Group Buy: Budget CRI 95 LED Strip Lights

[Jean Déraps]

I've also sent a couple of mails about the controllers and got no reply....

 

[Martin Stevens]

It was a small local store here in town that I found this at. I bought it a few weeks for this purpose. If I ever drive in that part of town I'll try to grab the name of the store, but I don't think it'll have a website.

Thanks Corey,

Yes, it is Aluminum wire, and not "Memory Wire".

See.... http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-armature-and-sculpture-wire/

9 Gauge is very close to the 3mm your are using here.

 

[Shane Kelly]

Thanks Corey,

Yes, it is Aluminum wire, and not "Memory Wire".

See.... http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-armature-and-sculpture-wire/

9 Gauge is very close to the 3mm your are using here.

I've bought t his before as "sculpture wire" or "armature wire"
http://www.artistsupplysource.com/product/46391/sculpture-house-aluminum-armature-wire-1-4-x-10/?utm_source=AR-froogle_Product-Ads&utm_medium=SculptureHouse&utm_campaign=SHI907D&gclid=CjwKEAiAjsunBRCy3LSlz_PJqCgSJACJY7yK6tZbaL37pCjrTJB3QvPZjp8RffzYAf2LY7tgIheXmRoCKZzw_wcB

 

[Corey Jacques]

I'm not really an arts and crafts kind of guy. In lighting when we break the barndoors in kinos we call it memory wire, and this stuff was similar to the memory wire in Kinos, so I just called it memory wire. not sure what the difference is, but I'm sure they work in a similar way.

 

[Martin Stevens]

This is one of the ways that KinoFlo does it...

Near the bottom of this page: http://www.kinoflo.com/Top Buttons/Support/Diva-Lite/DIV-401-120/DIV-401-120.html

See the parts called:

EXP-FXRS "Fixture Wire Repair Kit Silver"

and

PRT-FHD4 "Diva-Lite 401 Fixture Silver Conduit (4PK)"

The wire goes inside the conduit.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

A little project. LED "Kino" 4 Rows of Daylite and 4 rows of tungsten strips. each strip is 12"

The fixture is 16". My gel precuts are in Baby/Tweenie, 16" cuts, 24" Cuts, and Kino Precuts. So this fixture is able to use my 16" gel and diffusion pre-cuts without it looking too funny.

I made it so the strips are removable by velcro. Incase I want to tape it to a wall/ceiling. (The LEDs are as dimmed to about 5%)

I built this one to test run the prototype dimmer/controller tomorrow.

I'm going to have to build one of these! Thanks for sharing all this. Looking forward to hearing about how your tests went!

Hi Brandon, I responded to your last round of emails where you aske about the option to switch the controllers and I posed some questions. You're probably flooded with mails, so it doesn't bother me that I've haven't heard from you yet. Just wanting to make sure it doesn't get lost

Thanks a ton!

I don't see your email, Patrick. I sent you a PM.

I've also sent a couple of mails about the controllers and got no reply....

I got your email from the other day. Just replied.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Update!

I'm flying through the controller upgrades now. Just processed 80 people. If you want the quantity changed (up or down) just reply to the invoice and say how many upgraded controllers you want. I should be done tomorrow!

This will be a much faster way to do it since gmail has put all your replies (400+) into a single thread and there's no quick way to keep track of where I am with replies. I will be moving to Outlook or something like this to prevent this problem in the future.

Oh, and there are 2 new accessories for the controllers that you are going to seriously love. They will be in the second group buy. Very excited about these

 

[Corey Jacques]

The tests went good. I really like the "low brightness" mode. Low Brightness mode allows you to fine tune the dimmer at the lower quarter of the dimmer. The highest it will allow you to go is 25%. I wasn't expecting this to have this so it was a nice surprise. All the car scenes I lit on the last TV movie I worked on I used my Litestix and when doing night scenes, to keep as much of the BG exposed, the stix are usually dimmed to 20% and most dimmers (LED or not) are hard to fine tune at the lower setting. So this is great.

The dimming is very smooth.

There's an option to allow you to go from single colour, or variable colour. With the single colour selected, all 4 ports will dim together.

The terminals are nice and big. and allows you to get a good bite on the wires.

As for the frequency(PMW). I still want to play around with it some more. I have a small shoot coming up that I will do more tests with the different settings.

I haven't played with the Wifi mode yet. Not sure if there's an app yet for it. I'll shoot you an email brandon. All in all, I'm personally very happy with it, and glad it made it to where it is now.


I'm currently working on a little design for a Chinaball/Paper lantern style LED. I have it all wired up and all the electrical side of things are done. I just have to find a good way to mount it in a china ball via baby spud. So it may take some minor welding/fabricating. I'll post some photos in the next couple days when it's all finished up.

I'm running low on LEDs, so I'll have to make an order soon!

Cheers.

 

[Mike Quill]

Hey Brandon,

I PM'd you, but just want to make sure I'm on the list for the next group buy! Any idea when this will be happening?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Kyle Gentz]

Hey Brandon,

I PM'd you, but just want to make sure I'm on the list for the next group buy! Any idea when this will be happening?

Thanks,
Mike

+1 I did the same and want to know

 

[Joe Hell]

+1 I did the same and want to know

++1 Can't wait to be a part of the second group buy. Shame I didn't see the first one on time

 

[Brandon J.F.]

In case it's not clear, Corey just posted the first independent review of the new custom controller we are getting. He's the first beta tester to try it out:

The tests went good. I really like the "low brightness" mode. Low Brightness mode allows you to fine tune the dimmer at the lower quarter of the dimmer. The highest it will allow you to go is 25%. I wasn't expecting this to have this so it was a nice surprise. All the car scenes I lit on the last TV movie I worked on I used my Litestix and when doing night scenes, to keep as much of the BG exposed, the stix are usually dimmed to 20% and most dimmers (LED or not) are hard to fine tune at the lower setting. So this is great.

The dimming is very smooth.

There's an option to allow you to go from single colour, or variable colour. With the single colour selected, all 4 ports will dim together.

The terminals are nice and big. and allows you to get a good bite on the wires.

As for the frequency(PMW). I still want to play around with it some more. I have a small shoot coming up that I will do more tests with the different settings.

I haven't played with the Wifi mode yet. Not sure if there's an app yet for it. I'll shoot you an email brandon. All in all, I'm personally very happy with it, and glad it made it to where it is now.


I'm currently working on a little design for a Chinaball/Paper lantern style LED. I have it all wired up and all the electrical side of things are done. I just have to find a good way to mount it in a china ball via baby spud. So it may take some minor welding/fabricating. I'll post some photos in the next couple days when it's all finished up.

I'm running low on LEDs, so I'll have to make an order soon!

Cheers.

The PWM frequency stuff is built for testing right now. It will be a little different in the production units. Anything above 4/5k will be flicker free. If you want to shoot at high frame rates set it to 8k.

Looking forward to hearing more about your china ball rig!

Hey Brandon,

I PM'd you, but just want to make sure I'm on the list for the next group buy! Any idea when this will be happening?

Thanks,
Mike

+1 I did the same and want to know

++1 Can't wait to be a part of the second group buy. Shame I didn't see the first one on time

You guys all are on the list. I'll post it once we officially start the next group buy. Kyle and Michael, please check your PMs. I sent you one about this the other day. I need your emails. Joe, I need your email too. Please PM me.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Update: I just processed controller upgrades for another 100 people. If you would like to change the quantity you are getting (up or down) just reply to the email and tell me how many you want.

I have to call it a day now. It's 5am here. I'll be back at it tomorrow.

Ok guys, this is a first pass at a china ball...

Thanks for sharing this, Herbert!

 

[Martijn de Vre]

Hi Brandon,

Do you have any update about my LED strip order?


I can t wait.


Kind regards

 

[Federico Rizzo]

Hi Brandon

I'm waiting my update invoice too. I buyed 3 variable strips , 2 controllers, 1 power supply. However beside the new controllers I suspect I need to buy 2 additional power supplies as I have read that each strip need a power supply.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Hi Brandon,

Do you have any update about my LED strip order?


I can t wait.


Kind regards

I'll get back to your email today, Martijn.

Hi Brandon

I'm waiting my update invoice too. I buyed 3 variable strips , 2 controllers, 1 power supply. However beside the new controllers I suspect I need to buy 2 additional power supplies as I have read that each strip need a power supply.

You'll have to wait until the second group buy if you want to order more power supplies.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Regarding the TCLI tests a couple of you asked about, I contacted Sekonic about possibly adding this functionality to their C-700 meter (which I have). Here is their (edited) reply:

CRI is the only CIE recognized standard. As you can see we not only provided the RA (average of R1-R8) which is the CRI number that is commonly used but also special CRI so that one can properly judge, Red, Green, and Blue.

Sekonic representatives met with Alan Rogers at Photokina and have all of his information, software, and notes to study towards some decision of including it in the meter.


It appears that Rogers and his group are still tuning the TCLI system (definition and calculations) which sort of makes it a moving target for us.
When TCLI has become a standard, CIE and otherwise, we will consider a firmware upgrade to include it.


The C-700 design was created to allow for upgrades like this.

It's very exciting to hear they are already looking into it. I hope the TCLI standard gets finalized soon.

If you guys are interested in a possible group buy for this meter, let me know...

 

[Zhen Jie]

Regarding the TCLI tests a couple of you asked about, I contacted Sekonic about possibly adding this functionality to their C-700 meter (which I have). Here is their (edited) reply:



It's very exciting to hear they are already looking into it. I hope the TCLI standard gets finalized soon.

If you guys are interested in a possible group buy for this meter, let me know...

I am. =D

 

[Federico Rizzo]

Hi Brandon

Send me the invoice with the 2 new controllers update. No matter if I'll receive only a power supply. I cannot wait anymore.

Thanks.

 

[Antony Newman]

Not sure if you're jesting sir ... but I most definitelly would be in!

AJ

<snip>If you guys are interested in a possible group buy for this meter, let me know...