How To Build LED Pixel Trees
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- #Tree #Pixel #Halloween #Christmas #xLights #Alien
Alien Tree Pixel Light Show props
Part 1: Construction
Having pixel light show props that will work in both your Halloween and Christmas light shows is a must. With these props, all you need to change seasons is to rearrange 20 pixels at the top from alien heads to stars and you're back in business...
In this video, we're going to cover construction of these props. We'll bend PVC with hot sand, fabricate stars and alien heads with corrugated plastic and shower curtains, and share some lessons learned.
Most of the materials were purchased from Home Depot, but the corrugated plastic was purchased from Amazon.
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xLights xModel which has the wiring diagram: github.com/BytesOfPi/xLightsW...
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Amazon affiliate links: The following links are materials I've used in my projects. Some of the links are Amazon affiliate links, and BytesOfPi does get a commission if you purchase materials from this link. The links do not add to the cost of the items online. We use a large portion of the earnings to purchase materials for future videos so thanks for your support!
For 1 Tree:
-) ~15 ft of 3/4" PVC
*) 5 ft semi circle base
*) ~3 ft diameter base
*) 5 ft tree "trunk"
*) ~1 ft topper
-) 1 x 3/4" PVC tee (www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte...)
-) 3 x 3/4" PVC cap (www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte...)
-) 2 x 3/4" PVC elbow (www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte...)
-) 1 x 5" diameter circle blank (www.homedepot.com/p/Commercia...)
-) 1 stainless steel screw
-) 1 stainless steel hex nut
-) Boscoyo Mounting strip (boscoyostudio.com/product/meg...)
-) Corrugated Plastic Sheet - amzn.to/3dkjChC
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Links to other related components are below:
-) USB Sockets - amzn.to/3NVLLbi
-) Heat Shrink - amzn.to/3RkeU2V
-) Connector Wire - amzn.to/3OYMMAM
-) HiLetGo ESP8266 Boards - amzn.to/39qbHNJ
-) Breadboards - amzn.to/3LlEtwm
-) Jumper Wires - amzn.to/37M7lQD
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Table of Contents
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - Overview
01:29 - Construction
02:38 - Use hot sand to bend PVC
03:52 - Build tops and tension the trees
05:14 - Alien heads
05:54 - Mounting T tops - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Nice to see someone doing small scale trees. I'm trying my hand at a roughly half scale Mega tree. I cannot do the full big boy trees but wanted a pixel tree for a few years now. I'm shooting for something between 9 and 10 ft with a 180 base. If I can handle that then next year I want to add some small trees with arches between them.
There was a time where I wanted a mega tree in my display. I watched the videos, saw the different ways to secure the base, and figured out the materials needed.
After some thought, I realized I didn't really want a tree. Out of all the home light shows, mega tree failures are the most common. There's a whole xLites video on common issues with mega trees. Get it high enough, and it could fall on some children or become a liability.
The mega tree is basically a matrix that is pinched at the top. I can do a lot more animations on matrixes than I can on mega trees. If anything, I'll probably add more matrixes to my show in the future.
Don't let me discourage you from building your tree. There is a good video out there you should view before building
th-cam.com/video/zL4oorPcp5Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=uKnEpIsN23YQe8Lk
Good luck on your builds!
That is genius
Get more mileage out of your Christmas props
What a awesome idea!!
Thanks! Spent a lot of time on the trees and they would look out of place in a Halloween show. I want to get as much mileage as possible from my props. 😁
Is it possible that you post a BOM for all parts needed, with a wiring diagram. I think I have most of these things, I just don't want to re-purchase if I don't have to. And Thanks again for all the helpful videos.
That's a good point Terry, I didn't post the xLights xModels or wiring diagrams.
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xLights xModels and wiring diagrams:
github.com/BytesOfPi/xLightsWLED/tree/main/xLights/models
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Here's a quick bill of materials for 1 tree with a few Home Depot links:
-) ~15 ft of 3/4" PVC
*) 5 ft semi circle base
*) ~3 ft diameter base
*) 5 ft tree "trunk"
*) ~2 ft topper "T"
-) 2 x 3/4" PVC tee (One for the base, one for the t-topper) (www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-Schedule-40-S-x-S-x-S-Tee-PVC024000800HD/203812197)
-) 3 x 3/4" PVC cap (www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-PVC-Schedule-40-Socket-Cap-PVC021160800HD/203811671)
-) 2 x 3/4" PVC elbow (www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-PVC-Schedule-40-90-S-x-S-Elbow-Fitting-PVC023000800HD/203812123)
-) 1 x 5" diameter circle blank (www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-5-in-1-Gang-White-Textured-Round-Blank-Metal-Wall-Plate-PMTW-RB/300716577)
-) 1 stainless steel screw
-) 1 stainless steel hex nut
-) Boscoyo Mounting strip (boscoyostudio.com/product/megatree-mounting-strip-heavy-duty-max-roll-200/)
-) Corrugated Plastic Sheet - amzn.to/3dkjChC
@@BytesOfPi Hwy there Mr. Bytes...Thank you for a quick response, however...I was in reference to the electrical components, although the parts listed from Home Depot was great. So if someone has never built this or any light show project...what components connects to what components...starting from the power supply to the level converter with how and what connects to the LED's...Thanks again
@@terrybus1
Gotcha. I talk about the electrical components in detail in other behind the scenes videos. You might want to check out:
th-cam.com/video/GeJxolPpiE8/w-d-xo.html
I walk through my first 2 box builds. In the details of the video, I have links to most of the components.
I bought my 5v lights from Ray Wu at AliExpress. My first batch pre COVID was great and they worked well. However since COVID, the quality of the pixels has been poor. They are the cheapest but have the most defects. m.aliexpress.com/store/1100403118?trace=store2mobilestoreNew&spm=a2g0n.order_list.order_list_main.4.1875180264fFo0
I brought my 12v lights from Wally's Lights. I bought them at a prebuy sale in January and it took over 3 months to come, but they were cheaper wallyslights.com/collections/12v-pixels
I did buy Chinese power supplies off of Amazon, but one went bad. I've been purchasing Meanwell supplies from TRC Electronics and they've been reliable: www.trcelectronics.com/
Electronics
-) JacobsParts WT32-ETH01 ESP32 Board - amzn.to/3vkNzDA
-) Programmer for the ETH01 (USB 2.0 to TTL) - amzn.to/3EbRruC
-) Logic Level converters - amzn.to/3EbBDrY
-) NE555 Delay Timer Relay - amzn.to/3jG2EKu
-) FM Transmitter - amzn.to/37LAhb9
Cable Connectors / Glands
-) MUYI 2 Pin Way Waterproof Electrical Connector 2.5mm - amzn.to/3rmVn6v
-) MUYI 3 Pin Way Waterproof Electrical Connector 2.5mm - amzn.to/3JFuvFq
-) RJ45 Waterproof Connector, Female to Female - amzn.to/3EbRNBs
-) Cable Gland PG11 Plastic Waterproof Adjustable 5-10mm (for Power cables) - amzn.to/36iAB0Q
-) Cable Gland PG9 Plastic Waterproof for 4mm-8mm Cable (for Data cables) - amzn.to/3KKKnHN
Cables
-) Cat6 Gigabit Patch Cable Right-Angle - amzn.to/3rsE0S6
-) Cat5e Patch Cable 75 Feet - amzn.to/3KM6fTs
-) 18AWG Low Voltage LED Cable, 2 Conductor - amzn.to/3LZ4ulQ
-) 18AWG Low Voltage LED Cable 3 - amzn.to/3KKrwN4
Box Hardware
-) 12 Positions Dual Row 600V 15A Screw Terminal Strip Blocks - amzn.to/38EhkaL
-) 12 AWG In-Line Fuse Holder - amzn.to/3jAKeec
-) MTM ACR7-18 Ammo Crate Box - amzn.to/3uEAFkS
-) Lead Free solder - amzn.to/3jFZ6Ia
Where did you get the strip with all the holes for the pixel lights?
I got it from Boscoyo. It's mounting strip for mega trees. boscoyostudio.com/product/megatree-mounting-strip-heavy-duty-max-roll-500/
I have a lot left over for a mega tree next year
What pixel lights did you use and what did you use for wire (power/data) between the trees and your controller?
I used 5v bullet pixels on the trees. I have Ray Wu connectors between each tree running 18/3 AWG wire. 10 ft between trees.
I power inject between every strand at the base of each tree. I also have the option to run a home run power injection line to the end of each set of 3 trees if need be
@@BytesOfPi Did you have to boost your data signal?
@@martinwilde777 with all my boxes I boost the signal to the first props. However I don't need to boost it between props.
I used these logic level shifters to boost the 3.3v signal to a 5v signal. Looks like they are out but other logic level shifters should work. amzn.to/2XwjHqX
Can you share how you did your custom model for the trees? I like the idea of them being one continuous strand of lights and not 6 independent channels as that would not work well with XLED...
Sure thing. Here are the left and right Alien tree and regular tree models.
github.com/BytesOfPi/xLightsWLED/tree/main/xLights/models
They're not pretty like the tree models because it doesn't use vectors to create straight lines, but they are close enough to work with.
One other thing to note, I used the online tool to create my models.
www.lightshowhub.com/tools/xlights-custom-model-builder
Not glad that it requires you to "sign up" to use it, but I used one of my throwaway email accounts to register.
@@BytesOfPi Thank you so much! You have been awesome - your excellent tutorials re-kindled the maker in me as I like your "low budget" approach. BTW - the "hot sand" method to bend PVC works awesome! It is like a wet noodle and bends so easily.
@@martinwilde777
That's awesome! I appreciate the feedback! I'm glad the sand worked for you.
It's easy to blow a wad with this hobby so finding ways to get things done cheaply opens this up to many people and allows us to add more in the long run. With all of the open source options available in the last few years and abundance of addressable LED tech, it's exciting to think about the possibilities.