I am loving the information on your channel. I'm just starting out. I have a model using USB fairy lights that are W2812B for my bedroom sized model and I am looking into beginning to learn programming. My model is not just flat or linear, it is an abstract multi-dimensional star like design. The complex/advanced model is anyway. My first yard sized model with light was called "Tetra Light" and the complex model is 4 times more elements. The programming will be able to handle many different sets of movement on the one model and it's 4 different prototypes so far. As for choosing strips or strings and power, the design in these early stages are basically lights strips in tubes/pipes. I'm using Govee led strips for larger versions and BTF lighting fairy lights for the smaller version. There are sets of 12 light tubes in the simple model and 48 in the complex model. Each of those could be individual segments. I'm going to calculate how many lights that would be. Power is an issue because I would have to hide the wires so they don't hang out all around the ends. The model gives a way to brings power lines through the center of the tubes at large diameters. I could use little 3D printed parabolic cones to distribute lights from strings and pixels aligned by the center wire so the light is reflected around to the tube in a better way that just pixel in tubes. www.youtube.com/@CreativeStarlightCurves
I highly recommend this video if you are into making your display from static lights to sequenced lights. Love the informative video as this is a pretty good intro to the hobby of the Christmas lights. It also turns into many other holiday lights too, i.e 4th of July, Halloween. I also recommend XLights UA-cam classes as well as the forums from Xlights and Light O Rama. The only complaint I have with the video is your comment of it takes a week for a novice to do an impressive show in a week. Only if you have deep pockets (purchasing a ready made display and sequenced or having some else do it) or you are a anywhere from a intermediate to complete nerd in electronics. And still not a week to do it all. Not trying to scare anyone away but it takes a lot longer to wade thru what you want to do versus all of the different electronic items to do it as well as the programming aspects. If you have a music background, that helps too when sequencing your lights to music. Your advice to start small is the best solution for a novice as it can easily get overwhelming. It has taken me almost 10 years to get my display where I want it to be. Last year was the very first year to setup, sequenced and happy with the display. It is not big or small but it fits the area I have and it took over a month to setup. That does not include selecting the songs to sequence, going thru checking each light (ws2811s, rgb spotlights, static led lights) and checking for anomalies. Can't wait till I retire so I can really do it spectacularly!!
Thanks for the kind words! The "under a week" part was definitely referring to kit stuff. You can get really creative in this hobby (which is I think why most of us like it), but you can also buy the kits to get up and running quickly if that's what you're after.
I'm super excited. I've been wanting something to do since retirement. Knowing me, if I start today I might be able to have my "mega strand" of lights programmed in time for Christmas next year.
First, love your vids. You're literally the reason I even ended up in this hobby. Starting with your holiday lights vids and now into the full show. That said, "less than a week to a full show" is fairly misleading. I suppose with a Ready to Run kit for the mega tree, that element's doable in that time frame, but a whole show is not. It's my first year, I've been at it since August/September and I'm only at about 65% complete. Wiring, soldering, attaching pigtails, power injecting, building props for window outlines, and trouble shooting is all very time consuming. And that's before the dozens of hours you'll spend sequencing. This is still a great tutorial and your xlights section will definitely save me some time!
It's possible if you have general IT skills (installing software, IP addressing) and you use out of the box sequences along with a ready to run controller. Going Ready2Run assembled alone will save you many, many hours since the controllers are shipped 100% assembled and tested and you don't have to make a bunch of mistakes not purchasing or purchasing the wrong items to complete the project. Power injection is a "level 4" skill that even we don't support for customers due to the likely-hood for damage to hardware and thus we generally have customers using Long Range instead of power injection which is cleaner and easier and just about the same cost.
I've been thinking of upgrading the outside lights for sometime and this is probably the best instructional video I've seen. Great job Rob and thank you!
First I want to say that I have subscribed to you page. I have been sequencing a light show for a few years now. While I have considered going with Pixel lights I have too much invested in regular LED lights, (about 25,000), to change my set up. I also wrote my own program to run my lights. I use Digital I/O boards in my display and build all my own circuit boards. I still do the flashy blinky type of display, (no dimming). Even with what I know this set up seems like it would take a lot of study to get a grasp of everything. I have even tried to contact DIY web sites but no ones seems willing to help me out with questions and problems that I encounter. You at least are willing to show how some of these things go together. I did at one time try and purchase systems from people, but no one would explain how to diagnose problems with the systems I bought. It would be nice to see something like this broken down into easy to understand steps to do a display as complex as this. All of the terms you are using need to be defined in every day language for the average person. Thank you for you effort to explain your system.
Thanks for posting this. Wow when I drove by a house with this type of led tree I had no clue what's involved. I always wanted to do this but I feel now I need a degree in IT to do it. When you were going back and forth on the pc my brain went into over load. Lol
Thank you, I'm 12 and I begged my parents for years to get me a controller and lights and they did. I got the programming and it didn't work out. Like it was supposed to. It was off beat. I guess that's not to bad considering I did it by myself but u really helped
Haha, had some friends come over for dinner that night but I was SO close to finishing when they got there that I had to keep going. They kept me company, good friends and unwitting participants in my youtube video.
Just subscribed today and watched a few videos so far. My brain is smoking because I haven't even reached novice level. I'm a "I'm new, I don't know what to do" beginner, beginner level. I'll watch them a few dozen times again and maybe I'll start to understand. I do love the videos and do want to learn.
J check out videos on the video section of xlights.org, or Canispater Christmas and Listen to Our Lights all here on youtube. You'll probably get a better idea from those guys.
That's REALLY impressive... a bit out of my budget.. didn't realize the big controllers were that expensive. I look forward to more of this series and I'll be ingesting more of your original LED outline to build my own.
you can use nodemcu lolin boards (espixelstick firmware) that cost 4$ each to control up to 250+ pixels per controller. you can waterproof them in cheap pvc pipe. you can diy a 18 strand pixel tree for about 250ish dollars and that includes 18 strands of cheap pixels,6 controllers, and a powersupply. how you mount the pixels dictates the rest of your cost. mounting strips are nice, but slicing 1/2 inch pvc pipe in half lenthwise on a tablesaw and drilling 50 1/2 inch holes every 2.4 inches will only cost you 2$ per 20 feet! thats 20$ to mount all the strands. to support it you can create a frame from emt piping, or use conventional megatree methods.
The DIY route is definitely the way to go in my opinion. You learn more this way, so that you can add more in the future, AND you save a LOT of money. I use ESP8266 boards controlled via E1.31 with Vixen Lights software. The ESP8266 boards control my LEDs, and I have a separate power supply. It really isn't too hard to build if you do your research.
@@alexelliott9733 Thanks Alex. I now have lights along my soffits and one other element running on D1 Minis with Dig-Unos. Planning a 7-8' Mega Tree for next year and I won't lie, I'm intimidated by Xlights (for now), but I realize how much it adds to it all. Fortunately, I got a bit of time to learn. The tree will be where I more to nodes and may be where I step up to 12v from my current 5v lights.
@@ein57ein That's awesome! I've also been thinking about building a full-fledged mega tree, but it didn't happen this year, so hopefully I'll get around to it for next year as well. Hope yours goes well!
@@grimninja2004 man! I've got a lot to learn lol... I didn't see your comment before, but now (specially that I'm plotting for next year). I'm thinking about a 180 degree 8' with ~13 strings on a D1Mini or ESP32 with WLED. I know WLED can listen for e1.31, I just gotta figure that part out before next year.
Thanks Rob. Love your succinct explanations, no nonsense , get to the point presentations. I love having you guys 2.5 yrs ahead of my budget. You save me so much time and $. ;-) (Oh, and let me mention the link you have to the WS2812B IP65s was dead last I checked.) Thanks for all you do!
direction of pixels is a necessary topic, also the concept of a single strand of pixels if you laid your show out end to end, probably would be nice to mention you way under utilized that controller and its ports to simplify the explanation (some use that controller for16,000 lights) and simplify the install of a tree. however if you used a single channel for your entire tree your extension cables connecting each tree strand together would make it more uniform and less guessing (even though it turned out great). I liked the idea of reusing existing shows from others that have shared.
Great intro, Rob...I'm an IoT hw/sw developer and just getting into xLights and animated shows. Yours is the first video that has actually brought all of the pieces together in an understandable, cohesive manner that, thanks to you, I know understand! Kudos. You mentioned in the vid that you permanently mounted pixel strips to outline your house. Could you share what products/tools you did to do that? Has that been installed for awhile, and if so has it withstood weather/sunlight/snow/rain etc.? I also loved the discussion around PVC pre-fab mounting for your doors and windows. Let's see how you did that!? Thanks again!
Great info. Good subject would be how to expand a single effect across all channels and universes as I saw this season. It was spread over someone's entire house ever so often to match intensity of music. Very cool effect.
Can you do a video on how to physically mount the wiring/lights to your house. I’m pretty lost on injecting power. If you want a house to do you can come over. Haha
My favorite hobby, This year will be my 5th year running a light show. One thing I noticed that will cause issues is using DHCP. You just can't do this. I don't use xlights but on Vixen it asks for controller IP, if you're using DHCP this is liable to change after a day or a week depending on router settings. Using a manual IP should be the only option. Also never used Falcon boards because they're quite pricey. I've stuck with SanDevices, they also sell their boards fully assembled which is the option I took. My first SanDevices I got 4 years ago (an E682 ) and it's still running like a champ. Now they have a $99 board that assembled with 4 outputs. Perfect for placement on a display element.
While the E682 was one of the first crop of pixel controllers back in 2010, it has not kept up with all the modern innovations common to newer controllers like - multi-line OLED screens, network switch for daisy chaining, Wi-Fi interface, modular construction allowing 2 times or more outputs per controller, no long range support, no temperature / voltage monitoring and shutdown (for safety), blown fuse monitoring, sequence playback from controller, FM transmitting and other improvements. When factoring in these huge improvements since the release of the E682 years ago, the difference in cost makes sense.
In that case should we hang the decos up this weekend on the channel aswell? So its all warm n cosey for next time you visit. I know how u like your LED lighting 😤😤😤
Thanks for a great overview. Helped me accelerate my setup. I’m not clear why you have the same e1.31 controller listed multiple times in the controller setup. My understanding is Xlights supports multiple universes under a single entry.
I use SuperStar from Light-O-Rama to sequence all my pixels, and use almost all Holiday Coro controllers and pixels. But, X-Lights also is a very good sequencer. You gave a great overview of the main steps. Just a heads-up: Sequencing RGB lights to a song, the real "wow" of using RGB lights, takes an enormous amount of time. I take approximately 8-10 hours per one minute of a song that I sequence to my lights, and I only have about 17,000 pixels. I say "only" because many of those addicted to this hobby (like me) have multiples of that (e.g., John Storms). So, besides the work required to build props (like a mega tree), plan on spending quite a bit of time sequencing lights to a song. Now, will your next video be how to power wash a driveway? Ok, my poor attempt at humor. I love all your videos!!
Haha, when I took that picture my first thought was "wow, the driveway looks gross". I think it was a side effect of the HDR applied by the iphone camera. I promise it doesn't actually look that bad.
Totally agree about the time it takes to sequence by the way. The only song I've ever sequenced from scratch was "you make it feel like christmas" by Gwen Stefani because it's my wife's favorite xmas song and it took me around 20 hours, and as I said, I'm not even fully satisfied with the result.
Time to make a 2024 version of this. Plus is there not a "basic" controller similar to WLED that just does some prebuilt basic chases, flashing, fading for those with bullet pixels who are not interested in xlight sequencing/syncing etc...
Power injection should be well understood before implementing. It's a bit like installing a turbo kit on your stock car - all good if you get everything 100% right and really bad if not done correctly. Here are some diagrams that show the basics: www.holidaycoro.com/kb_results.asp?ID=173 Given the number of cheap long range expansion systems (www.holidaycoro.com/Ready2Run-AlphaPix-Flex-Long-Range-Receivers-p/935.htm), the move has been more towards long range and away from power injection due to the complexity.
Hola, como podria conseguir todas las instrucciones en español? Me gusta mucho tu trabajo y quisiera empezar a aprender a hacerlo y decorar mi casa asi como la tuya. Espero y puedas ayudarme. Saludos...
Nice video, I would add a disclaimer about that fence post though those bend and break easy in heavy winds. I would use stronger metal poles for the build. Also would let people know that this is only one option like you broke down the controllers so they understand that there are multiple ways to make the same sort of prop. Also don't recall seeing guide wires added for extra support on the tree? That's also a good point to highlight so people don't get frustrated when things start falling over.
I did mention the guy wires (both buying the string and when to attach them), but I didn't show a close up. There are certainly tons of options for making every kind of prop, I'll be covering that in my next video on the subject (also PVC/PEX/Coro/3d Printing). This video could have easily been 30-40 minutes long, but I was REALLY trying to keep it short since there's already a ton of good information about the subject if you're willing to sit down and watch hours of videos. I wanted this to be the fast-paced first video you'd would watch to get an overview and then dive in deeper to any particular subject you needed more info on. You think the top rail will buckle in heavy winds? I know it's pretty thin walled, but there's just not that much surface area for the wind to grab a hold of.
The number of factors involved with mounting a megatree and vary quite a bit. We have customers that build MegaTrees on roofs, sand, on flag poles, on the side of a house, on asphalt and concrete and other varied surfaces. As such, there are many factors that come into play on how to balance safety, cost and materials that a customer is able to work with.
I have been watching your videos on addressable LED's to get a better understanding for a project I am looking to try. Your information has been very helpful, could you help with the following. I would like to know what and how to create 5 digits with 7 segments each plus 2 sets of colons. The unit will be to count down to start then elapsed time using RGBW tapes to be used outside. Different colors for the different time displayed. Readability at a reasonable distance about 300ft so digits to be 12" - 15" high. I think each segment will require 2 rows of LED strips, this will mean 35 or 70 strips plus the colons. I look forward to your views,
Great mega tree! I have 14 stings just arrived, I was going to do 2 in spacing but seeing yours I believ 3 in looks nice also. Other note, didn’t you have a video on how to build that wreath? I couldn’t find it. Scanned through your other holiday vids but may have missed it.
Some background on the universe and channel numbers may help some beginners. Stage lighting uses a control signalling called DMX512. It has 512 addresses on a single cable. 512 is a power of 2. One cable with a maximum of 512 channels is referred to a universe. To send multiple universes to the lighting fixtures over Ethernet for large shows and concerts, the data is streamed over networking and broken out into DMX to the individual strings of fixtures on their own universe cable of no more than 512 channels. The fixtures are assigned channels to receive and physically connected to the correct cable universe. In Ethernet networking this protocol was adopted by the hobby people. Most people do not use stage lighting and DMX 512 directly as there are no configuration switches on each pixel. Pixels do not care about DMX addresses, universes, etc. The pixels use another standard. The interface between them is where the confusion begins. Pixels although listed as addressable are in fact NOT addressable. you can't give them an address. They use a serial shift register protocol. There is only the first pixel through to the last pixel in a string. You can not assign them addresses. They get data based on their position in the string. The most common protocol is the WS2811 protocol. The reference to the WS2812 is the exact same protocol. The difference is the pixel contains the chip in the LED. The 2811 has a chip on a board and an LED. Send a bunch of bits to the first pixel and it strips off the first 8 bits for red, 8 bits for Green, and 8 bits for Blue, then sends any further bits out to the next pixel. This is all they do. The next pixel takes the first bit it gets which is the 25th bit and does the same as the first pixel did keeping the first 24 bits it sees and sending along the rest. This continues down the line until the last pixel gets the last few bits that made it that far. DMX on the other hand does use addresses to receive the channel information. No data is stripped from the line and all fixtures receive the same data. The last light on a DMX cable can be addressed to receive the data for DMX channel it is set to receive regardless of position in the string. DMX lighting is addressable. A pixel controller can take one universe of DMX 512 channels and send it as shift register data to a string of pixels using the WS2811 protocol. This is a pixel controller in the very basic form. Due to each pixel using 3 channels of DMX information, there is a full set of data for 170 pixels in 510 DMX channels. The two remaining channels would have enough data for Red and Green for one pixel but no data for the blue. This is why pixel controllers use 510 channels per universe instead of 512. It is desirable to have pixel strings longer than 170 pixels. The shift register Pixels support long strings. The Pixel controller for these strings can take more than one Universe of DMX 512 data and combine them on one output, so using 2 universes of 510 channels instead of 512, will drive a string of 340 pixels using 1020 DMX channels in 2 universes which is easily handled by the software sequencer, ethernet, and pixel controller. This conversion from stage lighitng protocol to get the signal from the software out to the LED strings is where most of the confusion arises in regards to Universes and DMX channels. To add to the confusion, some controllers call the first universe 0 and some call it 1. Getting the addressing wrong in the software or controller by one universe is a common mistake. DMX addresses start with address 1. Pixels sometimes were numbered from 0. Again, this causes some programming headaches. Some pixels are not in the order of Red Green Blue. This if not fixed in the controller or sequencer, it can result in unexpected colors. Due to the hobby market, what used to be very expensive to distribute DMX in shows has now become very affordable. Instead of outputting just the shift register data for Pixels, there are very affordable E1.31 to DMX controllers out there too for very affordable prices. What used to cost over a grand is now under $100 for a 4 universe E1.31 to DMX interface.
Love the video and love the channel, too! Your channel is now on the top of my list! I even printed out the input / output diagram from your "which pins to choose" video on the ESP8266. By the way you look like a young Michael Keaton in the thumbnail for this video ha ha!
Very helpful video! Here's the one question I have that you actually didn't cover lol. Where is your main controllers mounted and how does one typically run the pixels cables to it without having awful cables covering your house? Go through the attic? And can the pixel strands be daisy chained or each 50 have to run back to the controller?
Sounds like its a pain to get going but then its almost wash rinse repeat once you get the major things in place. I think this is cool as all get out, but ill leave it to someone else. Great explanation though, a lot of technical stuff broken down to a very understandable form.
I like the TV show Lucifer. In it there is a bar called LUX. I really like the light effects in the bar and would love to recreate it in my back yard with something like cafe lights. Any thoughts on how to do that!
DrZzs: Today I'm gonna show you how to build your own LED shows. That's all for now, Adios! The Hook Up: Nahhh DrZzs!!Hold my beer! This is how you show your LED shows from space.
@@TheHookUp I built this exactly like you did in the video and it worked great. I switch to the HolidayCoro and now I have issues (Hinks pro). Now have power issues. 624 pix injected at the end of every 150 pix strip. Tried using a separate supply by cutting the positive from the HollidayCoro box. Did not work. Lights did not even come on. Still don't know why. I would love another video on how you did this.
I’m really digging this new found interest. Other than your channel, is there another valuable resource one could go to learn more about this line of fun? Beginner level preferably.
Interested what all you had for your first setup you showed for the whole house. In a similar situation starting about thinking about moving to something similar. Thanks.
Hello Sir, Thanks for your videos, really helpful to know about the latest trends. One question - Is there any way to control SONOFF devices using the app without an Internet connection. I mean to use the app and control devices through LAN. Kindly share about it really useful for solving this problem at home.
Hi.. mr Hook UP I was electronics enthusiastic way back 40 years now but I want bring it back my know ledge again also I add my suscribed I love your theorical explanations Im already 65 years and already retired do nothing athome but I can still doing this project to maintain my memory thanks
I would like a little more information on installing LED walls or Displays and integrating them into my light shows. How do I add music videos to my light show? Do I use the same software? What hardware should I be using other than using RGB WS2812B lights?
I was looking for guidance in using an input from an xbox one rumble motor to then RF to a receiver to make the led strip light up red with the same pulse of the rumble motor. I'm 100 percent doing this project but I just don't know where to start. Any help would be appreciated.
You must be the best teacher ever. The way you explain stuff is really clear and understandable.
Said no one ever
out of everybody producing content on this subject, you are the most straightforward and informative. thank you! i will consider patreon.
Thanks!
I am loving the information on your channel. I'm just starting out. I have a model using USB fairy lights that are W2812B for my bedroom sized model and I am looking into beginning to learn programming. My model is not just flat or linear, it is an abstract multi-dimensional star like design. The complex/advanced model is anyway. My first yard sized model with light was called "Tetra Light" and the complex model is 4 times more elements. The programming will be able to handle many different sets of movement on the one model and it's 4 different prototypes so far.
As for choosing strips or strings and power, the design in these early stages are basically lights strips in tubes/pipes. I'm using Govee led strips for larger versions and BTF lighting fairy lights for the smaller version. There are sets of 12 light tubes in the simple model and 48 in the complex model. Each of those could be individual segments. I'm going to calculate how many lights that would be. Power is an issue because I would have to hide the wires so they don't hang out all around the ends. The model gives a way to brings power lines through the center of the tubes at large diameters. I could use little 3D printed parabolic cones to distribute lights from strings and pixels aligned by the center wire so the light is reflected around to the tube in a better way that just pixel in tubes.
www.youtube.com/@CreativeStarlightCurves
Omg! I’ll stick to string lights; props to all of you who do this! Impressive
I highly recommend this video if you are into making your display from static lights to sequenced lights. Love the informative video as this is a pretty good intro to the hobby of the Christmas lights. It also turns into many other holiday lights too, i.e 4th of July, Halloween. I also recommend XLights UA-cam classes as well as the forums from Xlights and Light O Rama. The only complaint I have with the video is your comment of it takes a week for a novice to do an impressive show in a week. Only if you have deep pockets (purchasing a ready made display and sequenced or having some else do it) or you are a anywhere from a intermediate to complete nerd in electronics. And still not a week to do it all. Not trying to scare anyone away but it takes a lot longer to wade thru what you want to do versus all of the different electronic items to do it as well as the programming aspects. If you have a music background, that helps too when sequencing your lights to music. Your advice to start small is the best solution for a novice as it can easily get overwhelming. It has taken me almost 10 years to get my display where I want it to be. Last year was the very first year to setup, sequenced and happy with the display. It is not big or small but it fits the area I have and it took over a month to setup. That does not include selecting the songs to sequence, going thru checking each light (ws2811s, rgb spotlights, static led lights) and checking for anomalies. Can't wait till I retire so I can really do it spectacularly!!
Thanks for the kind words! The "under a week" part was definitely referring to kit stuff. You can get really creative in this hobby (which is I think why most of us like it), but you can also buy the kits to get up and running quickly if that's what you're after.
I'm lights KraZee! But I'm not participating anymore. I've got a
new perspective and much more appreciative of folks who do these GREAT displays. Thnx
Importing the sequence is definitely one of the most confusing parts to do on your own. Thank you for explaining this so well!
I'm super excited. I've been wanting something to do since retirement. Knowing me, if I start today I might be able to have my "mega strand" of lights programmed in time for Christmas next year.
January is a great time to start planning for next December.
After watching the video I decided to throw a couple of led strips on my roof, plug them in and call it a day.
I'm with you. If this is a beginners guide, I'd hate to see an advanced version.
Ya fuck this lol
Before this video I was like "how hard this shit be" now I'm like "fuck this"
@@javi1373 check this one out.
ua-cam.com/video/tXvtxwK3jRk/v-deo.html this dude explains it very well!
This is why people pay professionals to do it. To hell with this bs.
First, love your vids. You're literally the reason I even ended up in this hobby. Starting with your holiday lights vids and now into the full show. That said, "less than a week to a full show" is fairly misleading. I suppose with a Ready to Run kit for the mega tree, that element's doable in that time frame, but a whole show is not. It's my first year, I've been at it since August/September and I'm only at about 65% complete. Wiring, soldering, attaching pigtails, power injecting, building props for window outlines, and trouble shooting is all very time consuming. And that's before the dozens of hours you'll spend sequencing.
This is still a great tutorial and your xlights section will definitely save me some time!
Yeah, that time frame is for kits of course. I know I’m not exactly a beginner, but I completed my tree +sequencing in one Saturday.
It's possible if you have general IT skills (installing software, IP addressing) and you use out of the box sequences along with a ready to run controller. Going Ready2Run assembled alone will save you many, many hours since the controllers are shipped 100% assembled and tested and you don't have to make a bunch of mistakes not purchasing or purchasing the wrong items to complete the project. Power injection is a "level 4" skill that even we don't support for customers due to the likely-hood for damage to hardware and thus we generally have customers using Long Range instead of power injection which is cleaner and easier and just about the same cost.
Oh my gosh! Thank you SO MUCH for this! NOBODY explains any of this as well as you, truly appreciated!
He would have been my favorite teacher in school. Very cool projects!
Thanks to UA-cam, he still can be your favorite teacher! I know he is mine, and I am 52.
I've been thinking of upgrading the outside lights for sometime and this is probably the best instructional video I've seen. Great job Rob and thank you!
First I want to say that I have subscribed to you page. I have been sequencing a light show for a few years now. While I have considered going with Pixel lights I have too much invested in regular LED lights, (about 25,000), to change my set up. I also wrote my own program to run my lights. I use Digital I/O boards in my display and build all my own circuit boards. I still do the flashy blinky type of display, (no dimming). Even with what I know this set up seems like it would take a lot of study to get a grasp of everything. I have even tried to contact DIY web sites but no ones seems willing to help me out with questions and problems that I encounter. You at least are willing to show how some of these things go together. I did at one time try and purchase systems from people, but no one would explain how to diagnose problems with the systems I bought. It would be nice to see something like this broken down into easy to understand steps to do a display as complex as this. All of the terms you are using need to be defined in every day language for the average person. Thank you for you effort to explain your system.
This really helped tie all the bits together I've learned so far. Thank you!!!!
Thanks for posting this. Wow when I drove by a house with this type of led tree I had no clue what's involved. I always wanted to do this but I feel now I need a degree in IT to do it. When you were going back and forth on the pc my brain went into over load. Lol
That xLights guide was really all that I needed. Thanks for keeping me busy doing projects Rob!
X-Lights Guide? In this vid? Did I miss that?
The part about the universe was really helpful. Thanks!
Nice movie! And nice tree. Now a movie of the total house
Wow sick! This is that next level lights I install commercial holiday lights and if I start offering things like this there is way more money in it!
Thanks for such a thorough video, you answered like 20 of my 10 questions
Thank you, I'm 12 and I begged my parents for years to get me a controller and lights and they did. I got the programming and it didn't work out. Like it was supposed to. It was off beat. I guess that's not to bad considering I did it by myself but u really helped
Thank you so much for sharing for point lights.
Phenomenal video !
Thank you for bringing us closer to our dreams !
And
Your LED obsession is well understood !
Another great video Rob, really informative!! Good to see at 09:00 you had plenty of supervisors helping!!!
Haha, had some friends come over for dinner that night but I was SO close to finishing when they got there that I had to keep going. They kept me company, good friends and unwitting participants in my youtube video.
Dude, you are an absolute magician!
This really helped me make the decision to skip the lights this year
I have no idea what u were talking about (setup). It’s a nice outcome
Now I know why I’ve never saw a light show in my town. As simple as a trig problem.
Just subscribed today and watched a few videos so far. My brain is smoking because I haven't even reached novice level. I'm a "I'm new, I don't know what to do" beginner, beginner level. I'll watch them a few dozen times again and maybe I'll start to understand. I do love the videos and do want to learn.
J check out videos on the video section of xlights.org, or Canispater Christmas and Listen to Our Lights all here on youtube. You'll probably get a better idea from those guys.
Nice one. I got idea for our christmas decoration competition at work.
That's REALLY impressive... a bit out of my budget.. didn't realize the big controllers were that expensive. I look forward to more of this series and I'll be ingesting more of your original LED outline to build my own.
you can use nodemcu lolin boards (espixelstick firmware) that cost 4$ each to control up to 250+ pixels per controller. you can waterproof them in cheap pvc pipe. you can diy a 18 strand pixel tree for about 250ish dollars and that includes 18 strands of cheap pixels,6 controllers, and a powersupply. how you mount the pixels dictates the rest of your cost. mounting strips are nice, but slicing 1/2 inch pvc pipe in half lenthwise on a tablesaw and drilling 50 1/2 inch holes every 2.4 inches will only cost you 2$ per 20 feet! thats 20$ to mount all the strands. to support it you can create a frame from emt piping, or use conventional megatree methods.
The DIY route is definitely the way to go in my opinion. You learn more this way, so that you can add more in the future, AND you save a LOT of money. I use ESP8266 boards controlled via E1.31 with Vixen Lights software. The ESP8266 boards control my LEDs, and I have a separate power supply. It really isn't too hard to build if you do your research.
@@alexelliott9733 Thanks Alex. I now have lights along my soffits and one other element running on D1 Minis with Dig-Unos. Planning a 7-8' Mega Tree for next year and I won't lie, I'm intimidated by Xlights (for now), but I realize how much it adds to it all.
Fortunately, I got a bit of time to learn. The tree will be where I more to nodes and may be where I step up to 12v from my current 5v lights.
@@ein57ein That's awesome! I've also been thinking about building a full-fledged mega tree, but it didn't happen this year, so hopefully I'll get around to it for next year as well. Hope yours goes well!
@@grimninja2004 man! I've got a lot to learn lol... I didn't see your comment before, but now (specially that I'm plotting for next year).
I'm thinking about a 180 degree 8' with ~13 strings on a D1Mini or ESP32 with WLED. I know WLED can listen for e1.31, I just gotta figure that part out before next year.
Thanks Rob. Love your succinct explanations, no nonsense , get to the point presentations. I love having you guys 2.5 yrs ahead of my budget. You save me so much time and $. ;-) (Oh, and let me mention the link you have to the WS2812B IP65s was dead last I checked.) Thanks for all you do!
Love your presenting style. Refreshing and straight to the point
direction of pixels is a necessary topic, also the concept of a single strand of pixels if you laid your show out end to end, probably would be nice to mention you way under utilized that controller and its ports to simplify the explanation (some use that controller for16,000 lights) and simplify the install of a tree. however if you used a single channel for your entire tree your extension cables connecting each tree strand together would make it more uniform and less guessing (even though it turned out great). I liked the idea of reusing existing shows from others that have shared.
Great intro, Rob...I'm an IoT hw/sw developer and just getting into xLights and animated shows. Yours is the first video that has actually brought all of the pieces together in an understandable, cohesive manner that, thanks to you, I know understand! Kudos. You mentioned in the vid that you permanently mounted pixel strips to outline your house. Could you share what products/tools you did to do that? Has that been installed for awhile, and if so has it withstood weather/sunlight/snow/rain etc.? I also loved the discussion around PVC pre-fab mounting for your doors and windows. Let's see how you did that!? Thanks again!
ua-cam.com/video/N5Ln_3Ygv9I/v-deo.html
A novice can put together an amazing show in about a week...Ha! I'd love to see that
Kits only of course...
Hey I didn't see anything in the comments about the sandevices controllers but they come fully assembled as well.
Great info. Good subject would be how to expand a single effect across all channels and universes as I saw this season. It was spread over someone's entire house ever so often to match intensity of music. Very cool effect.
Can you do a video on how to physically mount the wiring/lights to your house. I’m pretty lost on injecting power.
If you want a house to do you can come over. Haha
You’re the man. Love your channel and what you do! #respect
I really wanna make my own light shows for Christmas and Halloween for my future house. I’m sure this video can help me.
My favorite hobby, This year will be my 5th year running a light show. One thing I noticed that will cause issues is using DHCP. You just can't do this. I don't use xlights but on Vixen it asks for controller IP, if you're using DHCP this is liable to change after a day or a week depending on router settings. Using a manual IP should be the only option.
Also never used Falcon boards because they're quite pricey. I've stuck with SanDevices, they also sell their boards fully assembled which is the option I took. My first SanDevices I got 4 years ago (an E682 ) and it's still running like a champ. Now they have a $99 board that assembled with 4 outputs. Perfect for placement on a display element.
While the E682 was one of the first crop of pixel controllers back in 2010, it has not kept up with all the modern innovations common to newer controllers like - multi-line OLED screens, network switch for daisy chaining, Wi-Fi interface, modular construction allowing 2 times or more outputs per controller, no long range support, no temperature / voltage monitoring and shutdown (for safety), blown fuse monitoring, sequence playback from controller, FM transmitting and other improvements. When factoring in these huge improvements since the release of the E682 years ago, the difference in cost makes sense.
Most modern routers keep matching the same IP to a MAC address, so the IP given by the DHCP shouldn't change.
I think it's easier to let it take DHCP, then reserve the IP on your router.
You should be able to make DHCP static leases on your router. This will ensure the controllers get the same IP address every time.
Love your wife's shirt. "I don't need Google, my husband knows everything" Ha! XD
Musicman247 is it missing “thinks he” ?
Gotta buy one of those to my wife.
@@lordgarth1 I try to learn more and more each day, but sadly I'll never know everything... not until the FDA green-lights direct brain implants.
9:08 - Glad to see the union supervisors on the job.
In that case should we hang the decos up this weekend on the channel aswell? So its all warm n cosey for next time you visit. I know how u like your LED lighting 😤😤😤
You’re the best. Seriously.
Thanks for a great overview. Helped me accelerate my setup. I’m not clear why you have the same e1.31 controller listed multiple times in the controller setup. My understanding is Xlights supports multiple universes under a single entry.
I use SuperStar from Light-O-Rama to sequence all my pixels, and use almost all Holiday Coro controllers and pixels. But, X-Lights also is a very good sequencer. You gave a great overview of the main steps. Just a heads-up: Sequencing RGB lights to a song, the real "wow" of using RGB lights, takes an enormous amount of time. I take approximately 8-10 hours per one minute of a song that I sequence to my lights, and I only have about 17,000 pixels. I say "only" because many of those addicted to this hobby (like me) have multiples of that (e.g., John Storms). So, besides the work required to build props (like a mega tree), plan on spending quite a bit of time sequencing lights to a song. Now, will your next video be how to power wash a driveway? Ok, my poor attempt at humor. I love all your videos!!
Haha, when I took that picture my first thought was "wow, the driveway looks gross". I think it was a side effect of the HDR applied by the iphone camera. I promise it doesn't actually look that bad.
Totally agree about the time it takes to sequence by the way. The only song I've ever sequenced from scratch was "you make it feel like christmas" by Gwen Stefani because it's my wife's favorite xmas song and it took me around 20 hours, and as I said, I'm not even fully satisfied with the result.
Greatly appreciated the Timestamps
You are a legend
Good presentation.
Great Video. Thinking this is a 2021 project.
Thanks for the time stamps!
Thank you you have been a big help.
SUPER ...100% BEST... Thank you...
Наконец-то нормальное описание! Спасибо👍
100% sure that I never want to do this now. Jeez Rob!
Ha! That's just as useful as being inspired to do it. Sometimes it's good to know what you don't want to do.
Lmao me to
I'm hooked! Subscribed...
“Don’t attempt to make a show that’s visible from space your very first year”. Ok 👍🏻 got it 😂😂😂
and... my first year i have a 16 foot high tree with 1000 pixels... gocttha
Ohh why not
@@commiccannon592 They will crash the International Space Station
Time to make a 2024 version of this. Plus is there not a "basic" controller similar to WLED that just does some prebuilt basic chases, flashing, fading for those with bullet pixels who are not interested in xlight sequencing/syncing etc...
Awesome channel!
Nice Project !!!👍👍
Novice here, this video sounded like another language to me, gonna watch it 20 more x till I get it though, time to learn another language!!
Can you do a video specifically on power injection? Methods, techniques and tools required? Great videos cheers!!
Power injection should be well understood before implementing. It's a bit like installing a turbo kit on your stock car - all good if you get everything 100% right and really bad if not done correctly. Here are some diagrams that show the basics: www.holidaycoro.com/kb_results.asp?ID=173 Given the number of cheap long range expansion systems (www.holidaycoro.com/Ready2Run-AlphaPix-Flex-Long-Range-Receivers-p/935.htm), the move has been more towards long range and away from power injection due to the complexity.
Wow this is extraordinary clear! Thank you.
I would love for you to do an in-depth show on power injection. I don't really understand when or how to do that.
Hola, como podria conseguir todas las instrucciones en español?
Me gusta mucho tu trabajo y quisiera empezar a aprender a hacerlo y decorar mi casa asi como la tuya.
Espero y puedas ayudarme. Saludos...
Nice video, I would add a disclaimer about that fence post though those bend and break easy in heavy winds. I would use stronger metal poles for the build. Also would let people know that this is only one option like you broke down the controllers so they understand that there are multiple ways to make the same sort of prop. Also don't recall seeing guide wires added for extra support on the tree? That's also a good point to highlight so people don't get frustrated when things start falling over.
I did mention the guy wires (both buying the string and when to attach them), but I didn't show a close up. There are certainly tons of options for making every kind of prop, I'll be covering that in my next video on the subject (also PVC/PEX/Coro/3d Printing). This video could have easily been 30-40 minutes long, but I was REALLY trying to keep it short since there's already a ton of good information about the subject if you're willing to sit down and watch hours of videos. I wanted this to be the fast-paced first video you'd would watch to get an overview and then dive in deeper to any particular subject you needed more info on.
You think the top rail will buckle in heavy winds? I know it's pretty thin walled, but there's just not that much surface area for the wind to grab a hold of.
The number of factors involved with mounting a megatree and vary quite a bit. We have customers that build MegaTrees on roofs, sand, on flag poles, on the side of a house, on asphalt and concrete and other varied surfaces. As such, there are many factors that come into play on how to balance safety, cost and materials that a customer is able to work with.
great video
Have you ever thought about changing the light program, for off-season fun ?
Like Synergy welcoming you home, for example (Jem)
Great video!!!
Nice presentation
I haven't slept in 7 weeks but thanks to your video I'm now ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I have been watching your videos on addressable LED's to get a better understanding for a project I am looking to try. Your information has been very helpful, could you help with the following.
I would like to know what and how to create 5 digits with 7 segments each plus 2 sets of colons. The unit will be to count down to start then elapsed time using RGBW tapes to be used outside.
Different colors for the different time displayed.
Readability at a reasonable distance about 300ft so digits to be 12" - 15" high.
I think each segment will require 2 rows of LED strips, this will mean 35 or 70 strips plus the colons.
I look forward to your views,
Thank you !!
Do you have a video on how you made the PVC frames for your doors and windows and attached them? Thanks
Ha I’ve been watching your channel for over a year now, just realized you are in Tampa. Funny local coincidence.
I thought he was somewhere in Fl when I saw him decorating in shorts
Great mega tree! I have 14 stings just arrived, I was going to do 2 in spacing but seeing yours I believ 3 in looks nice also.
Other note, didn’t you have a video on how to build that wreath? I couldn’t find it. Scanned through your other holiday vids but may have missed it.
That will be in the next video I do on this subject.
The Hook Up awesome! Thinking it might be similar to what I am trying with my pex. Love to see other solutions to a similar problem.
Thanks!!
Fantastic videos. You are doing a great job breaking down the topics you cover. Keep it up!
Some background on the universe and channel numbers may help some beginners. Stage lighting uses a control signalling called DMX512. It has 512 addresses on a single cable. 512 is a power of 2. One cable with a maximum of 512 channels is referred to a universe. To send multiple universes to the lighting fixtures over Ethernet for large shows and concerts, the data is streamed over networking and broken out into DMX to the individual strings of fixtures on their own universe cable of no more than 512 channels. The fixtures are assigned channels to receive and physically connected to the correct cable universe.
In Ethernet networking this protocol was adopted by the hobby people. Most people do not use stage lighting and DMX 512 directly as there are no configuration switches on each pixel. Pixels do not care about DMX addresses, universes, etc. The pixels use another standard. The interface between them is where the confusion begins.
Pixels although listed as addressable are in fact NOT addressable. you can't give them an address. They use a serial shift register protocol. There is only the first pixel through to the last pixel in a string. You can not assign them addresses. They get data based on their position in the string. The most common protocol is the WS2811 protocol. The reference to the WS2812 is the exact same protocol. The difference is the pixel contains the chip in the LED. The 2811 has a chip on a board and an LED. Send a bunch of bits to the first pixel and it strips off the first 8 bits for red, 8 bits for Green, and 8 bits for Blue, then sends any further bits out to the next pixel. This is all they do. The next pixel takes the first bit it gets which is the 25th bit and does the same as the first pixel did keeping the first 24 bits it sees and sending along the rest. This continues down the line until the last pixel gets the last few bits that made it that far. DMX on the other hand does use addresses to receive the channel information. No data is stripped from the line and all fixtures receive the same data. The last light on a DMX cable can be addressed to receive the data for DMX channel it is set to receive regardless of position in the string. DMX lighting is addressable.
A pixel controller can take one universe of DMX 512 channels and send it as shift register data to a string of pixels using the WS2811 protocol. This is a pixel controller in the very basic form. Due to each pixel using 3 channels of DMX information, there is a full set of data for 170 pixels in 510 DMX channels. The two remaining channels would have enough data for Red and Green for one pixel but no data for the blue. This is why pixel controllers use 510 channels per universe instead of 512.
It is desirable to have pixel strings longer than 170 pixels. The shift register Pixels support long strings. The Pixel controller for these strings can take more than one Universe of DMX 512 data and combine them on one output, so using 2 universes of 510 channels instead of 512, will drive a string of 340 pixels using 1020 DMX channels in 2 universes which is easily handled by the software sequencer, ethernet, and pixel controller.
This conversion from stage lighitng protocol to get the signal from the software out to the LED strings is where most of the confusion arises in regards to Universes and DMX channels. To add to the confusion, some controllers call the first universe 0 and some call it 1. Getting the addressing wrong in the software or controller by one universe is a common mistake. DMX addresses start with address 1. Pixels sometimes were numbered from 0. Again, this causes some programming headaches. Some pixels are not in the order of Red Green Blue. This if not fixed in the controller or sequencer, it can result in unexpected colors.
Due to the hobby market, what used to be very expensive to distribute DMX in shows has now become very affordable. Instead of outputting just the shift register data for Pixels, there are very affordable E1.31 to DMX controllers out there too for very affordable prices. What used to cost over a grand is now under $100 for a 4 universe E1.31 to DMX interface.
Love the video and love the channel, too! Your channel is now on the top of my list! I even printed out the input / output diagram from your "which pins to choose" video on the ESP8266. By the way you look like a young Michael Keaton in the thumbnail for this video ha ha!
I think i will now need a mega tree and to watch the xlights import section in 4X slo-motion to get all the steps.
Very helpful video! Here's the one question I have that you actually didn't cover lol. Where is your main controllers mounted and how does one typically run the pixels cables to it without having awful cables covering your house? Go through the attic? And can the pixel strands be daisy chained or each 50 have to run back to the controller?
Sounds like its a pain to get going but then its almost wash rinse repeat once you get the major things in place. I think this is cool as all get out, but ill leave it to someone else. Great explanation though, a lot of technical stuff broken down to a very understandable form.
this was a great video thank you
Hello! My first question is how do I run XLights with a wireless network?
I would not recommend that, it's a ton of data to be sending wirelessly. If you really want to try it's best to configure everything as multicast.
I like the TV show Lucifer. In it there is a bar called LUX. I really like the light effects in the bar and would love to recreate it in my back yard with something like cafe lights. Any thoughts on how to do that!
DrZzs: Today I'm gonna show you how to build your own LED shows. That's all for now, Adios!
The Hook Up: Nahhh DrZzs!!Hold my beer! This is how you show your LED shows from space.
A very informative video, the only portion I didn't approve of was your wire management. If you straightened it up afterwards my apologies.
Haha, of course I did... you think I'm some kind of monster? :P
Can you do a video on how you do your power injection with the strips and aluminum channels? Thanks
Check out part 3 of my LED series (installation): ua-cam.com/video/UWb2i6BHx1g/v-deo.html
@@TheHookUp I built this exactly like you did in the video and it worked great. I switch to the HolidayCoro and now I have issues (Hinks pro). Now have power issues. 624 pix injected at the end of every 150 pix strip. Tried using a separate supply by cutting the positive from the HollidayCoro box. Did not work. Lights did not even come on. Still don't know why. I would love another video on how you did this.
Lights aren’t coming on at all? Are you sure they are getting data?
@@TheHookUp my bad. soldering issue. soldered one too many connections today.. over 120 and one wrong..lol. sorry. Love your videos
I’m really digging this new found interest. Other than your channel, is there another valuable resource one could go to learn more about this line of fun? Beginner level preferably.
Yes, Jeff at Canispater Christmas is fantastic: ua-cam.com/channels/by1v6Kbi8AHMkV2yMyF1MQ.html
Interested what all you had for your first setup you showed for the whole house. In a similar situation starting about thinking about moving to something similar. Thanks.
Great video. I'm starting with pixels and currently have a falcon pi cap
Hello Sir,
Thanks for your videos, really helpful to know about the latest trends.
One question - Is there any way to control SONOFF devices using the app without an Internet connection. I mean to use the app and control devices through LAN.
Kindly share about it really useful for solving this problem at home.
Hi.. mr Hook UP I was electronics enthusiastic way back 40 years now but I want bring it back my know ledge again also I add my suscribed I love your theorical explanations Im already 65 years and already retired do nothing athome but I can still doing this project to maintain my memory
thanks
I would like a little more information on installing LED walls or Displays and integrating them into my light shows. How do I add music videos to my light show? Do I use the same software? What hardware should I be using other than using RGB WS2812B lights?
How many universes does xLights support and how many pixels?
That's cool
I was looking for guidance in using an input from an xbox one rumble motor to then RF to a receiver to make the led strip light up red with the same pulse of the rumble motor. I'm 100 percent doing this project but I just don't know where to start. Any help would be appreciated.