How can I use an arduino as an intermediary step between my PC and a LED strip? Goal
My end goal is to have a NeoPixel LED Strip that I can control via software on my PC, with various automatic modes and manual control. Right now all I have is the idea and some research done, because I don't want to order parts if I can't get this working. That means no arduino, no leds, no power supply, and no experience with any of them.
What I know so far
I know enough Java to set up the software that would output some array of colors, including manual control and automatic modes like flashing/fading/etc.
From the research I've done, I'll need a microcontroller to make sure I output exactly the right signal(?) for my LED strip. Adafruit recommends an Arduino one or Arduino mega, which meet the timing requirements and have libraries available for use with NeoPixel products. Physically connecting the Arduino to the LED seems fairly easy.
What I don't know
Hardware and software wise, how can I transfer an array of color values from a java program to the Arduino?
This involves getting the data to a port on my PC, getting that to the Arduino via some wire/s, and making sure it's readable. I'd imagine sending an entire array to whatever input the arduino has would be difficult. Perhaps I could send a single color at a time together with an index, but that would probably add delay to the system.
On the software side, how do I set up the arduino to &quot;forward&quot; the input from my PC to the LED strip?
I'm not very comfortable with C, so this could be tough. How will I receive the data input? How easy and fast is it to turn that into output for the LED strip? What if I don't convert and output an update before I receive another one?
EDIT: It seems there are libraries available to deal with the actual data transfer, and encoding/decoding shouldn't be too hard after some thought. I think I'm going to use usb4java for communication between my PC and an Arduino, and roll my own mini &quot;protocol&quot; to convert. Then I'll use the NeoPixel libraries for the Arduino.
You should take a look at FadeCandy if you are dealing with NeoPixel LED Strip. Ived used that in conjunction with Processing (which is JavaBased) to send stuff into a 16x16 NeoPixel display. (4 8x8 matrix's linked together) 
Fadecandy uses Open Pixel Control
http://openpixelcontrol.org/

I've got an example of it on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz_U4dzjp1s&amp;feature=autoshare