Steve! As somebody new to the hobby this year - after years of investigation - I'm so glad I stumbled upon this video. I've been watching all the usual suspects KZitem channel's, but this video has been just about the most helpful thing I've seen in terms of how it all flows together. I'm really surprised that I'm only view #348. One video I'd love to see (and it would probably only be 2 minutes max) is what is upstream of your controller boxes. Wall Receptacle -> Pi (or other computer) -> Switch -> Controllers. Just an idea... Anyway, I really appreciate your videos. Very informative (especially this and your ammo box build) and I love your crisp/clean setup and shows. 56-days to Christmas!
@NiFamilyLights
4 жыл бұрын
Andy, thanks for the comment. I’m glad it’s helpful to you. I’ll be honest, there isn’t much upstream of what’s outside. All the controller boxes plug into outlets on one of 3 circuits. There is one Ethernet cable going from the main controller on the garage roof into the garage connecting via a switch to a Raspberry Pi3b+. The Pi has a SoundBlaster Play 3 USB dongle that sends the audio to a basic FM transmitter. That’s it! Enjoy the videos.
@user-ev4rx6tj9o
9 ай бұрын
I know this is super old, but can you share how you did the spiral tree and how did you sequence them in lights? Thank you!
@tracyrutter3064
5 жыл бұрын
Thank you for such a detailed walkthrough. This will be my first year so a lot of my questions are about prop placement and attachment. This answers a lot of questions about that especially the garage door snowflakes. Can I ask how you attach your snowflakes to the house? Also I live in Syracuse and still have a foot of snow in my yard. Any advice as far as elevating lawn props for those of us who get piles like we do here? Please know your time making this video is very much appreciated!
@NiFamilyLights
5 жыл бұрын
Tracy, thanks for the comment. The snowflakes on the house are primarily suspended by fishing line from the window outlines above. In addition, I cut short pieces of 1/2 PVC, drilled a hole on one end to zip tie the PVC piece to the snowflake, then hot glued the other end to the brick. There's 4 PVC stubs on the back of each snowflake. Surprisingly, the hot glue holds to brick very well since the snowflakes are so light, and they pops off easily. The High Strength Surebonder brand hot glue sticks are what I use. www.amazon.com/dp/B00FN6PMK4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_DWIMCbM93TZ6M
@NiFamilyLights
5 жыл бұрын
As for raising props above the ground level, I'm in the Washington DC area, and we don't get that much snow. I haven't thought too much about it, but segments of PVC or EMT in the ground to hold the props up may be enough, if you've already got those materials handy.
@lnbkr
2 жыл бұрын
Steve! Do you leave any portion of your show up year round? Just curious if you put it all up and take it all down every year.
@NiFamilyLights
2 жыл бұрын
Hi! The entire show gets completely put away and re-setup each year.
@lnbkr
2 жыл бұрын
@@NiFamilyLights kudos to you Steve, that’s a lot of work. One of the main reasons I’d like to get a setup going is to leave at least the roofline up. Your videos on the electrical side of everything helped me feel comfortable enough to finally start buying equipment, thanks for all of the great content you put out!
@robdmau
2 жыл бұрын
Did you change your setup? I see other videos with a screen and this looks like a wreath…
@NiFamilyLights
2 жыл бұрын
Yes, this behind the scenes is the first year setup. I added two P10 panel sets and floods the second year, and I changed out the center wreath in 2020.
@yakboyz1
3 жыл бұрын
I have a few questions that I hope you would answer. Are you using the large arches from Boscoyo? Is the crossbar EMT? Could you use PVC instead? (I have extra, that's why I ask) Did you follow the directions on the Boscoyo site for support in the yard?
@NiFamilyLights
3 жыл бұрын
Yes, those are the large arches from Boscoyo. The crossbar is 1/2" EMT. I don't think PVC would be strong enough to maintain its shape. The EMT pipe is under a good amount of stress as the 1/2" PVC that forms the arch wants to straighten itself out. I used the directions from Boscoyo's site. The one thing I did in addition was using tie down straps in the middle of the arch to the middle of the EMT bar to help shape the arch under the heat of the sun for a couple of days before releasing pressure (it'll still go up a little) to match the curve of the coro that gets zip tied to the PVC.
@yakboyz1
3 жыл бұрын
@@NiFamilyLights thanks for sharing this info. I notice you have all holes filled on the arch did you overlap a piece Coro? It has 51 holes so just curious how you set this up with 50 pixels.
@NiFamilyLights
3 жыл бұрын
@@yakboyz1 Apologies if I mis-spoke. I used all 51 holes in the large Boscoyo arches.
@yakboyz1
3 жыл бұрын
@@NiFamilyLights ah got it. Thanks again. You have been very helpful!
@NahYeahMate
5 жыл бұрын
Hi Steve, I really like how you built your mini trees Is there a design or drawing you used to mark the wholes and size of cutout? Would like to build the same models if possible Thank you!
@NiFamilyLights
5 жыл бұрын
The mini trees are just under 36" tall. They are cut with slits in the back to allow for each section to 'bend'. There are 5 'sections' with the holes basically going up and down. The far left and far right sides are 'irregular' and the top is also 'irregular'. Each tree has 85 nodes. 85 nodes was a key target for each tree because it allows 2 trees to be powered by one output (170 pixels before power injecting). In addition, 2*85 = 170 nodes * 3 channels per node = 510 channels. So, two trees use one Universe of lighting channels within xLights. Last, 170 nodes * 3 sets of trees = 510 pixels, which is just below the limit I set within the Falcon F16V3. In the F16V3 setup, the main controller and one differential expansion board shares/splits the maximum pixels per output. The F16V3 itself can drive up to 1,024 pixels per output. With the 16 outputs, that's 16k+ pixels. When you add a differential expansion board, you have to divide up the channels between the main board and the expansion board. To keep it simpler for me, I divided the available output channels evenly, so all outputs can drive up to 512 pixels. So, back to the mini tree, 85 nodes was the target. Mock up on a piece of cardboard a mini tree to get the angles correct before cutting Coro. There's basically 7 vertical runs of 12 pixels. Again, the left and right 12 pixels are irregularly spaced. The middle 5 runs of pixels are a good 6" down from the top. The right set of 12 goes higher than all the pixels, and there's one extra one at the top in the middle. 7*12+1 = 85 pixels. Last on the setup, when the tree is bent into shape, the bottom pixels are spaced less than 4" apart. My pixels are all 4" spaced, so this prevented having to make cuts and splicing of wires to get all the pixels installed. You can go the 'easy' route and save yourself a bunch of time by getting the large 180 degree mini trees from Boscoyo Studio. The price is great and you'll spend a lot less time making them by hand (unless that's what you want to do). Good luck.
@NahYeahMate
5 жыл бұрын
@@NiFamilyLights that's a great explanation Steve. I'm in the process of gathering ideas to build my own props. I'm in Australia so the boscoyo products cost A LOT to ship here. Will be drafting up some mini trees on cardboard. To be honest I hadn't thought about dividing up the props to utilise the f16's outputs. This will be something I look at. What fps do you run your show at? I read somewhere that using 1000 pixels per output doesn't allow you to run 40 updates per second. My show will be close to 8000 pixels so I'll have to look at my props and pixel counts to efficiently spread the load Just one more thing, I really like the pixil columns you have and wanted to make a few. You forgot to mention then in the video. Any chance you could tell us a bit about them? Thanks again Steve
@NiFamilyLights
5 жыл бұрын
The vertical panels are another Boscoyo product. It’s an 8’ tall matrix that has pixels every 2”. It’s 4 pixels wide and forty something pixels tall. You can see more specs about that product at Boscoyo. I used 1/2” EMT conduit and 1/2” PVC tees to make the frame behind it.
@NiFamilyLights
5 жыл бұрын
Regarding your FPS question , I use the lower setting in xlights. It’s plenty fast and also keeps the FSEQ half the size. With the new P10 panels added this year, all those channels at the lower frame rate still produces a 900MB or more FSEQ file for an average 3.5 minute song.
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