2016 Project

[Mcas4380]

OK so I have been watching the pixel world grow on and off for a few years and asking the wife if I could join with our Christmas display for a while. This year we bought a new house in a new town late in the year and we rushed to get our light display up. Then she tell me she would like to outline the house and window with Pixels. You would think my first reaction would be excitement but it wasn’t. This house is much larger than our old house and the first place she wants them is under the eaves which will look nice but as you will see in the attached photos this is not some place I want to spend a lot of time going up and installing then to turn around and take them down.

So I would like to find a permeant way to install them which would require little maintenance. Also what kind of strip would you recommend?

Next problem is there are a lot of windows and there large so we will make PVC frames unless there is a better way. I was thinking nodes/ strings

Also since I’ve been away from the forums for a while there have been new controllers so what should I be looking for in this project.

Well I guess I should share a little more about be I currently run 96 channel LOR display (Kits)and enjoy the building things. I have been following all the RGB talks but have no practical experience yet and I learn best hands on.

Thanks Mike

 

[Bird]

Gorgeous old house, and your right, I would want to put all that up and down each year.
My current plans for my 2 story house is CCR strips permanently mounted with Aluminum Profile strips with opal matte diffusers.
The aluminum can be permanently mounted and CCR's will be protected behind UV rated diffusers.
Just getting started on project and do not know pricing yet.

 

[Mcas4380]

Thank you. That was pointed out to me today now I need to look into it.

 

[i13]

This might help but not something I've tried http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,8065.0.html

Don't use CCRs without first calculating the price difference compared to the pixel strips that are commonly used by so many ACL members.

The controller I recommend to pretty much anyone is the F16v2. It is only available as a group buy but if you can get hold of one, the sheer number of pixels supported and the value for money are exceptional.

 

[Mcas4380]

The F16v2 seems like a nice board. So they are only avaliable during group buys?

 

[i13]

Yes it is only available in group buys. Keep a close eye on the forums as they might come up again. I believe the American portion of the group buys is done through www.falconchristmas.com but many of their forum members are here on ACL too.
You could try putting in your email here too http://falconchristmas.com/shop/pixel-controllers/38-f16v2-beta-board.html
Have a backup plan though because there is no guarantee that these will be available.

 

[Mcas4380]

Thank you so what is are other good controller options?

 

[nato595]

I personally love the J1Sys controllers.
http://www.j1sys.com/products/lighting/index.html

I have many of the P2 and several P12 controllers permanently installed on my property. Never had any issues with them.

 

[Mcas4380]

So what is the best place to start? Equipment or programing.

 

[i13]

Answering your question about pixel controllers, there are always the PixLite, J1sys and Sandevices controllers available. I have the PixelBone from smartalec but I wouldn't recommend it as a first controller.

Equipment or programming is a personal choice. I do them both in parallel and then put them together for the testing and final display. I prefer not to put either of them off but I still get behind schedule.