Kent Stutzman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Here is a video sample of a mega tree from the bottom up. Before I put the tree away for the year, I reassembled it laying down on the ground, looking up the bottom. These are Nutcracker effects specifically selected for this viewing angle. The idea next year is do the regular mega tree until Christmas and then lay down the tree afterward and aim the bottom end toward the viewing area for the rest of the season. It is a 360 degree tree with 22 strands of 50 RGB 3001 pixels attached to EMT conduit. It is 20’ from apex to base and the base is 7’ in diameter. The 7’ base diameter just wasn’t big enough. For the show next year I would do at least a 10’ diameter. It was surprisingly easy to set up. I just had a 3’ and a 7’ pipe circle to zip tie each pipe strand to. For this sample, I just had the apex laying on the ground but, for the real show it should be raised so you are looking straight down the cone. Certain Nutcracker effects definitely work better than others. Pictures of recognizable things like Santa just aren’t recognizable from this angle. Scrolling text isn’t readable either. Circles are interesting but aren’t recognizable as circles. As expected, spirals, meteors, bars, fire, garland and curtain look good. Certain scrolling JPEGs work well, but you have to be selective. Psychedelic ones with patterns seem to work the best. It isn’t easy to visualize how a scrolling jpg will look from this angle (at least for me), and takes a lot of experimentation to see which ones looks good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztnaIv0rRnk And if you like a close up view ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0hXAfnI7ck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougd Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Very cool Kent, not sure what you were doing when thought of this, but it was a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john fulkerson Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 how many you had before u did that lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Messer Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Kent, I would like to see one of you shows you did this year. Got a link? Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyoregonchristmas Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 How come I'm suddenly remembering the smell of my high school art teacher's class room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiplorenzo Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 That almost makes me want to setup a couple of wheels with a bunch of the Smart Ribbons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Stutzman Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Kent, I would like to see one of you shows you did this year. Got a link? Jeff Hi Jeff, I didn't actually video the show as a whole this year. The house was pretty much the same as the video last year. Since I also do my neighbors house, it is just too wide to video effectively and see the colors. That said, I did add an RGB mega tree this year (in traditional stand-up style) and videoed it. I will post that in a bit. Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Messer Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Yes, I watched your video's and the tree was great. Wished you would have video's the whole works like you did last year so I could see how you tied the effects to the house. How many channelsof RGB are you up to now? Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Stutzman Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Yes, I watched your video's and the tree was great. Wished you would have video's the whole works like you did last year so I could see how you tied the effects to the house. How many channelsof RGB are you up to now? Jeff Pixel-wise I have 900 on the house, 100 on stars on the roof, 1200 on the megatree, 350 on seven 6' trees in the yard, 150 on 3 arches, 150 on a yard border and 400 on 4 star bursts, so 3250 if my math is right. Added 1750 this year so pretty much doubled. Planning on another 2000 ish next year. Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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