Basic Usage

The Vortex Engine is a powerful and versatile platform that can be loaded onto many devices to drive their LEDs. To learn how to use the Vortex Engine for any Vortex device, familiarize yourself with these terms and concepts.

If you’d like to get hands on with a specific device, learn how to use specific vortex devices.

Key Terminology

Mode

You can think of a Mode as the colorful blinking pattern that is playing on the leds.

Menu

Menus allow you to program your device, such as changing the colors, blinking patterns, brightness, or even transferring modes to other devices.

Pattern

A Pattern is one of the two main components of a mode. The pattern determines the way in which a mode will blink. This can affect the frequency and duration of strobes as well as the order in which colors are displayed.

Colorset

A Colorset is the other main component of a mode. This is a set of up to 8 colors which a pattern will use. A single colorset and pattern together are the simplest version of a mode.

LEDs

All Vortex devices are comprised of at least 2 LEDs and some have over 20. In any mode, every LED on the device can have its own Colorset and Pattern. The simplest modes will have the same pattern and colorset on each LED, while the most complex will have a unique pattern and colorset on every LED.