Newbie in need of advice

[emusht]

Thank you so much everyone. So unbelievably helpful! I spent all afternoon watching videos about RGB lights after reading the explanation from Emmien. Boy was there a lot more to learn than just dumb and smart RGB. Lol

Dgrant thank you for the visual! It helps me see what everyone is talking about and gives me an idea of what I want. Btw what a beautiful show! Congrats!!!

1983 your video is a great example for me. You have a small space, you don't have trees, and you made good use of the yard for sure! Thank you for that!

Ok guys I'm honing in on my display now. I just need to draw it out and see what everyone's input will be. I will definitely be mixing and matching light types and making use of what I already own (can replace in the future).

[emusht]

Quick question to everyone: I was super inspired by dgrants pixel tree showing the frozen character action. It almost like a screen for images. So given my small front yard, should I try for one of those in a much smaller version in the yard (maybe 10ft) or should I do something on top of the roof like a pixel matrix as suggested by lightzila as my imaging effect and drop a regular mini mega tree in the yard?

Please give me your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

Edited December 21, 2015 by emusht

[dgrant]

Thank You. Its strictly up to you and whatever you wish to present to the people seeing your show. You are the artist! Those animations came from holidaysequences.com who are the masters of the fancy animation. They create it using SuperStar. You can create your own using SS or the new Pixel Editor in LOR. Most of us suggest going easy the first year so you get a feel for the software and how things work but not everyone follows that advice...,me included...lol. I started my first year with 96 AC channels.

[dgrant]

As you saw, I have two pixel trees this year. When creating one, the height and/or the length/type of pixels and number of pixels comes into play. The center pixel tree, in my case, happens to be LPD6803 strips which are 5M or 16.5 feet long with 150 leds on them which is 3 leds per group or 50 effective LED's over 16.5 ft.. No way to scrunch them down. The left pixel tree, I'm using WS2811 square nodes, also 50 led pixel nodes where each node has the 3 leds inside of each node. They are connected via wires to each other and easily scrunched down to a smaller height but only so far. There are different flavors of WS2811's too,...some square, some round so different ways of mounting them. Both of my pixel trees run on E1.31 controllers. The middle one on an E682 and the left one on a P12S. Both get the same commands on all songs except one in my case. I only put up the second tree because of lessons learned last year when people couldn't see the middle one by itself. I also boosted the middle tree up 3 feet and since I had a nice frame there, I put the majority of the controllers under it and covered it with green outdoor carpet and hung a bow on it. My firesticks are dual purpose. Both have 7 circuits of blue leds on them which are like a vertical arch. The star on top is a channel by itself. Also though, wrapped around it is a single strand of 50 WS2811 pixel nodes. The led strings are on AC channels but the pixel nodes are coming from my AlphaPix16 which also controls my four pixel based arches.

[Ebuechner]

We're all give you great suggestions from our own perspective. But I think you should start with downloading the light o Rama software. Take a picture of your house and start using the visualizer. With that tool you can start laying things out and moving them around to get an idea what you want to do. The side benefit being you will get familiar with the software. When I thought about doing my small pixel tree I used the visualizer to build it first. Then I knew I could get what I wanted out of it. Then when it was actually built I was already set for it in the show.

[dgrant]

I agree!!! The visualizer is your friend

[emusht]

Great news for me is that I followed 90% of your message dgrant. Prior to today I most likely would not have understood any of the verbiage. So I notice that the pixel tree you created is more of a flat (almost guitar string) type setup. Which really lends itself to mimicking a flat screen (which I like). My concern about using a matrix on my roof top is the visibility from the street. But I will have to make that decision I guess.

 

Im going to download the software as suggested and play around with the set up. Will report back as my goal is to know what I need to purchase so I can take advantage of the sales right after Xmas.

[godman]

Hi emusht, welcome to the madness, I see your in OC, I'm in Corona so if you need some help or want to meet to talk just PM me.

 

Now is  a great time to get started for next year, it takes twice as long to get things organized as you think it will take so planning now will get you off to a good start.

 

Greg

[wmilkie]

There's a few of us in OC; I'm in anaheim

If you don't mind me asking, where are you at in OC?

[emusht]

Ok guys a couple days of studying and learning about what I want through use of the visualizer has helped a lot. Also made contact with a couple people in my area that might be able to help me out. So now I have an important question about lights because I'd like to make a purchase during the after Xmas sales.

I will build a 10' pixel tree in the front yard and I will use dumb rgb lights to line the house. Question is which light strands do I purchase to accomplish this? Please help. I thank you in advance.

Edited December 25, 2015 by emusht

[dgrant]

I think I would advise WS2811's and they come in different flavors such as square or round nodes and so on. Also, both 5V and 12V varieties. WS2811's don't require a clock signal therefore only 3 wires

[emusht]

I'm looking on Ray Wus ads and I don't see any 2811s. Just 2812b.

Edit: I found them.

Which did you use for your pixel tree?

Edited December 25, 2015 by emusht

[Dennis Laff]

Check Holiday Coro there sale started today

[emusht]

Check Holiday Coro there sale started today

I read somewhere that their lights are not compatible with other lights if you want to add more later on. Is that true?

[k6ccc]

And I'm up the 57 freeway in Glendora, and I have a 10 foot pixel tree using WS2811 square pixels. You are invited to come up and I'll show you what I did.

2811 is the chip, in the 2812, the chip is built into the LED.

[Ebuechner]

I read somewhere that their lights are not compatible with other lights if you want to add more later on. Is that true?

UNTRUE! There seems to be a real hot cold relationship with holiday coro and some of the people on this forum. Holiday coro uses the 2811 chip like everybody else completely compatible. You will have to excuse some people's need to make up stories and/or repeat misinformation. The problem that some people have with holiday Coro is warranty. I think some peoples idea of warranty is a little unrealistic. Let's face the facts these companies are selling these electronic components to people who open the package immediately take a wire cutter to them and soldering with who knows what skills and then putting them out in the rain after putting glue on them and wanting somebody to warranty a product that they may have damaged themselves. This is why the light orama stuff is so expensive they offer full support. It takes money to keep a staff around that's competent to back up the product after somebody messes it up. Holiday coro has a system in place to get the best of both worlds. You can pay for extra support if you need it. That means for the people who don't need the support they can save a few dollars but they're taking the responsibility on themselves. That way the people with more experience can buy the product at a discounted price not having to pay extra for the people who are making the mistakes. One very simple thing to keep in mind. you get what you pay for. Edited December 25, 2015 by Ebuechner

[emusht]

Thank you for the explanation. I understand now. So I'm wondering if I should purchase the 2811 or 2812. Can someone please explain the difference to me. Also how do I run these for long distances? The way I understand it is that you lose power the longer the run. So how do you deal with that?

Who am I kidding! I just tried to sort through the holiday Coro sale items and got overwhelmed and lost. I don't even know where to start! Lol

I know that I want to run dumb RGB along my roofline and I want to build a 10' pixel tree. Have no clue what to purchase. I am not that good at soldering, etc. I don't have that much patience and I prefer to pay a little more for something that ready to mount. I hate to say it but I'm very plug and play. Any advice?

Edited December 26, 2015 by emusht

[Ebuechner]

I don't want to discourage you but other than the light o rama ac controllers things aren't that plug and play with this hobby. I do understand that things look a little overwhelming. And your roof line using dumb RGB that is what I did with my home. If I had the knowledge then that I have now I would have went with a smart pixels. I let the complexity in the channel count scare me into dumbing down what I wanted to do. Maybe you start with some of the Light O Rama ac controllers and work yourself up. Guaranteed you're always going to have a place in your show for those controllers even when you expand on what you're doing. But you have one thing on your side time. You could go to holiday coral and pick up one of their RGB starter kits with smart pixels or dumb. Pay a little extra for the support. Then sit down and figure it out and have fun with it don't let it frustrate you. After all you can ask all kinds of questions here in the forums. Keep in mind light o rama and holiday Coro are only a small few of the places you can get stuff. Lightorama also has pixels in different varieties that you could try. With the extra cost comes great support. That could get you the start and success that you are looking for.

[wmilkie]

I have a 10ft pixel tree this year, 16 strands square pixels wd2811 from diyledexpress.com, but you can buy them several places

 

stop by and check Jim's and mine out; my house is on the way to Jim's

Edited December 26, 2015 by wmilkie

[emusht]

Thanks so much guys. Ebuechner you read my mind exactly. I am a bit intimidated by the channels necessary for smart pixels. But you gave me great advice and I will take you up on it. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I felt like I needed to purchase now to get the sales. But I'm gonna be patient and make educated choices. You proved to me that I need to heed the warning of more experienced people.

Wmilkie I'd be happy to check out your display on the way to Jims. I plan to do so soon.