Köhler Medientechnik

In my opinion, it always comes done to the same assessment:
If you´ve more time than money, then go for open-source/DIY, if it´s the other way round, go for an integrator.
If, at the bottom of your heart, you´re actually a DIYler and actually want to play with the latest and greatest stuff  yourself, then you´ll never be happy to pay somebody else to do that for you. But if you´re just rational about getting specific functionality without being interested how it is delivered, then let somebody else do it for you.
In my opinion, it´s not about the pros and cons of system A or B, it´s more about your personal attitude towards DIY.

In my opinion, it always comes done to the same assessment:
If you´ve more time than money, then go for open-source/DIY, if it´s the other way round, go for an integrator.
If, at the bottom of your heart, you´re actually a DIYler and actually want to play with the latest and greatest stuff  yourself, then you´ll never be happy to pay somebody else to do that for you. But if you´re just rational about getting specific functionality without being interested how it is delivered, then let somebody else do it for you.
In my opinion, it´s not about the pros and cons of system A or B, it´s more about your personal attitude towards DIY.

In my opinion, it always comes done to the same assessment:
If you´ve more time than money, then go for open-source/DIY, if it´s the other way round, go for an integrator.
If, at the bottom of your heart, you´re actually a DIYler and actually want to play with the latest and greatest stuff  yourself, then you´ll never be happy to pay somebody else to do that for you. But if you´re just rational about getting specific functionality without being interested how it is delivered, then let somebody else do it for you.
In my opinion, it´s not about the pros and cons of system A or B, it´s more about your personal attitude towards DIY.

Wow! Love it!
 

Will do.

Thanks. I'll give it a shot with a passive cable. No big loss, I guess if it doesn't work.

Not for 20'. Shouldn´t be an issue even with a good passive HDMI cable.

DMX = NOT IR controlled kits.
Oh and yes I never claimed more than 18awg is needed.

When I think of home theater, I'm thinking dedicated room for movie watching in my case.  For this, I find the combination touchscreen and hard button remote like Neeo is better, although Neeo needs backlit buttons badly.  I used to have an RTI system in my house, and I have to agree it was much more customizable, but that also complicated the design of the user interface.  I did like being able to add any button I'd like to any touch screen or remote screen.  So for example I could have a watch movie screen with all the transport buttons, and then have a few buttons off the side for raising the lights or changing the screen mask aspect ratio, etc., without having to change to another page.  You could also name the buttons however you'd like, so again it was 100% customizable.  

Not sure I agree DMX is 'simple'.
It's all 'logical' once you have the information, but there's a fair bit of information.
That said it starts at the wiring.
Biggest advice, run a wire for each LED strip you're running, don't string them together at the location (two shelves in a closet isn't an issue, but looping too many through can be).
Long strips should be broken up in parts if possible, and if that can't be done, ensure you have at lease a wire to either end of the strip.
 
The 'hardest' part is managing the wattage/load across transformers, decoders and LED strips as each has their limits in their own way, but by doing the suggest wiring above, at least you'll have everything in place to manage at all.
From there, you/your electrician/your dealer may need to dig into the literature some more.
Couple of key notes:
-One engine generally allows 512 addresses, but that doesn't equate to 512 fixtures or strips or even loads. RGB loads take up 3 addresses, RGBW 4 etc, and at the same time multiple decoders can be on the same address, so it's just not as simple as saying "I have 12 decoders, so I only use 12 addresses - or even 12x4 addresses".
-To complicate it more there are multi 'zone' decoders that are built to allow connecting multiple RGB(W) strips to a single decoder. These take up more addresses but require less space in the physical sense. Which is nice, but can mess with transformer management.
-Transformers are always rate at max wattage - you should not exceed 80% of the stated wattage in calculating the wattage need.
-Take your time figuring out what encoders (types of encoders) and transformer(s) you'll need. You may need several decoders (and transformers) to control and power a single 'light' simply to ensure you do not exceed the transformer rating, the max lenght LED strips will work with (they can start fading towards the end, and especially in RGB this can be noticeable as different colors fade differently, so while orange is clearly a pumpkin orange at the start, it can look more yellow towards the end).

At least you'll get a good look at his face 🤣
 
 

Sure, if they want to they would be able to. It´s just different approaches. 
Network security works similar to physical security: if you have the basics set right (secure passwords set, no port forwarding, current patch level, etc), then they´ll most likely move over to an easier target. Same with physical security: if you have reasonable modern and secure doors and windows, they´ll just move to the neighbour...

It’s theoretical.  The potential security threat isn’t the Chime itself but the Ethernet cable running to it.  Take the Chime off the mount and someone could simply plug the cable into a laptop and be attached to your network.   

I was almost there in trying this out but I struggled to get invested into a system with a $400/yr recurring fee.   I hope it's a big success as I absolutely hate the idea of letting amazon or google into my home with an open mic.   Would rather walk over and press a button instead  

I regularly take over other Savant, C4 and HA systems so you definitely have a risk of bad dealerships from any brand, but there is no comparison to the volume of inexperienced C4 dealers due to their early success. Composer is very simple and has a lot of pre-determined options versus Blueprint which is way more sophisticated and configurable, C4 is easier for the inexperienced professional to get up and running and succeed without being exposed to things they don't know how to do... while the unknowingly inexperienced Savant dealer might struggle to even get a simple system 75%, hopefully realizing early on that additional training is needed. 
I don't know when that conversation happened and I don't know what type simple change you are specially talking about. Users can add your own popular compatible entertainment devices. Savant app allows the end users to create administer their own unique profiles including scheduled guests. It allows them to create and edit their own lighting, environment and AV scenes and AV favorites or custom buttons, all unique per each user. They can also add additional smart lighting on their own, adjust scheduled events and add unique timers.
C4 ran the industry for at least a decade but IMO fell asleep with newer technologies and features. Savant was overly advanced at the start directly competing with Crestron/AMX and has worked backwards as the tech, industry and consumers caught up. My ability to provide onsite or remote service is virtually the same between the systems and a professional like myself doesn't charge for simple changes when someone has invested in a full system and a long term relationship.  I am happy to hear you have had a good pro HA experience which is most important. As integrators...sometimes we can save face by using a different brand or dealer but many times users back out of the pro experience completely as you see here sometimes. 
 

I´m totally fine with that. You´re just obviously not my target customer.
The customers i´m dealing with just don´t "buy a new Hue or LIFX lamp", they are not interested at all in dealing with this stuff. They don´t want to waste their valuable time with shopping for Hue bulbs. If they want some fancy coloured lighting they call and say "i want some fancy coloured lighting" and then they get it.
I´m totally fine with the 1%, i don´t go for the 99%. 1% of 80.000.000 population in Germany are still 800.000 - that´s a lot more i can handle. 😉
It is indeed.

Unfortunately,  I'm Level 2 Help Desk for everything and anything IT/AV related for my extended family .   I wish I could give them @Köhler Medientechnik  on speed dial but they are not part of his 1% German target market   and the first hourly rate that was quoted they would need an AED to revive them!   

My parents in there 60's still can't reboot their router....and when their URC has issues - who do they call?  
I say that to say there is a market for both. 

Few thoughts about that:
Total waste of earth´s resources... I want my gear to work and not have them to replace regularly. I don´t want to be the facility manager of my own house. Effort is cost to me, even if i´d do the replacement myself.

Sounds good to me in general. 😁
Let me add: doesn´t have to be "rapper / professional athlete". Doesn´t need to be that high up. 
Plus doesn´t need to be single. Often a/the family is the driver to hire a professional installer because they like it when things just work and are simple.
There are more people/families like this than you probably think. At least if you don´t run a big business but just do a couple of projects a year on your own without big overhead.
I guess when we´re done we could put it online for willing customers to apply. 🤣

Static assignments from inside the router or switch for all manages devices. VLANs for traffic separation and privacy isolation for IoT devices and guest network. IP cameras should always be on NVR internal or isolated network for security. Customer unique VPN address. Larger subnets bigger commercial spaces or larger lighting systems.  

I appreciate your clever posts Kohler    So I think the last couple of weeks on a couple different threads we are starting to size up the target profile of the ideal C4 customer   Let me take a stab:
** Rapper or Professional Athlete that wants all the tech bling,  money is like monopoly money, no technical knowledge, single (so no wife or family complaining), doesn't tinker or shop online/best buy for new IoT gadgets and has an integrator who is part of his entourage and on a special fixed annuity annual service plan.    Willing to have integrator set up entire Pakedge or Araknis network and monitor everything for any downtime. 
 
 
 
 

It appears that OS 3.2 has made another improvement not mentioned yet....   Now my FreeNAS NAS drive is able to connect to my C4 system for media file access.   For the longest time FreeNAS used SMB2 or SMB3 protocol and C4 only was able to access via the older and less secure SMB1 protocol so didn't work.     Great that it is now upgraded to access more secure DIY NAS systems like FreeNAS....  FYI @Köhler Medientechnik

Few thoughts about that:
Total waste of earth´s resources... I want my gear to work and not have them to replace regularly. I don´t want to be the facility manager of my own house. Effort is cost to me, even if i´d do the replacement myself.

Yep, slowly catching up with Crestron pricing. 😉
But as always: if you look behind the scenes and just add up the component cost, you´ll get mad. Shouldn´t do that - you´re buying a solution, not a piece of hardware. 🙂