This is a simple object oriented python interface for Color Kinetics "kinet" protocol, written by Giles Hall. It is used to drive color kinetics lights over ethernet. It is pretty easy to get started with.

A PowerSupply class is an encapsulation of a network attached Color Kinetics power supply, such as the PDS-150e. The PowerSupply class handles building a Header object, which initiates all communications with Color Kinetics network attached devices. If you need to customize the Header payload, this is easily done by making a Header object, changing the attribute in question, and using it as a argument for the PowerSupply's constructor. The default Header should work in most circumstances. If your power supply's IP address was "192.168.1.120", you would simply say the following to instantiate a PowerSupply object:

>>> pds = PowerSupply("192.168.1.120")

A fixture is an encapsulation of a single, addressable light fixture. Currently, there is only one Fixture type supported, and that is an RGB fixture. You could extend the Fixture class for RGBAW and white only fixture types.

The RGB fixture allows you to easily control its RGB values through attributes. You can also get or set the RGB values using HSV, which are internally converted. This makes it easy to write rainbow cycles. See example.py for an example on how to do this.

Fixtures are constructed on their lowest DMX address value. For example, if a RGB fixture spans (3,4,5), you would build the fixture object on 3 like so:

>>> fix = FixtureRGB(3)

The PowerSupply class inherits from list. To bind a fixture to a PowerSupply, all you need to do is append it:

>>> pds = PowerSupply("192.168.1.120")
>>> fix = FixtureRGB(3)
>>> pds.append(fix)

To change a value on the lights, you would simply tell the PowerSupply to go():

>>> pds = PowerSupply("192.168.1.120")
>>> fix = FixtureRGB(3)
>>> pds.append(fix)
>>> pds[0].rgb = (255, 0, 0)
>>> pds.go()

FadeIter is a convenience class to allow smooth transitions between two different scenes. It will fade all the 512 channels between two different scenes for a duration of time. For example, if we wanted to fade the first fixture from all off to entirely on over a ten second period, we would simply write the following:

>>> pds1 = PowerSupply("192.168.1.120")
>>> pds1.append(fix)
>>> pds2 = pds1.copy()
>>> pds2[0].rgb = (255, 255, 255)
>>> fi = FadeIter(pds1, pds2, 10)
>>> fi.go()

A group of students from Drexel used kinet.py to drive a 30-story version of Pong in Philadelphia.

Michael Dewberry ported kinet.py to C++ to drive a ColorKinetics video wall of LEDs. You can find it within his alphadep project.

This library is dedicated to the memory of Kevin "Frostbyte" McCormick, a brilliant light artist who continues to be a source of inspiriation for the EE/LED community at large.