rgb led control system

[EEwannabe]

I am in the process of designing a control system for an array of red green and blue leds. The main problem is not with the array itself, but more with the control system. The effect I am going for is a fading of the combinations of colors to simulate a transition through the rainbow. I don't want it to be jerky from one color to the next, but more fluid. I know this can be done quite simply with a micro and some code through pwm. The only problem I have with that is that I don't know which micro I should/can use and I don't have a programmer for the chip. I am curious as to the existense of a primarily logic/analog solution that won't break the bank. Right now I am stuck on a 555 timer and a 4029 counter but that doesn't give enough discrete transitions and the leds are at full brightness for each individual step. I have used capacitors to control the fade time and smooth the transitions, but that doesn't give me much control and is not even thoughout the cycle. I want this to almost be unnoticed as it changes. The idea is that it will be like a "color wash" on the walls. This is similar to the "color cove" by Color Kinetics. I have considered a crude d/a converter, but I am not exactly confident in my abilities and the implementation. Would there be any way to go about this without a micro and attain any sort of success? Or, would there be a "cheap" micro solution for a person without all of the equipment for micros?
I am a junior EE major. So, I don't have all of the tools of knowledge, but am fairly able. I appreciate any help with this design

 

[Oznog]

The PIC is easy to start with (very common), but in the easy to use DIP pkgs, I don't think there are any with more than 2 hardware driven PWM outputs. I believe Atmel has ones with more PWM outputs in a DIP.

You can still do PWM output inside software. It'll be a lower frequency, but it probably won't be noticible flicker as long as you go over 100 hz.

You probably would not want to use a D/A chip.

 

[EEwannabe]

That sounds like the trick. Typically, what pic would you reccomend for this application? what are some of the characteristics that I need to take into account when looking at these micros? Specifically, how is the micro going to relate to the amount of code that I want to implement? Along those lines, what particular language should I work in?

 

[Exo]

If the pic doesn't need to do anything else but controlling the leds it can easely generate PWM in software on many pins...