, and an interactive displays class. I am already on information overload, 2 more days, Going to be fun.
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Great to hear , i bet its a buzz just being there .
I can imagine the info overload , wish i could have gone !
What is the turn out like so far ?
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Great to hear , i bet its a buzz just being there .
I can imagine the info overload , wish i could have gone !
What is the turn out like so far ?
I think ryan said 220+.
I had near a full room on my nutcracker talk. Nice group of folks. I went to matt browns talk on xlights and david moores talk on coro. went to madrix talk in evening (new effects coming for the nutcracker after that).
lots of blink flashy ..
one room has a man in an electic chair for their halloween display.
i want to hit the solder labs tomorrow. I leave sunday morning (i want some of fathers day back home).
Tomorrow looks pretty full.
thanks
sean
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Awesome Sean !
I can't wait to hear /read what all the folks that attended have to say about their experiences .
Sounds like a success @ 220 plus .
Enjoy your fathers day
richard
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Day one was a blast. Have some new toys to play with, and a lot of new ideas.
Met RJ, and he even checked out my ether dongles for me, Now I know I am having software problems,
what software are you using? If it is lsp I am here at the academy and can show you how mine is set up. It could still be your computer unless RJ tested another software on your computer. I would try something like xlightsn if things work with that, then it is your software.
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Sure we can catch up. Thanks.
Look for a purple "Zombies Love Braaains" T shirt.
I plan on attending RJ's classes today.
Ready for more!!!
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Looks like I will be in "Blue Bonnet 3" most of the day.
SS basics, LSP, and Ether dongle classes.
Brain dump in progress.................................
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I will be in the beginning lsp the etherdongle and adv soldering and adv smartstrings today. Look for the largest backpack.
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Stop rubbing it in! :'(
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Just picked up 200 smartstring lights from the Academy. Conductor is gonna change the game in light animation!
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I've been to virtually everything related to Smart Strings, xLights and Nutcracker.
Missed the Madrix presentation Friday night, though. Took my wife out for an anniversary dinner.
Between Nutrcracker 2 and Conductor, the future is exciting.
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Met lots of DLA members here and a bunch of others whose names I recognize from other forums. The conductor looks great. RJ gets no rest here. As soon as one person corners him with a question more show up. Most or the speakers I have listened to have plans to post there presentations so be watching. RJ's demo megatree using flex strips is super. It convinced my wife to tell me that she wants one. My project list is growing.
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I've been to virtually everything related to Smart Strings, xLights and Nutcracker.
Same here, I did the LSP and missed out on the adv soldering. Hope RJ posts a video, sounded like it was a good class. Jumped between the Haunt show N Tell, The Flood off, and the laser classes at the end of the day. Way more cool ideas.
Didn't get around to fixing the communication problem with my ether dongle, I now know I have problems with my laptop. I will try once I get home.
Also picked up cases for my expresses, mr16s, and splitters. Hope the pixelnet splitter fits the same splitter case.
I think Santa should load RJ some elves. Any time I saw him, He was covered with people, or running to get coop kits.
One more day, Hope my head doesn't explode.
Having Fun
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Well so far it has been a great academy IMHO.
Ryan & I talked last year in the early stage of planning and we were hoping for 200 people. That was exceeded.
I have got chance to make classes on xlights and nutcracker. It is so hard for me to find time to read enough on stuff like that to learn to use it. But having the chance to sit down and be taught the software was great! I finially learned the two of them. By the guys that made them!
The days have been so full I have been at the conference center 12 hour both days so far. Juat so much to see and learn. I have not made to any of thw halloween stuff yet!
Hoping everyone is enjoying it as much. I know you must be tired of hearing from me after the 3 + hrs of etd & conductor class. I think or at least hope most people got it! I think they did. It helped having a mega tree running all weekend on a conductor to show how reliable it is. The most popular question for me has been "WHEN IS THE COOP!"
another exciting day tommorow when I have some classes where you guys get to beat me up on the operation of DLA.
Got to meet a lot of DLA members for the first time which is always great.
One member came up and said he runs 64 expresses and that they have all been totally trouble free. That is a great feeling.
Keith Tarpley has been as helpfully as always, you would be hard pressed to find a better person anywhere!
people have just bent over to help us with anything. Tonight I needed to get half a room full of stuff cleared out with little time since they were closing the center and throwing us out. I looked up and like 6-7 people popped up and started moving boxes for.me. We were done in 5 min. Thanks guys for the help.
Time to get some sleep to be ready for tommorow. Wish everyone could be here.
RJ
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RJ
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It's been a great day once again. RJ, thanks for your great class and providing some of us with more ideas
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RJ, great classes today!!
You showed great passion throughout each of the classes I saw from you today -- Adv Smart Strings, Adv Soldering, and a double-dose of EtD/Conductor.
I'm looking forward taking what I heard today -- building on what I learned last year, and and making it bigger, better -- (and water-tight ???) over the coming months.
Thanks to your classes and your thorough answers in the past year. You obviously think BIG, but those ideas go much beyond channel counts. Thanks!!
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The classes have been great.
My impression of the hot topics have been Conductor (of course), ETD (I have seen more LOR non-DIYers asking about that than any other thing), Nutcracker, and soldering (mainly for folks thinking about the switch away from manufactured products and jump into DIY).
Next year, it would be great to make sure RJ has more help. The suggestion of having some folks to help with selling kits, others to help with various additional stuff (like packing and unpacking the truck) is a good one. RJ maybe we can preplan that more for next year. I am certain there will be plenty of folks that would love to pitch in -- myself included.
The Academy has been very impressive this year. Something I plan on going to next year.
Kurt
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Great to hear , i bet its a buzz just being there .
I can imagine the info overload , wish i could have gone !
What is the turn out like so far ?
I think ryan said 220+.
I had near a full room on my nutcracker talk. Nice group of folks. I went to matt browns talk on xlights and david moores talk on coro. went to madrix talk in evening (new effects coming for the nutcracker after that).
lots of blink flashy ..
one room has a man in an electic chair for their halloween display.
i want to hit the solder labs tomorrow. I leave sunday morning (i want some of fathers day back home).
Tomorrow looks pretty full.
thanks
sean
Thanks Sean for all you did and are planning to do with the Nutcracker, I know that all that attended your class including myself are really excited to use what you have created in our displays! What you have done is absolutely amazing!
Julie
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And thank you RJ for all you do for the holiday people out there! I know everyone keeps you so busy, and your time is very precious! Your time is very much appreciated by many! Yes, If we can do anything to help out, just let us know! We would absolutely love to see you at the future LSH events! Thanks again for all you do!
Julie
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Guess, I have to lay down the law next year with my wife, if she'll let me. Yea I am wipped.
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I already registered for next year.
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Everyone needs to know that registration for next year is already open and over 40 folks have registered already. I believe most of the vendors also indicated that they will be back.
The new tool everyone should watch for starting Aug 1 is the LEDKeeper. Designed by Dennis Cherry who is now a resident of Tennessee. It was great to meet and talk with him and see the LEDKeeper in action. I managed to get one of the ones they had on hand.
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Just left the academy, what a blast >.d9 I have learned so much and also have more to learn. I just wish all the DIYLAers could have been here to enjoy this like I did.
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Is there a link already for next year? Place been picked, etc?
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Is there a link already for next year? Place been picked, etc?
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Just got home from the academy. Had a great time, the brain is definitely over loaded. I took my wife she had a great time it's going relive lot of pressure on me. I'D LIKE TO THANK ALL THE INSTRUCTOR FOR THEIR TIME AND PATIENCE GREAT JOB.
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I think so, last I heard they were over 50 registered and paid already!
thats almost 1/4 of the people and its a year away. Btw my family has not yet so it is about go up a few more.
I think the people liked the event!
Btw I had to go help in the soldering lab before the flood off ended. What was the final outcome?
It looked like the aether was doing very well. I did see the $500 high dollar commerical spot light was brighter but thats kind of a gun at a knife fight.
It was a lot of fun what ever the outcome.
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RJ
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Is there a link already for next year? Place been picked, etc?
http://www.lone-star-holidays.com/shopzone/product.php?id_product=66 (http://www.lone-star-holidays.com/shopzone/product.php?id_product=66)
all info should be there.
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There were 2 commerial floods that had output that was so bright the light meter wouldn't register. One was the expensive model you referenced, the other I believe was about $200 (don't quote me on that though ). The expensive model basically had 3 spot lights in one housing. The other commercial unit had like 200 LEDs and was a very concentrated spot.
For value the Aether was your best option although David's pixel based flood was also a good value. You can get 3 of David's floods for the price of one Aether and each unit puts out about a third of the output of the Aether.
In the end I think the conclusion was it depends on what you are using the floods for that will determine what your best option would be. Lots of options.
Ron
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Good summary, Ron!
The 2 commercial units were pretty tightly focused and very bright. The second unit was guessed to be around $180 on a discount rack at Cheap Lights.
Aether2 did very well. I had the 40-degree lens on it, so it was more of a flood in that configuration than it was a spot light. The other were more like spots IMO. There wasn't much time to play around with various lens choices, so I never swapped around the other Aether2 lens to show the flexibility.
Aether2 came off very well in the comparisons!
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I had a blast. Think I will register for next year when I get home.
I went to the haunt show n tell, but caught the last of the flood off. I was told the athers had the best responce. They should have measured how much brighter the room got when each light was on, and not just one spot on the wall. IMHO The ather looked best when you consider price and performance.
530 more miles to drive.
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Thanks to all for putting this on.
My daughter and I had a blast!
We learned a lot and now we have a ton of work to do.
This event really made a difference for us, there is so much information on the boards you can get lost.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to sit down and talk with us about different options as we move forward.
Great Event, and we signed up for next year!
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I also registered while at the Academy. It was that good!
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I thought about this also. Since each light has a different throw and most can not be changed like the aether, a more fair test to equalize them is not the same distance but instead marking an area on the wall and placing the lights where they cover that area. This would correct for spots vs flood and all in between. This really tells us more what we want to know. For a given area how bright is it going to be in comparison.
If not that then next time we know to put the 5 deg lens on the aether so it will max out the meter.
RJ
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RJ
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I really enjoyed my time at the academy - so much so that I've registered for next year. Thanks to all the instructors, vendors, staff, and volunteers who made it a stellar event - along with a special shout out to RJ. So thankful to be a part of the DLA/DIY community.
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I thought about this also. Since each light has a different throw and most can not be changed like the aether, a more fair test to equalize them is not the same distance but instead marking an area on the wall and placing the lights where they cover that area. This would correct for spots vs flood and all in between. This really tells us more what we want to know. For a given area how bright is it going to be in comparison.
If not that then next time we know to put the 5 deg lens on the aether so it will max out the meter.
RJ
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RJ
Don't know if I would want to put my hand in that beam. An ant and a magnifying glass come to mind :)
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Had a great time at the academy, YES I will be there next year, thanks RJ and all the instructors for their great information they presented. I encourage everyone to definately attend next year and bring a friend. Also thanks to TREKSTER for selling me his ticket and encourageing me to go.
Ken Austin
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There were 2 commerial floods that had output that was so bright the light meter wouldn't register. One was the expensive model you referenced, the other I believe was about $200 (don't quote me on that though ). The expensive model basically had 3 spot lights in one housing. The other commercial unit had like 200 LEDs and was a very concentrated spot.
For value the Aether was your best option although David's pixel based flood was also a good value. You can get 3 of David's floods for the price of one Aether and each unit puts out about a third of the output of the Aether.
In the end I think the conclusion was it depends on what you are using the floods for that will determine what your best option would be. Lots of options.
Ron
Does someone have results from the light meter readings for each one?
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Finally home.
There was so much going on at the academy, It will take months to go over my notes, more like scribbles. I plan on going again next year. This was the most fun I have ever had learning sooooo much.
The instructors are outstanding, It really showed they knew what they are talking about. If you get a chance, watch any videos, or class notes, that get posted.
RJ's classes were real eye openers, He is thinking soooooooooooo far ahead of everyone else. I just can't imagine how much better things are going to get.
Much to catch up on.
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I started to right them down but seeing the difference in the width of the beam made them useless. The only ones higher than the aether ii was the 250 and 500 commercial units but they had a spot beam pattern as opposed to the flood pattern. The couldn't get the rainbow flood to work. The mighty mini looked better than I expected. The rainbow extreme not as good as I expected. I would have loved to seen the aether with the spot lens on it as the beam can be changed with lenses and was extremely bright with it running on a flood mode.
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I started to right them down but seeing the difference in the width of the beam made them useless. The only ones higher than the aether ii was the 250 and 500 commercial units but they had a spot beam pattern as opposed to the flood pattern. The couldn't get the rainbow flood to work. The mighty mini looked better than I expected. The rainbow extreme not as good as I expected. I would have loved to seen the aether with the spot lens on it as the beam can be changed with lenses and was extremely bright with it running on a flood mode.
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i was the one who wrote them done. this is from memory.
I dont know what the units were in from your light meter, lumens?
Aether 1, 40
Aether 2, 76
rainbow something, 35
LOR Mini 50
LOR big, 2 separte fixtures, sells for #280 includes two stainless steel led units plus the controller in its box.
with 1 on 56, with 2 on 102
David Moore's RED one 20
Someone had mounted a strip on 1x2 lumber that he uses to wash a large area. , value 9
there were two that werwe so bright , they maxed out the meter
The 150 or 300LED panel , i think they said these were $150
The massive, mount on a 2" pole, 3 separate rgb clusters steel box weiging 20lbs also maked out the meter. It was the brightest of them all. Each of the three clusters had dozens of leds. They sold for $400 each
Next time we should take pictures of what the patterns look like from each flood.
Brightest point is a valid measurement if you can see the pattern. Better, would be to capture measurements across a grid so you can see the fallof.
almost all had an even pattern, some of those did have hotter spots in the center.
As david moore said, all of these units could be used in different places on your landscape.
it was interesting how many cables were on the table.
Also remember the inverse square law of light, 1' away 1/2 the light, 2 feet away 1/4th the light, 3 feet away 1/9th the light. We were about 10ft away so we were getting 1/100th the light that was being produced from the unit when it hit the wall.
here is link to some china led floods
http://sctled.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-212973113-2/Square_type.html
I notice they do mention the total wattage of the leds they have been built with. i assume 36 1W leds are brighter than 18 1W leds.
thanks
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I thought about this also. Since each light has a different throw and most can not be changed like the aether, a more fair test to equalize them is not the same distance but instead marking an area on the wall and placing the lights where they cover that area. This would correct for spots vs flood and all in between. This really tells us more what we want to know. For a given area how bright is it going to be in comparison.
If not that then next time we know to put the 5 deg lens on the aether so it will max out the meter.
RJ
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RJ
Don't know if I would want to put my hand in that beam. An ant and a magnifying glass come to mind :)
maybe entering the 5-degree aether2 into the Laser-off would make sense. :)
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Another difference some had was they used only white leds like the aether and some used either just rgb mixed together or rgb plus white leds like the mighty mini.
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Measurements were in Lumens.
The Rainbow Flood and brain did not get included due to technical issues.
The Rainbow Extreme Flood and Blender WERE included in the display.
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* Model/Brand: Lynx Aether
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: DMX 120vac
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, White: RGB
* If you know how many LED's and what types, please note them: 6x high wattage RGB LEDs
* Viewing Angle(s): multiple lens options
* Kit/Assembled? Kit
* Purchase price (parts or assembled) and Source: no longer available, used available for $120
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* Model/Brand: Lynx Aether II
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: DMX 12vac external
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, White: RGBW
* If you know how many LED's and what types, please note them: 1x 28mm High Power LedEngin LED
* Power Rating: 40w
* Viewing Angle(s): 95 deg (Lens choices: 8, 15, 22, 32, 45 deg)
* Kit/Assembled? Kit
* Purchase price (parts or assembled) and Source: TBD (based on 250 coop size) <$65 + <$5/lens
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* Model/Brand: Rainbow Flood [NOT TESTED]
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: 12v DMX Controlled
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, White: RGB
* If you know how many LED's and what types, please note them: ?? SuperFlux LEDs
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* Model/Brand: Rainbow Flood Extreme
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: DMX 12v DC external
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, plus strobe control: RGB (strobe freq and duration)
* If you know how many LED's and what types, please note them: 56x 3 chipped Superflux LEDs (20x Red, 18x Green, 18x Blue)
* Power Rating: 18w (100% draws 1.5 amps at 12VDC)
* Viewing Angle(s): no lens options
* Kit/Assembled? Kit or Assembled
* Purchase price (parts or assembled) and Source: $110 kit / $150 assembled
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* Model/Brand: HolidayCoro El-Cheapo Flood
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: 12v built-in DMX
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, White: RGB
* If you know how many LED's and what types, please note them: 30 5050 RGB LEDs
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* Model/Brand: LOR Cosmic Color Flood
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: LOR 120vac (supply included)
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, White:
* Purchase price (parts or assembled) and Source: assembled... $200 for 1 head, controller and power supply / $300 for 2-head unit (Don Teague)
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* Model/Brand: Mighty Mini Flood
* Protocol (DMX/LOR) or if it is straight 12v/24v/120v: 12v (LOR DC controller)
* Color(s) - Red, Green, Blue, White: RGB+W
* If you know how many LED's and what types, please note them: ?? 8MM LEDs
RON> I thought the Mighty Mini was 24v. I could be dreaming though.
DAVID> You are right. Now if I had run them in my display at 24v, I can only imagine how much brighter they would have been!
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* Model/Brand: LED Vivid Wash 1
http://www.ledlightingsolutionsltd.net/led_products/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5&products_id=44
LED Color Range: RGB 16.7M Linear Color Control Light Source: Ultra Bright LED / Super Bright LED LED Qty.: Red 120, Green 120, Blue 120 Beam Angle: 45° Light Projecting Distance: 20m Data Interface: Standard DMX protocol (RS485 terminal) Control System: SRC-washer-100 / simple controller DMX Channels: 3 Channels Fixture Housing: Die Cast Powder Coated Aluminum Connecting Mode: Standard signal cord and power cord Connector: 3-Pin Control and Installation Type dependant Weight: 3.9Kg Dimensions: L320xW145xH225mm Aperture Glass: Tempered Glass
Electrical Specifications Operating Voltage: 90-264V AC/12V DC Operating Current: Max. 3A Power Consumption: 25watts
Environmental Specifications Operating Temperature: -20°C ~ +40°C IP Rating: IP65
Built in Pre-Programmed Effects Holder Color: Selectable HOLDER color. (16.7M variables) Strobing: Single color or transitional Cross Fade: Cross fade between colors Chasing: Color chasing Color Cycle: Cycling
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