n_gifford Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Last year was my first year with a 'real' animated light show (4 channel Mr. Christmas setup in 2010), which consisted of 350 RGB pixels controlled by a SanDevices E681.I've upped that to 1,400 pixels this year, added an E682 and decided to take the plunge on LOR S3 (Loving it so far, by the way!). I'm anal, and I control all of the pixels individually, so I needed something to simplify sequencing as much as possible. This video is the first 2 minutes of Shake Up Christmas, by Train on my 506 pixel tree. The tree's about 7.5 feet tall (9 feet with the star on top, but it doesn't fit in the garage....), with 22 strings covering 240 degrees of the tree and pixels spaced at 3.5 inches.For what it's worth, this is the effort of about 1.5 hours worth of sequencing. This would have taken me upwards of 9 or 10 hours with the software I used last year (Back to how impressed I am with LOR S3).Now, on to the video. My cell camera struggles to focus for the first 20-30 seconds, but it eventually corrects itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDisneyMagic Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Excellent job, looking great so far, I haven't looked at using an E682 in much depth yet, does it 'plugin' to the Light-O-Rama network / software easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_gifford Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Excellent job, looking great so far, I haven't looked at using an E682 in much depth yet, does it 'plugin' to the Light-O-Rama network / software easily?Thank you! And yes, it does. Setup is relatively simple, and Jim from SanDevices has created great documentation for the configuration of the E68x controllers. I had issues with E1.31 and LOR at first, but that was quickly resolved and shouldn't be an issue if you already use LOR hardware. Since LOR now supports the E1.31 protocol, there really is nothing special that needs to be done. The E681 and E682 work with LOR just like they do with any other software that supports E1.31. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H1 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Great videocan you share any info on the construction of your tree and any screen shots from your sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_gifford Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Great videocan you share any info on the construction of your tree and any screen shots from your sequence.Absolutely!It stands about 7.5' tall (9' with the star). I wanted to go taller, but didn't want to increase pixel spacing. So, due to some budget constraints I decided to stick with a smaller tree that would give me a decent resolution for scrolling text and such. It has 22 strings with 23 pixels each spaced at 3.5" that cover 240 degrees for good viewing angles from both sides. It will sit relatively close to the house, so I didn't need 360 degrees. The pixels are mounted to 3/4" pvc that I split in half and painted grey.The center pole is 1/2" steel pipe. It will be coupled to a short piece of pipe that I'll drive into the ground. (I plan to leave it there, grease the coupler and cap it so I can re-use it next year. I'm hoping I'll be able to find it again with a magnet.) The top support is custom built with 1/2" steel bar curved and welded to another coupler that's drilled and tapped to accept 22 'eye' bolts. My star is attached to another short piece of pipe that threads into the top of that. My intent was to make the center section completely modular so I can take it apart for storage and also extend it next year if my tree grows without having to rebuild the entire thing.The base is a work in progress. I'm using a PVC ring right now to keep everything spaced properly, but I don't think that will be in the final installation because it looks too 'clunky'.https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/rhaXxY2hJKHq8Sb1ysnFBXJIN_DHzvD8fDfg1VW7UtI?feat=directlinkI'm having issues with photos right now, but the above screen shot is of the intro to the song. I've expanded one string on the tree. You can see that the pixels in each string are grouped, then all of the strings are grouped into the entire tree.https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BK3yBUmlKQOXJRZpUqyK4HJIN_DHzvD8fDfg1VW7UtI?feat=directlinkThis one shows the color fades near the beginning, then the white chases and finally the twinkle chases over all of the strings.https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UGV4olh1JkWnIFJqY3OB1XJIN_DHzvD8fDfg1VW7UtI?feat=directlinkMore chases, with color.https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Nh31sxsnQ-BVjJvZIQwIOHJIN_DHzvD8fDfg1VW7UtI?feat=directlinkAnd finally, the 'rotating' effect I have near the end of this video. I've collapsed all of the string groups in this shot to show how I actually sequenced it. I created the chases across multiple groups, which created a very fast chase from pixel to pixel and makes it look like the entire color is sweeping across the whole tree. Edited October 22, 2012 by n_gifford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_gifford Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 And interestingly enough, creating these just allowed me the opportunity to realize that I don't have any data on the 22nd string for the rotating colors in the last shot..... Not sure how I missed that before. FWIW, this is actually VERY SIMPLE sequencing, for anybody that may not have much experience sequencing pixels. It will only take me about 5 minutes to correct this mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Burton Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Ask a dumb question;What is the cost for the "stuff" to make that tree...along with the controller. I use S3, but often think that the pixels might be too rich for my budget. Nothing I can get into this coming season, but maybe next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_gifford Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 The E682 is about $200 fully assembled and the pixels were $.36 each. Plus $20 for a power supply and maybe $100 for other misc. 'stuff'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H1 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 are the pixels 5 or 12 volt ??which chip are you running ??where did you get the pixels for $0.36?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H1 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Nick,was watching your videos of the exterior of your home. Are you utilizing the same pixels on your fascia?? What is the spacing between pixels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_gifford Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 The pixels in this video (On the tree) are WS2811, and I purchased them from Ray Wu in China. The link below shows $.38 each, but he knocked them down when I bought 1,000 of them.http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/promotion-WS2811-IP68-led-pixel-module-256scale-gray-IP68-3wire-red-blue-black-DC5V-input-50pcs/701799_469177597.htmlThe pixels in the older videos (On the house) are WS2801, spaced at 4". There are also some GE Color Effects on the vertical elements in the yard.All of my pixels are 5v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arteom Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Wow, that looks amazing, especially for only a few hours behind the computer. Props to you...Imagine a Mega tree version, I wonder if anyone has done a dense tree form like this but with RGB's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_gifford Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 All I have to say, is that now that I purchased Superstar, this video will soon be put to great shame by others! I'm now able to create some effects that amaze myself, and that doesn't happen very often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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