Thank you, I'm 12 and I begged my parents for years to get me a controller and lights and they did. I got the programming and it didn't work out. Like it was supposed to. It was off beat. I guess that's not to bad considering I did it by myself but u really helped
Dude this video overwhelmed the crap out of me. Who wants to spend all that money and have to spend weeks learning how to do even the most basic things 🤣
DrZzs: Today I'm gonna show you how to build your own LED shows. That's all for now, Adios! The Hook Up: Nahhh DrZzs!!Hold my beer! This is how you show your LED shows from space.
First, love your vids. You're literally the reason I even ended up in this hobby. Starting with your holiday lights vids and now into the full show. That said, "less than a week to a full show" is fairly misleading. I suppose with a Ready to Run kit for the mega tree, that element's doable in that time frame, but a whole show is not. It's my first year, I've been at it since August/September and I'm only at about 65% complete. Wiring, soldering, attaching pigtails, power injecting, building props for window outlines, and trouble shooting is all very time consuming. And that's before the dozens of hours you'll spend sequencing. This is still a great tutorial and your xlights section will definitely save me some time!
It's possible if you have general IT skills (installing software, IP addressing) and you use out of the box sequences along with a ready to run controller. Going Ready2Run assembled alone will save you many, many hours since the controllers are shipped 100% assembled and tested and you don't have to make a bunch of mistakes not purchasing or purchasing the wrong items to complete the project. Power injection is a "level 4" skill that even we don't support for customers due to the likely-hood for damage to hardware and thus we generally have customers using Long Range instead of power injection which is cleaner and easier and just about the same cost.
I highly recommend this video if you are into making your display from static lights to sequenced lights. Love the informative video as this is a pretty good intro to the hobby of the Christmas lights. It also turns into many other holiday lights too, i.e 4th of July, Halloween. I also recommend XLights RU-vid classes as well as the forums from Xlights and Light O Rama. The only complaint I have with the video is your comment of it takes a week for a novice to do an impressive show in a week. Only if you have deep pockets (purchasing a ready made display and sequenced or having some else do it) or you are a anywhere from a intermediate to complete nerd in electronics. And still not a week to do it all. Not trying to scare anyone away but it takes a lot longer to wade thru what you want to do versus all of the different electronic items to do it as well as the programming aspects. If you have a music background, that helps too when sequencing your lights to music. Your advice to start small is the best solution for a novice as it can easily get overwhelming. It has taken me almost 10 years to get my display where I want it to be. Last year was the very first year to setup, sequenced and happy with the display. It is not big or small but it fits the area I have and it took over a month to setup. That does not include selecting the songs to sequence, going thru checking each light (ws2811s, rgb spotlights, static led lights) and checking for anomalies. Can't wait till I retire so I can really do it spectacularly!!
Thanks for the kind words! The "under a week" part was definitely referring to kit stuff. You can get really creative in this hobby (which is I think why most of us like it), but you can also buy the kits to get up and running quickly if that's what you're after.
Hola, como podria conseguir todas las instrucciones en español? Me gusta mucho tu trabajo y quisiera empezar a aprender a hacerlo y decorar mi casa asi como la tuya. Espero y puedas ayudarme. Saludos...
I am loving the information on your channel. I'm just starting out. I have a model using USB fairy lights that are W2812B for my bedroom sized model and I am looking into beginning to learn programming. My model is not just flat or linear, it is an abstract multi-dimensional star like design. The complex/advanced model is anyway. My first yard sized model with light was called "Tetra Light" and the complex model is 4 times more elements. The programming will be able to handle many different sets of movement on the one model and it's 4 different prototypes so far. As for choosing strips or strings and power, the design in these early stages are basically lights strips in tubes/pipes. I'm using Govee led strips for larger versions and BTF lighting fairy lights for the smaller version. There are sets of 12 light tubes in the simple model and 48 in the complex model. Each of those could be individual segments. I'm going to calculate how many lights that would be. Power is an issue because I would have to hide the wires so they don't hang out all around the ends. The model gives a way to brings power lines through the center of the tubes at large diameters. I could use little 3D printed parabolic cones to distribute lights from strings and pixels aligned by the center wire so the light is reflected around to the tube in a better way that just pixel in tubes. www.youtube.com/@CreativeStarlightCurves
Can you do a video on how to physically mount the wiring/lights to your house. I’m pretty lost on injecting power. If you want a house to do you can come over. Haha
#opensource #openhardware Pixel controller based on the 8$ Orange Pi Zero Full Art-Net 4 implementation. Full sACN E1.31 implementation. No FPS limit (except for what is with the WS28xx chip protocol). www.orangepi-dmx.org/raspberry-pi-e131-bridge
Great intro, Rob...I'm an IoT hw/sw developer and just getting into xLights and animated shows. Yours is the first video that has actually brought all of the pieces together in an understandable, cohesive manner that, thanks to you, I know understand! Kudos. You mentioned in the vid that you permanently mounted pixel strips to outline your house. Could you share what products/tools you did to do that? Has that been installed for awhile, and if so has it withstood weather/sunlight/snow/rain etc.? I also loved the discussion around PVC pre-fab mounting for your doors and windows. Let's see how you did that!? Thanks again!
Thanks Rob. Love your succinct explanations, no nonsense , get to the point presentations. I love having you guys 2.5 yrs ahead of my budget. You save me so much time and $. ;-) (Oh, and let me mention the link you have to the WS2812B IP65s was dead last I checked.) Thanks for all you do!
Beginners can do it. Holidaycoro.com has a lot of plug and play options. Start with a string of 50 lights and a plug and play power supply, control board. All connections are made for you already in the box. Basic, basic setup beginners can do it. little at a time. Also check out DrZss tutorials
Thanks for posting this. Wow when I drove by a house with this type of led tree I had no clue what's involved. I always wanted to do this but I feel now I need a degree in IT to do it. When you were going back and forth on the pc my brain went into over load. Lol
Once you got to the computer mumble jumble it was like dropping me off in another country where no one spoke my language. 😞😁. Cause I really would like to do this.
I feel the same I understand most of it but this guy and most if the others zip through the click here put this in here in 2 seconds and I can't keep up even with pausing the vid.
I was looking for guidance in using an input from an xbox one rumble motor to then RF to a receiver to make the led strip light up red with the same pulse of the rumble motor. I'm 100 percent doing this project but I just don't know where to start. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm super excited. I've been wanting something to do since retirement. Knowing me, if I start today I might be able to have my "mega strand" of lights programmed in time for Christmas next year.
Power injection should be well understood before implementing. It's a bit like installing a turbo kit on your stock car - all good if you get everything 100% right and really bad if not done correctly. Here are some diagrams that show the basics: www.holidaycoro.com/kb_results.asp?ID=173 Given the number of cheap long range expansion systems (www.holidaycoro.com/Ready2Run-AlphaPix-Flex-Long-Range-Receivers-p/935.htm), the move has been more towards long range and away from power injection due to the complexity.
Great mega tree! I have 14 stings just arrived, I was going to do 2 in spacing but seeing yours I believ 3 in looks nice also. Other note, didn’t you have a video on how to build that wreath? I couldn’t find it. Scanned through your other holiday vids but may have missed it.
Very helpful video! Here's the one question I have that you actually didn't cover lol. Where is your main controllers mounted and how does one typically run the pixels cables to it without having awful cables covering your house? Go through the attic? And can the pixel strands be daisy chained or each 50 have to run back to the controller?
Haha, had some friends come over for dinner that night but I was SO close to finishing when they got there that I had to keep going. They kept me company, good friends and unwitting participants in my youtube video.
Thanks for a great overview. Helped me accelerate my setup. I’m not clear why you have the same e1.31 controller listed multiple times in the controller setup. My understanding is Xlights supports multiple universes under a single entry.
Time to make a 2024 version of this. Plus is there not a "basic" controller similar to WLED that just does some prebuilt basic chases, flashing, fading for those with bullet pixels who are not interested in xlight sequencing/syncing etc...
Me podrías mandar esos adornos k ya no usas,en caso de que lo hagas soy de República Dominicana,y vivo en Pedro brand campamento 16 de agosto calle B#4 gracias todos los años aquí hacen concurso espero me respondas
Hi I purchase the LED's strip WS2812B. I have a question. If I connect the strip to 5V 5A power supply does the LED's turn on without controller? I afraid the LED's strip is not good. How to check it? I connect the strip led and it doesn’t light (without controller) Thank you very mach Eric
Hi I purchase the LED's strip WS2812B. I have a question. If I connect the strip to 5V 5A power supply does the LED's turn on without controller? I afraid the LED's strip is not good. How to check it? I connect the strip led and it doesn’t light (without controller) Thank you very mach Eric
Hello, Would you be able to provide me with a guideline for beginners? Like equipment etc. ? My father in law wants to decorate for Christmas but he wants to start small just the house, like windows, roof, etc…would really appreciate it, thank you !
What forum do you frequent or recommend for getting started in this. I currently run a 350 bulb display of c9 dumb rgb. I really would like to convert it over to something like this but would certainly need help along the way. Just wondering where the best info is. Thanks
Quick question, you narrate that you can connect ethernet to PC or through a hub. In the video at 9:34 I see the controller board has printed text mentioning "wifi". Can this board also be connected via wi-fi without any additional hardware? I realize it may not auto-update this way. (Ethernet cable into the house may be difficult - I wonder how you do this without smashing a cable in your doorway or window seal.) Much thanks. I'm always watching your vids. Tons of respect out to you.
This year I want to install some LED stripes along the ridge of the roof for the first time. This year will be a learning year. I am going to use some inexpensive controllers, ESP-32 running NodeMCU firmware and some simple LUA scripts. I will probably run the stripe along the inside of the ridge in attempts to keep the stripes out of the rain. The current problem is trying to determine what type of cable to run for the power. I will probable have about 5 stripe of 5m - 30 pixel/m variety. I have seen/read the gauge of wire to run, typically I have seen 12 or 14 AWG being recommended. The question is, what type of cable should I use? Romex that is rated for outdoor use (14/2)? Low Voltage landscaping wire (14/2)? Second question, can anyone recommend a good Discord server that revolves around LED lighting?
18/2 stranded wire is plenty good ...like low volt landscaping wire or security system wire ... can get it in 500ft - 1000ft box of wire at your local homedepot or platt electric or online.. amazon
Can anyone recommend a controller for Wi-Fi lcd landscaping lights. Have 9 lcd wifi floods out front as regular landscaping lights. Can anyone recommend software or an app that would let me control them for a light show or holidays? Usually manage through Alexa or other basic app. Can change colors, scene, etc, but nothing fancy or coordinated, Thanks in advance!
Hi.. mr Hook UP I was electronics enthusiastic way back 40 years now but I want bring it back my know ledge again also I add my suscribed I love your theorical explanations Im already 65 years and already retired do nothing athome but I can still doing this project to maintain my memory thanks
Here I am again for 6th year in a row saying im gonna do it this year and make a show, and then I say fuck that after watching... Still, tech is there but to complicated still for average joe. We like plug and play and click buttons in apps.
I use SuperStar from Light-O-Rama to sequence all my pixels, and use almost all Holiday Coro controllers and pixels. But, X-Lights also is a very good sequencer. You gave a great overview of the main steps. Just a heads-up: Sequencing RGB lights to a song, the real "wow" of using RGB lights, takes an enormous amount of time. I take approximately 8-10 hours per one minute of a song that I sequence to my lights, and I only have about 17,000 pixels. I say "only" because many of those addicted to this hobby (like me) have multiples of that (e.g., John Storms). So, besides the work required to build props (like a mega tree), plan on spending quite a bit of time sequencing lights to a song. Now, will your next video be how to power wash a driveway? Ok, my poor attempt at humor. I love all your videos!!
Haha, when I took that picture my first thought was "wow, the driveway looks gross". I think it was a side effect of the HDR applied by the iphone camera. I promise it doesn't actually look that bad.
Totally agree about the time it takes to sequence by the way. The only song I've ever sequenced from scratch was "you make it feel like christmas" by Gwen Stefani because it's my wife's favorite xmas song and it took me around 20 hours, and as I said, I'm not even fully satisfied with the result.
I'd never tell someone to buy any one specific product... that's one of the coolest parts about this hobby, but the price actually isn't that crazy when you break down the cost of the individual parts. 800 pixels, strips, controller, wiring, mounting hardware. The convenience fee comes out to around $100 to have someone preassemble the equipment for you and make sure all the parts work together. It won't be for everyone, but I was able to put it together in a single leisurely Saturday, which may be worth $100 to some people.
There is another option. I bought 800 pixels from Aliexpress, strips from Boscoyo, a 300W power supply, two nodemcus, two breadboards, two logic level converters and some wire. I'm mounting it on my oak tree and staking it into the ground. $700? Yeah that's a lot. Total for mine is $191, plus the wire which I already had. I paid $96 for the pixels, the strips were about $60, the power supply $25, and the other stuff a total of $10 or less. Also I haven't purchased a box yet. I'm debating on what to do there, but that adds another $25 or so. I will admit mine will be more work and won't work as well as a wired controller, but I'm not sure if I would pay the extra for it. I will see after mine is built if I made a good deal. I intended to use the pixels on my roof first, but thanks to Rob and some testing on my part I determined pixels shouldn't be a permanent fixture. I'm only doing the tree because returning to China isn't worth the hassle and I didn't mind paying an extra $100 or so to get this idea up.
In that case should we hang the decos up this weekend on the channel aswell? So its all warm n cosey for next time you visit. I know how u like your LED lighting 😤😤😤
Do the light strings come in twenty feet tall. Probably much more expensive. I want to start out with the tree only and want it to be 20 feet tall. Thanks for responding.
A bit overwhelming since im a carpenter and not a computer geek. My kids will probably say no swet get you tools out old man, lets do it. Thankfully my only wants a huge tree.
I've been thinking of upgrading the outside lights for sometime and this is probably the best instructional video I've seen. Great job Rob and thank you!
cool! it would have bean cheaper to get an Alphapix insterd of the Hinkspix pro becauce you only need 6 universes for a 16x50 tree and the Alphapix supports 96 universes.
I really wish that I can understand all of this because I just lost my mom last year and this will be my first Christmas and doing Christmas displays show on my home has always been my dream but I just don’t understand any of this
Thank you, they help me a little bit I'm trying to figure stuff out but the only thing is I still have questions about is the universe. So I have 200 pixels on the front of my house and they go through one channel does that mean I need to put 150 lights on one channel and 50 lights on the other channel because I seem to work fine with 200 on that one channel. That's where I'm just getting confused
That's why I went the DIY route. It's ridiculous that these ready-made controllers cost so much, when the DIY route costs like 1/10 as much. Personally, I would recommend staying away from the ready-made controllers, because if you build all your lightshow things yourself, you learn a lot more and will be better prepared to add more things later on without paying that $1500 again. I already have 8 WS2812B leaping arches, 8 short vertical WS2812B light strings, 2 WS2812B long vertical light strings, 3 WS2812B horizontal light strings, 8 relay channels for Christmas lights, a couple DMX spotlights, a couple disco-effect lights, a moving head light, 4 standard led strips, and a DMX laser machine, all controlled the DIY way. Of course, the DMX lights were purchased separately, but they were relatively cheap ($15 each for spotlights, $85 for laser machine, $70 for moving head light, $20 for disco light). All controllers were built and programmed myself, and all the leaping arches were built myself with a few supplies from Home Depot. Sure, it takes significant work to build everything, but once it's done, it's SOOOO worth it.
