LuminAudio Engine™ Release - Music-2-Lights for LED-Wiz / LED-Wiz+GP

[RandyT]

This is a barebones (edit - Ok, not so much anymore)  "light organ" application for the LED-Wiz and LED-Wiz+GP Lighting and output controllers.  The software will detect the number of units you have attached to the system.  The devices are toggled by clicking on the device numbers.  The beat detection I developed is pretty decent, but you may need to  do a little tweaking to get the effect you want.  Start with your wave output volume at about 80% then move the cyan, yellow and red sliders until you see something you like.  *update*  We're on v.05 now!  Get the new one for Delay and Decay sliders for LWA mode, ToolTip Help, a slightly nicer display, and the ability to save settings and run minimized at startup!

The "real time" effects are really intended for the full RGB ElectricICE 2 buttons, but a panel full of NovaGem2's or other mono colored lights, will still dance to the music.  The LWA file support, coupled with the Delay and Decay sliders, will open up things for mono-LED users quite a bit though.  I look forward to comments and videos

Features:

• Make every light on your panel respond to music, sounds in video games, etc.
• Supports up to 4 LED-Wiz or LED-Wiz+GP devices
• 3 different effects based on custom beat detection algorithms.
• Unlimited animation possibilities via LWA files.
  
• Now even more stuff to tweak!

This version now includes a "Make Default" button and command line options as follows;

/hide = Minimize to the taskbar at start up.
/start = Start the lights using previously saved settings.


Click on the screencap to download it, unzip it onto a drive and run the executable from the folder it creates.

RandyT

[Kevin Mullins]

That is so cool.... I can't count how many posts I've read asking about something like this.
Your work and support is truly appreciated. 

(now go to bed)

[BobA]

Wow!   Great new app.  I think alot of people are looking for something just like this.   Thanks for the effort RandyT. 

[edge]

Randy - Nice job! Thanks so much.  Can't wait to try it out this weekend.

[Anubis_au]

Phew - I thought Randy had come out with another new device I will have to buy

LED marquee
LED buttons with graphic inserts
LEDWiz

Randy, keep up the good work 

[buks]

OMG !!!!! Why do I have to be at work right this minute

I will test this tonight and post my findings.

Buks

PS There must be some good karma floating round bgg at the moment as I had just posted sdome high praise on the ggg post (main forum). I think I'll praise Ultimarc too and see if they announce some new products !

Buks

EDIT : Saint - Shouldn't this be posted on the announcements page too ?

[RandyT]

If you've already downloaded this, go grab an update.   We're on 0.0.2 now

Do-nothing green slider has been ditched in favor of a cyan slider that does something.  The range on the sliders has been increased as well, which may give some better adjustment on some audio setups.

RandyT

[buks]

 

I get the following error :

---------------------------
LuminAudio WIP
---------------------------
Failed to activate control 'VB.UserControl'.  This control may be incompatible with your application.  Make sure you are using the version of the control that was provided with your application.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

I'll have a look on the web to see if its a common error. I'm pretty sure I've got .net 1 and 2 installed but I can't remember if I've installed any vb ocx type stuff.

Back soon !

Buks

EDIT : lol - I always do this ! I needed to register the supplied ocx

Just in case - open a command prompt and cd to the directory when the fancy-music-lights-thing is and type

regsvr32 ledwizm05.ocx

Trying it now.....

[RandyT]

Hmm...were you running the executable from the same folder the OCX was in?


RandyT

[buks]

yep - I usually test software extracted onto my desktop so it could have been something to do with the log file path (just a thought).

I've got the leds flashing but they flash regardless of music. Its a bit light still so theres no point in me trying to post a video.

Okay, I've moved the app to C:\LuminAudio_WIP and re-registered the ocx (I think it got confused as I'd moved it from where it was previously registered).

I start the app and click on the "1".

All but 2 of my buttons light. On full brightness.

I click on Start Output - all buttons start flashing in what could be a radom sequence (including the 2 buttons not lit from the previous step). All leds are very "dull".

Starting and stopping the music doesnt seem to make much difference - again its hard to see until it gets a bit darker in northern England !

I'm not running anything other than ms media player.

Any ideas ? Or can someone else post their experience ?

Buks

[RandyT]

Try going into the recording options for your audio card and make sure the source you want monitored is selected and that the volume is up.

Most sound cards nowadays will have a "what you hear" or "mixer" kind of control that acts as a Master for all inputs.  If yours has this, try selecting that one.

Also, make sure your WAVE playback volume is up!

RandyT

[buks]

Randy,

Checked the mixer and wave was almost 100%.

Not sure what "the source you want monitored" is ?

sorry to sound stupid !

Buks

[buks]

Just had a thought - I've got mala and the ledwiz plugin installed (the one by loadman and edge not ledblinky). That had a "register_ocx.exe" which I had to run - no idea what it registers though as its an exe. I wonder if that is interfering maybe ?

Buks

PS I'm not running mala while I'm doing this testing just to make that clear.

[RandyT]

Not sure what "the source you want monitored" is ?

You have open up the mixer app, go to Options, and "Adjust volume for" -> Recording.  Then click OK.

Then the sliders all change to recording levels and have a checkbox  to enable them.  You need to have either the "What you hear" or "StereoMixer" or something like that to feed all input through the AudioMonitor.  Alternatively, you can limit it to WAVE, MIDI. MIC, ect. by selecting just that input.

RandyT

[buks]

Woot !!!!!!

Randy - you the man ! I have never seen that option before - I had to tick the "Wave output mix" option so that the mixer showed it. Then I upped the volume - nothing. Then I ticked the "Select" button and wow ! All lights full  brightness ! And they go off when the music stops - which proves that they are reacting to the sound (I think).

Now goign through my entire music selection Cheers randy - I build an arcade machine to play games and you make me turn all the lights down low and play bad dance music!!!!

Buks

[RandyT]

Now you'll probably need to tweak the sliders a bit. 

I don't think you said; Are you using Mono or RGB lights?

And yes, it works particularly well with "bad dance music"   


RandyT

[buks]

Ive got 6 rgb buttons, 1 rgb trackball and 10 single led buttons (actually all rgb but with just one colour connected).

What would be REALLY nice would be if I could select my trackball as the "bass" detector - that would look seriously cool (but its pretty damned cool as it stands).

Thanks for the help Randy !

Buks

[mccoy178]

Thanks Randy!  I have some questions.  If I were to use a higher voltage rgb, say 12v, do I just run the appropriate power source into the LEDWiz?  I imagine that it's straight forward, I just wanted to make sure.  I'll have a couple more questions I imagine once I actually get to that point.

[RandyT]

Thanks Randy!  I have some questions.  If I were to use a higher voltage rgb, say 12v, do I just run the appropriate power source into the LEDWiz?  I imagine that it's straight forward, I just wanted to make sure.  I'll have a couple more questions I imagine once I actually get to that point.

No.  You never want to get voltages higher than 5v DC anywhere near the LED-Wiz. 

Anyone who wants to use higher than 5v volt devices with the LED-Wiz, needs to drop me an email and I will send the necessary info.  Doing things incorrectly can result in all kinds of non-functional hardware, so it's important to understand some things before proceeding.

RandyT

[mccoy178]

Thanks.  That's why I asked.  I'm gonna order one tonight and I'll put the request to use 12v in the notes.

[RandyT]

New version alert.....This one adds LWA animation file support.

This opens up all kinds of possibilities, so be sure to get the new one by clicking on the screen shot in the first post.

RandyT

[RandyT]

Another important update!.....This one adds "Decay" and "Delay" adjustments which can really make the LWA animation file FX something special

Tool tips and a little nicer looking display are also new.  Aside from a possible bug fix, this will probably be the last update for a while.

RandyT

[headkaze]

Any chance of making this into a dll so it can be used inside FE's? A command line version would be a good start but there would be a conflict using it with other plugins since the ledwiz.dll can't be used concurrently. While this is cool, it really has no practical application until it can be used in a FE IMHO. I would like to implement this into my plugin so when you play a song in the Jukebox my LED's dance to the music. I can port the code to a C++ dll if your not sure how (would save a VB6 dependancy too).

Anyways, thanks for the release

[RandyT]

While this is cool, it really has no practical application until it can be used in a FE IMHO.

It wasn't designed to be used within an FE, rather as a stand-alone application.  You can just start it up, minimize it and run whatever jukebox software / game / etc. you might fancy, while it does the rest.

I have more plans for expanding the automation / configuration possibilities of the app., but not in the short term. 

RandyT

[headkaze]

It wasn't designed to be used within an FE, rather as a stand-alone application.  You can just start it up, minimize it and run whatever jukebox software / game / etc. you might fancy, while it does the rest.

I have more plans for expanding the automation / configuration possibilities of the app., but not in the short term. 

I'm curious about the target audience for this app. If it's not for FE's/arcade cabinets is it for demonstration purposes or just a bit of fun? I'm probably being short sighted thinking the majority of LEDWiz hardware is bought for use in an arcade cabinet which means they run a FE. I'm not knocking what you've created I'm just wondering what practical use it has and what you had in mind for the users of the app.

[youki]

You can already use it with a front end as is. I think.

If your a FE have a jukebox, just launch this tool before the jukebox and the tool does the rest.  And just close it after you exit the jukebox.
Same thing for games or video.

I think most of FE can run and kill application on "need".

I didn't try it yet, But seems to be a very nice tool!   

[RandyT]

I'm curious about the target audience for this app. If it's not for FE's/arcade cabinets is it for demonstration purposes or just a bit of fun? I'm probably being short sighted thinking the majority of LEDWiz hardware is bought for use in an arcade cabinet which means they run a FE. I'm not knocking what you've created I'm just wondering what practical use it has and what you had in mind for the users of the app.

It is a stand-alone tool that will work system-wide, not just within the context of an FE.  The "automation / configuration" options I mentioned earlier are to facilitate exactly what Youki mentioned, launching and "killing" of the executable as required.  First and foremost, the app needs to "remember" all of the settings.between runs.  It does not yet do this, so user interaction is required when the program is first started.  After that, however, it doesn't need any more interaction from you than the volume control does. 

As for the "target audience", it's intended for anyone who listens to audio on their PC and wants their LED-Wiz connected lights to dance along with it.  I would expect that anyone building a home (or commercial) PC based jukebox would be especially interested, as would those with a multitude of lights on their arcade cabinet (as I have on mine) connected through LED-Wiz's.  As mentioned before, it's not done yet, but as it stands, it is a very functional program that delivers something people have been asking for since I posted the first demo  way back when.  And when that video was shot, it didn't do half of what it does now.

RandyT

[headkaze]

It's really easy to support ini files in VB6 using WritePrivateProfileString() and GetPrivateProfileString() API functions. So for simple reading/writing settings it's ideal. There is probably a module that does this on the Net somewhere.

My only complaint (hey I'm a GGG customer now I have a right to complain! hehe) is the issues with ocx/dll conflicting with multiple applications. For your application to work the other one has to be shutdown.

Can I convince you to write a dll for this? So the actual beat detection is separated from the LEDWiz stuff so I can import it and use it in my own plugin? The number of hours I wasted analysing beat detection algorithms makes me appreciate the work you must have put into this. But without it in dll form it's really limited to run as a stand-alone app. Supporting other programmers to write software for the LEDWiz is really a good business move when you think about it.

For now though a simple addition of a -hide command line option or something to not open the form, or even better minimize the app to the taskbar with an icon in the tray.

I asked about the target audience because the majority of users with cabs will have the conflict issue I mentioned in the second paragraph. As it is this app would work well for pure jukebox based cabs but if you have a Swiss army knife type cab it is both arcade and jukebox. I loved the feature when I saw the videos all that time ago when you first posted it.

[RandyT]

It's really easy to support ini files in VB6 using WritePrivateProfileString() and GetPrivateProfileString() API functions. So for simple reading/writing settings it's ideal. There is probably a module that does this on the Net somewhere.

Even easier than that if I choose to put them in the registry.  But it'll probably be a simple data file that lives where the app lives.  Something like what the KeyWiz Uploader2 software does.

My only complaint (hey I'm a GGG customer now I have a right to complain! hehe) is the issues with ocx/dll conflicting with multiple applications. For your application to work the other one has to be shutdown.

Heh.  You can complain, but this software is free to all LED-Wiz users and was never promised as part of its function.  It's literally tantamount to your car dealer calling you a year after you bought the car to tell you he has a free stereo for you.  So feel free....

I don't know if what you are talking about above really matters though.  Why would they conflict?  Each application can open a new handle to the device and communicate with it through that handle.  If both are trying to send data to the unit at the same time, it's going to be a pointless endeavor regardless.  The LuminAudio Engine literally streams data to the device when in use and anything an FE did would be changed by it immediately.  If the engine is not active, there should be no conflicts.  So what you really need is a way to disable it and then re-enable it at will, which you pretty much would already have if you selectively launched and then "killed" the application as needed.

Can I convince you to write a dll for this? So the actual beat detection is separated from the LEDWiz stuff so I can import it and use it in my own plugin? The number of hours I wasted analysing beat detection algorithms makes me appreciate the work you must have put into this. But without it in dll form it's really limited to run as a stand-alone app. Supporting other programmers to write software for the LEDWiz is really a good business move when you think about it.

No.  The routines are tied specifically to the capabilities of the LED-Wiz, and the hundred+ hours I put into it are a gift to my LED-Wiz customers.  As for what is good for "business", that's a topic of discussion for a different thread or private conversation.

For now though a simple addition of a -hide command line option or something to not open the form, or even better minimize the app to the taskbar with an icon in the tray.

The app will eventually be able to be minimized to the taskbar.  If you noticed, I literally posted 4 versions of the software within a weeks time.  They were going up as fast as I had a new function stable because I wanted the functionality into my users' hands.  Now that I feel that part has been fairly well accomplished, I'm going to take a step back and consider a few things on the housekeeping side of things.

I asked about the target audience because the majority of users with cabs will have the conflict issue I mentioned in the second paragraph. As it is this app would work well for pure jukebox based cabs but if you have a Swiss army knife type cab it is both arcade and jukebox.

I'm not completely convinced that this "conflict" issue exists (see what I wrote earlier)  What happens when you attempt to use your software with this running in the background (i.e. output disabled)?

I have a "Swiss Army" knife type cab, as I think most of us do.  Having this utility running in the background, that allows me to turn it off when I don't want the lights flashing, seems like it works fine.  But if there are true issues like the ones you talked about, then tell me what they are and how to reproduce them.  Maybe there is another way to deal with them that will satisfy the goals of all involved.

RandyT

[headkaze]

Ok perhaps there will be no conflict here. I havn't had a chance to test this so I probably should have run some tests before I posted. The reason I thought there was a conflict was because someone was trying to write an application that worked alongside my plugin and it was using MikeQ's dll like mine. The dll is probably not written to work with two applications at the same time, although this assumption was because another programmer reported it to me. So it could be that the ocx will work with the dll but I havn't tried it yet. Is a USB device not locked when in use like a COM port is? I'm not sure.

I'm very busy at the moment, but I will eventually check this out. If you can add writing settings to ini/registry and minimize on launch that would be great. And I do appreciate this "free" release, my complaint comment was made in tongue and cheek. Lighten up, life isn't all just about bitches and money (jokes)

"taskkill.exe /F /IM LuminAudio_WIP.exe" should be enough to shut it down. I'll make a post after I've tried it.

[RandyT]

And I do appreciate this "free" release, my complaint comment was made in tongue and cheek. Lighten up, life isn't all just about bitches and money (jokes)

Heh, yeah I got that.  There was missed humor in my response as well. But since we are waxing philosophic:

"It's the things you don't have in life that tend to be the most important to you.  And those who have never wanted for those things, will never truly understand their value."

Ok perhaps there will be no conflict here. I havn't had a chance to test this so I probably should have run some tests before I posted. The reason I thought there was a conflict was because someone was trying to write an application that worked alongside my plugin and it was using MikeQ's dll like mine. The dll is probably not written to work with two applications at the same time, although this assumption was because another programmer reported it to me. So it could be that the ocx will work with the dll but I havn't tried it yet. Is a USB device not locked when in use like a COM port is? I'm not sure.

It may be a function of the way the device is opened.  There is no exclusivity in the OCX or the "resident" software routines.  I cannot speak for what was done in third party code.

Earlier versions of the resident software allowed for multiple concurrent execution.  While pointless, it demonstrated that each of the applications could control the hardware without any problems.  I also just tested the resident software in conjunction with the LuminAudio Engine.  While the settings made in the LumAura editor are very quickly overwritten when the music plays, nothing prevents them from being written and properly acted upon.

If you can add writing settings to ini/registry and minimize on launch that would be great.

"taskkill.exe /F /IM LuminAudio_WIP.exe" should be enough to shut it down. I'll make a post after I've tried it.

It will be the next addition to the software.  Just make sure that whatever method is used to kill the task is orderly and it should work fine.

RandyT

[mccoy178]

Hey Randy,
I've hooked up my RGB boards to the ledwiz and on all six, only the blue is lighting up with this app.  Is there something I'm missing?  They work fine with the regular LEDWiz software.  I checked to make sure the correct boxes were checked.  Also, it only works if I have pulse selected.  It doesn't work if I have anything but pulse selected. 

[RandyT]

Hey Randy,
I've hooked up my RGB boards to the ledwiz and on all six, only the blue is lighting up with this app.  Is there something I'm missing?  They work fine with the regular LEDWiz software.  I checked to make sure the correct boxes were checked.  Also, it only works if I have pulse selected.  It doesn't work if I have anything but pulse selected. 

Make sure that both the wave in the playback and "stereo mixer" in the recording volume levels are up to pretty much to full, or to the point just below where they might start to distort a little.  The Master volume can then be tweaked to control sound levels without affecting the lights.

Then, tweak the sliders.  Move the RED slider about 1/4 from the left, and the YELLOW slider about 1/8 from the left.  You should start to see the other colors.

Also, make sure you have some good, punchy music playing!

Let me know if this doesn't get it going.

RandyT

[Katana Man]

I want to with my arcade machine:


Do you think that will ever be possible in the future?  I understand that this would take a lot of tedious timing work, but would it be possible with the LED-Wiz?

[mccoy178]

It would be possible if you bought about 1000 LEDWiz's.  You may be better off buying the actual product that guy used in that video.  I know there have been a few threads about it on here.....................

[RandyT]

It would be possible if you bought about 1000 LEDWiz's.  You may be better off buying the actual product that guy used in that video.  I know there have been a few threads about it on here.....................

Heh.  I'd be surprised if there were even 2 LED-Wiz's worth of outputs used in that setup.

As for doing something like that with an LED-Wiz, it should be pretty simple.  Grab VB6 and the LED-Wiz OCX, write a simple program that starts up a wave file and plays back an LWA file, advancing to the next frames at specific time offsets (held in another data file.)

The real difficulty is making an editor to facilitate making the actual animations.  Of course this type of thing is really only good for "performance" situations.  It would be crazy to even consider something like that for everyday music listening.

RandyT

[mccoy178]

Randy,

When using the software, only the blue comes on when I start output.  Even when I try to load one of the .lwa files, they all shut off.  So, again, the only time they are on is when it is on pulse, I have either one or both LEDWiz's selected, and I start output.  Other then that, nothing.  I have checked all sound options under the input, as I have had to do this previously with Freebox software, so I'm familiar with what was needed to be done.  I have no idea, as everthing works (well, I assume the 2nd ledwiz works since they all turned blue) when using the regular LEDWiz software.

[RandyT]

When using the software, only the blue comes on when I start output.  Even when I try to load one of the .lwa files, they all shut off.  So, again, the only time they are on is when it is on pulse, I have either one or both LEDWiz's selected, and I start output.  Other then that, nothing.  I have checked all sound options under the input, as I have had to do this previously with Freebox software, so I'm familiar with what was needed to be done.  I have no idea, as everthing works (well, I assume the 2nd ledwiz works since they all turned blue) when using the regular LEDWiz software.

When pulse is selected and you see blue, do they flicker to the music at all?

Also, how are your LED's wired to the LED-Wiz? 

I've had it working with a SoundBlaster Audigy under 2K, and an Aureal Vortex under 98.  This pretty much represents the high and low end of the spectrum so I would expect it to work on just about anything out there.  Anyone else seeing this type of weirdness?

RandyT

[Katana Man]

Heh.  I'd be surprised if there were even 2 LED-Wiz's worth of outputs used in that setup.

Yep, no doubt. I counted only 47 different ports.  I'm going to use 2 LED-Wiz's and use all of the 64 ports. I think it would rule to be able to put on a "performance" like the Christmas house did.    

[mccoy178]

Okay, I figured it out.  I was using a laptop to test, and apparently, there's no dice with that.  Anyways, hooked up the jukebox computer and it fired right up.  Works like a champ.  Thanks for trouble shooting with me.  I thought a laptop would work fine.  

[rockin_rick]

Heh.  I'd be surprised if there were even 2 LED-Wiz's worth of outputs used in that setup.

Yep, no doubt. I counted only 47 different ports.  I'm going to use 2 LED-Wiz's and use all of the 64 ports. I think it would rule to be able to put on a "performance" like the Christmas house did.   

You'd be better off using 'specific' hardware for this rather than the ledwiz.  With the ledwiz, you'd still have to make +5V to +120VAC circuits and the timing would not be as precise as you'd like.  Without dedicated software to trigger the lights within ms (100's of ms?) of the music, the eye would see the discrepancy.  Check out - http://www.vixenlights.com/

FWIW, last christmas, I got to see a local house with a setup like this and it was very cool.  They had a brief commentary between songs and said that they started on the project in August.  I think that the choreography would take up the most time/talent.

Rick

[RandyT]

Heh.  I'd be surprised if there were even 2 LED-Wiz's worth of outputs used in that setup.

Yep, no doubt. I counted only 47 different ports.  I'm going to use 2 LED-Wiz's and use all of the 64 ports. I think it would rule to be able to put on a "performance" like the Christmas house did.   

You'd be better off using 'specific' hardware for this rather than the ledwiz.  With the ledwiz, you'd still have to make +5V to +120VAC circuits and the timing would not be as precise as you'd like.  Without dedicated software to trigger the lights within ms (100's of ms?) of the music, the eye would see the discrepancy.  Check out - http://www.vixenlights.com/

Cool link, but he was talking about doing this with his arcade machine, not his house   

Also, why would you think the timing can't be as precise with the LED-Wiz as any other solution?   In VB, one can use the Timer function to monitor the passage of time in 10ms increments, and once "fired" the event would take a couple of milliseconds at the most to be manifested by the LED-Wiz.  And unless digital music playback on the pc suffers from an intermittently variable timebase, I'm not sure why synchronization would be a problem.

RandyT

[clanggedin]

I would love to use the LEDWiz in a disco floor type situation, but I have one question. Can you output different colors to each LED bank so baciscally you could have 32 seperate colors at a time??

I want to build a disco floor, but it want to achieve with your stuff what it would cost me $1200+ to do with the stuff that Dropout Design sells.

Would this be some day possible with your software and board??

http://web.mit.edu/storborg/ddf/video.html

[Katana Man]

I would love to use the LEDWiz in a disco floor type situation, but I have one question. Can you output different colors to each LED bank so baciscally you could have 32 seperate colors at a time??

LED-Wiz outputs voltage, not colors.  The color of the LED determine the final output color.  However!!! Now for the good part, you can use an RGB (red, green, blue) LED and then the LED-Wiz will send the appropriate voltages to the 3 different colors to generate ANY color you want.  This takes up 3 LED-Wiz port's per RBG LED light. 

[Katana Man]

double post, sorry.  Delete me. 

[clanggedin]

I would love to use the LEDWiz in a disco floor type situation, but I have one question. Can you output different colors to each LED bank so baciscally you could have 32 seperate colors at a time??

LED-Wiz outputs voltage, not colors.  The color of the LED determine the final output color.  However!!! Now for the good part, you can use an RGB (red, green, blue) LED and then the LED-Wiz will send the appropriate voltages to the 3 different colors to generate ANY color you want.  This takes up 3 LED-Wiz port's per RBG LED light. 

OK, so I can output whatever colors I want depending on voltage, and technically the program right now is limited to 4 LEDwizs hooked up, so I can run 42 RGB LEDs with one port left over. Could I hook up an RGB LED to a single port and have the program just change between Red, Green and, Blue by adjusting the voltage? Then can I have it change in between colors randomly to the beat of the music??

Sorry for all of the questions, but I want to understand fully the potential of this is before I go and buy 4 of these plus tons of RGB leds.

[RandyT]

OK, so I can output whatever colors I want depending on voltage, and technically the program right now is limited to 4 LEDwizs hooked up, so I can run 42 RGB LEDs with one port left over. Could I hook up an RGB LED to a single port and have the program just change between Red, Green and, Blue by adjusting the voltage? Then can I have it change in between colors randomly to the beat of the music??

Sorry for all of the questions, but I want to understand fully the potential of this is before I go and buy 4 of these plus tons of RGB leds.

Just understand that this software is a very early version of a pet project.  It's being put out there as a fun thing for owners of the hardware to run on their cabinets and to make jukebox apps seem more at home on cabinets with illuminated buttons. If you decide to base a purchase on it, you should consider that the software is offered strictly as is and will be updated only as I find the time and desire to do so.

That being said, the effects support up to 10 banks of RGB LED's (a bank meaning all LED's in that group will be activated or de-activated at the same time).  Each LED-Wiz can suppport over 250 RGB LED's in that configuration by ganging multiples on the same outputs.  At the moment, multiple LED-Wiz's are supported by the software only through duplication.  This means that whatever gets sent to one LED-Wiz, also gets sent to any other unit selected for output.  This will eventually change to provide unique control to the other units as well as expand the number of units supported, with the caveat given earlier.

RandyT

[Katana Man]

Randy,
   Since one LED-Wiz can run multiple LED's on each port, I apologize for asking this, but currently, what is the point of having 2 or more LED-Wiz's?  Officially speaking, your LED-Wiz's can only support 32 individual controls (and only 10 RGB's)?  I hope that my newly ordered 2nd LED-Wiz won't sit dormant for too long. I'm using Mala for my front end, and I personally would like a minimum of 63 unique controls, and possibly up to 144 (48 RGB's).

[RandyT]

Randy,
   Since one LED-Wiz can run multiple LED's on each port, I apologize for asking this, but currently, what is the point of having 2 or more LED-Wiz's?  Officially speaking, your LED-Wiz's can only support 32 individual controls (and only 10 RGB's)?  I hope that my newly ordered 2nd LED-Wiz won't sit dormant for too long. I'm using Mala for my front end, and I personally would like a minimum of 63 unique controls, and possibly up to 144 (48 RGB's).

You are mis-understanding what is being stated.  This sound application treats multiple LED-Wiz's as duplicates.  The OCX, 3rd party DLL's, Front-ends (like AtomicFE, MaLa, etc. ) all treat multiples as individually addressable units.

Here's something from the "fun with numbers" arena;  With the LED-Wiz, it is currently possible to have 16 unique devices, each having 32 uniquely addressable ports, capable of handling about 25 high-output (20ma) L:ED's each.  That's a total of 12800 possible LED's arranged in 512 controllable banks.  Thats 4266 RGB LEDs in total, arranged in 170 unique banks, each theoretically capable of over 100000 different colors.

Of course, those numbers represent about $720 in controllers.  But it's actually what is possible and at least one commercial project has used 16 units in this way.

RandyT

[Katana Man]

Excellent!  Thank you very much Randy. Keep up the good work.

[metahacker]

Can we get the source to this app so we can improve it ?

If not - can you add command line option support that will turn on 1 or more LEDwiz 's and start output?

i.e.

"luminaudio.exe 1 2 "

starts output on LEDwiz #1 and #2

using something to kill the exe is easy after that point.

this way it could be mapped to menu or button toggle

[Tiger-Heli]

Somehow I missed this thread when it was introduced - very cool app - thanks Randy!!!!

[rooter]

I have about 10 ports that are not in use in my LED Wiz set up.  Would it be possible to attach each one to a different pair of LEDs and use them to measure the volume level across them?  Having something like this:
 
mirrored up by the marquee might look cool.  The colors would be the LED's themselves, not RGB LEDs.

[rooter]

Went back in a tried to present my idea a little more clearly.  This should only take 5 LED Wiz ports.



Would probably make the LuminAudio interface a giant mess, but it would be cool, nonetheless.
(sorry for using your marquee, Webb.  It was the first decent one google images popped up.)

[metahacker]

hey RANDY

can you release the source to LuminAudio so we can hack it up?

or if you dont want.. can u pls make one that autoruns with all connected ledwiz enabled & output turned on =)

pretty please

[headkaze]

hey RANDY

can you release the source to LuminAudio so we can hack it up?

or if you dont want.. can u pls make one that autoruns with all connected ledwiz enabled & output turned on =)

pretty please

I asked Randy to release the source for this a while ago and he said no then so I doubt he will change his mind now.

[SGT]

I asked Randy to release the source for this a while ago and he said no then so I doubt he will change his mind now.

Looks like he would have everything to gain by releasing it.

[headkaze]

I asked Randy to release the source for this a while ago and he said no then so I doubt he will change his mind now.

Looks like he would have everything to gain by releasing it.

That was my original argument about it since I wanted to add this feature into my LEDWiz plugin for GameEx. I believe Randy has patented beat detection code in his software. Also I don't think the little (tm) next to the name of the software is a joke

That being said I was dissapointed by his decision, but I guess if he sees a way to make money from his software then he has every right to pursue that. Personally I'm alot more liberal about handing out source code (which I have infact done for him on several occasions) but unlike Randy I consider this a hobby. For him this is his bread and butter so we should respect that even when it looks like he's shooting himself in foot.

[metahacker]

well, i'd just like to use the luminaudio as an integrated part of the system.  loading an external app and clicking '1' '2' '3' '4' then 'start output' gets kinda old.  i would like if it could just be invoked and start output automagically.  then i could put it as a menu item or CP button to toggle it on and off. 

releasing the source would be ideal since people could extend the software to do more things, or integrate it directly into other plugins such as the mala/gameex ledwiz plugins.

but if that's not an option, that is fine.  i respect that.   whether things are open source or not is a bigger battle =)

i just would like to get a little more use out of these 4 LEDwiz and 28 RGB white ice buttons + ICE-T trackball...  attract mode is one thing, and the buttons being lit to match the original games color/button scheme is great.  but there's nothing quite so fun as trackball bowling with luminaudio   i can do it manually but ....... it's kinda clunky and when i'm building a cab as a gift for my brother i don't expect him to have to click around dialog boxes... it takes away from the whole experience... the gaming appliance 'illusion' so to speak.

[Tiger-Heli]

Also I don't think the little (tm) next to the name of the software is a joke

I'm sure it isn't but that just keeps other people from calling their software LuminAudio Engine - it could still be TM'd and released as open-source if Randy so chose, although I don't think it is likely.

You could maybe persuade him to add some command-line flags or similar to it so that AutoHotKey or similar could be used to bring up and control the software - just a thought/suggestion.

[RandyT]

That was my original argument about it since I wanted to add this feature into my LEDWiz plugin for GameEx. I believe Randy has patented beat detection code in his software. Also I don't think the little (tm) next to the name of the software is a joke

Like TH said, that TM is just to keep someone else from using the name.  There is no "patented beat detection code" in the software (proprietary to me, yes, but not patented.)  I've already stated that I use compression waveforms as the raw data to perform my algorithms on.  If you think there is only one way to get from waveform data to a "beat" then I don't know what else to say.  Only specific methodologies can be patented, not a general approach to a problem.  I know, I have my name on three of them.

Like some other folks have stated here in the past in regards to their projects, it's hard to know how many people are actually using the work.  This in turn makes it difficult to assign priority to the task.  I have stated in that past that I will add command line switches to the software, but from what I could tell only a couple of people were even using the program.  Hell, this thread was dead for a month and a half before it was resurrected

That being said, I'll try to schedule in some command line additions to allow automation sometime in the next few days (and my feet are just fine, thank you )

RandyT

[headkaze]

That was my original argument about it since I wanted to add this feature into my LEDWiz plugin for GameEx. I believe Randy has patented beat detection code in his software. Also I don't think the little (tm) next to the name of the software is a joke

Like TH said, that TM is just to keep someone else from using the name.  There is no "patented beat detection code" in the software (proprietary to me, yes, but not patented.)  I've already stated that I use compression waveforms as the raw data to perform my algorithms on.  If you think there is only one way to get from waveform data to a "beat" then I don't know what else to say.  Only specific methodologies can be patented, not a general approach to a problem.  I know, I have my name on three of them.

Like some other folks have stated here in the past in regards to their projects, it's hard to know how many people are actually using the work.  This in turn makes it difficult to assign priority to the task.  I have stated in that past that I will add command line switches to the software, but from what I could tell only a couple of people were even using the program.  Hell, this thread was dead for a month and a half before it was resurrected

That being said, I'll try to schedule in some command line additions to allow automation sometime in the next few days (and my feet are just fine, thank you )

RandyT

You won't get feedback on software like you do with hardware in the main forum. The main feedback you will get here is from other programmers or feature requests. CPWizard for example has about 10 people using it everyday. How do I know? I see them drop in and out of the IRC room all day, and that doesn't count the people not using the IRC feature. The response to software releases can be dissapointing but it's not because people arn't using the software.

The people who do show appreciation probably realise it does encourage programmers to continue work on projects that they do in their spare time.

I think this is a nice feature although I use MikeQ's dll and would like to have this as a feature in my new V2 plugin that I'm working on. So I would have loved to have this beat detection code as a dll that I could output to his dll. As I've said before I am happy to port the code from VB6 to a C++ dll that people can use in their plugin's. It would have to be seen as a benefit to LEDWiz customers to do that, and I certainly think it is. Unless there is some other use for this software your thinking of that I'm not aware of.

Incidently I heard that Jonathan is writing a keyboard driver for Xpadder that might allow key injecting into Mame. We will have to wait and see if that pans out.

[metahacker]

That being said, I'll try to schedule in some command line additions to allow automation sometime in the next few days (and my feet are just fine, thank you )

Randy... have I told you, lately, that I love you?

;-)

[mccoy178]

Randy, I bought two ledwiz's and a dozen rgb led's just for this software.   I wouldn't mind more functionality.

[RandyT]

Ok, the plan has changed a bit.  I've changed my mind about the command line.  Command line switches are unwieldy, so I will put a "Make Default" button on the main screen.  This will allow one to set it up as desired and have it be in that state on the next run.

I'm also going to add support for other apps to control it via window captions.  This will allow anyone to write an app that can change the parameters of the program, including output control and shutdown.

I have a lot of things going on right now, but I'll be starting on it today.  I don't expect it to take awfully long to finish if I can get some momentum.

RandyT

[metahacker]

any news?

[rovingmind]

off topic and directed at Randy,  completely apart from your lumina audio engine which is a great app,

You mentioned Vixenlights earlier, have you used the LED-wiz with that program and if so do you have a  plug-in you used to control it?

the 5volt output of your controller will straight feed the SSRs used for the christmas light displays. 

Unfortunately i'm not a programmer and the plug-in documentation for both items goes right over my head.

[metahacker]

I made a set of 'helper apps' today, to handle front end integration with LuminAudio. 

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=73641.0

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Just wanted to chime in and express my intense interest in this project. I've got about 3-4 other people that would love to use this software on projects of their own as well. (Not arcade related)

So, carry on!   

[superbigjay]

Hello Randy,

I just started to play with the luminaudio and I have a quick question...

If I want all the LED on my CP to flash simultaneously at the music, what kind of WLA file should I use?

Can you point me to a "ready to use" WLA file or to some documentation about how they work.

thanks

Jay 
 

[metahacker]

what effect are you going for exactly?

i would just use the stock pulse, pulse/sweep modes... check out the videos in the wrapper script post i made... you can see the 4 built in combinations with randy's software

[superbigjay]

what effect are you going for exactly?

i would just use the stock pulse, pulse/sweep modes... check out the videos in the wrapper script post i made... you can see the 4 built in combinations with randy's software

Hello MetalHacker,
so far, your "Pulse / Normal" is the one that gives me the best results.

However, I'm trying to make all the outputs flash together...

I'd like to understand how to make my own lwa file to achieve this with the luminaudio sw.

[metahacker]

try the software here
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=239

[superbigjay]

try the software here
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=239

Thanks for the link MH,
I should be able to understand how the LWA files works with the documentation...

what effect are you going for exactly?

I'm looking for a simple effect like : ALL LEDS responding to the bass..

[iano]

Hi Randy. I've been trying to get this to work for an hour now and i just can't see what i'm doing wrong. I have onboard sound (realtek AC97), my master (playback) volume up almost full, my wave output at full, my recording source is selected as stereo mix and it's up at full. I'm just puzzled. Would be any other reason why no leds are lighting. They work fine with Headkaze's plugin. The ocx file is in the same folder as the luminaudio app.

Cheers,
ian.

 

[iano]

Nevermind. Got it working (my bad). Looks great !

 

[unclet]

Please share ..... what did you do wrong and how did you fix it.   

I still can not get all my lights dancing to the music at the same time.  They all dance but not at the same time.  However, I can not solve this problem yet since everything is disconnected at the moment.

[iano]

This is a bit embarrasing.... Actually, i had my soundcard mixer set correctly from the start. The problem was on the interface of the luminaudio app there's a display of ledwiz devices (1234). I have 2 ledwiz and they were circled (1 & 2) so i just thought that the luminaudio app had detected my ledwiz. I didn't realize that you had to click on the ledwiz devices to get your electric ice buttons going.

 

[unclet]

Ok thanks ......  good work figuring it out though ..... everyone has had stuff like that happen to them 

[iano]

Hi. Just thought i'd bump this. I got the luminaudio app working but basically it's virtually impossible to get this app seamlessly integrated with your frontend of choice. I hope Randy hasn't given up on this project because the engine is cool.

 

[metahacker]

Hi. Just thought i'd bump this. I got the luminaudio app working but basically it's virtually impossible to get this app seamlessly integrated with your frontend of choice. I hope Randy hasn't given up on this project because the engine is cool.

 

not impossible
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=73641.0

[drben]

I'm sure Randy is just busy as are most of us over this time of year.. That being said I would love to see a "Make Default" button on the interface.

I'm using this in my jukebox and that one thing would solve everything for me as it would mean I could just set everything to come on with the jukebox rather than starting windows, running LuminAudio, clicking the appropriate settings and then running the jukebox software.

Anyway.. cheers Randy   

[iano]

Yes, i know, i thought about building a cab 2 years ago but never got round to it ! I have most of the stuff though. Metahacker has created some ahk scripts which do work but the problem is you see the luminaudio gui momentarily while the script is running which kind of makes the experience seem less seamless with your frontend. Another thing i noticed is when the luminaudio app is killed the color/intensity of the rgb buttons stay at the last frame of animation. I have them set to a default color/intensity while in the frontend - so it would be great if somehow you could get luminaudio to return them to the colors/intensity that they were set to in the frontend.

 

[headkaze]

Yes, i know, i thought about building a cab 2 years ago but never got round to it ! I have most of the stuff though. Metahacker has created some ahk scripts which do work but the problem is you see the luminaudio gui momentarily while the script is running which kind of makes the experience seem less seamless with your frontend. Another thing i noticed is when the luminaudio app is killed the color/intensity of the rgb buttons stay at the last frame of animation. I have them set to a default color/intensity while in the frontend - so it would be great if somehow you could get luminaudio to return them to the colors/intensity that they were set to in the frontend.

 

I've been waiting for Randy to release a FE friendly version too for a while. I actually intend on adding integration to my LEDWiz plugin. In it's current state I can still run it totally hidden from the user, but I still need it to read/save settings to a file. I guess if worse comes to worse I can directly input the settings into the textboxes programmatically. That's not as difficult as it sounds, but still a config file would be preferable.

[bent98]

I just got my control panel up and running with novagems and ledwiz and boy does it rocks. Please oh please randy make it so we can use this as a plug in for our FE. Love to have Arzoo add this to led blinky so I can use it in Mala!

[bent98]

Any plans on updates to this Randy?

[headkaze]

AFAIK Randy has no interest in releasing this so we can use it in our plugins. Would have been nice though.

The only solution I know of it to use some scripts by AlexDog to integrate them

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=4636

[unclet]

I have had problems where the LuminAudio does not recognize when audio is no longer coming out of the computer so the lights are still illuminated/blinking even though no music is being played.   Kind of annoying since I find that the lights are blinking for hours and hours before I realize it .... then I have to minimize my jukebox application so I can interact with the Luminaudio software directly to reset it.

I like the software though since it allows me to add nice blinking lights to my jukebox ... which was something I had no idea how to do easily before Randy released his app.

Also the price was right ....... 

[bent98]

AFAIK Randy has no interest in releasing this so we can use it in our plugins. Would have been nice though.

The only solution I know of it to use some scripts by AlexDog to integrate them

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=4636

How would this script work with Mala?

[DashRendar]

Bumpity...

Any official word from Randy if this will ever be integrated into any FEs?

[arzoo]

Bumpity...

Any official word from Randy if this will ever be integrated into any FEs?

LEDBlinky has extensive Audio/LED features and is integrated with many FEs.

[headkaze]

LEDBlinky has extensive Audio/LED features and is integrated with many FEs.

Yeah really no need to bother with Randy's software anymore.

[hogcia]

its too bad this program never got the "make default" button, I would rather use this than Ledblinky with  my ledwiz

[RandyT]

its too bad this program never got the "make default" button, I would rather use this than Ledblinky with  my ledwiz

I wasn't aware there were still folks looking for this functionality.  I spent a few hours working on this last night (it's been about 5 years since I looked at it last).  All I need to do is add a command line switch, test it out and it should be good to go.  Will update the thread when this is done.

RandyT

[hogcia]

its too bad this program never got the "make default" button, I would rather use this than Ledblinky with  my ledwiz

I wasn't aware there were still folks looking for this functionality.  I spent a few hours working on this last night (it's been about 5 years since I looked at it last).  All I need to do is add a command line switch, test it out and it should be good to go.  Will update the thread when this is done.

RandyT

Hi randy, That would be awesome! I've tried your software with my new project and it works better for me than anything else out there. It's just so simple to use and it simply works. Once you release the update I will upload my pinball machine running this software, so people can see how awesome it works. Thanks

[hogcia]

Randy, Thank you for adding that "default button", its just what it need it. Software works like a charm now! Simply set your defaults and next time you reboot, the software will auto-run at startup and remember your settings. Easy, THANK YOU!

I made a video to show you guys...

[Brian74]

This will work perfect for my jukebox, thanks Randy!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[thagerty]

Is there a program out there with similar audio detection features that allows for audio to trigger keyboard key presses, or similar for controllers?

I want something that will do "keypresses" when specific sounds are detected from a MAME game for example.  I want to use this in my pincab to trigger DOFLinx DOF effects for MAME games.