Part 2: How to build a Pixel Tree for an outdoor Christmas light show
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ย. 2014
- The Pixel tree in this video costs less than $15 to construct! (not including the lights).
If you are interested in buying these and other light show products already built, please visit my new store Living Light Shows: www.livinglightshows.com. You can also see some demonstration videos here of the products: • Living Light Shows - P...
For frequently asked questions and more video's on my light show, visit my website at www.johnsonlightshow.com
Have you been watching ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight or browsing videos on TH-cam of Christmas Light shows or displays that are synchronized to music and wondered how you can do that to your house? This video is part of a five video series that I created based on emails I have received from others who have watched my lightshow and are interested in the elements, the technology, and how a person can get started with their own DIY Christmas display. I have attempted to show a basic overview of building elements for your own light show on a budget and with readily available materials from Home Depot, Lowes, Hobby Lobby, or other stores.
This video series includes the following:
Part 1: How to build a Leaping Arch for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 2: How to build a Pixel Tree for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 3: How to build a Pixel Matrix/Pixel Grid for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 4: How to build a Pixel Wreath for an outdoor Christmas light show
Part 5: How to build a Pixel Snowflake for an outdoor Christmas light show
You can view all these videos in this HOW-TO series here: • How to Build Decoratio...
If you plan to use these elements with Pixel LED lights then you will need a controller, sequencing software, and a show player. For my Christmas Light Show (www.johnsonlightshow.com) I used the SanDevices e682 pixel controller with a Raspberry Pi running the Falcon Pi Player (FPP) software that is freely available through Falcon Christmas (www.falconchristmas.com) or Github for the show player.
For sequencing the show (i.e., Programming the different effects the lights will do) there are many available options in software, some are commercial and some are open source or free. My preferred software is called Vixen 3. Other popular options include Light-O-Rama (also known as Lightorama, Light o rama, or LOR), Light Show Pro, Madrix, Hinkle’s Lighting Sequencer (HLS), Nutcracker, and more.
For your soundtrack you can either create something custom (I used a free program called Audacity) or you can simply download an MP3 or WAV file of music you like and import it into your sequencing software.
In order to have a great looking show you do not need to spend a lot of money. The largest cost is the RGB pixels that can be purchased direct from China through vendors like Ray Wu on Aliexpress for as low as $0.19 each. In addition, you can scale your show so you can start out small and grow as your budget grows.
The Pixels I use in my show are all 12vdc WS2811 pixels.
Other great resources for getting started and learning more Christmas Lights, Displays, and Light Shows, are listed below:
- DIYC forum (www.doityourselfchristmas.com)
- Falcon Christmas (www.falconchristmas.com)
- Planet Christmas (www.planetchristmas.com)
- Australian Christmas Lighting & Computer Animation Forum (www.auschristmaslighting.com)
Good Luck!
Visit my site for more information at: www.johnsonlightshow.com
Like us on Facebook: / johnsonlightshow
Matt Johnson
www.johnsonlightshow.com
2014 Contestant on ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight" - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
You're my personal hero. I'm loving your tutorials. Thanks for taking the time to make them!
Beautiful work, I love your attention to detail. Thanks for the hard work and your spirit.
Matt, thank you for the video. Enjoyed all of the info. Would you consider doing a short video that has detail on how you wired your trees? I want to make sure I don't end up with a tree that is not evenly lite. Again thank you.
Great stuff
Thanks for sharing!!
Love your show. Especially the sequencing. I watch a lot of these types of videos to get ideas with sequencing. It is little things like the window animations that intrigue me.
That being said, I was wondering about your pixel trees...they look like 180 degree trees in this video. I'm planning my layout, and was wondering whether I could save money on pixel strings and controllers going with 180 vs 360. Depth of the visual from the trees is my concern.
Thanks!
Great video !!!
You. Are. Awesome.
Post some TIG welding vids. I saw that Diversion in your garage!
Great video, I love the detailed instructions, but I can’t help but ask: what airplane kit are you building?
would tomato cages like work i seriously thought thts what they was made from
Would tomato cages work as well?
Matt, what a great video. You take your time to explain everything and give so much detail, and I love that you include the source where we can purchase all of the materials. Outstanding work. I am genuinely very grateful when I find someone lie you who does such detailed tutorial videos. Thank you for that. On a side note, would you by chance know where I could find a video on how to build tomato cages? : )
did you connect the LED controller to a show controller to be able to coordinate the patterns on the LED units with the other lights in your show? If you connected the LED controllers to a master sequencer, what communication protocol do they require and do you have an examples posted anywhere?
are the rods bendable? can i shape them into anything?
somebody should manufacture this
Hi there Matt, Awesome job this year. I am running LOR system and my wife would like to do something with the pixels...what controller controls the pixels? LOR sells a controller with 2 strings of 50 RGB's already connected but if I wanted to purchase the RGB's like you have from overseas....what do I use to control them? And what size of power source did you use?
Has anyone come up with an alternative for the welding? And this may sound crazy but could an tomato cage be used for this? And last what is the exact name for the rods? So I won't seem like a nut when I go to Home Depot
I can’t find those rods anywhere
Matt how large is your shop, and where do you store everything? That is my problem, I'm running out of room to store stuff on site. FYI we met at Ultimate academy this summer.
Pat
can I just use a tomato cage
Matt, could you tell me what is the spacing of the holes on the jig you use for the lights top to bottom and the spacing left to right between the rows of light strings. Thanks, Dale
fishking107 I believe it is 2" spacing vertical and the top starts with them spaced about 1" and then gets wider as it goes down
Forget the lights. What RV are you building? :)
Matt,
When you say you connect the power wires from the end of each strand and link them back to the plug, what are the power wires are you referring to (12v wire and ground wire, or just the 12v wire)? Love the videos. You have inspired me to have my first Christmas light show this year. Thanks for the help.
Thanks,
Jacob
+Jacob Wauters Yes, it is 12v and ground wires.
So Matt. What is the cost of making one of your pixel trees? My wife is begging me to make one so I might give it a try. Thanks. You are an inspiration and congrats on being on the ABC Great Light Contest. What an honor. My wife and I are going to visit your show this Sat.
They are cheap, I think in the video I mention they are about $20 each but I don't remember exactly. The cost is in the pixels.
Matt Johnson ....and the welder. I love the video but you kinda gloss right over that bit. Most folks don't weld or have easy access to a welder. .......though after watching this video I'm certainly looking in to it. Thanks for that. ;)
Good point, I don't know why I just assume everyone has a welder :-)
+Matt Johnson Probably because welding is unnecessary...Theres' many less permanent solutions to creating a tree such as binding wire that work much better, especially at the end of the season when everything has to be stored.
Hi Matt, Just finished my arches and am very happy with the results. Next are the pixel trees and I have a question on the number of the lights used. It looks like you have 12 sets of rods encircling the tree but only 8 sets are used. I also only count 8 sets used for each tree in your "Behind the Scenes" video. Is this correct or do you fill the remaining 4 sets with lights. And do the small trees have 22 lights in each string and the large have 26 lights?
Thanks for all your help! You've already given us a wealth of knowledge. This is my first year with LED lighting so any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks much, Dale
+fishking107 The trees are 12 sets but I am only using 8 so it is a 270 degree tree. You can fill all of them and have a 360 tree which is what I did the first year but I changed it last year because the spirals looked cleaner on the 270 degree tree since you could not see the glow from the lights in back of the three through the front.
+Matt Johnson just curious on the 270degree tree. Do you think this would be the same case for a larger 15' tall pixel mega tree as well?
All I can say is WOW Matt!! Awesome job. I do have a question for you. I am planning to build a couple of your trees but I'm not finding the 12V Square Node pixels in Rays store. Do you have a link?
Looking at your pixel count on these trees there appear to be 22 pixels per row and you are tying 4 rows together for a total of 88 pixels per channel with 2 channels on a tree. Are you ordering 1 strand of 100 pixels and cutting some off or are you buying 2 strands of 50 and splicing them?
This is my first year jumping into the automated displays so I may be biting off more than I can chew but I do have a year to figure it out :) I am doing 2 of your trees and 2 of your Arches for my display and then outlining some windows. The rest is standard Christmas lights running on Renard SS24's. Any help is greatly appreciated.
The square nodes in Ray's store aren't listed as square, unfortunately. There are several with varying wire color and backing (wires coming out side vs back). To find them, go to Ray's store (www.aliexpress.com/store/701799), and search for "DC12V WS2811 ip68 pixel". They will be mixed in with some other things in the search results, but should be much easier to find. Be sure to click the "In This Store" search button or you will get results from all of Ali Express.
Just wondering do you have a total $$ amount you can give for your whole show cost? Component wise(Controllers, Pixels, ect..). I run a small show in Oregon and looking to go bigger :-) btw I love your show lol
Andrew Lamar Not sure but if I had to guess maybe $5,000?
This is OK but how I Program the Tree.
Your workshop is so sterile and clean! Do you spend more time cleaning it than you do working in it?
Seems like a lot of work , I'll think I'll just go to Home Depot and buy a litted riendeer