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Tpcraig1988

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Apr 17, 2022
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Hi there, I'm Tom. Im looking to start my collection and get display going. I would really appreciate some help and advice on how and where to start. I would like to do something outlines of house a few props all synced to music.... I know pretty broad but please "enlighten" me. :) Thanks in advanced Tom
 
Tpcraig1988 said:
Hi there, I'm Tom. Im looking to start my collection and get display going. I would really appreciate some help and advice on how and where to start. I would like to do something outlines of house a few props all synced to music.... I know pretty broad but please "enlighten" me. :) Thanks in advanced Tom
Click to expand...

The 101 manual is a great resource, but I wouldn't consider it to be a "getting started guide". If you understand page 5 (12 of the PDF) that's a great page to start with. The only thing missing on that list is a "vision", and it sounds like you have some of it.

The section on light types is good too. Important early consideration. Some people know they want the smart pixels, others just want to set existing A/C lights to music, (or all of the above). This decision will have an impact on the complexity of the project, the controller you'll want, maybe even the sequencing software. Watching other people's videos (xlights around the world, youtube, etc.) is a good way to get inspired.

Assuming you want to do pixels, starting with xLights is good because you'll learn a lot, you can play with your ideas for a layout, import / make sequences, and see how it is going to look. And you can do all this for free.

Learn a lot before buying anything, which xLights allows you to do. (Yes, I was guilty of not learning enough before buying, but I started a lot later in the season and there wasn't time... that's my excuse.) However, if you expect to be running this year, the one thing you might look for early is a controller. Getting those can be a challenge with the chip shortage. A lot of people use FPP as part of their control scheme, as the master to run the show. If you have a spare PC you can use to run the show, you don't strictly need FPP, the PC and xSchedule can run everything, and this opens the door to a few more controller options.
 
merryoncherry said:
The 101 manual is a great resource, but I wouldn't consider it to be a "getting started guide". If you understand page 5 (12 of the PDF) that's a great page to start with. The only thing missing on that list is a "vision", and it sounds like you have some of it.

The section on light types is good too. Important early consideration. Some people know they want the smart pixels, others just want to set existing A/C lights to music, (or all of the above). This decision will have an impact on the complexity of the project, the controller you'll want, maybe even the sequencing software. Watching other people's videos (xlights around the world, youtube, etc.) is a good way to get inspired.

Assuming you want to do pixels, starting with xLights is good because you'll learn a lot, you can play with your ideas for a layout, import / make sequences, and see how it is going to look. And you can do all this for free.

Learn a lot before buying anything, which xLights allows you to do. (Yes, I was guilty of not learning enough before buying, but I started a lot later in the season and there wasn't time... that's my excuse.) However, if you expect to be running this year, the one thing you might look for early is a controller. Getting those can be a challenge with the chip shortage. A lot of people use FPP as part of their control scheme, as the master to run the show. If you have a spare PC you can use to run the show, you don't strictly need FPP, the PC and xSchedule can run everything, and this opens the door to a few more controller options.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much very helpful :) i have already downloaded xlights and im well on my way designing my first show.
 
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