Event Period Length (In MS)

[trekster]

I have searched and most say 100ms.  Some say in a fast song they use 50ms.  Do you really need that many spaces per second?  It looks like 200ms splits a second into 5.  Do most people need better then 1/5 second control?  Looks like 5 changes in a second would be enough.  I would appreciate some input on this subject.

Thank You

Ron

[PJNMCT]

I have searched and most say 100ms.  Some say in a fast song they use 50ms.  Do you really need that many spaces per second?  It looks like 200ms splits a second into 5.  Do most people need better then 1/5 second control?  Looks like 5 changes in a second would be enough.  I would appreciate some input on this subject.

Thank You

Ron

If you are going to go with the notes instead of just the beat, you will definitely need at least 100ms speed. I do a lot of sequences where I use 50ms. Especially if you want movement - not just blinking.

-Paul

[trekster]

OK.  I do want movement and not just blinking.  You said if I am going to use "notes"?  This will be my first controlled light show.  I was in the first and second coop for 2010 and I am building controllers and setting up the software.  I know about the beat track and I have played around with the audio modulation looking option.  Not sure the exact name where the audio looks like an oscilloscope pattern at the top.  But I have not seen anything about using "notes".  I know how many channels I am going to have and I have pictures of my house and many drawings of what I will have in my show.  I was naming the channels and setting colors in Vixen when this question came up with my first sequence.  I am somewhat worried.  I have the controllers and about 150-175 boxes of minis.  I know "WHAT" I want in my show.  But just because a guy has paints and a canvas does not make him an artist.  I want to learn very badly.  I am going to have 8 Lynx Expresses and 2 ssr4's.  I hope I can pull this one off for my "first" show.  In 2009 I had 2 Gemmi 6 channel boxes and a 4 channel light organ for a total of 16 uncontrolled channels that blinked to the music using 5,700 lights.  I know this is a big change but it will be so much fun and I am so excited!

Ron

[vairmoose]

It all depend on your setup.   The 100 ms may be more than enough.  It is amazing what the eyes can see.     At 200 ms, the movement will be very jerky to the observer where you may have wanted smooth transisitions. 

What you can do that might make the initial sequencing a little easier..  start out with the 200 ms....   then after you get what looks pretty good for the whole song...    change  the spacing to 100 for the whole song.   what will happen is that every cell will split into two..  then you can start to clean up the edges with ramps ...   and if the movement still looks grainy...  divide again into 50 ms.   

Hope this makes sense..

Larry

[trekster]

I think I understand.  I am going to have two 8 channel arches and I bet that is where you need smooth with the 100ms or 50ms.  I wondered how they looked so fluid in motion.  Also I have four 4X4 posts that hold up my porch.  I plan to make each one a 4 channel vertical.  Again, smooth will look best for sure.  Learning more each day.

Thank You!

Ron

[Greg]

Hi Ron,

You might want to check out this discussion and Jonathon's helpful app over on DIYC concerning choosing event periods:

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Also on that site, DIYC member Iboucher discusses a plug-in he wrote to help in sequencing arches:

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Playing with the plug-in may give you a better idea how to create smoother chases.

Have fun!

Greg

 

[PJNMCT]

Hi Ron,

Here's some good info on Tempo in general -
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and a good free Beat per minute analyzer here -
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Hope this helps.

-Paul

[PJNMCT]

I just ran an analysis on the music I ran last year and found that my music ran anywhere from 124 BPM to 160 BPM.

That put my sequencing for eighth notes (not the fastest notes by any means) running 120 BPM at 125ms (on and off time being equal). The songs that were at 160 BPM mean that the eight notes had to be sequenced at 94ms which means that a 100ms segment/space is not fast enough even for the eighth notes.

Too much info I know but it's fun. 

Really its just - do it and see how you like it!

-Paul

[Trevor]

I have been told by a few people that the best MS to use is 50. Especially if your using arches and mega trees. I did try to do an arch at 100ms and it didnt look as good as I wanted it too. I took the extra time with 50ms and it looks great! Just wanted to throw my opinion out there. 

[trekster]

You guys are right on the money.  I tried 100 on my FIRST ever sequence.  Not very Christmas but I am doing TSO's Queen Of Winter.  It is a very fast beat song.  I had to go back and change it to 50ms.  I now see some songs need several changes in a second of time.  I think even 25 would be even better for this fast beat song.  I may still change it.  I am going to have 2 arches and I see the need for 50 or even 25 now after actually doing a sequence.  I guess it takes a blinky guy to spend 3 hours on about 45 seconds and I still do not have the 45 seconds like I want yet.  I know I read where several hours can be spent on a minute.  I now see why.  Right now I am figuring on 136 channels.  But it is FUN!  Knowing the end result is the driving force for this.

Thank You

Ron
Oklahoma

[Gary]

I'm adding a bit to this thread...

I've noticed that I have to use 25 ms because at 100 ms, fairly quick fades on my LED lights looked choppy and horrible. The incandescent lights looked fine. Even at 50 ms, my LEDs looked pretty questionable. I have to crank it up to 25 ms to make it look good.

[castortiu]

I agree with Gary in that,

With 100ms I definitely can see some offset in the light vs the beats, 50ms solved the issue, but the problem was the fading in or out, a 400ms fading in 100ms intervals are just 4 steps (0, 85, 170, 255) where you won’t see a very smooth transition, in 25ms intervals are 16 steps (0, 16, 32, 48….etc) and the effect looks much smoother specially for LEDs which are much faster than incandescent lights.

I use 25ms in all songs since I use a lot of fast fading-out (100ms fading).

[Kwajtony]

A quick question regarding the fades on the leds, are you using the "normalized" dimming that RJ LNT adds to the mix?

A lot of sequences that I see look choppy becasue the are too quick,  comparing Holdman  shows seem to be a little slower with just as much action  .... operative word here is "seem."

When it come to sequencing I'm still learning, so this is just IMHO.

R,
Tony "C"