Halloween is coming up, giving us all another excuse to spend money on new costumes. Futuristic Halloween costumes that will blow their minds. Futuristic Halloween costumes that will blow their minds. If you're looking for a costume this Halloween that goes beyond the ordinary, check out some of these futuristic delights. Read More Whether you're throwing a party this Halloween or want the coolest haunted house in the neighborhood, getting those lights turned on to music and sound effects is essential.
Here are five apps and some hardware that will make the process easy. Whether you have some Philips Hue lighting or some colored LED strips, we've found something for everyone. Be sure to check out the demo reel below to get an idea of the effects each can do.
There's a reason Philips Hue smart bulbs are the leading smart home lighting brand:their API is great, and they have a host of third-party apps and even voice control from any iOS device. Philips Hue works with HomeKit:How to make the most of it Philips Hue works with HomeKit:How to make the most of it Philips has finally managed to integrate HomeKit into its Hue lighting platform, and it's amazing. This is what you need to know. Read more . I've even shown you how to interface with your bulbs from an Arduino before How to Control Philips Hue Lights from an Arduino (and Add a Motion Sensor) How to Control Philips Hue Lights from an Arduino (and Add a Motion Sensor ) Today I will show you how to control tone lights from an Arduino and then add a simple motion sensor. Read More Remember, there are a variety of Hue lighting fixtures available, not just standard plug-in bulbs. The Hue Go (CA / UK) is completely wireless with three hours of battery life, perfect for hiding inside a pumpkin!
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Hue Disco runs on a mobile device and uses the microphone to hear audio. This means no complex setup or audio routing. Simply place it near the audio source, launch the app, select the lights to use on the screen, and hit Run. You can choose between a faster effect with more strobes, smooth transitions, or a combination of both. Color schemes can also be adjusted, if you wish to restrict the display to just Halloween hues.
Plus, there's a strobe-only mode, which lets you interrupt musically-synchronized transitions and simply fire a burst of strobe. It's ridiculous fun and can be used to great effect in a hallway, with each light flashing randomly.
When you're bored with lights synced to music, Hue Disco has a special "mood mode" to gradually change ambient lighting, again with selectable color themes and transition times.
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Download -iTunes | GooglePlay
From the developer of Hue Disco comes this nifty Halloween-specific app. This isn't strictly for syncing to music, but it gives you a soundboard of scary Halloween sounds that sync up with your lights and the effect is brilliant. Simply connect your iOS device to your speakers and you'll find a total of 20 sounds to use in your haunted house. The pack consists of 16 unique effects that sound like a creaking door or a howling wolf, as well as 4 background sounds. Background tracks provide a great ambient vibe, while you can focus on manually triggering the really scary effects at the right time.
On the downside, if your haunted house has other physical effects that you need to control, it can be difficult to manually time everything correctly.
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Download -iTunes | GooglePlay
Ambify for macOS has similar configuration options as Hue Disco, but can function as an AirPlay target or capture existing system audio. Unfortunately, microphone input isn't an option, which seems like an odd omission. In testing I felt it was slightly less responsive than Hue Disco, with a slower fade-in effect and less strobing, but this is subjective and probably something you should try for yourself.
Ambify costs $10 to unlock, but the demo mode lets you try it out and check compatibility for a few minutes before it introduces white noise into the sound output.
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Download - GetAmbify.com
Note that there is also an iOS version of this, although it has pretty poor ratings due to its inability to work with Apple Music and other restrictions. If you use the Mac app as an AirPlay target, you can bypass this limitation.
Don't forget You can also mix and match these applications, either by choosing which lights are used for which applications or simply by having the light respond to multiple effects at the same time. You can have a constant flicker provided by the Hue Disco app, but replace it with manual Hue Halloween effects.
MusicBeam is a free virtual laser for your Halloween party. It is designed to be used with a projector and ideally a fog machine, displaying simple shapes that are reactive to music to emulate classic laser projections. It is a Java application, written using Processing Learn to Program in Processing:A Language for Visual Designers Learn to Program in Processing:A Language for Visual Designers The 21st Century is open to creativity through digital media and programming. Would it surprise you to know that there is a programming language designed for the artist in you? Read More You will need to set up your projector as an extended screen (on the right), not in mirrored mode .
If you're having problems with the executable, or if you're running macOS Sierra, which removed the ability to run apps with mismatched signatures, you'll need to run this through the source code in Processing. Make sure you have Processing 3.0+ installed, then open /fuente download directory, and drag the MusicBeam.pde in processing. You will also need to install the third party libraries called controlP5 and blanca from the Import Library menu option.
From the main screen you can set and forget a completed automated mode, or manually set the mode and options.
Hue Bulbs are certainly a lot of fun, but quite expensive to buy new. Alternatively, you can purchase RGB LED strips for as low as $5/meter. They don't have any smart home integration, but you can control them from a Harmony system once you've learned the remote codes How to control your custom RGB lighting from a Harmony remote How to control your custom RGB lighting from a Harmony remote If you own a Harmony Remote, you're probably aware that they can now control Phillips Hue's "connected lightbulb":a Wi-Fi enabled but exorbitantly priced, $200 set of LED bulbs. But did you know your... Read more. For simple music syncing, you can buy a separate RGB music controller for around $25. That particular model can drive up to 20 meters or 10 amps through two channels, though you'll need to pair it with a 12V power supply. adequate..
There are limited settings compared to any of the apps we've mentioned, but it does have a strobe or fade mode, and a sensitivity dial. Non-musical control can still be used with the included remote, so you can completely replace your existing LED driver.
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Professionals use the DMX protocol to control smart lighting fixtures. An introduction to DMX lighting control - take your lighting to a whole new level. An introduction to DMX lighting control - take your lighting to a whole new level. Smart lighting systems used to be an expensive domain for only professionals; but with the proliferation of cheaper electronic and computer control systems, amazing lighting effects are now firmly within the reach of the hobbyist... Read More With relatively low cost USB to DMX adapters, today anyone can put on an orchestrated lighting show thanks to some open source software on their PC. I've shown you how to do this before How to make your first musical light show with QLC + How to make your first musical light show with QLC + Learn a new skill this weekend:how to make your Christmas lights flash to the beat of music . It's like being a DJ, but much cooler. Read More
Of course, you'll need DMX-compatible lighting fixtures, but you can get a cheap moving head fixture for under $100, or buy DMX controllers for RGB strips (~$15) like I used in the video above. Professional devices cost much more, of course, the kind you see at a music concert will cost upwards of a few thousand dollars each.
If you've seen the viral videos of Halloween and Christmas lighting perfectly synced to a particular music track, it's done with DMX and requires many hours of intricate sequencing by hand. DMX also allows precise control of relays for physical effects, not just lighting. The solutions we've described so far are automatic, but the most impressive screens require a lot more work!
A fog machine greatly adds to the haunted house effect, and it usually comes with a wired or wireless remote. Hacking a smoke machine into an automated smart home system is a bit more complex (you can't just add a smart outlet), but if the remote uses a 433mHz signal, this tutorial will give you control of OpenHAB How To. control OpenHAB cheap RF outlets How to control OpenHAB cheap RF outlets Do you have some cheap RF based outlets but found that there are no smart home hubs that work with them? You can link them to your DIY smart home system with only about $10 worth of parts. Read more.
What will you be lighting up your haunted house with this Halloween?
