Looking at something that has been sorted out by some people for the "top" outdoor Christmas LED show, I wanted to see what might bring the same level of system to the Christmas tree in the house.
In the previous instructions, I created homebrew software and settings to drive rgb led pixels, but this year I wanted to turn to the technology used by the outdoor Christmas Community and apply it to the interior of the house.
This is also good as it is much cheaper than the equally impressive outdoor setting of the whole house.
I am a fan of the Instructure tables website and have posted some other LED projects here, so I would like to share a step overview of the tree seen in the production video.
This Instructure covers many disciplines and technologies, each of which can be its own Instructure.
Here are some links to jump to the resources I use to learn these technologies.
Also don't miss the attached YouTube video.
Also, I have entered this note in some of the current competitions, so we would appreciate it if you like what you see!
MaterialsI has included links for specific components that I use in my settings. You will need some physical settings to accommodate the main components of your settings, preferably somewhere invisible behind the tree.
The components set up include the router, Pi, pixel controller, and power supply.
The power router raspberry PiPixel controller for my size tree 400 light is pushing things that the tree can hold to the maximum and still looks good (
Instead of a bunch of wires and bulbs).
Also, about 400 lamps are the places where you can start to display basic images on the tree through LEDs.
I would recommend buying your WS2811 with a green or black cable if possible, instead of the standard white/red/blue cable that stands out.
Also, I took the tape and wrapped the transparent plastic bullet parts of each LED to make the light less conspicuous, similar to the standard incandescent lamp or LED lighting with a dark green outer color of the housing.
Power needs to be injected, so take into account the amount of light you plan to use and how much each string in the pixel controller has.
In my case, I used 2 strings of 150 led and 1 string of 50 led to reach 400.
The location of the tree is not important as this will be customized in the next step, but you should try to get even coverage around the tree.
To inject power, I weld on the 2-pin JST connection of the WS2811 stock.
On the power side, I created the 7 feet cable to connect from the power supply to the 2-pin JST connector.
I also made 7 feet wires (
3 lines of WS2811)
From pixel controller to WS2811 shares.
In my case, 3 of them are connected to a 150 ct LED string, a 150 ct LED string, the 50 ct LED strandXlights are software that most people in the DIY Christmas lights community use to assemble sequences/shows.
In Xlights, there is a custom model feature where users provide spreadsheets with numbers for each pixel location.
Google's "xlights custom model" has a lot of resources in this regard.
However, creating a custom model can be difficult with 400 pixels.
What I did was create an xlights sequence where I played and then fixed the phone to a table where I shot the phone video that the sequence played and each pixel lit up about. 1-2 seconds.
I 've covered a grid on the video with Sony Vegas so I can easily find a location for each pixel.
However, for 400 lamps, multiple LEDs will overlap and occupy the same grid coordinates, which is not something Xlights can handle.
In my example, I built a program in C to read the coordinate list and eliminate the conflict, but you can also do it manually with Excel or Google Docs.
In addition to projecting the video on the tree, I would also like a normal viewing screen where a high quality video can be displayed.
So the 3 gift bags under the tree do a great job capturing most of the widescreen videos.
Interestingly, it's hard for me to find matte or flat wrapping paper.
Most of the things available are glossy.
So after packing every gift I use 5-6 layers off-
White flat paint my case my room setup luckily there is a light fixture in a perfect location far from the tree so I can install the projector on my side, from the top of the tree at the bottom of the package.
Setting the projector in a nominal configuration or horizontally requires pushing the projector too far.
Care and testing must also obtain the projector from an appropriate angle (
As you can see from the photo, it is not completely vertical)
Cover the scene.
The HDMI of the Raspberry Pi used by the Falcon Pi Player for the video is routed to the projector.
From doing research on several AV forums, in non-
The horizontal configuration affects the heat dissipation in some way, because the projector is optimized for the heat dissipation in the horizontal configuration.
However, since I play a video loop as a program that only has a projector powered on for 15 minutes, I'm not too worried.
Many of the concerns on the AV Forum are those users who want to open the projector for a long time (> 2 hrs).
I put my phone next to the projector lens and aim at it at the same angle the projector generates the video.
I then used the image editor to create a mask of the area I could use in Sony Vegas's video editing software.
This is usually simple, although it is remembered in the video editor that Up = Right on the tree, Right = Down on the tree sometimes gets lost.
The performance at this level was established during the evolution of the 4-year Christmas tree performance, but I want to apply the same level of wow factor shown by others on the Christmas lights show outside to the trees inside.
If you like this guide, vote in the contest I'm in. Thanks!