Opinions and recommendation welcome!

Questions
1

To preface my question, a little background… I’m doing curtains! I have two windows per room in five rooms. I’m going to run each room with one WLED controller (a Quin DigUno - two channels). Each window will be one matrix.

Each window will have 11 strands of 4 wire fairy pixels. Each strand is 5cm apart, and the LEDs are 5cm apart. They have a return wire (not a backup) that I will wire so the 11 strands will be effectively one long strand. Here’s the wiring diagram:

curtains
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As I’m about to really dig into this, I’ve realized that each window has a wood “bar” in the center. This bar, annoyingly, falls in a bad place:

window1
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I’ve had one person, who is a VERY knowledgeable holiday decoration person, tell me to just leave it as is - from the distance nobody will see. BUT - I’m still curious.

My questions:

Is it possible to program WLED to do TWO matrixes per window, and to leave out/ignore one LED in the middle of each strand?

Should I cut out that one LED in the middle of each strand and add a small length of wire? And then do I need to somehow “program” WLED to know this, and again, maybe make each window have TWO matrixes?

Should I change the positioning so I have one LED just at the top and bottom of the wood bar? They’re close, the bottom of each LED just touches the wood - the diagram above shows that wood bar a bit thicker than it actually is.

I’m very much leaning towards that last one - shifting the LEDs to straddle the bar, and keeping each window as one matrix. BUT - I would very much like to hear opinions. Thanks!

2

You can use a gap file (2d-gaps.json) to disable unwanted pixels and you can create 2 segments, one for each window (or even 4 if you want each part to act different).
Please also check KB for further details on mapping or wait for @ALDIY to help you out.

IMO gap file should suffice, it is also simpler to create and maintain.

3

So let me make sure I understand:

To make one window, the left window, ONE segment, it would be LED numbers 1-12, 14-37, 39-62, 64-87 etc?) always skipping that one middle LED, because I’d enter the TOTAL number of LEDs (275), and that file would tell WLED to skip LED #s 13, 38, 63, 88, etc?

And then in the right window, segment TWO, the numbering would continue from the end of segment ONE (starting with 276), and that file would “tell” WLED to skip LED #s?

Because yes, that does sound like what I’m looking for! I’ll start doing some reading from WLED’s “mapping” page.

Curious, though - what YOU would do. One window/Segment? Or one window/TWO segments?

I’m not too afraid of digging into options, as long as I have someone to answer the occasional question!

Thanks! And I won’t turn down any help from @ALDIY (not sure who that is) either!

4

Reading over that page - heh, that just may be a bit above my knowledge level, but I’m willing. Where it says “Use -1 in the map for gaps/blank/nul LEDs” I’m probably going to need an example of how that would look. I’m going to assume that SOMEONE has made a youtube video about it, so I’ll keep researching all about it.

5

There is plenty of (scattered) information on Discord.

6

Oh nice - I’m a member of it - I’ll have to start using “search”!

7

A sample 2d-gaps.json file to disable diagonal pixels on 20x20 matrix.

[
0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,
0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0
]
1 Like
8

I am not sure why we are talking about segments as i assume you want to do a 2D setup , looks easy with blaz explanation of using gap file . Make your 2d setup as 22x24 and use a 2D-Gap file like blaz posted with those marked leds as -1 [ edit : as blaz meioned for gap file 0 is for blank and not -1 ]

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image
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Sorry I did not read all that was said except that i tend to agree with your friend on leave it as is ( i am not in favor of making physical leds off but should be easy to experiment with both ways )

9

I think my concern is - if the entire window is one matrix, 11 LEDs across by 25 LEDs down, it will look odd/bad if the center row is missing (because it’s behind the wood piece), and I was trying to figure a way around that. I really do like the idea of two matrixes per window, one at the top, one at the bottom.

10

I think it is flexible that you could do it in multiple ways ( real result on the fixture will only be able to be verified by you ) .

Usage of gap file with a large matrix seem the logical ( and simplest to test ) . You could still segment a matrix as you wish as with the below example

image
image1440×549 159 KB

I would highly recommend that you just start with what blaz suggested and if you do not like the result then remove the gap file and test the result . Same for having one matrix , segmented matrix …etc

11

Not -1 but 0.

12

Each frame should have its own segment IMO.
But you can experiment with just one or even more than 2. It doesn’t cost a dime.

13

Yeah i need to forget about ledmaps , yes it is with 0 or 1 for gap files

14

REALLY helpful, thanks! I need to remember that nothing short of physically cutting is permanent, and I can try all different ways. And will!!! :slight_smile:

1 Like
15

Take videos of each configuration you try - both so you can review them at the end to choose your favorite, and so you can share with us!

16

Good idea! Heh, I’m testing after each strand - and taking way too long going “OMG PRETTY!”

17

Woo one down, nine to go!
I really like this. Forgive the garage backdrop. The bottom bar will be weighted to straighten the strands out, obviously. And boy, was my count off! It ended up being 300 LEDs. Instead of 11 strands of 24 LEDs, it’s 12 strands of 25!

I appreciate the help posted here, but I wish there was a LOT more info out there on mapping. There are THOUSANDS of “Get started with WLED” videos and pages out there. Mapping? If you know of a good learning one, point me to it! :slightly_smiling_face:

At any rate - here it is! I WILL be doing the mapping thing to leave out the LED (probably?) but I need to do, as a beginner, more research first. I want to understand it.

Can’t upload a vid, here’s a pic:

curtain1
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18

Question: How is this example formatted like that? Is there just a “return” after the last comma in the line? I just created my first json, but it’s all one long line.

edit: I tried this - I created the ledmap.json file in /edit in my browser. I typed the below in the window, clicked save, rebooted WLED, turned it on. WLED came up default orange but - Nope, didn’t work (all LEDs came on). Thoughts?

{"map":[
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1]}
19

A kind soul on discord told me that I need to write out all the numbers and use -1 for the skips. I’ll try that!

20

And ALDIY came by and said HEY! He told you to use the 1’s and zeros! Do that! He’s currently helping me on Discord.