RGB lighting ... What should i do?

[SynergieOfficial]

Hey,

i'm planning my new build. i'm pretty sure which parts i'm going to put in it, but there is one thing i keep changing my mind with. And i think some others have the same issue.

I work for a light and sound company, so i'm busy allot around lighting effects and know a fair bit of RGB lighting. Corsair/Razer/.... brought us all the gift of their RGB peripherals so i wanted to go for a RGB themed setup. But for case lighting there isn't many options available for RGB lighting. Since i work with DMX controlled RGB fixtures, i created a passionate hate for the remote controlled rgb strips. I'm never going to use those.

I wanted to go in the direction of the NZXT HUE. I hear mixed reactions about this thing. Some say its not worth the money and some say its doing its job. The 5.25" bay controller is also an issue because i want to use a NZXT h440, But some duck tape or Velcro will do the job. The controlling is easy with those knobs on the front but the level of "fantasy" you can put in it is limited(in comparison with the software of the peripherals). I'm curious what you guys think of this. The other option i have is to solder and code my own controller with an arduino/intel gallileo/..., some transistors, resistors and some standard rgb strips. But than the price and time put into it will go to damn high.

 

The ideal option would be something like the NZXT HUE but than software controlled. to have the most customizability out of the strips  (*nudge* *nudge* NZXT). 

Any of you guys have any more options, suggestions or just an opinion how i should takle this RGB PC lighting thing?
Please feel free to let me know.

Greetings
Synergie

 

 

P.S. sorry if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move

[KamiKatze]

I have the HUE, all i can say is that it's brilliant. It can't do any synchronized light shows and you can't put in your colour via a hex code but I'd say its pretty close to perfect.

 

You can do the color you want with a little bit of finger tip sensitivity.

 

What i like about the HUE is that it mixes it's colors out of RGB, which means that if you have e.g. red components in your build and you mix a purple light with the HUE, the red part will be reflected by the components which makes them shine brightly in their color.

 

Edit: i had some LED strips before but i was never satisfied until i met the HUE. So i can speak from experience. The HUE's LED strip itself is nothing special but it will get the job done properly.

 

 

Edit2: @SynergieOfficial please follow your own topic, so you get notification whenever there's a response.

[SynergieOfficial]

Hey,

Thnx for sharing your experience. The hue looks like the best option atm. I'm just hoping that someone has a genius idea to achieve the best. The goal i want to achieve is to make my system looks like 1 unit with the lighting effects, For example if i can let a ripple effect glow over my entire system, going from my head (headset) to my hand (mouse & keyboards) then into my pc. if thats possible that would be sick

Greets

[KamiKatze]

Hey,

Thnx for sharing your experience. The hue looks like the best option atm. I'm just hoping that someone has a genius idea to achieve the best. The goal i want to achieve is to make my system looks like 1 unit with the lighting effects, For example if i can let a ripple effect glow over my entire system, going from my head (headset) to my hand (mouse & keyboards) then into my pc. if thats possible that would be sick

Greets

 

You also need to quote people in order to notify them individually.

 

 

What you want can be achieved, but not with the HUE.

 

Those kinds of effects usually include a individual LED controller and a bit of setting it up, maybe even some soldering. I am not experienced in setting up light shows/ custom controlling LEDs, so i can't give any more tips in that regard.

 

For simple color coordination the HUE is perfect, for light shows, you might want to get custom with this.

[Insomaniac]

I think you already know enough to have your answer If you want that ripple effect you'll have to do it yourself. 

 

My only suggestion for pre-bought would be if RAZR or some brand had software to control all the lights together and just butcher something cheap(a mouse) and convert it into just a light, though I doubt any superb effects could be achieved. You could potentially use your different motherboard fan outputs(if they are unused) and control them that way with Speedfan though it's a little putzy. Or if you are good enough to program your own motherboard fan control software. 

[SynergieOfficial]

I think you already know enough to have your answer If you want that ripple effect you'll have to do it yourself. 

Yes i got a general idea what to do.

But i feel that there are too little "ready to use" options available. So i'm curious what  other ppl invent/know about this.

 

Those kinds of effects usually include a individual LED controller and a bit of setting it up, maybe even some soldering. I am not experienced in setting up light shows/ custom controlling LEDs, so i can't give any more tips in that regard.

 

I did some research about making a own custom controller. but the cost ramps up to a 80$-100$ range. and as i said above , i can't believe someone didn't already made/found something.

[KamiKatze]

Yes i got a general idea what to do.

But i feel that there are too little "ready to use" options available. So i'm curious what other ppl invent/know about this.

I did some research about making a own custom controller. but the cost ramps up to a 80$-100$ range. and as i said above , i can't believe someone didn't already made/found something.

You could search for raspberry Pi setups. That thing with a bit of programming could probably be a good led controller. Maybe somebody has already done something with the Pi in that regard.

Edit: what you ask for is not going to be cheap. Not much you can do about it

[Grrizz]

I've made my own Arduino based controller (in my build log) but it wont do the ripple you're after, the problem with doing a ripple is you need to be able to control every LED individually or at least several groups of LEDs which is a PITA and means you cant use common pre-existing LED strips. Its not hard to do, it would just require custom everything which is why I imagine its not commonly available in retail form because the investment in making everything from the controller to the strips would probably be hard to make a profit off for such a niche product without having a relatively high price on it.

[UnMonk]

Just use an arduino and any ws2812b strip. 

[Insomaniac]

Your major hurdle is finding the power wire for your LEDs in the mouse and keyboard. I really don't think it would be that difficult to do if you are experienced enough. Just a bit of soldering and unsoldering really, you could either power the LEDs directly yourself with the Arduino or us the Arduino to function as an interrupter type switch to control the lights that way and still utilize most of the keyboards built in power. You would want to figure out what voltage those LEDs in the keyboard and mouse are so that you do not blow them, which shouldn't be hard.

 

Otherwise the rest of the work is in Arduino and programming your light effects the way you want.