LED Ring V5: Setup

The LED Ring V5 adds continuous, controllable lighting to your Foto Master booth. Once it's connected, FMX can trigger different colors, speeds, and effects at any point in your workflow — so the ring matches the moment, whether you're counting down, capturing, or showing the finished photo.

This guide walks you through the full setup: physical connection, Windows detection, FMX auto-discovery, and adding the LED Ring states to your workflow.

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What You Need

Before you start, make sure you have:

• LED Ring V5 (with Arduino controller box)
• USB cable (included with the ring)
• Allen key (included with the ring)
• A Windows computer running FMX

Step 1: Mount the LED Ring onto the camera

Step 2: Connect the LED Ring to the Computer

Plug the USB cable from the Arduino controller box into your computer. You can use a USB hub if you'd like, but if Windows or FMX doesn't pick the ring up, try plugging it directly into the computer first — that's almost always the fastest fix.

Step 3: Confirm Windows Detects the Ring

On Windows:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Go to Devices and Printers
3. Scroll down to the Unspecified section
4. Look for the LED Ring entry — it should show a COM port number

If you see a COM port, Windows has the ring, and you're ready to move on. If you don't, jump to the troubleshooting section at the bottom of this article.

Step 4: Open the Foto Master Software

Launch the Foto Master booth software. Within about 30 seconds, FMX will auto-detect the LED Ring on the COM port and make it available to your workflow. There's nothing to configure manually — just give it a moment.

Step 5: Add LED Ring States to Your Workflow

To use the ring during the booth experience, add these two feature states to your workflow:

• LED Ring Start
• LED Ring Stop

Inside the LED Ring Start state, pick the:

• Color
• Speed
• Effect

The ring turns on the moment the workflow reaches the Start state and switches off when it hits the Stop state. You can drop multiple Start/Stop pairs into a single workflow if you want different colors or effects at different moments.

Step 6: Test the Workflow

Sync and run the workflow, then check that:

• The ring lights up at the LED Ring Start state
• The selected color, speed, and effect look the way you expected
• The ring switches off at the LED Ring Stop state

Always run through the full workflow once before the event so any surprises happen in the office, not on site.

Troubleshooting

The LED Ring isn't detected by Windows

• Make sure the USB cable is fully seated on both the computer and the Arduino box
• Try a different USB port on the computer
• If you're using a USB hub, plug the ring directly into the computer instead
• Swap the USB cable — flaky cables are a common culprit

Windows sees the ring, but FMX doesn't

• Restart FMX and give it a full 30 seconds before running the workflow
• Open the Devices tab in FMX and confirm the auto-detected COM port matches the one Windows is showing
• Try running FMX as Administrator (steps below)

To run FMX as Administrator:

1. Right-click the FMX icon
2. Click Properties
3. Open the Compatibility tab
4. Enable Run this program as administrator

If the ring still won't work after all of that, reach out to Foto Master support, and we'll help you sort it out.