HI I need help i`am trying to find out if its possable to make a fire works effect to use with neopixels as my son has autism and doesn’t like loud noises want to try and make this for side of house for xmas lights so it looks like a firework going up them splitting off into a few different strands maybe splitting the neopixels in to 5 or 6 strings don’t know if it possable to make it change colour and brightness when it splits thanks for your help in this don’t know if its even possible iam new to all this just learning so any help would be great
@Mark_Kriegsman posted some fireworks code on here a little while ago. You should be able to find it if you search the community
Cool thanks ill have a look around see what can find
If you’re just starting out with this, I’d start by getting simple effects running and build up from there.
@dave_windsor
Here’s a link to post i made of my fireworks display…
https://plus.google.com/106626345342202981932/posts/Kniw33j29GH
Of course it is possible to create a nice fireworks simulation with a lot fewer LEDs. What is your budget ? What have you done with adressable LEDs and Arduino or other microcontrollers ?
hi budget not a lot lol have 100 neo pixels and use arduino uno ,nano just getting in to all this as trying go make xmas special for kids and do i have to use martix displays the firework displays was thinking maybe use a strand of say 30 then splitting them in to a few other strand and changing the colour as they fly off to the end of the strings hope this makes sense what something to go on side of house hopefully
Yes, I think you could make that work even with as few as 100 LEDs AND with just a UNO or Nano !!
I understand what you mean by a strand of 30 that will be used for the initial launch and flight of the fireworks and when it reaches the end, a number of spokes let’s say 7 spokes of 10 LEDs each that will be the sparks flying off from the center.
I would suggest that you use less LEDs for the initial flight (maybe 15 ?) and spread them out more. The fun part is in the explosion and spread of sparks so you coud have 85 LEDs leftover for that part.
When you have your LEDs all setup in the shape you want, I (and many others in this community) can help you with the firework simulation.
thanks now the big question how do i get it to use random colours after the explosion and how do i make the explosion i have basic code to make it go up the string of leds and again thanks for everyones help on here ill let you know when i have the leds all done
In the post of My fireworks, at someone’s request, I included a link to the actual sketch that generates the Fireworks that you see.
That is a modification of the original sketch from Mark Kriegsman so that I could have multiple, simultaneous, random color fireworks.
Just dig through that a little and you will see how a random color is selected for each explosion and how I slowly fade out each spark until they completely ‘burn off’. That should give you a good base to start your own sketch
Now, I am not a programmer, I just hack away at programs until they submit to my will !!! You may find my sketch to be difficult to read or understand at first but once you have your physical LED setup working and doing even some very basic animation, come back, post your own code and help will come !
thanks JP Roy for all your help.
Hi jp Roy can I convert your code for the firework display as u use a matrix can it be done with a string of leds male into a matrix of 10x10 have ordered more leds for other firework effect have ordered 200 loose pixels so have lots to solder when they turn up lol
Hi @dave_windsor ,
Yes of course you can, but it will not be so easy !!
I used multiple pins on a Arduino MEGA such that each column of 25 LEDs was on it’s own pin. You can use only one pin and have them all in series but you will have to change the LED array definitions and accessing specific pixels in your array will also be very different.