Help me plan a new layout - Will show off the results in November!

[slw2206]

I've always done a large Christmas light display, but it's always been regular LEDs and nothing like addressable pixels.

I've jumped in head first this year though and have a F16 and 3,000 bullets to start. Some Chroma Trees are coming from Boscoyo on Thursday and I'm 3D printing snowflakes to either pole mount or put on pole mounts in the front yard.

One opportunity I have is that my property is rather large and the drive comes off a circle so lots of room and viewing area. Below is a top down picture of the front of my property. I'm curious to hear what ideas you have for how I might fill up this space? At this point anything is fair game because I have a blank slate to work with! Obviously I have budget limitations but they're pretty flexible as well (not that I'm dropping $40k on a mega tree, but a few thousand is doable).

So what ideas would you like to see in a display area this large? Let me know and I might just incorporate into the new show!

 

[merryoncherry]

I assume you are keeping your existing LEDs? Do you have a picture of that display, taken from the typical place where a viewer might be?

 

[slw2206]

I will be keeping the existing, but they may have a new place on the farm next year. The icicle lights must stay outlining the roof and dormers, but virtually everything else can be moved to the barn, stable, and 5 acres of land behind the house.
Indo have Lutron Caseta outdoor plugs so I can kill the icicles when needed for the new light show in the front yard.

 

[slw2206]

Not bad for an afternoon of pushing pixels. My hands are tired after 1,000 pixels...

 

[brother fergy]

That is one dense prop!

 

[brother fergy]

 

[slw2206]

That is one dense prop!

Technically those are 10 props 3ft high for each.

I know what I'm doing tomorrow! Probably going to have to print some supports so I can reinforce these with pvc or emt. First though, we'll put some pixels in them

 

[merryoncherry]

Try this (imagine it overlaid on the house as so):


1: Minimal, using what you already have... 16-port controller, you said chromatrees (now I see it was slender trees, not singing, oops) and I see 10 canes plus you have 3D print snowflakes (imagine them where I put the diamond flakes)... this is all Boscoyo stuff since that seems to be where you are ordering from:

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2: Minimal, plus mega tree / matrix... Add a large prop or two to the 16-port build:

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3: The just under budget - a hair under your 40k budget to replace it all with pixels ... save the moving heads for next year.

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To do this you would need to branch out from Boscoyo because they don't have much in the way of HD spinners, a couple EFL or GE would go a long way there.

 

[slw2206]

@merryoncherry - Very nice ideas. I have a feeling by the time November gets here I'll have somewhere between #2 and #3. I would like to get a mega tree up as there's just so much "Wow" factor you can add with something that large and dense. I already have 2 cemented in-ground sleeves that currently hold my 20ft Twinkly trees. One or both of those will move (the poles, not the cemented in sleeves) to behind the house, so I'll have room for a Mega Tree (right about where you put it actually). It fills that void to the right of the house without blocking the view of the house.

I tend to take on the mantra of "do it right, do it once, then move on" so this Mega Tree will be around the 20ft mark and I want to have a dense enough matrix that graphics are easily discernible. The viewing point from the asphalt circle will be ~100' from the Mega Tree so I think that buys me a little latitude in how dense it needs to be to get a reasonable graphic (although more is typically better)!

I am curious about the large matrix you showed on the left side of Option 3. I have never looked into making something that big, so I'm curious what you would estimate the cost of a matrix that size to be? I was thinking of putting a matrix on my roof, where those 3 dormer windows are (I have snowflakes on them in my original picture). That would offer a large flat surface (about 5x12') that I could readily mount a matrix to and I have a dedicated circuit on the right hand side of that dormer (yes we planned outside receptacles around Christmas Lights when we built this house)!

This has me thinking, which probably means I'm about to need more money, LOL!

 

[merryoncherry]

I am curious about the large matrix you showed on the left side of Option 3.

Well... your location for a matrix makes sense also. I just thought I'd lob a matrix on somewhere without putting too much thought into it, space there was empty.

The location I selected is ambiguous ... it could be 20' away or 100' away, could be made of bullet/square pixels, seed pixels, or P10/P5 panels, the actual resolution was not chosen carefully. All of those things are going to affect your construction costs dramatically, from seed pixels zig-zagged back and forth on dimensional lumber frame + 3d print clips at the low end (maybe $.10/pixel not counting the controller*), "traditional" bullets on HDPE in the mid range ($.20/pixel not counting controller), to P5 panels prebuilt in commercial enclosures at the high end (~$1000/sq meter). (Also LED strip has been used, let's discount that for now.) *You'd want a controller port for every 200-800 pixels, and you already know controller prices.

Not just $$$, the amount of time invested and the way you want the hobby to go for you also plays into this in a big way... do you like fiddly stuff? 3d printing? Quality/durability? Flexibility / ease of install? Just want it done? There aren't really wrong answers in the sense that it will light up and look good.

 

[rgabr0]

Had u thought about icicles for gutters u can get the Coro board in the Icicles then just push the props according to diagram was just a thought. i don’t know about you but I really like after fountains but that’s a very small market there as not popular. Some window matrix’s could be a nice addition or the use of flood lights to fill your house exterior.

 

[Indigogyre]

With such a large expanse of ground between things a pixel forest with the proper density and spacing should be able to give a very nice effect and fill a lot of space that is not normally used.

 

[slw2206]

With such a large expanse of ground between things a pixel forest with the proper density and spacing should be able to give a very nice effect and fill a lot of space that is not normally used.

@Indigogyre Yes I was thinking this as well. There are some cool effects out there with either Peace Stakes or a Pixel Forest. With such a large area I'd make a couple of frames that had all the Stakes or Trees installed on it and I could just move into place 12'x12' (or larger) platforms with the tractor. That's one idea I'm noodling on...

 

[B4IGO]

Try this (imagine it overlaid on the house as so):
View attachment 30835

1: Minimal, using what you already have... 16-port controller, you said chromatrees (now I see it was slender trees, not singing, oops) and I see 10 canes plus you have 3D print snowflakes (imagine them where I put the diamond flakes)... this is all Boscoyo stuff since that seems to be where you are ordering from:

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2: Minimal, plus mega tree / matrix... Add a large prop or two to the 16-port build:

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Professional Christmas light props, sequences, and layouts. Transform your holiday display with EZRGB®'s premium lighting solutions and expert support.

ezrgb.com

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Professional Christmas light props, sequences, and layouts. Transform your holiday display with EZRGB®'s premium lighting solutions and expert support.

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3: The just under budget - a hair under your 40k budget to replace it all with pixels ... save the moving heads for next year.

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Professional Christmas light props, sequences, and layouts. Transform your holiday display with EZRGB®'s premium lighting solutions and expert support.

ezrgb.com

EZRGB® - Premium Christmas Light Props & Sequences

Professional Christmas light props, sequences, and layouts. Transform your holiday display with EZRGB®'s premium lighting solutions and expert support.

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To do this you would need to branch out from Boscoyo because they don't have much in the way of HD spinners, a couple EFL or GE would go a long way there.

Wow your house is gorgeous @slw2206 and what an amazing canvas and space you have to work with! I'm envious!

I love @merryoncherry's ideas. Depending on where you want to take your show, one thing you could play with as a variation of merry's photo is to move the singing trees into the centre of the lawn.... give them a bit of a "stage" framed by the canes and arches.. and some clear space to really shine. It would mean moving your twinkly tree, which I think you have planned anyway.

The singing trees are a real hit at our place... everyone gets excited when they realise they're actually singing the words. Pushing them back a little I think could enhance that effect for you.

I like the idea of moving the centre twinkly tree, perhaps off to the left, so that both trees are framing your house, depending on where you put your megatree. It then opens up the entire view of your house, which already looks so beautiful.