All posts by mike

General

2015 show up, thinking about going RGB next year

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So, the 2015 show is up and running.  We were late due to the older son getting a concussion and me having back issues for the last month.  Due to the move this year, we did this real basic by focusing on only the yard using elements we had around from previous years.  Also, the new house is ~30 ft for most of the roof line peaks and I am not big on heights.

A short video (cut off by memory card being full and out of focus anyways) can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/150559237

As you can see we ran the 10′ tree with 16 channels (folded for density per channel), bunch of canes/minitrees/santas, a few tree light wraps, 2 yard led strings (one added this year for coverage), and some new nets as we have nicely formed shrubs.  One 16 channel LOR runs the tree while another runs the rest of the show (including tune to sign).

Unlike the old house where I had run dedicated circuits to stop dimming lights, here we had one LOR running off the front door outlet and another off a garage outlet.  The garage outlet seems to be pretty isolated (still need to run through the fusebox and make sure labels are complete) but the front door outlet also runs the foyer lights and the 1/2 bath lights.  Fun stuff to use the restroom and feel like you might be having a seizure.  At least I could tell which song was running by the dimming… sigh.

Now that I have seen Matt Johnson’s dubstep show from 2014 and 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90oZ52M4IC0), I am tempted to head off in this direction and scrap what I have so far.  While I like the look of incandescent lights and random leds, I am really minimalistic at heart when it comes to layout/design and I think his looks really clean… almost antiseptic in an odd way.

Got to give this some more thought!

General, Research

Watching Matt Johnson’s how-to videos

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I have been watching Matt’s how-to series and while he can be a little monotone (sorry Matt), they are quite informative.  His workshop is amazingly clean and I envy his tool collection.  I certainly have my fair share of tools and machines, which are typically purchased preceding every DIY project I attempt, but I don’t see myself getting all the stuff he has… so I will have to make due if I head off this direction.

Interesting videos from Matt:
Part 1: How to build a Leaping Arch for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 2: How to build a Pixel Tree for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 3: How to build a Pixel Matrix/Pixel Grid for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 4: How to build a Pixel Wreath for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 5: How to build a Pixel Snowflake for an outdoor Christmas light show
Behind the scenes tour of the Johnson Christmas light show

Some of the things I took away from watching these videos:
I need a welder (I’ll find a use regardless).
I am missing out on a lot of opportunities being stuck in LOR land.
I would have to learn all new skills and relearn some old skills.
Sequencing would obviously be more involved.
It ran him about $5,000 total he says (I am not spending that!)

Good stuff to think about.  Time to investigate when to buy stuff, what would I buy, and which sequencing tool would I use.

Research

Forums for DIY light show enthusiasts

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I have found some great new sites, along with sites I have used previously for light show info.  But, while I have used some of these in the past I kept away from the subforums that dealt with RGB related stuff and controllers that I was not going to use as I had LOR (light-o-rama) controllers.

I have also found that these sites have regular users visiting and posting on more than one site, along with companies who advertise their pre-sales across most sites.  All are now added to my phone under tapatalk so that i can keep up with everything.

With no futher adieu…

Large site covering hardware/software/more:
http://doityourselfchristmas.com

Smaller site covering same stuff:
http://diychristmas.org/vb1/forum.php

Site dedicated to Falcon based setups (controllers and pi software):
http://falconchristmas.com/forum/index.php

xLights/nutcracker sequencing forum (one option of many):
http://nutcracker123.com/forum/

 

Research

Sequencers, which one?

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I am very familiar with the LOR sequencer and have used it for years.  Mostly I bought pre-made sequences and adapted them for my own use, adding my own sequencing when I did not like things the way they were.  Each of these would run ~$40 and have stuff I could work with to fit my elements.  I know it was the easy way out but I haven’t had a lot of time in previous years to dedicate a block of time to sequencing from scratch.

With a potential move to RGB, I figured the smart thing would be to decide which sequencer I might like and then setup elements in it that would give me an idea of what my shopping list would be for 2016.  Seems like I would kill two birds with one stone as if I am unable to find a sequencer I like using the whole topic is moot, but if I do find something I just have to price stuff out.

So, I know the 2 main free tools right now are Vixen 3 and xLights.
There are others but these seem to be the most mainstream ones currently and if I am going to use something new, I want a large and active user base.  I need documentation and active forums for any issues/questions I encounter. Continue reading Sequencers, which one? →

Sequencing, xLights

Doing a layout in xLights

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I want to keep myself in check for this 1st year and if I go down the pixel path I need to see how much this might cost.  To that end, there is nothing better than getting a visual representation of what you want on your property.  This gives you a reasonable set of materials that would be required and that can be turned into a shopping list.

My initial plan is to keep this basic and not really touch the house roof line (as mentioned before since it might as well be a skyscraper to me).  This means a few window items (Coro snowflakes), a smallish megatree (10 ft or so), 2 mini trees (4 ft or so), and 6 arches (similar to Matt Johnson’s arches).  I will likely add some “connection lines” between the ground elements as I have a picture in my head on how it could look and how it could enhance the show with proper sequencing.  Otherwise, this should give me a fair estimate.

Mocked up in xLights, this is what I get (yes, the image is stretched sideways):
layout1

Now, to setup a list of materials I would need to purchase… to price this out on presales and make the final “go” or “no go” decision”.

Pre-Sales, Research

RGB Pixel Cost for 2016

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I have created a shopping list for the items to make the proposed display for 2016.  I have left out the coro snowflakes and a couple other things that I do not expect to see in a pre-sale, plus I may want to construct some stuff myself instead of purchasing prefab items.

This setup should include most items to make a shorter Megatree, six arches built similar to Matt Johnson’s arches, two  4 foot trees, and the pixels for the snowflakes.

The preliminary list for holidaycoro.com is:
Megatree (9 outputs) – ~240 degree – (18x) 36w / 3a
900 Pixel – 8mm/12mm Square 12V – 50 per (18 units @ 17.49)
9 Extensions – 3 conductor – 10 ft – male/female (10 units @ 3.19 – min is 10)
Pixel Strips & mount gear
Megatree topper QT2

Mini Trees (4 outputs) – 270 degree – (8x) 27w / 2.268
400 pixel – 8mm/12mm bullet 12V – 50 per – 3″ black (8 units @ 16.75)
Coro Flakes (3 outputs) – (3x) 36w / 3a
150 pixel – 8mm/12mm Square 12V – 50 per (3 units @ 17.49)

Continue reading RGB Pixel Cost for 2016 →

Research

Which controller for rgb pixels?

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There are actually quite a few options for controllers when it comes to this hobby.  Being new to the topic of running rgb pixels in a show, I did a bunch of reading on the different aspects that may affect which one I choose.   The only thing I do know is that I do not care for using light-o-rama products as I feel they put me into that ecosystem that seems to cost more to do what I want, versus some other options.

That pretty much leaves me with the common options that someone was nice enough to put into a table on a site for easier comparison – http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/rgb_controllers/.

Rather than focus on price first, I should look for a controller that covers my basic needs (as I understand them).  Below are some of the main things I am thinking about in my decision making and why they matter.

Note: Keep in mind that I am a complete noob at this stuff and I could be completely wrong about anything I write.

Warning: This post will be long as I work through all this.

Continue reading Which controller for rgb pixels? →

General, Pre-Sales, Show Gear

Finally, to RGB or not to RGB? That is the question!

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After giving this some thought and talking with the family (more than I have been about this for the last few weeks), I think we are looking at well under $2000 in costs.  More likely in the $1600 range.  It would be $1400 but I am looking to have a backup controller.

With selling off old equipment (2 LOR residential units and a mp3 director), that should take a decent chunk out of the total.  Add on dumping all the incan and led strings for maybe $1 each to locals and I think the net cost would be just over $1000.

So, with all that said, I ordered 2 Falcon F16v2 Pixel Controllers w/ mounting plates for about $425 and we are “doing this”!

Off to read more forums and wait for the holidaycoro pre-sale to pick up most of the other stuff!

General, Show Gear

Raspberry Pi 2, a late gift to myself.

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I told my wife thanks tonight, for purchasing the item I had been looking at for many months now.  She said “you are welcome” and asked what I just bought myself.

Truth is that I had been looking at the last version for many months to use in several projects but never cared enough to pull the trigger.  In most cases, I found an alternate solution to handle the task at hand or realized I just didn’t care that much about the task to spend time playing with the Pi.

Now that I am moving away from LOR and my MP3 show director, I have no desire to go back to using a pc or laptop to run shows.  I did that my first year and honestly it was a pain because I had moments where I wanted to use the laptop but was tethered to the FM transmitter and the 1st controller.  Plus, I can swap sd cards and use it for other stuff the rest of the year.

So, with no further delay… I picked up a complete starter kit on amazon and it will be here in 2 days thanks to prime.  If you want to take a look, here is the link for it on Amazon.