Group Buy: Budget CRI 95 LED Strip Lights

[Donald MJ Anderson]

Rating the unit lower and beginning production with the unit as it stands is the best idea.

As I said before, save perfection for V2. This is likely to spill into 2016 and onwards otherwise.

 

[Bing Bailey]

Brandon gave everyone the option at each stage to stay in , anyone who didn't know this was developing something that didn't exist on the market in this form isn't paying attention. I've found Brandon to be straight up and honest and amazingly through all his health issues he's persisted with this were many would have given up. I think in the end people will be happy with what comes out of it and the next time out it will be a place your order and ship. birth of something new can be a painful process but we got a vote on each stage whether to keep going.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Brandon ignored all of my messages after I paid... At least the last 7... . I asked several times if i could get the lights... No answer...

I can assure you that I was not ignoring you. The last email I have from you is February 10th, Lawrence. I'm not sure where your 7 missing emails went to. I searched all 3 email accounts you might have emailed me at. Still looking. If you want your lights now, confirm your address and phone number by email and they will go out as soon as possible.

EDIT: FOUND YOU

I just sent you an email about your shipping details. Your stuff will go out tomorrow if you get back to me today. Email is the best way to reach me.

EDIT: OOPS

Found your address in a PM from early July. I missed it and apologize. It was around the time I was in the hospital. For about 3 weeks I was totally out of commission. I just submitted your order for delivery. I'm sorry.

 

[Michael Jarvis]

I think we need to coordinate something. When we hit the year mark....down to the minute when the thread when up....lets all take a shot together. Lets drink to a crazy ride, crazy idea, and a year of work....working with each other....and the amount of energy and effort that has gone into this thread. Its pretty amazing really.

 

[Lawrence Steele]

Check your PM... some you answered, some not...

" If you want your lights now, confirm your address and phone number by email and they will go out as soon as possible."

I did that, the last time on the 07-01-2015, 09:41 PM..... And after that I asked what happened… If you like, I can post some screenshots.


But i can understand your situation, so not a big problem. But you should also understand, that not all are total happy with the situation.

edit:


Your health is more important than some lights, so really no big problem. As I wrote, you did a great job. But I hope its ok, that I think from time to time: “dam, I could need the lights now…” J

 

[Brandon J.F.]

But i can understand your situation, so not a big probleme. But you should also understand, that not all are total happy with the situation.

Including me. I'm not at all happy with the situation. I totally understand. In the future, please email me about issues with your order. Everything was submitted for the warehouse to send you your stuff. It will be today or tomorrow morning that it goes out.

 

[Note Suwanchote]

I had a late night, 5am my time, Skype talk with the manufacturer. They are lowering the frequency of the controller in 3 increments to find which is the highest frequency that keeps things cool. That's in process now and should be the last step in getting things optimized. Once they settle on the frequency and pcb combination, they will need to make a few software tweaks. Then they're shipping off the sample to me. It looks like it will be next week. I'll get status updates along the way and will keep everyone informed.



I sure hope so. It's looking like December.



Good idea. I'll dig some stuff up when I'm back at my computer.



I'll email you today, Note.

thanks.

 

[Corey Jacques]

I've been keeping up with the status of this one, even though I requested to receive my strips before, rather than wait for the controller. I think the controller is going to be worth waiting for. I just did a job where we needed a lot of strips at a very last second for a sci-fi film, so we used all of what I had from this group order, plus some from LiteGear. I think what people need to know is that the price of a polished/readily available product is much more costly then what is here. Even LiteGear's affordable dimmer is 150$ and it only handles 4Amps(~8').

I understand that people paid for this product already, but if you guys really need something to dim you strips, just order a couple micro dimmers, especially if you're holding back from using the strips till you have something to control them. I know for a fact if I ordered a bunch of strips and had nothing to dim them with I would be a little more than eager to get these controllers. So don't get me wrong, I'm excited for these controllers to get wrapped up, and when I mentioned LiteGear as an alternative for the time being, I just say that for those who really need a dimmer yesterday, like myself. Even though I own tons of Litegear product, I also plan on getting more controllers from Brandon after these ones get sent out. They are still much cheaper than their cheapest, and they still can power more than their best.

Here's some pictures I took from my poor iPhone 5.


All the practicals are LED strips, there's more on the wall and above the bed area.

A little messy :/ but here's a couple DMX dimmers linked in with a 12Amp power supply on a back of a flat. All fresnels and LED were DMX-ed.

Lots of green spill. All the tungsten lights were off in this picture. Art dept ran out of practical elements for a cockpit and VFX agreed to add some in post. Because the elements were recessed in, lighting green card from above created a lot of problems with shadows of the frame, and that mixed with character's hair would also be problematic. So we, the lighting dept thru some 30+ chunks of strips to backlight green + Diffusion and VFX decided that, that would be the best way around it.

Needed a bit of extra light on the kid's faces, wide shot.

Props needed a small prop to glow(Forgot to take a picture of the prop)

Basically, just a small 12V battery with 2 small chunks of LED stuck to it, wrapped in heatshrink to give it a clean look

Since they didn't last all day, so I built multiples. But I couldn't figure out of a way to turn them off and on. So I ended up using a small piece of plastic to slide in between the battery and the contact.

 

[Les Hillis]

Thanks for your ongoing efforts Brandon.

Good to see the strips in action Corey, thanks.

Edit - Was going to ask if international orders were also going out on schedule, but got the timeline wrong, my PM confirming request for separate delivery of spools was in May, but subsequent e-mails were exchanged in September, so not that long ago.

 

[Martin Stevens]

Awesome Corey.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

This is why I'm done with group buys. I don't care what the discount is.

Unless the manufacturer has the product "ready to ship", you will not see me in another group buy again.Group Buys should be limited to established companies with products that are ready to ship.

I urge the moderators will make this a rule.

Pretty confused over your angst. This thread is called "Group Buy for Budget CRI 95 LED light strips." That's what I paid for and that's what I received months ago as advertised. If you think checking a forum once every few weeks is "Money" aka time then Brandon is probably donating these controllers to you based on the time he has put in. If you don't want a fancy wireless controller for your Budget CRI 95 LED light strips then 3 seconds and a banana clip is all you need to make them work.

 

[Phil Holland]

Pretty confused over your angst. This thread is called "Group Buy for Budget CRI 95 LED light strips." That's what I paid for and that's what I received months ago as advertised. If you think checking a forum once every few weeks is "Money" aka time then Brandon is probably donating these controllers to you based on the time he has put in. If you don't want a fancy wireless controller for your Budget CRI 95 LED light strips then 3 seconds and a banana clip is all you need to make them work.

Moderators are looking more closely at Group Buys these days. This particular one falls in bounds because Brandon's initial concept of delivering just the strips was promised and he is delivering. The additional folks awaiting the controller was a bit of a surprise and option that some chose (including myself). Brandon will ship the LED strips to you if you desire him to do so. In terms of what a GB is about, this was mostly done right and still is being worked on.

Carey's issue stems greatly from numerous Group Buys of the past, some of which he was apart of and possibly put too much responsibility on his shoulders and even could negatively effect his professional career.

Some companies are just looking for the exposure. Some Group Buy's represent a good deal for a great product. Before anybody on any side of it gets involved they should research the product, company, and people involved to make sure they are comfortable committing. On a good day, everything works out. On a bad day you may find yourself waiting a year or two for a product that will never delivery on it's promises. Be careful out there.

That said, I've participated in a few of these now and have been mostly satisfied. But I do indeed do my due diligence to research everything possible and have yet to be burned. I feel for those of this community who have been been bitten hard by some of the stranger Group Buys and that's one of the many reasons we are a bit more "on top of them" now.

From everything I understand, Brandon has been doing a good job here. Though he has had both serious health issues and a long delay on the optional controller.

 

[Carey Lee Coffey]

I never once said Brandon was doing a bad job. In fact, he's done an amazing job, especially considering his health issues.

What I'm trying to say is that, in my opinion, the 20% discount you get from these group buys is NOT WORTH waiting 1-2 years for.

If you need to save such a small amount of money that badly, maybe you're in the wrong business.

By the way Phil, I don't see how an off shore, third party company, who I am in no way affiliated with, and who has failed to live up to THEIR promises, could "negatively effect my professional career" in any way whatsoever. My career is alive and well and will not be affected in any way by one particular incompetent company that I happened to gather a group together to make a wholesale purchase from.

My career is in filmmaking, not in organizing group buys. I only did these group buys for the greater good of the community. I did organize a lot of very successful group buys, by the way. But they are somehow forgotten.

Oh, and I ordered my controllers at the exact same time that I ordered my lights. I was under the impression that the controllers were nearly ready to ship. We were initially told they would all be delivered together. I understand the delays.

I'm just expressing my thoughts.

I learned, the hard way, to never do business with an offshore start up company again.

I also learned that I'd rather just make the money I need for what I need now, rather that naively buy into a group buy, just to save a measly 20%, expecting them to deliver as promised.

That is all.

Great job Brandon!

 

[Phil Holland]

I agree Carey, it shouldn't effect your reputation. But in the days where just a handful of people are organizing group buys certain people are put under a new magnifying glass when things go south. And I agree, that wasn't your fault at all. That's not what I'm saying here. I also know you put on successful ones at that. I personally wouldn't want to be apart/attached/involved with anything like a few of the more negative GBs. It's the company that doesn't deliver sometimes and it does negatively effect everybody involved in some fashion.

Anywho, have a good weekend.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

What I'm trying to say is that, in my opinion, the 20% discount you get from these group buys is NOT WORTH waiting 1-2 years for.
That is all. Great job Brandon!

I completely agree. However to play devil's advocate,if something takes a year to deliver, there probably isn't anything else available that competes with it. If there was a controller for instance that was shipping today I wouldn't be waiting on Brandon's I would have simply ordered it at the start--nor do I think Brandon would have bothered working with the engineers to offer such a product. I know that's kind of what you were getting at with the kickstarter comment but I don't think price really factors into it so much as unique solutions.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

We built 2 big variable panels today. Here's one of them in action:

This is only 1 roll of variable lights with only the daylight LED chips powered. The lights are ~14 feet off the ground. All powered by a v-mount battery. It's a ton of light.

Unfortunately, it started raining on us, so I couldn't film any tests.

I have 9 panels of various sizes built now. We are using these to light a hospital lobby and a couple hallways next week. The plan is to tape them up to the ceiling and use foamcore as a bounce. It's a long Steadicam shot and 270 degrees of the lobby and all of the hallways are visible (and you can see out 100+ feet of windows), so there are not a lot of options to hide lighting. If we didn't have these LEDs, we would have to shoot the scene very differently.

If there was a controller for instance that was shipping today I wouldn't be waiting on Brandon's I would have simply ordered it at the start--nor do I think Brandon would have bothered working with the engineers to offer such a product.

Absolutely true.

I've been keeping up with the status of this one, even though I requested to receive my strips before, rather than wait for the controller. I think the controller is going to be worth waiting for. I just did a job where we needed a lot of strips at a very last second for a sci-fi film, so we used all of what I had from this group order, plus some from LiteGear. I think what people need to know is that the price of a polished/readily available product is much more costly then what is here. Even LiteGear's affordable dimmer is 150$ and it only handles 4Amps(~8').

Thanks for posting these pictures, Corey! The controller has come a long ways since you last tested it!

I am still getting through everyone's messages and orders. If you want your lights and kits now, please EMAIL me (vs. PM). It's much faster for me to get your order out then. Don't forget to confirm your shipping address and phone number.

If you are interested in grabbing extra lights (there will be some left), Email or PM me. It will take, at least, a few days for me to reply to you.

Thanks again for your patience, everyone.

 

[Miha Kolar]

I'm just wondering - how are you guys powering the strips from V mount batteries? Because strips are rated at 12V voltage and Vlock is 16,8 (full) to somewhere 12V (empty)? If you are powering directly, that's really heating things up and shortening their life...
I'm thinking of building few controllers from buck converter (http://www.ebay.com/itm/15A-DC-DC-S...305407?hash=item1c4aa360bf:g:-HIAAOSw3ydVkUG3) and soldering one more potentiometer for regulating (6-12V) on there. Then you can supply it with any voltage between 12 and 34 Volts and it will give you out exactly 12V at maximum.
I'm thinking of using some 4S LiPo batteries, 19V laptop supply etc.

Here is a link how to make one yourself https://youtu.be/jLia59KfkSw?t=8m45s (great video for led panel build - a bit heavy though) and with that Buck converter from above link you can power up to about 7-8m (9 in theory) of strip. And that is like under 20usd for a regulator with dimming and all the xt60 connectors included.

Has anyone of you think of using these strips in this kind of alu led profile :http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free..._77_91_80,searchweb201644_5,searchweb201560_9 ?
I'm thinking of making few 1m long tubes and use them just as kinoflo light bulbs. And if you want "harder" light you can always take diffusion tube of them...

 

[Brandon J.F.]

You're right, Miha. It would be better to use a regulated power source, but I haven't found any prebuilt solutions that can handle a full roll of lights (or more). I mostly use AC power supplies, but sometimes batteries are the only option and I haven't had a problem. I will definitely look at the links you posted.

I've tested out a lot of tubes. Some are crap, but I found a few that work really well. I posted a few pictures here a while ago.

 

[Tom Van]

Assuming you have the right connectors to the strips, would something like this work for regulating power from a V mount battery?

http://mediablackout.net/product/regulated-p-tap-to-dc-barrel/

 

[Tom Van]

More examples of this please! It would be nice to see a closeup of the actual setup as well.