Arduino projects RGB LED Photoflood - full article at https://tekmaker.blogspot.com/2020/12/rgb-photoflood-arduino-project.html YouTube Videos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oBho88mrvk&list=PLD8LpUarTkkYW0hYQ8hFyVJ1XqDnbblBH You are free to use my code and modify it as you see fit, if you use it for commercial purposes please get in touch to agree a license fee and support tekmakeruk@gmail.com
So, I was looking at the price of photofloods for photography and video production and baulking at the prices. I had previously used a battery powered one with 160 LEDs that cost around 20 GBP which was ok for basic photography lighting fill-in, that is to supplement room lighting. But for video you really need something more powerful. So my criteria was
Must be mains powered Must be RGB programmable for effects Optional - can display scrolling messages Must stand prolonged usage Cheap enough to make several to provide multiple light sources, possible with differing tints. Easy to construct and copy.
Common sense and available components said it should be Arduino based because I have a drawer full (or did) There are many variants as cheap as 3 GBP in multiple pack purchase They are easy to program and have simple power needs, i.e. 5 volts the same as WS2812 LEDs
I have seen WS2812 256 LED programmable matrixes sold for as much as 70 GBP which makes me baulk! But a bit of research and some special offers on Ebay (other sources are available) had myself and my partner ordering one each on top of the one I already had sourced and tested some simple programs on. Now these are generally designed to have patterns, words and graphics displayed on them and I did buy a 8 GBP controller which can operate form a mobile phone and made some pretty patterns on one. I had heard a few people say that you should not run these 100% on all LEDs and it is also mentioned that the LEDs can become de-flowed, that is desoldered. Well you have been warned and the hobbyist is likely to be capable or soldering a few joints in the even of a problem. I think this will put out 5 Volts x 7 Amps = 35 Watts. Probably equivalent to 150 watts of incandescent lighting but with RGB control!