Lights Around Windows

[Steve398]

Hi Everyone,

I need some "what would you do" advice. I'm just looking for options / opinions.

I am starting to design a brand new lighting display for Christmas this year and have almost everything figured out (purchased), but I can't decide the best way to place the lights around the windows on the front of my house.  There are 6 windows (approx 5.5 ft x 2.5 ft) and a door on the front side of the house, and 3 windows on each side of a 3 season porch. The picture below is just for reference, none of those lights are being used on the windows this year. For this years display I bought a Pixie 16 kit with 100 RGB nodes per output, and will be mounting them to Boscoyo strips to go around each window / door. I was planning to use 1 string per window / door, but between each window / door there is a "pillar" separating them, the ones between the door and small windows are very narrow, which brings me to my question.

Option 1: Wrap each window individually. This would require 2 strings on the "pillars", but would be easier to control (sequence). Would the pillars between the windows look too "crowded" when all lights are on since there would only be 1 string on top and bottom?

Option 2: Wrap all the windows at the top and bottom as one long string, then a separate (single) string between each window. This might look cleaner, but would require a lot more detailed sequencing for things like a chase sequence around individual windows. I know one way to do this would be to count the nodes and set up separate tracks in the sequence to control ONLY the nodes around each window.

What would you do? Is there another option I haven't thought about? Maybe wrapping EVERY window isn't a good idea with them being so close?

If anyone else has pictures of how they wrapped multiple windows close together like this, I would appreciate seeing how it looks.

 

[Vince4xmas]

I used coro strips at to mount my pixels around all my windows and door. Used strain relief tabs and hooks/wire ties to mount. Worked well.

If you PM me I can send you some pics.

 

[DisneyMatt10]

We took Holiday Coro intelligent Pixel Strips and zip tied them to a wooden frame we made. The frame was made out of 1X2's. We painted the wood black with a sealant paint, and they have been working great.

Here is a photo that shows them after we finished painting them, and once we got the zip ties in place:

And here is what they look like on the house:

(Ignore the drooping lights. We hadn't fully zip-tied them in this photo. This photo was taken when we were testing them. But we REALLY like the reflection that the lights make on the glass of the window. It looks GREAT during the show!

Here is a video so you can see them in action:

If you have any questions or I can help in any way feel free to message me!

Best of luck!

[Steve398]

22 hours ago, Vince4xmas said:

I used coro strips at to mount my pixels around all my windows and door. Used strain relief tabs and hooks/wire ties to mount. Worked well.

If you PM me I can send you some pics.

 

29 minutes ago, DisneyMatt10 said:

We took Holiday Coro intelligent Pixel Strips and zip tied them to a wooden frame we made. The frame was made out of 1X2's. We painted the wood black with a sealant paint, and they have been working great.

Here is a photo that shows them after we finished painting them, and once we got the zip ties in place:

I'm actually incorporating a bit of both of your ideas for mounting the lights. I have coro strips, and I am mounting them to 1/2" tubing.
My question was more about  the windows being so close together, and if the columns between the windows would look better with a single strand of lights, or 2 strands.

Do I: Wrap each window individually. This would require 2 strings on the "pillars", but would be easier to control (sequence). Would the pillars between the windows look too "crowded" when all lights are on since there would only be 1 string on top and bottom?

Or: Wrap all the windows at the top and bottom as one long string, then a separate (single) string between each window. This might look cleaner, but would require a lot more detailed sequencing for things like a chase sequence around individual windows. I know one way to do this would be to count the nodes and set up separate tracks in the sequence to control ONLY the nodes around each window.

[DisneyMatt10]

1 hour ago, Steve398 said:

I'm actually incorporating a bit of both of your ideas for mounting the lights. I have coro strips, and I am mounting them to 1/2" tubing.

Ah, my bad. I misunderstood!

1 hour ago, Steve398 said:

Do I: Wrap each window individually. This would require 2 strings on the "pillars", but would be easier to control (sequence). Would the pillars between the windows look too "crowded" when all lights are on since there would only be 1 string on top and bottom?

Or: Wrap all the windows at the top and bottom as one long string, then a separate (single) string between each window. This might look cleaner, but would require a lot more detailed sequencing for things like a chase sequence around individual windows. I know one way to do this would be to count the nodes and set up separate tracks in the sequence to control ONLY the nodes around each window.

I'm having a challenging time visualizing what you are trying to explain. (I'm a visual person for it to make sense to me!) So I went ahead and drew out what I think would look best on your house!
 

I would do window frame outlines (like what you have described and what I showed) on the windows. (Shown in red on the photo)

Then I would take these from Holiday Coro and make pixel matrix on the pillars between the windows. (Shown in green on the photo)

Obviously you would want to do the same thing on all the windows and pillars between the windows on the front of the house, I just couldn't draw all of them because of the angle of the photo.

By doing your props as drawn above I feel like it will create a great look, and if done right it won't be that hard to program. I don' think it will be "too much" if you do the programming right. Usually I don't have all my pixels on all at the same time except for some bright pops and things like that. Otherwise, I bounce around the house using different props for different sounds. But that's a WHOLE different story, and topic. 

You should be able to do what I have shown with the items you purchased. 

Hope this helps a little, and best of luck!

[Steve398]

Sorry, that picture wasn't the best, the lights shown will not be used. The forum won't let me upload any more pictures, so I  took new ones and saved them to my website.
Not sure why I always tend to take the pictures lop sided like that. This is what they look like when I try to fix them. LOL

Anyway, what would look best?

Option 1: Wrap each window individually. This would require 2 strings on the "pillars / columns", but would be easier to control (sequence). Would the columns between the windows look too "crowded" when all lights are on since there would only be 1 string on top and bottom, but 2 strings between the windows? Especially between the narrow windows and the door.

 

3 hours ago, DisneyMatt10 said:

I would do window frame outlines (like what you have described and what I showed) on the windows. (Shown in red on the photo)

Then I would take these from Holiday Coro and make pixel matrix on the pillars between the windows. (Shown in green on the photo)

Obviously you would want to do the same thing on all the windows and pillars between the windows on the front of the house, I just couldn't draw all of them because of the angle of the photo.

By doing your props as drawn above I feel like it will create a great look, and if done right it won't be that hard to program. I don' think it will be "too much" if you do the programming right. Usually I don't have all my pixels on all at the same time except for some bright pops and things like that. Otherwise, I bounce around the house using different props for different sounds. But that's a WHOLE different story, and topic. 

You should be able to do what I have shown with the items you purchased. 

Hope this helps a little, and best of luck!

I do like your idea for a narrow matrix between the windows on the columns (if I use Option 1). The columns are about 5 1/2 " wide between the windows, and 11 1/2" on the column with the street numbers. Something to think about. Maybe next year I can add that.

 

Option 2: Wrap all the windows at the top and bottom as one long string, then a separate (single) string between each window. This might look cleaner, but would require a lot more detailed sequencing for things like a chase sequence around individual windows. I know one way to sequence this would be to count the nodes and set up separate tracks in the sequence to control ONLY the nodes around each window. Not sure how the "professionals" would do it.

 

The lines of pixels above the windows are an idea I had, I haven't decided what to do with that space.

[Ebuechner]

Your windows got me thinking about a video I saw of Matt Johnson's house( I think).

All of his windows were wrapped individually and they also included lights in the middle following the horizontal split in the window, then he was sequencing the windows as a large seven segment LED display. 

His windows would then be able to do a countdown to the show starting. 

[Ebuechner]

By the way my vote would be for wrapping them individually to give you more control and options for sequencing. 

If you don't have much room in the yard to work with go big on the house. 

[Steve398]

12 minutes ago, Ebuechner said:

Your windows got me thinking about a video I saw of Matt Johnson's house( I think).

All of his windows were wrapped individually and they also included lights in the middle following the horizontal split in the window, then he was sequencing the windows as a large seven segment LED display. 

His windows would then be able to do a countdown to the show starting. 

I thought about that for a bit, but I want to put the singing trees (inside) in the windows on the left side (one on top, 3 on bottom). That would be in the way of the rear projection.

[Steve398]

13 minutes ago, Ebuechner said:

By the way my vote would be for wrapping them individually to give you more control and options for sequencing. 

If you don't have much room in the yard to work with go big on the house. 

Nope, as you can see, there isn't much room at all.

[Ebuechner]

So now I'll be expecting an angry call from your wife.

(I can hear it now) he said it was your idea to go big on the house!

 

[Steve398]

1 minute ago, Ebuechner said:

So now I'll be expecting an angry call from your wife.

(I can hear it now) he said it was your idea to go big on the house!

 

No phone call to worry about, I don't have one of those wife things.

[Ebuechner]

Well there you go.

So there's absolutely no reason why you can't go all out on the house.

You know, now we're going to be expecting great things from you. 

 

 

[DisneyMatt10]

15 hours ago, Steve398 said:

Option 1: Wrap each window individually. This would require 2 strings on the "pillars / columns", but would be easier to control (sequence). Would the columns between the windows look too "crowded" when all lights are on since there would only be 1 string on top and bottom, but 2 strings between the windows? Especially between the narrow windows and the door.

Option 1 gets my vote. It looks the most "clean." It also keeps you from over crowding in case you do want to do the matrix on the pillars in up coming years. 

 

Also, I know you said you don't have a lot of yard... But there is space to put in some mini pixel trees, or some coro canes!! I would really take a look at bringing some stuff down to the yard too!! It will really expand the possibilities in the show!

[Steve398]

8 hours ago, DisneyMatt10 said:

Option 1 gets my vote. It looks the most "clean." It also keeps you from over crowding in case you do want to do the matrix on the pillars in up coming years. 

Also, I know you said you don't have a lot of yard... But there is space to put in some mini pixel trees, or some coro canes!! I would really take a look at bringing some stuff down to the yard too!! It will really expand the possibilities in the show!

Thanks, I think that it the best option as well.

I have plans to put up 8 mini trees in the yard, and I have some Candy Canes to line the walk as well. Still planning what to do in the yard to maximize the space.

[DisneyMatt10]

Best of luck! Let me know if I can ever be of any help! I love helping others design their show!

[MGoBlue102]

My vote is to wrap each window individually.