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I was at that show, admiring the lsers while considering working for the special effects company. That was a good show to get inspired by, they were running the lights "live" as in the lighting guy had to beat match the songs, so at every new scene, the lighting timing was slightly off, and the LD adjusted the speed of the effects to match the beat over 8-16 beats.

The Obey 70! that was the first DMX box I used. it's useful to understand what DMX is, and learn how to 'adress" fixtures, but, few things, but it's extremely limited, and without an external midi device to send signals to it, you'll have a hard time doing any sequenced events (like switching from red to white to red to white for example. Buy an Enttec DMX Pro or Enttec DMXIS to use with computer software, all lighting consoles are just a computer put into a form factor with keyboards that are helpful to quickly program lights, as well as input/output of lighting protocols (DMX, midi, artnet, timecode, etc)

With the Entecc or other brands of USB to DMX converter, you will be able to run the lighting software of several companies which gives you power tools to program lights.

on a $500 budget, I would buy at least 4 or 8 of these Par lights with RGBW LEDs, and if you want a bliding effect, get this strobe and only 4 par lights: dmx Strobe Light, you'll also need an Entec DMX Pro USB to DMX converter. Also maybe buy a $40 400w fog machine (DMX machines are available, but not necessary at this point for you) Those will let you learn how those things work together. That would have let me learn about color control without worrying about Pan, Tilt, and Gobo's at first. once you get how the Software works, you can decide if you want to play with beams of light via Moving head Profile beams, or Lasers, or if you like pixel mapping with lots of smaller LED devices.

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also slide up in the DMs if you're around Denver, I can show you all of this shit, sorta.

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ALSO, if you're an overacheiver, you can jump right into GrandMA onPC software, with MA3d visulizer, both free, and they will let you build a show in a virtual environment where you can see your beams and motion without buying the lights! The only rub is you need to pay for a $2000 controler to OUTPUT any of this stuff you've created, BUT, if you find a group that has that software, it's likely not many people there care about running it, and you'll be able to get a job with them, instantly.

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P.S. Lasers are my thing. thats like, all I do anymore. it turned into a job like a year after I decided I wanted to do this, and 2 weeks after I bought my first light.

Yes - it does have a controller. But, I'd like to take that out of the picture. I want to strip each of the RGB cables and wire them into the controller/driver that I linked you. Then using the Enttec adapter, I can input dmx into the driver to control the two led strips. I'm not looking to control the individual LEDs on each strip separately, just want to control the LED strip as a whole. Put some gradients, strobes, etc. I was thinking of programming some stuff on QLC+ and going through it like that. I'm not sure how good of an idea it is though.

I'm not trying to host a house party yet, just trying to learn DMX as a hobby. :)

However, for what you're saying regarding the Neopixels, these seem pretty cool: https://www.amazon.com/Aclorol-Individually-Addressable-Programmable-Waterproof/dp/B07BH3NDWV

If there was an easier way to drive them though, and be able to "program" a show from the computer - that would be nice. Can I use presets in QLC+ to control those Neopixel strips? Or would that require the ethernet to arduino complications which you just referred to?

I use REAPER to send midi data over Loopmidi to QLC+, which runs the DMX out to lights. I believe REAPER can play video as well. This has the advantage of being all free software (well REAPER is shareware but doesn't expire). You could use a free DAW or anything that can send MIDI to input to QLC+ as well. QLC+ supports lots of different DMX controllers including the UltraDMX Micro, which I believe is the cheapest USB-DMX controller you can find.

yes and no:

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those lights aren't dimmable, but you could turn them on and off via MIDI with

http://response-box.com/gear/decabox-midi-to-dmx-bridge/

and one of these for every 4 lights, set to switch mode

https://www.amazon.com/Eliminator-Lighting-ED-15-Special-Equipment/dp/B000WKY4C8/

and some 3-pin DMX cables and a 5 to 3 pin adapter to connect it all together. You may need to attach "Edison" connectors to the fixture as well.

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these fixtures may not turn on / off instantly - you'd prob be better off with either a custom solution or something that has DMX built-in and you can still use the decabox or a software solution to convert midi to DMX

https://www.adorama.com/ialwx10.html?CategoryID=64663

So I just bought DMXking UltraDMX Micro – USB DMX Adapter/Dongle.

Will this allow me to use a software to control the light?
What software is most recommended?

Thanks for the input of matching Hz to BPM, seems like the way I want to go.

It's one thing to learn the "how", it's another thing to learn the "why". I highly recommend doing some reading/research on the concepts of lighting design: when, why and how to use lighting to help tell the story. Some starting suggestions:

https://www.amazon.com/Stage-Lighting-Design-Craft-Life/dp/1854599968/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496027350&sr=1-3&keywords=stage+lighting

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Stage-Lighting-Third/dp/0415812003/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496027350&sr=1-4&keywords=stage+lighting

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Fantastic-Design-Stage-Lighting/dp/3791343718/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496027350&sr=1-5&keywords=stage+lighting

This is a super cheap RGB par on amazon. There’s a number of different sellers that sell the same product, so you may be able to find a cheaper one or a discount when buying multiple. They’re probably the cheapest rgb pars you can get.

so would something like this [24 channel decoder] (https://www.amazon.com/Channel-DMX512-Controller-Decoder-Project/dp/B00Q1N1NVK)work if i programmed the dip switches to channel 1?

If the lamps run on mains voltage, the most realistic option may be to strip electronics in there, rewire each lamp to one regular plug each, then mount 1-3 of those cheap 4 channel dimmers in each unit to dim them.

It's not particularly pretty, but it could realistically be the cheapest option, unless you have 27 spare dimmer channels lying around. You don't really want to mess with doing DIY mains dimming unless you've got an electrical background, and it sounds like you don't.

Adding LEDs in each lamp's section should be fairly easy, but you'll need to keep in mind heat. LEDs do not do well if they're allowed to get too hot, they'll die an early death. Check how hot the lamps make the area before settling on a design.

WS2812B will work, but keep in mind you'll chew universes quickly. I'll take a guess that each lamp has about a 10cm square around it, so if you line each lamp's space with 60 LEDs/meter WS2812, a 9 lamp unit will use 360cm of LED strip. That's 216 LEDs, 648 addresses, already over a universe.

As long as you've got a setup that can cope with that, you're set. Personally, I'd forgo the addressable aspect and get something like this for the big one, a 9 channel one for the small one, and just use regular LED tape. You'll still have per-box control and it won't be expensive just to set up, let alone control.

If you're determined to go addressable, use something like Enttec's Pixel Link system, or at the very least DMXKing LeDMX. I don't have a good source of high quality non-addressable LED drivers cause I've only ever looked on aliexpress. If there's a higher quality manufacturer for the 30 channel dimmer I linked earlier, I hope someone links it for both of us.