Newbie Controller Question

[i13]

I think I understand. BrianZ wants to have a roofline with snowflakes below it. He's thinking of spacing the snowflakes along the roofline, having the data come down to each snowflake part-way along the roofline and then going back up to continue the roofline. Brianz, please correct me if I am wrong.

I can think of two ways to use the custom snowflake model to do this. Sticking with your current wiring plan, one option is to use a custom model for the roof outline and leave gaps in the node numbers where the snowflakes go. You could then set the start channels of the snowflakes to overlap the gaps in the pixel numbers in the roof outline. Another option is to use a separate line model between every snowflake. You could then put the line models into a group and place effects on the group in the sequencer.

I would not wire it the way that you're thinking. The way that I would do it is to leave the roofline as a continuous run. I'd then run the snowflakes alongside the roofline with their own power and data wires. They're only 1 foot (equal to 30.48 centimetres because I prefer metric ) apart so the data will travel that distance without a problem. Having their own power is an additional safeguard against voltage drop and I like overengineering things.

 

[BrianZ]

Can you clarify a bit please? It sounds as if you are confusing the physical wiring of the strings with how props are shown on the xLights layout. If I understand what you are trying to accomplish, it is to create and place the individual props in the layout and then group them as models or sub-models. It somewhat sounds as if you are not sure about a prop's channel settings.

OK, thanks. I plan on wiring in the 18 node snowflake right into the original roof line string. So, instead of the strings showing 100 nodes, it'll show 118. I don't see how I can incorporate this into xlights as one channel. When I add the snow flake, it now separates it into it's own channel starting at 301. Or can I separate the channels like xlights does while still wiring it into the original string? If that's the case, then better off because I can then control the snow flakes independent of the roof line string even though they'll be wired in together, am I correct?

 

[BrianZ]

I think I understand. BrianZ wants to have a roofline with snowflakes below it. He's thinking of spacing the snowflakes along the roofline, having the data come down to each snowflake part-way along the roofline and then going back up to continue the roofline. Brianz, please correct me if I am wrong.

I can think of two ways to use the custom snowflake model to do this. Sticking with your current wiring plan, one option is to use a custom model for the roof outline and leave gaps in the node numbers where the snowflakes go. You could then set the start channels of the snowflakes to overlap the gaps in the pixel numbers in the roof outline. Another option is to use a separate line model between every snowflake. You could then put the line models into a group and place effects on the group in the sequencer.

I would not wire it the way that you're thinking. The way that I would do it is to leave the roofline as a continuous run. I'd then run the snowflakes alongside the roofline with their own power and data wires. They're only 1 foot (equal to 30.48 centimetres because I prefer metric ) apart so the data will travel that distance without a problem. Having their own power is an additional safeguard against voltage drop and I like overengineering things.

This is EXACTLY what I meant, thank you!! I think the first way is going to be more complicated, therefore, I'll stick to the second way and maybe run off the end of the roof line string with a pigtail to first flake and so on and branch out the wiring from there with jumper cables because the nodes don't come all the down to the flake, just the wiring. Or maybe I'll just stick to icicles, lol.

 

[BrianZ]

I have a question about channel order....do the channels have to be in order according to controller and port? For example, my roof line lights are going to be on a controller and the other roof lights on a receiver. So, should I keep my props in channel order according to the controller? I was thinking of having my roof line in channel order, 1-300, 301-630, etc...even if they were on different controllers. Makes sense?

 

[merryoncherry]

I think I understand. BrianZ wants to have a roofline with snowflakes below it. He's thinking of spacing the snowflakes along the roofline, having the data come down to each snowflake part-way along the roofline and then going back up to continue the roofline. Brianz, please correct me if I am wrong.

I can think of two ways to use the custom snowflake model to do this. Sticking with your current wiring plan, one option is to use a custom model for the roof outline and leave gaps in the node numbers where the snowflakes go. You could then set the start channels of the snowflakes to overlap the gaps in the pixel numbers in the roof outline. Another option is to use a separate line model between every snowflake. You could then put the line models into a group and place effects on the group in the sequencer.

I would not wire it the way that you're thinking. The way that I would do it is to leave the roofline as a continuous run. I'd then run the snowflakes alongside the roofline with their own power and data wires. They're only 1 foot (equal to 30.48 centimetres because I prefer metric ) apart so the data will travel that distance without a problem. Having their own power is an additional safeguard against voltage drop and I like overengineering things.

I just did what BrianZ wants to with these snowflakes, inserting them into a line of pixels. Setting up the xLights model took a while; I "had to" write a little program to set up all the submodels, but in the end it was worth it. I wrote a blog page about it in case anyone else wants to try doing it that way. https://merryoncherry.org/2022/04/01/pixeltrim-system-in-xlights/

 

[Katekate]

I have a question about channel order....do the channels have to be in order according to controller and port? For example, my roof line lights are going to be on a controller and the other roof lights on a receiver. So, should I keep my props in channel order according to the controller? I was thinking of having my roof line in channel order, 1-300, 301-630, etc...even if they were on different controllers. Makes sense?

You don't need to worry about channels at all, just set up your controllers and props in xlights and it will take care of it.