20’ mega tree

[uncledan]

No I really want a 180 degree tree because it’s right in front of my house and between 2 neighbors. I just think it will look better that way.

No need for 64 then. 32 should be fine, anymore than that it crowded at the topper. F16v4 and Expansion, 32 ports with no power injections gets my vote

 

[JamesC]

No need for 64 then. 32 should be fine, anymore than that it crowded at the topper. F16v4 and Expansion, 32 ports with no power injections gets my vote

I’m sorry. I meant to say 360 degrees. That’s my fault. From the neighbors houses it would look flat and I don’t want to see the back of the tree from my house.

 

[uncledan]

Your tree only needs to be what the viewing angle of the viewers is. I live on a corner and mine is only 270 degree. Nothing will look flat. If you don't want to see the back of your tree from your house you need a 180 tree

 

[JamesC]

What I’m trying to say is I’m a little ocd. Having a tree that is not 360 degrees would bother me. I’ve seen them done like that and it looks good, but I know it would bother me. Plus for the neighbors to see the whole tree it would need to be 280 degrees and I would rather just finish the full 360.

 

[KStatefan]

I see what you’re saying now. That’s only 5 more pixels per strand. That works for me.

So I could use a falcon f16v4 with an expansion board and run 64 strands with 3 strings each on 32 ports?

Did I get the terminology correct? Sorry I’m still learning all this.

Close

When setting up your tree in xLights

32 strings, 250 nodes/string, 2 strands/string

 

[JamesC]

Close

When setting up your tree in xLights

32 strings, 250 nodes/string, 2 strands/string

Ok I’m pretty sure I understand what you’re saying. Thank you.

 

[JamesC]

Opposite point of view, just for fun.

Why use a 16-port controller when you could use 32- or 48- ... no reason to make it difficult to add the star...

Because I'm lazy, I'd get a 32-port 12V R2R controller with 4 diff expansion ports, 10k bulk order 12V resistor pixels (which would string up and back down to make 64 strands, those would fit within the 4-PSU config of the controller with no fancy PI) and the star on a diff receiver. I'd buy the strips and the tree frame too, because... lazy and no metal shop.

Where can you buy the pixel lights in bulk? The ones I found were about $2200 for 8000 lights.
I would prefer to buy bulk, I’m just not sure who to get them from.

 

[merryoncherry]

Where can you buy the pixel lights in bulk? The ones I found were about $2200 for 8000 lights.
I would prefer to buy bulk, I’m just not sure who to get them from.

Oh that's close enough to the bulk price.
Throw in $1000 for a controller, strips, $2000 for frame, star, and freight, it's a $5000-$6000 project... you can come in on the low end with a lot of DIY, or not.

 

[JamesC]

Oh that's close enough to the bulk price.
Throw in $1000 for a controller, strips, $2000 for frame, star, and freight, it's a $5000-$6000 project... you can come in on the low end with a lot of DIY, or not.

Who do you recommend to get the lights from?

 

[uncledan]

What I’m trying to say is I’m a little ocd. Having a tree that is not 360 degrees would bother me. I’ve seen them done like that and it looks good, but I know it would bother me. Plus for the neighbors to see the whole tree it would need to be 280 degrees and I would rather just finish the full 360.

I was the same way for years... No point in lighting up the back of the tree that nobody will see. Waste of time, effort and money. Watch one my videos and tell me it doesn't look like a 360 tree. The viewing angle is all that matters..

 

[KStatefan]

Another opinion on the tree. I use a 360° tree but for a number of sequences I use a 180° sub model. I think images look better when there is not any light on the back side of the tree. My wife likes to look out the window and see the lights on the tree also.

 

[JamesC]

I was the same way for years... No point in lighting up the back of the tree that nobody will see. Waste of time, effort and money. Watch one my videos and tell me it doesn't look like a 360 tree. The viewing angle is all that matters..

I’ve been thinking about your suggestion and I think you might be right. I do want to be able to see the tree from the front looking out but that might be something I will just have to deal with.

What do you think about going every inch instead of every 2 inches? How would 1” spacing look compared to 2”. Do you think that is too much?

I just want to make it look as good as possible. The next year I will add on to the rest of the house.

I really want to try this first before I go all in on the whole house.

 

[uncledan]

I’ve been thinking about your suggestion and I think you might be right. I do want to be able to see the tree from the front looking out but that might be something I will just have to deal with.

What do you think about going every inch instead of every 2 inches? How would 1” spacing look compared to 2”. Do you think that is too much?

I just want to make it look as good as possible. The next year I will add on to the rest of the house.

I really want to try this first before I go all in on the whole house.

In my opinion 1" spacing is overkill for any tree unless the viewing distance is less than 20 feet. I've played video on my 48x110 270 degree just fine. Check out some of videos if you havent. https://vimeo.com/user59474765

 

[JamesC]

In my opinion 1" spacing is overkill for any tree unless the viewing distance is less than 20 feet. I've played video on my 48x110 270 degree just fine. Check out some of videos if you havent. https://vimeo.com/user59474765

I saw your videos and “WOW”. That is awesome!

Well since I’m thinking about going with half the pixels on a 180 degree mega tree. What would you suggest I do with an other 4000 pixels?

How many pixels do your small trees have. I did want to do about 6 to 8 of them eventually.

Also from where the tree will be located it’s about 15 feet from the street. Do you still recommend 2” spacing?

I will definitely have to get that song blinding light. I really liked that one.
I also want to use trans-Siberian Orchestra and maybe the blue man group for something different. Next Christmas is over a year away and I’m already excited to get started.

 

[thewanderingpine]

I will definitely have to get that song blinding light. I really liked that one.

The good news with Blinding Lights -- you can grab the sequence for free from here: https://rgbsequences.net/product/the-weeknd-blinding-lights-2/