I need to patch 4 separate Supernight LED light strips to ETC Element light board.

do you have a manual or do you know which dmx address does what?

I do have a manual and have read through patching an LED light fixture. Someone else has hooked up the lights and I have not been given the addresses as yet. I'm just not entirely sure how to proceed given that the fixture is not in the library and I will have to use "generic" when asked to identify the light

in the manual there should be a list of what addresses do what. can you take a picture/scan it and upload it here? (to upload click Reply, then Insert, then Image/video/file)

I apologize but I cannot find a list of what addresses do what in the general manual

There are other lights patched to the light board - we are working in only one universe

In order to know how to patch these fixtures, or how to create a profile for you, we need to know the control layout for DMX for the fixtures themselves. The only Supernight LED strips I can find online are not DMX controlled at all.  Do you have a DMX decoder connected?

Ugh I don't know - have been trying to find out - I wasn't in on the choice or hookup of the strips - they just did it and want me to patch them to the light board. These are the lights:

Supernight

RGB + Cool White, Mixed Color Changing LED Light Strip （No Power Included）

150pcs RGB LEDs + 150pcs White LEDs

• LED Type: SMD 5050
• Light Color: RGBW (RGB+Cool White)
• Length: 500cm/16.4Ft
• Width: 1cm Height: 0.25cm
• White Temperature: 6500K-7000K
• Working Current: 5A
• Working Input Voltage: DC 12V
• Waterproof Rating: non-waterproof
• LED Quantity: 300 LEDs Per 5 Meter or 60 LEDs Per Meter

I just heard back from one of the people working on this - they haven't even hooked up or addressed the lights - I need help

Apparently there are a couple of decoders at church but they have not connected them. I am attempting to learn DMX in a very short amount of time now in addition to my original question of patching those lights

i don't know those specific LEDs but it sounds like they don't directly understand DMX. you need a "translator" in between. i don't think you can currently connect them to your element.

as soon as there is this translator (sometimes called DMX decoder or LED dimmer) you can then think about what you need to do in your element. in the end you will be controling the translator box which in turn controls the LEDs

They are going to connect the decoder tomorrow. That is nice but now what.  I an address generated when the decoder is attached? Once it is attached and hopefully addressed then it's back to my original question. How do I patch something like this as a generic fixture?

DMX is quite simple. you send 512 values through the cable. and with the start address you tell the console and the light to which of those 512 values it has to listen to. those 512 values are sent over and over. a light that was set to DMX address 3 will always listen to the 3rd number.

the numbers sent go from 0-255. if the receiving thing is a dimmer 0 means light is dark, 255 means light is full. on the console side those values translate to 0% and 100%. the console makes it easier for humans, were better thinking in 0-100. the dmx side makes it easier for machines, they prefer 0-255.

for each property of a light you want to control you need 1 address. so your LEDs can do Red, Green, Blue and White. 4 different things, so you need 4 different addresses. they will usually have to be in a row (because that's what the decoder expects). with those 4 addresses you tell the decoder which levels its ouputs 1, 2, 3, and 4 should output.

so whoever installs the decoder has to make sure that to know and to tell you which color they connect to which output. to make it simple for you the order R, G, B, W would be prefered.

depending on length you will need more than one decoder. how many meters the decoder can do depends on how many watts the decoder can output and how many watts your LED strip consumes.

when the installation side is done you will need to check your patch for 4 empty DMX addresses in a row. i guess addresses 1-4 are used. maybe 501-504 are empty, but maybe you want to use 4 other addresses. 289-292. they just need to be currently unused.

decide which channel number you want to use. that's the number you will use to tell the console that you're controlling the LEDs now. that's just 1 number (not 4.) so channel is the number you'll use in everyday life to tell the console which light you want to control, the 4 addresses is what the console will use to talk to the LEDs.
so choose a channel number, something you can easily remember. it depends on which channel numbers you already used. maybe 100, or 66, or something.

when you decided on a channel number and know the addresses and know the order how the colors are hooked up to the decoder you have everything you need:

On Element, press [Patch]
then type: channel number [Enter]
click the {Type} field in the bottom right quarter of your screen
click the softkey {Search} on the bottom of your screen
search for "Generic RGBW 8 4"
double-click this light in the results box
type: [At] first address number [Enter]

when the installation side is done you will need to check your patch for 4 empty DMX addresses in a row. i guess addresses 1-4 are used. maybe 501-504 are empty, but maybe you want to use 4 other addresses. 289-292. they just need to be currently unused.

decide which channel number you want to use. that's the number you will use to tell the console that you're controlling the LEDs now. that's just 1 number (not 4.) so channel is the number you'll use in everyday life to tell the console which light you want to control, the 4 addresses is what the console will use to talk to the LEDs.
so choose a channel number, something you can easily remember. it depends on which channel numbers you already used. maybe 100, or 66, or something.

when you decided on a channel number and know the addresses and know the order how the colors are hooked up to the decoder you have everything you need:

On Element, press [Patch]
then type: channel number [Enter]
click the {Type} field in the bottom right quarter of your screen
click the softkey {Search} on the bottom of your screen
search for "Generic RGBW 8 4"
double-click this light in the results box
type: [At] first address number [Enter]

I cannot thank you enough. I am going in tomorrow to work on this - it is my hope that I don't have to bother you with further questions though I will if I must :)

Have a great rest of your day!

Hello, I apologize but I do need help with a couple of things - I went in today to patch the lights and found that they were not yet hooked up. I helped with that all day and they are now hooked up to a decoder, power source, and dmx.  My first question:  there is a place on the decoder that seems to want us to input information. It is digital. Do I, as someone patching the lights have to provide whatever information this decoder may need. It is a 32 Channel 96A RGBW DMX 512 Decoder. It seems like there are 3 places to set information digitally on the decoder.

My second question is to me even more important. I opened patch and scrolled through looking for free addresses. I found some, everything was fine and I went back to help assemble and hookup fixtures.  I know that someone opened a show from December to check something out but went back to the regular show that was on the screen - do not know if that has a bearing on what happened. when I returned to scroll through the patch window I was unable to scroll.  I can scroll in other views but not patch.

My guess is that the 3 digit display on the decoder wants to show the DMX start address of the decoder. So if you found a range of the addresses you need in your patch, you want to make the display show the lowest of those addresses. like 001 or 500 or whatever that lowest address is.

regarding scrolling the Patch display. how did you try? you should be able to scroll with either a mouse wheel or the up and down arrow buttons, provided that the Patch display is the active tab. the active tab is the one that has a gold or blue border around it.
to get the patch tab active you can either click its tab  or press the [Patch] button on your element.

Thank you for answering so quickly - I understand what you have explained regarding the decoder  - it makes sense thank you again.

As for scrolling, I was in patch - I even closed patch and opened it again. I was unable to scroll through my patch list using the mouse wheel or up/down arrow buttons. I'm hoping it's a matter of shutting the light board down and starting it up again but I'm not sure since I was able to scroll in my other tabs.

I was able to set the decoder correctly and patch all the lights with your help. Thank you so much for your timely answers and your patience! Have a good day and thank you again.