Guide · Visual Productions SpiNode
Pixel strips with a Visual Productions SpiNode.
Every pixel in SDC lands on the right LED on your strips.
The one thing to understand
The Visual Productions SpiNode has 4 ports. On the SpiNode's Routing page you set which universe each port starts at (Start universe) and which DMX address it starts at (Start address). From there, each port takes its pixel data from up to 6 universes in a row.
A port does not carry on from the one before it by itself. It takes its data from wherever its own Start universe and Start address are set. In this guide each port starts at address 1 of its own universe, so each port has its 6 universes to itself.
Tested with SDC 8.2 and SpiNode firmware 1.01.00:00005247
What you need
- ·A Windows PC running SDC
- ·A Visual Productions SpiNode on the same network as the PC
- ·Addressable pixel strips, for example WS2815
- ·The SpiNode's web page open in a browser
How pixels fill a universe
A DMX universe has 512 channels. An RGB pixel uses 3 channels, and SDC never splits a pixel between two universes.
A standard 5 m RGB strip at 60 pixels per metre has 300 pixels, so it uses 2 universes:
- ·Universe N: pixels 1-170 (channels 1-510)
- ·Universe N+1: pixels 171-300 (channels 1-390)
SpiNode settings
Example: 12 strips, 300 pixels each, RGB, WS2815. One port takes up to 1020 pixels, so it can drive three 300-pixel strips (900 pixels). One SpiNode drives all 12 strips: Port 1 on universes 1-6, Port 2 on 7-12, Port 3 on 13-18 and Port 4 on 19-24.
It makes the SpiNode take whole pixels from each universe, the same way SDC sends them. If it is off, the colors go wrong from pixel 171 onwards.
The SpiNode shows universes as two numbers. SDC universe 1 is 0.1 on the SpiNode, and SDC universe 16 is 1.0. From the factory, Port 1 is set to 0.0 - change it to 0.1, or it listens to a universe SDC does not send.
Visual Productions recommend about 1 metre or less between the SpiNode and the first pixel. For longer runs, a pair of their SpiExtenders carries one SPI signal up to 250 metres over Cat5 or better.
Adding the strips in SDC
Add the strips for Port 1. Open Add Fixtures and set Fixture Type to Pixel Strip, Pixel Count 300, Color Mode RGB, Fixtures Number 3, DMX Universe 1 and Starting address 1. Click Add fixtures.
Add the strips for Port 2 the same way, but with DMX Universe set to 7. Port 3 starts at universe 13 and Port 4 at 19.
Send the universes to the SpiNode. Open Settings and click Art-Net Routing. Under Universe routing, choose the SpiNode for Universe 1 to Universe 24. If the SpiNode is not listed under Devices found on network, type its IP address in the IP field and click Add.
If you add all 12 strips in one go, SDC puts them in one long row. The strips then no longer start where the ports start.
Check it
On the SpiNode's Routing page, the ports should show Last universe 0.6, 0.12, 1.2 and 1.8, each with Last address 150. That is 900 pixels: 5 full universes of 170, plus 50 pixels (150 channels) in the last one.
On the SpiNode's Home page, under Receiving, each port's universes should show your SDC computer's IP address as Source, and a frame rate under FPS.
Quick troubleshooting
Only part of a strip responds to color or dimmer
The strips were added in one go in SDC. Delete them and add them again, one port at a time (steps 1 and 2).
The last pixels of a strip stay dark
No. of pixels on the Pixels page is set too low. Set it to 900.
Colors are right up to pixel 170, then wrong
Alignment on the Routing page is off for that port. Turn it on.
Nothing lights
Check that Start universe is 0.1 (not the factory 0.0), that the port is enabled, that Source is Art-Net, that Art-Net Net is 0, and that the universes are routed to the SpiNode in SDC's Art-Net Routing (step 3).