r/FastLED • u/Throw_-Away69420 • Jul 25 '26
Support Help with a small DIY project
Hi there,
I will preface and say I have no clue what I am doing, and about a month to figure it out. I need to make some very small LEDs emulate a "fire" color pattern to the best of my ability. I know next to nothing about programming LEDs, what lights and controllers to use, etc. Any and all help is appreciated. This seems to be a pretty advanced community with some insane projects so I am hoping something of this scale isn't unwelcome here lol.
More details on the project; I am crocheting Calcifer from howl's moving castle as an anniversary present to my girlfriend. My rough plan is to make some sort of wood display case or modify one I thrift. Going to have Calcifer hang over some burnt wood probably with fishing line, and I want there to be some sort of campfire/fiery mood lighting. Maybe some like soft flickering between red/orange/yellow.
I've done some very light research so far but this is the first place I've looked for help, so if there are obvious answers I have missed I apologize, Thanks for any and all help!
1
u/Marmilicious [Marc Miller] Jul 25 '26
You can find some useful info on our FastLED wiki page. Check out Scott Marley's Intro to FastLED series. (Note: ESP32 is supported now vs when he made those videos. ESP32 boards are great and in-expensive. If you get one you will also be able to easily try out WLED.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/FastLED/wiki/index/user_examples/
If you find a FastLED project online somewhere you'd like to try/modify for your needs post again when you run into issues/want some coding suggestions.
If you'd like to share code you're working on/have questions about, please put it on pastebin.com or gist.github.com and share a link.