Darryl Lambert Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I have a 64 string x 50 pixel tree. will the 40 ccr license let me sequence this as one item or am I going to have to break it into 2 pieces & if so how would I get the effects to seamlessly cross the 2 half's? Is this license level 40+ or just 40? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KStatefan Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I have a 64 string x 50 pixel tree. will the 40 ccr license let me sequence this as one item or am I going to have to break it into 2 pieces & if so how would I get the effects to seamlessly cross the 2 half's?Is this license level 40+ or just 40? It will only allow you to export 40 of the strings. I think there is also a limit to the number of pixels that can be drawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBruderer Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 One CCR uses 150 channels. The export limit is actually a limit in the number of channels. the 40 CCR license allows 40 x 150 = 6000 channels. 64 strings of 50 RGB pixels is 64 x 50 x 3 = 9600 channels. Later this year, a 60 CCR license and an 80 CCR license are planned. The 60 CCR license will export 9000 channels. The 80 CCR license will export 12000 channels. To be able to export your tree will require the 80 CCR license. Exporting one tree in pieces is possible, but not practical. As you indicate, it would be difficult to do seamless effects across the entire tree if you were sequencing it in pieces. Exporting in pieces is only useful if you have multiple props or trees. You could then sequence one or more props or trees at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 [Doing my best impersation of the off screen voice in any Adam Sandler movie] THATS A HUGE TREE!!! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Later this year, a 60 CCR license and an 80 CCR license are planned. The 60 CCR license will export 9000 channels. The 80 CCR license will export 12000 channels.Might I dare ask the approximate cost? It was starting to get pricey @ 40 ccr'sHopefully it won't continue at that price point. It would cost $700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 [Doing my best impersation of the off screen voice in any Adam Sandler movie]THATS A HUGE TREE!!!BobI didn't think so at the time 18 feet tall, 360°, 4 centers for the pixels. Maybe I should reduce it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Darryl, Mine was a simple 12 string (50 pixel) 180 tree.I learned two things this year (this was the first year for a pixel tree)... First, the way mine is mounted, its about 20' tall (16' for the strings and 4' for the train base...)I placed it where I had always placed my mega-tree and realized real quick that it was really tall and to close to the street.Being a 180 tree the best view is directly in front. From that poistion, you saw everything and never even missed the back side ... Seems pixel trees, in my case anyway, turned into a curved flat screen TV..Since you really cant see the back, I wasnt missing anything... However.. I did notice that as you moved off center, the tree wasnt quite as spectacuar... you miss the total frontal effect. In your case.. 4" centers .. you must have some really cool resolution to your effects.. mine are like 12" Should you reduce it ?? Thats is 100% your call. Let me know if you get pics of video .. I would really like to see that bad boy... Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Messer Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) I have done the 180 for the last two years. I am 16x84 running at 20 feet tall with a 4 foot tall pixel star on the top. The bottom is 8 inches apart and top is 1 inch apart. Animation looks great but I have used gifs and pictures where the resolution is outstanding. Its very had to get it on camera. I will upgrade to a 4k camera this year and see if it can get the job done. Edited January 3, 2015 by Jeff Messer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 BobI have to agree that after looking at my pixeltree this year, changes need to be made. I built 75% of it the previous year & only ran it a couple of times ( pixels didn't arrive until DEC.18 ) but had to see what it looked liked. I hadn't seen anything online about building one & didn't take into consideration the orientation of the pixels. Mine are just ziptied to aircraft cable. Up & down there bang on but not all are facing out. I didn't think it would be a big issue until I saw it in action this year. I was not happy with it. Everybody who saw it, loved it, but I know it can be MUCH better. Due to my location on the street I get alot of viewers to the side so 180 degrees isn't possible. I did notice that with 360 degrees the back of the tree clashes with the front patterns. So alot of the time I only had the front 40 or so strings lit. With what I'm planning I would like to have kept the ability to spin the tree but now realize it's just not practical for the few times that I will use it . Being pixels & all the other cool effects I can acheive. I'm planning on turning it into a 270 degree tree & getting some of that shipping stap to keep the pixels facing out ( not looking forward to redoing 3200 pixels though ) The top of my tree will now have a diameter of 20.5 " putting the pixels tight together & the base will be 9' with a spacing of 4 1/32"Should give it a nice density So here's a couple of pics I took last night, not the best quality ( taken with my phone ) @ a distance of 15' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Bob I have to agree that after looking at my pixeltree this year, changes need to be made. I built 75% of it the previous year & only ran it a couple of times ( pixels didn't arrive until DEC.18 ) but had to see what it looked liked. I hadn't seen anything online about building one & didn't take into consideration the orientation of the pixels. Mine are just ziptied to aircraft cable. Up & down there bang on but not all are facing out. I didn't think it would be a big issue until I saw it in action this year. I was not happy with it. Everybody who saw it, loved it, but I know it can be MUCH better. Due to my location on the street I get alot of viewers to the side so 180 degrees isn't possible. I did notice that with 360 degrees the back of the tree clashes with the front patterns. So alot of the time I only had the front 40 or so strings lit. With what I'm planning I would like to have kept the ability to spin the tree but now realize it's just not practical for the few times that I will use it . Being pixels & all the other cool effects I can acheive. I'm planning on turning it into a 270 degree tree & getting some of that shipping stap to keep the pixels facing out ( not looking forward to redoing 3200 pixels though ) The top of my tree will now have a diameter of 20.5 " putting the pixels tight together & the base will be 9' with a spacing of 4 1/32" Should give it a nice density So here's a couple of pics I took last night, not the best quality ( taken with my phone ) @ a distance of 15' Not sure if you are a member or not, but there is a member James over on DIYC that is going to be doing a presale on his pixel strips. People have had really good results with them and they are reasonably priced. Never home says much easier to use then trying to take pixels to the strapping. Just a suggestion for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Darryl, I really like the idea of the 270 tree to give you a little more side view.Here are a couple of things that I learned over the last couple of seasons. My arches are made from strips that slip inside a piece of PEX tubing. They were flawless last year and right out of the box this year, I lost the #7 pixel in the second string. I was able to order a couple of spares from David over at HolidayCoro and just replaced the second strip. However, since they didnt come from the same place as my originals I noticed a difference in color when it went white as compared to my original string. The upshot to this story is reapiring the strip proved to be a disaster for me. I pulled the strip out of the silicon casing and forgot to attach something to pull it back though. Feeding the strip back into the silicon tube is like hearding cats... I've basicaly written off this strip. So my point? If you use strips for a tree, repair is not going to be a simple task . Pixel strips for trees .. while the look AWESOME... I'm not a fan .. The attached picture is our tree and is along the lines of what you talked about with the strapping.I had the same concern with this tree that you have with your current version and that was how to keep the bulbs pointing out.I achieved this with "basket weave" you see in the picture. About every 5 pixels I ran a piece of the strapping between the pixel wires and the vertical strapping. This held up beautifully. After a month out in the display, none of the straps moved or rotated AND they handled the wind like they were welded down. I am VERY proud of this tree and how it stood up to the elements and how it performed. I know there are a 100 guys that built a 100 trees a hundered different ways, but this worked very well for me... My concerns at this point.The D-Rings I had are rusting.. Thought they were stainless but they are just chromed...The wires on the pixels are pretty faded indicating there may be a conceren with UV protection(?) Overall .. The tree stood tall, handled the weather, performed every night and was a viewer hit.. Good luck with your design... hope my ramblings helps .. Bob Edited January 4, 2015 by bob_moody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Daryl, This is my 3rd year with my pixel tree. It's a flat tree with 12 strings of 50 Ray Wu pixels. The first 2 years I had the pixels ty-wrapped to aircraft steel cable. Had the same problem of the pixels rotating on the cable When I took it down last year I rebuilt it with the pixels drilled into 3/4 inch PVC pipe that had been split in half (table saw with a diamond blade worked great for that). The pipe did a beautiful job of keeping everything aligned. I have photos on my website, but my server has died so the website is down. I put the photos on a backup site for someone else and when I get home I can send you that link. I'm with Bob on repairing strips vs strings. FAR EASIER to repair strings - had to do a few of those this year... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 K6ccc look forward to seeing pics. At this point I'm open to all options. Just looking for something easy to correct the rotation issue. I've seen pixeltrees with far less pixels that look great ie. Bob's Bob I looked at your video for this year & it's hard to believe that the pixels are 12" on center looked good to me. I think your distance to the road is farther than I can get ( currently the tree is about 35' from the road) that's why I chose 4" centers. I have a ccr with a bad pixel about 40 pixels in. I won't even attempt to fix it. I've read enough to know that it's not easy & my soldering sucks. So it's not in use this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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