Canton Chills

I spent the day digging through my old DIY DMX projects and piecing together a system in order to test the Sprite DMX controller. It's best to explain as a series of tasks: Locate my Lynx DMX Dongle and install the FTDI/Virtual Comm Port drivers on my laptop (I'll use an older laptop later) Dust off my Lynx Express 16 channel AC controller to test the DMX dongle as well as finding the DMX-wired RJ-45 cables for doing so Figure out the RJ-45 to DMX signal wiring fron the Lynx Dongle Wire up the Sprite DMX module Find a suitable computer based DMX sequencer and figure out how to use it (a lot harder than I expected) Put it all together and make it work (my wife thought I was doing something useful) With the exception of spending about two hours trying to find the two tiny Sprite DMX controllers that I purchased last year (they weren't where I thought they'd be), most of my time was spent finding a suitable and easy-to-learn computer application for controlling the darn th

With the plan to use DMX synchronized video projections and lighting controllers, I have been getting busy with the setup for the 2021 Halloween display. This includes making sure the DMX hardware I have actually works and producing video content for the display. I feel that once I confirm the hardware will work, getting the hardware setup should be uneventful. The synchronized videos will require a lot more work, especially since I want to produce an hour long show (in order to not repeat the same scenes too often). I settled on four large video projectors for this season, but I know only where three of them are positioned. Figuring out where the fourth projector goes is eluding me and causing a little angst. I haven't tested the DMX controllers with the media players yet. I'm planning on testing them this weekend. This includes getting a DMX interface from the computer to the universe to work as well as sequencing software. I still have my Lynx USB-to-DMX interface but haven&

 A Halloween project I hoped to accomplish in 2020 was plaguing me over the weekend. It was the internal pumpkin projection mapping that I had hoped be able to build but just didn't have the time or correct construction concept. Now, I think I'm ready. The concept is to have the large, plastic pumpkins display the animated pumpkin faces from the inside utilizing the translucent properties of the prop. A quick test using the simple, small projectors and a mirror proved that it was possible. However, the projection ratio required the small projector be mounted about 18" away from the mirror in order to display cripsly and at the right scale. During a trip to Home Depot over the weekend, I passed by some wall-mounted, magnifying vanity mirrors and it sparked an idea. Strangely, I installed one for my wife years ago and see it every day, yet it never sparked inspiration. The new ideas should address two of my biggest problems. The first is to use a magnifying mirror in order t