Rainbow Studio

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Based on LX Studio, Prototype for Rainbow Bridge

BY DOWNLOADING OR USING THE LX STUDIO SOFTWARE OR ANY PART THEREOF, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE LX STUDIO SOFTWARE LICENSE AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT.

Please note that LX Studio is not open-source software. The license grants permission to use this software freely in non-commercial applications. Commercial use is subject to a total annual revenue limit of $25K on any and all projects associated with the software. If this licensing is obstructive to your needs or you are unclear as to whether your desired use case is compliant, contact me to discuss proprietary licensing: mark@heronarts.com

LX Studio is a digital lighting workstation, bringing concepts from digital audio workstations and modular synthesis into the realm of LED lighting control. Generative patterns, interactive inputs, and flexible parameter-driven modulation — a rich environment for lighting composition and performance.

Getting Started

To set up RainbowStudio, perform the following steps:

1. Download and install JDK 8.
2. Download and install Maven.
3. Clone this project.
4. From the cloned directory, build the project using mvn package.
5. Change directories to projects/ and execute java -jar ../target/rainbowstudio-1.0.0-jar-with-dependencies.jar.
6. RainbowStudio should launch with a side-scrolling white dot on a black grid
   1. Click "Folder" icon in top-center and select a pattern (e.g. "RainbowGifLife.lxp")
   2. RainbowStudio may show a blank screen. If it does, close it and reopen it.
   3. RainbowStudio should now show the desired pattern.

To Run RainbowStudio from IntelliJ:

1. Using IntelliJ, import Maven project from the cloned RainbowStudio directory
2. In the IntelliJ project, add run configuration using Maven template and enter 'compile exec:java' in command line field

Changes:

1. When making changes, do not forget to re-build the project either using command line or IntelliJ.

Helpful links for Linux environments:

1. JDK 8: https://www.javahelps.com/2015/03/install-oracle-jdk-in-ubuntu.html
2. Maven: https://www.javahelps.com/2017/10/install-apache-maven-on-linux.html
3. Clone this project.
4. IntelliJ: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/#section=linux
5. Using IntelliJ, import Maven project from the cloned directory
6. Add a run configuration using a Maven template and enter 'compile exec:java' in command line

Common issues:

1. Window size error: set "lx.ui.setResizable(RESIZABLE);" to false

Documentation

LX Studio User Guide

There is some minimal documentation on the LX Studio Wiki.

The RainbowGIF pattern uses an 'out-b' animated gif from beeple.

For Processing-based drawing check out the PGDraw2, AnimatedSprite, or AnimatedSpritePP patterns.

Pattern names ending in 'PP' are pixel-perfect patterns. They render to a straight 420x30 image which is effectively bent along the rainbow. For pixel art-type patterns, these work best. It is also possible to sample from an image but these will have aliasing effects because the Rainbow LEDs are in polar coordinate space while images use cartesian coordinates. Most image-based patterns have an antialias button to enable and disable antialiasing. Aliasing is especially bad on high frequency images with movement (lots of animated, overlapping geometric shapes). For sampled-image based patterns, the image is scaled to match the dimensions of the entire top half-circle of the circle defined by the Rainbow. This makes it easier to directly use the Radius in your image drawing code (see AnimatedSprite). It is also useful for using existing renderings as a texture, such as the RainbowGIF pattern.

Consult the LX Studio API reference →

More and better documentation is coming soon!

Troubleshooting

If you encounter an issue like the following on Linux:

com.jogamp.opengl.GLException: Caught ThreadDeath: null on thread main-FPSAWTAnimator#00-Timer0
    at com.jogamp.opengl.GLException.newGLException(GLException.java:76)

Then we recommend wiping your .lxproject file, selecting a .lxp file, and rebooting RainbowStudio twice. It was causing us issues, potentially due to odd-sized windows.

LX Studio Contact and Collaboration

Building a big cool project? I'm probably interested in hearing about it! Want to solicit some help, request new framework features, or just ask a random question? Open an issue on the project or drop me a line: mark@heronarts.com

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HERON ARTS MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SOFTWARE.