Ideas for a new house next year

Iain

Iain

Full time elf
Joined
Nov 13, 2018
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246
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Darwin
Hi everyone, hope you're enjoying some time off and seeing some joy from your creations :)

I've never put a display on my house before, so I would like some ideas on what to do here. I'm not going huge because I have to start it all from scratch.

To give you a bit of an idea of the problems I might have with this place:
  • the front fence line is 30m. Should I light it all up or do you think it's too "wide" compared to the house?
  • There's a lot of greenery, so I've attached most things to the fence because they might not be seen back in my yard. I don't have room for a mega-tree because of the trees in my yard
  • the apex of the roof is over 6m but I can get up there with a fireman's ladder. I was going to make up a pully system or rope-pull that I could leave in place so in future I only need to climb up one point. Not sure yet.
  • The walls and roof are all solid concrete (not blockwork) with steel reinforcement. Thanks to going over the top after Cyclone Tracey. It makes it easy for fixings to hold weight though
  • Pool - per another thread I'm going to try and get 2 single-channel lights in the existing pool sockets
  • not sure what to do with the windows, they look a bit awkard?
  • the second row along the roofline I'm going to try and point backwards against the wall to give a wall-shading effect
I've attached a rough 2D picture. The pixel spacing is all about 9cm to minimise cost. The tighter pixel spacings are in the background. I'll make a 3D model later.

Would love your ideas :)

1640477408245.png
 
if you are minimising costs with different spacings, you want close spacings near the audience, and the further spacing at the back.

Consider some floods for your greenery.

Remember you don't have to build it all the first year if your budget is tight :D
 
Katekate said:
Remember you don't have to build it all the first year if your budget is tight :D
Click to expand...
It makes an impact if you use the lights well in music.
I started out for 350 nodes on 2 arches/roofline.
whole_house

whole_house



As KateKate said, flood lights are your best friend for trees/bushes.
If you budget is tight, I'd focus on props on the fences before the fence outline.

Also as Katekate said about spacing. I have a roofline at 20m long, C9 pixels at 14cm spacing looks great. There's only 150 on there.
Different types of lights may be more expensive, but you might not need as many.

I won't say no against the matrix because that is useful to convey messages to the crowd.
 
I just had my first year with lights so, these are just some thoughts.

1. Flat MegaTree! If you don't mind covering a window for awhile I think you could get a flat megatree on the wall under where the matrix is.
2. Looks like you might be able to run some overhead cabling to get some lights out to the tree on the front apron,. Might be nice to have some on the lower branches.
3. Use the odd window placement and don't try to be symmetrical with things. Although personally, I tend to favor balance.
4. User fewer props that can do more. Instead of two arches per fence segment, maybe a bigger single arch but with either spokes or multiple arches.

Lastly, the pause to think about an outrageous prop. COVER the pool and put a megatree there if it is viewable.

Oh, perhaps you can make a raised megatree that can be viewed over the coverage. One of the other members did that, a raised Megatree.

Good luck!
 
Katekate said:
if you are minimising costs with different spacings, you want close spacings near the audience, and the further spacing at the back.

Consider some floods for your greenery.
Click to expand...
ahh I didn't think about perspective, good idea! Floods would be a great way to add some depth and softness. Do you just buy WS2811 10w LEDs with a stake built in or build your own?

Mark_M said:
C9 pixels at 14cm spacing looks great. There's only 150 on there.
Click to expand...
I didn't realise you could get 15cm spacing... That's a good idea for the house as it's 10m back from the fenceline.
Mark_M said:
I won't say no against the matrix because that is useful to convey messages to the crowd.
Click to expand...
Yeah I resisted the urge to go huge, I can always build on it in a following year. I will get an FM transmitter so I'll use it for displaying freq. etc.

Indigogyre said:
Lastly, the pause to think about an outrageous prop. COVER the pool and put a megatree there if it is viewable.
Click to expand...
haha, I like your vision! That will be year 2 I think...

So I might get enough lights to do all the arches, but I'll just start with, say 4 near the driveway and if I get time I'll add more...
 
Here's a sample YouTube clip from my idea. The import of "Blinded by the Lights" was a bit rushed but it's just to get a feel for the layout.

Sorry for the youtube quality, and the sound is a bit quiet...



Your suggestions welcome :)

[edit - sound is my fault, I'm fixing it now... fixed]
 
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I need some advice for my matrix which is about 6-8m back from the road, do you think it’s worth using P10 panels or would just a few strings work? Strings seem to look alright in the 2d and 3d mock-ups in xlights (see above). I will put some basic text on them but nothing detailed like images. I think strings will be easier to waterproof and mount, maybe to some pixel strip attached to something to keep it taught.
 
A lot of people use pixel node matrixes to good effect. Most garages are nodes and not panels. If you are looking for basic text and visual effects nothing wrong with nodes. Canispater Christmas has at least one video on his pixel node matrix off the top of my head. A lot of different ways to make it also.

There are strips and premade "netting" that are designed for pixel node matrixes.

Dean
 
MichaelF5 said:
Trace the Trees
Click to expand...
What do you mean? Outline the branches with strings? The front two are outside the fence, so not sure if they’d get vandalised or how to run power… and how would you map that in xlights?
 
Oh nice, I definitely want everything synced to music though…
 
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