Hi to all the Xmas light fanatics.. sorry meant to say, Experts!

Silver

New elf
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Messages
4
Last December I was treated to a walkthrough tour at a house in Brisbane QLD and was blown away by it all. To be honest it was a bit overwhelming, even form me with a background in electronics. But at least I remembered a few buzz words- WS2811/12, Pixlite 16 and DMX.
I purchased a string of WS2811 RGB pixel LEDs with a very basic "controller" to start playing with but now I have to get a proper controller to make it dance :p

The plan for this year is to do an animated Tree layout. I have committed to this and promised the kids and Wife they will have a 500-pixel tree in December - I mean.. how hard can it be.. right??? :unsure:

Thanks for this great resource. I hope I can post a video of the tree at the end of this year!
 

OzAz

Senior elf
Global moderator
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
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997
Location
Newcastle
Hi welcome to ACL, if you're in the Brisbane area you might want to attend the 'mini' in June

A 500 pixel tree? Why only 500? :D A good starting size is 800 pixels - 16 strands of 50 pixels at 2" spacing. Gives you a tree of about 2.4 m high; also a lot of the sequences for sale or free use 16 strand or larger trees.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
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4,188
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Eaglehawk
Welcome to ACL. Make sure that you grab and have a read of the ACL101. It's an awesome source of info for lighting fanatics and experts alike.
 

Silver

New elf
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Messages
4
Hi welcome to ACL, if you're in the Brisbane area you might want to attend the 'mini' in June

A 500 pixel tree? Why only 500? :D A good starting size is 800 pixels - 16 strands of 50 pixels at 2" spacing. Gives you a tree of about 2.4 m high; also a lot of the sequences for sale or free use 16 strand or larger trees.
Thanks for the advice OzAz. I will check out the 'mini' (will have find out what that is asap):unsure:
 

Silver

New elf
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Messages
4
Welcome to ACL. Make sure that you grab and have a read of the ACL101. It's an awesome source of info for lighting fanatics and experts alike.
Thanks AAH, I have it open in the background... wow that's a lot of infoo_O
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
Thanks AAH, I have it open in the background... wow that's a lot of infoo_O
The info in there keeps growing. Some of the links for lights and stuff could well be getting outdated and the prices vary but it's still an absolutely awesome reference.
 

Silver

New elf
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Messages
4
Just an update.. We did it.. The tree is up and running. I have 20 strings of 50 pixels each and a star of 8B696637-0F0C-4478-9EEB-330A831FA6ED.jpeg50 pixels. I use a Pi B+ with Pixel-Pi v3 (SmartAlec lights) for the pixel controller (FPP remote) and a Pi B with Soundblaster for audio (FPP master). I built the frame structure and by sons helped with fitting the pixels. My oldest son also did some of the sequencing. I have to admit, it was a steep learning curve, but we enjoyed the process and result.
 
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