How to account for animation timing with physical gaps between multiple matrix panels?

Questions
1

Hey y’all!

I’m trying to figure out how to best approach rendering animations on both 1D & 2D effects to account for physical gaps between multiple matrices.

Example Setup:

  • 6 Panels each with 8Wx32H RGB LEDs.
  • Serpentine Layout

PANEL 1 (DIN >> 0, DOUT>> 255)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8

PANEL 2 (DIN>>256, DOUT>> 511)
256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263
271 270 269 268 267 266 265 264

ETC…

The panels have a physical gap between them (~3-4 inches). Currently, animations will immediately jump from virtual x column 7 to virtual x column 8 on next panel immediately and I’m trying to account for that gap/offset in physical space.

I’ve thought about fiddling with custom mapping but I am unsure if that would work for “hidden pixels” or using logic similar to some FastLED approach with irregular/gapped LED arrays along the lines of the code below:

/ Params for width and height
const uint8_t kMatrixWidth = 8;
const uint8_t kMatrixHeight = 32;

#define NUM_LEDS (kMatrixWidth * kMatrixHeight)
CRGB leds[ NUM_LEDS ];
#define LAST_VISIBLE_LED 255
uint8_t XY (uint8_t x, uint8_t y) {
  // any out of bounds address maps to the first hidden pixel
  if ( (x >= kMatrixWidth) || (y >= kMatrixHeight) ) {
    return (LAST_VISIBLE_LED + 1);
  }

  const uint8_t XYTable[] = {
   255, 254, 253, 252, 251, 250, 249, 248,
   240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247,
   239, 238, 237, 236, 235, 234, 233, 232,
   224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231,
   223, 222, 221, 220, 219, 218, 217, 216,
   208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215,
   207, 206, 205, 204, 203, 202, 201, 200,
   192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199,
   191, 190, 189, 188, 187, 186, 185, 184,
   176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,
   175, 174, 173, 172, 171, 170, 169, 168,
   160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167,
   159, 158, 157, 156, 155, 154, 153, 152,
   144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151,
   143, 142, 141, 140, 139, 138, 137, 136,
   128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135,
   127, 126, 125, 124, 123, 122, 121, 120,
   112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119,
   111, 110, 109, 108, 107, 106, 105, 104,
    96,  97,  98,  99, 100, 101, 102, 103,
    95,  94,  93,  92,  91,  90,  89,  88,
    80,  81,  82,  83,  84,  85,  86,  87,
    79,  78,  77,  76,  75,  74,  73,  72,
    64,  65,  66,  67,  68,  69,  70,  71,
    63,  62,  61,  60,  59,  58,  57,  56,
    48,  49,  50,  51,  52,  53,  54,  55,
    47,  46,  45,  44,  43,  42,  41,  40,
    32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  38,  39,
    31,  30,  29,  28,  27,  26,  25,  24,
    16,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,
    15,  14,  13,  12,  11,  10,   9,   8,
     0,   1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7
  };

  uint8_t i = (y * kMatrixWidth) + x;
  uint8_t j = XYTable[i];
  return j;
}

Hope that makes sense! :slight_smile:

Thanks!