Hey All, first prop ideas?

KGV

KGV

New elf
Joined
Jun 30, 2021
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Hey all,
To start off, this is about the only forum website I’ve ever come across where there’s no sniping comments where people are at each other and everyone’s posts are filled with genuine help. Solid group guys, well done.

I’m looking to get a start in the hobby, I’ve wasted enough money on the typical store bought lights, want the creativity that Xlights ect brings. I’m a grid sparky by trade, so electrical theory I’m decent with, but electronics is fairly new and interesting to me.

As far as the making of a first prop, I’m toying with a lawn of Peace Pixel Stakes. The construction seems simple, but is the sequencing a bit advanced for a beginner to the hobby? (I’ve watched the Peace YouTube video, I seem to be missing whatever he does to link his front and aerial views in his sequencing) And are the stakes enough on their own with some effects or does it sound a bit bland? Planning to grow with more props over time, but I thought the stake lawn would look cool to start.

thanks guys!
 
Welcome to ACL.
A lawn full of Peace stakes would be pretty cool. Going to the extent of front and aerial view is way overkill for a noob and in reality for nearly everyone. Having to draw your entire house/yard up in 3D is a significant effort and you can get an absolute incredible display just using 2D.
Just sequencing a lawn full of stakes could create a pretty awesome display but if you really want to do some fancy stuff then you can start to group different stakes or different pixels on the stakes.
To begin with just draw up a yard full of stakes and then put random effects over the entire display and see if that makes you happy or not.
 
Welcome to ACL :)

AAH said:
Having to draw your entire house/yard up in 3D is a significant effort and you can get an absolute incredible display just using 2D.
Click to expand...

3D setup is more work up front but has its advantages. As you mentioned you will only start off with peace stakes, you wouldn't need a 3d model of your house itself. You can grab a top down image of your home from google maps, put that in xlights (3d model) and then layout your peace stakes.
You can use polyline (with drops) if you plan to have rows or columns or if they are more randomly placed - single line models might work better (i have peace stakes on my roof and use single lines).
 
Hi KGV and welcome

I was in a similar position back in 2013-2014. Those store bought lights can often be converted to work with computer control alongside the pixels.

I was not sure what Peace Pixel Stakes are so I Googled it. That's a great effect! They seem to be randomly scattered around the lawn but they display coordinated effects. Each one would have been placed in a planned position. It is giving me ideas. Thanks for bringing this up.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ54av8MkYQ


Answering the auestion about the difficulty level of sequencing in xLights, I suggest going ahead and trying it. xLights is available as a free download and you can draw up a preview of the display items and start sequencing before you've built anything.

The idea does not sound bland to me. The pixel stakes are versatile enough that you don't need to use all of them as stakes. If there are extras, you could stack them end-to-end and use them as house outlines or you could arrange them to make a star or spinner shape. Starting with something simple is a good plan, especially as we're already halfway through the year. Once you've used this year to learn the required concepts, it is easier to add to an existing pixel display than it is to start from the beginning.
 
I'm new to pixels this year and have made 80 stakes out of conduit. Gonna start experimenting with xlights soon.
If anyone has any tips, that would be much appreciated!
 

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Hello and welcome! This is my first year and this place is awesome to be for information and to chat with others. Peace stakes are a nice place to start because they are simple but can do different things. If you are worried about not enough variation that issue can also be solved with peace stakes. Just use taller ones. I am planning to run 15 peace stakes in total. I have 10 smaller ones and 5 larger ones. I did a test video with some simple effects after I wired them up.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYryyZv7aE
 
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