Holiday Light Shows 101: LEDs, Controllers, Props, and Sequencing for BEGINNERS. 5 Hour MegaTree!
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- In this video I'll cover everything you need to know to make your first Holiday LED Music and Light Show. I went from opening the box to watching my Mega Tree light show on the same day in under 5 hours.
Links From the Video:
XLights Download: xlights.org/releases/
XLights Google Drive: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
HolidayCoro.com Links (support #TeamTrees with your purchases):
Megatree Package: www.holidaycoro.com/800-Pixel-...
Ready2Run Controllers: www.holidaycoro.com/Ready2Run-...
My Go-To Amazon LED Products:
5V 60A Power Supply: amzn.to/2CQpR9J
WS2812B IP65 Strip: amzn.to/2PT266z
Aluminum Channels: amzn.to/2xTTbrG
*As an Amazon Associate I earn a % of qualifying purchases at no cost to you.*
Quick Timestamps:
Introduction 0:00
Picking LEDs 0:50
Pixel Controllers 2:10
DMX (E1.31 Terminology) 4:28
Choosing Features/Props 6:00
Megatree Construction: 7:00
XLights Setup: 10:15
Importing a Sequence: 13:00
Visit my website: www.TheSmartHomeHookUp.com
Follow me on Twitter: @TheHookUp1
Support my channel:
Patreon: / thehookup
Music by www.BenSound.com
#TeamTrees #MegaTrees4RealTrees - Věda a technologie
This really helped me make the decision to skip the lights this year
This really helped tie all the bits together I've learned so far. Thank you!!!!
That xLights guide was really all that I needed. Thanks for keeping me busy doing projects Rob!
You must be the best teacher ever. The way you explain stuff is really clear and understandable.
Said no one ever
Importing the sequence is definitely one of the most confusing parts to do on your own. Thank you for explaining this so well!
Phenomenal video !
Thank you for bringing us closer to our dreams !
And
Your LED obsession is well understood !
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!
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!
Omg! I’ll stick to string lights; props to all of you who do this! Impressive
out of everybody producing content on this subject, you are the most straightforward and informative. thank you! i will consider patreon.
Thanks!
Love your presenting style. Refreshing and straight to the point
You’re the man. Love your channel and what you do! #respect
After watching the video I decided to throw a couple of led strips on my roof, plug them in and call it a day.
I'm with you. If this is a beginners guide, I'd hate to see an advanced version.
Ya fuck this lol
Before this video I was like "how hard this shit be" now I'm like "fuck this"
@@javi1373 check this one out.
czcams.com/video/tXvtxwK3jRk/video.html this dude explains it very well!
This is why people pay professionals to do it. To hell with this bs.
Nice movie! And nice tree. Now a movie of the total house
Wow this is extraordinary clear! Thank you.
Oh my gosh! Thank you SO MUCH for this! NOBODY explains any of this as well as you, truly appreciated!
Thank you so much for sharing for point lights.
Another great video Rob, really informative!! Good to see at 09:00 you had plenty of supervisors helping!!!
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 such a thorough video, you answered like 20 of my 10 questions
Dude, you are an absolute magician!
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 CZcams 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.
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.
January is a great time to start planning for next December.
Great info. Good subject would be how to expand a single effect across all channels and universes as I saw this season. It was spread over someone's entire house ever so often to match intensity of music. Very cool effect.
The part about the universe was really helpful. Thanks!
9:08 - Glad to see the union supervisors on the job.
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
Fantastic videos. You are doing a great job breaking down the topics you cover. Keep it up!
Thanks for the time stamps!
I'm hooked! Subscribed...
Wow sick! This is that next level lights I install commercial holiday lights and if I start offering things like this there is way more money in it!
He would have been my favorite teacher in school. Very cool projects!
Thanks to CZcams, he still can be your favorite teacher! I know he is mine, and I am 52.
Love the video and love the channel, too! Your channel is now on the top of my list! I even printed out the input / output diagram from your "which pins to choose" video on the ESP8266. By the way you look like a young Michael Keaton in the thumbnail for this video ha ha!
I'm lights KraZee! But I'm not participating anymore. I've got a
new perspective and much more appreciative of folks who do these GREAT displays. Thnx
this was a great video thank you
Nice one. I got idea for our christmas decoration competition at work.
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.
Nice presentation
Greatly appreciated the Timestamps
Наконец-то нормальное описание! Спасибо👍
Thank you you have been a big help.
Good presentation.
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!
czcams.com/video/N5Ln_3Ygv9I/video.html
Awesome channel!
AMAZING 💡💡💡💡💡🎄, THANK YOU!
Nice Project !!!👍👍
I really wanna make my own light shows for Christmas and Halloween for my future house. I’m sure this video can help me.
A novice can put together an amazing show in about a week...Ha! I'd love to see that
Kits only of course...
Great Video. Thinking this is a 2021 project.
First I want to say that I have subscribed to you page. I have been sequencing a light show for a few years now. While I have considered going with Pixel lights I have too much invested in regular LED lights, (about 25,000), to change my set up. I also wrote my own program to run my lights. I use Digital I/O boards in my display and build all my own circuit boards. I still do the flashy blinky type of display, (no dimming). Even with what I know this set up seems like it would take a lot of study to get a grasp of everything. I have even tried to contact DIY web sites but no ones seems willing to help me out with questions and problems that I encounter. You at least are willing to show how some of these things go together. I did at one time try and purchase systems from people, but no one would explain how to diagnose problems with the systems I bought. It would be nice to see something like this broken down into easy to understand steps to do a display as complex as this. All of the terms you are using need to be defined in every day language for the average person. Thank you for you effort to explain your system.
Thank you! I’m making the move so.
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!
Yeah, that time frame is for kits of course. I know I’m not exactly a beginner, but I completed my tree +sequencing in one Saturday.
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.
You’re the best. Seriously.
SUPER ...100% BEST... Thank you...
You are a legend
Great video!!!
Thank you !!
Now I know why I’ve never saw a light show in my town. As simple as a trig problem.
That's REALLY impressive... a bit out of my budget.. didn't realize the big controllers were that expensive. I look forward to more of this series and I'll be ingesting more of your original LED outline to build my own.
you can use nodemcu lolin boards (espixelstick firmware) that cost 4$ each to control up to 250+ pixels per controller. you can waterproof them in cheap pvc pipe. you can diy a 18 strand pixel tree for about 250ish dollars and that includes 18 strands of cheap pixels,6 controllers, and a powersupply. how you mount the pixels dictates the rest of your cost. mounting strips are nice, but slicing 1/2 inch pvc pipe in half lenthwise on a tablesaw and drilling 50 1/2 inch holes every 2.4 inches will only cost you 2$ per 20 feet! thats 20$ to mount all the strands. to support it you can create a frame from emt piping, or use conventional megatree methods.
The DIY route is definitely the way to go in my opinion. You learn more this way, so that you can add more in the future, AND you save a LOT of money. I use ESP8266 boards controlled via E1.31 with Vixen Lights software. The ESP8266 boards control my LEDs, and I have a separate power supply. It really isn't too hard to build if you do your research.
@@alexelliott9733 Thanks Alex. I now have lights along my soffits and one other element running on D1 Minis with Dig-Unos. Planning a 7-8' Mega Tree for next year and I won't lie, I'm intimidated by Xlights (for now), but I realize how much it adds to it all.
Fortunately, I got a bit of time to learn. The tree will be where I more to nodes and may be where I step up to 12v from my current 5v lights.
@@ein57ein That's awesome! I've also been thinking about building a full-fledged mega tree, but it didn't happen this year, so hopefully I'll get around to it for next year as well. Hope yours goes well!
@@grimninja2004 man! I've got a lot to learn lol... I didn't see your comment before, but now (specially that I'm plotting for next year).
I'm thinking about a 180 degree 8' with ~13 strings on a D1Mini or ESP32 with WLED. I know WLED can listen for e1.31, I just gotta figure that part out before next year.
Love your wife's shirt. "I don't need Google, my husband knows everything" Ha! XD
Musicman247 is it missing “thinks he” ?
Gotta buy one of those to my wife.
@@lordgarth1 I try to learn more and more each day, but sadly I'll never know everything... not until the FDA green-lights direct brain implants.
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
I have no idea what u were talking about (setup). It’s a nice outcome
great video
I would love for you to do an in-depth show on power injection. I don't really understand when or how to do that.
Do you have a video on how you made the PVC frames for your doors and windows and attached them? Thanks
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?
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
Just subscribed today and watched a few videos so far. My brain is smoking because I haven't even reached novice level. I'm a "I'm new, I don't know what to do" beginner, beginner level. I'll watch them a few dozen times again and maybe I'll start to understand. I do love the videos and do want to learn.
J check out videos on the video section of xlights.org, or Canispater Christmas and Listen to Our Lights all here on youtube. You'll probably get a better idea from those guys.
I love all the videos and thanks for them. I don't have a Raspberry Pi to setup Home Assistant and I want more functionality than wled for programming the leds. Could you help with other options for MQTT setup? Or do you think it is possible to use the buttons on the nodemcu to toggle through the different "light shows" once it is programed, no wifi needed? Thanks
this is really cool! hey, is there a method for syncing music with the display of lights you're aware of? for example: pitch corresponds to color, and volume corresponds to brightness and a sequence corresponds to patterns in a song. something like that?
Very clear explanation ! Thank you !!. One question (I am a beginner with RGB). I just bought the Pixie 16 LOR controller. How many stands can I attach to each of the 16 outputs (cables that comes from the controller). Sorry about this silly question but I am a newbie. My understanding is that I can only control 16 stands of lights. is that correct? Thank you for your help and time answering.
Great video! Thanks. I'm new at this and have a few questions. Doesn't using the HolidayCoro Ready2Run setup require you to use the HolidayCoro pixels also due to the connections they use? Or can you buy a the Ready2Run and buy pixels from another source? (aliexpress, amazon, etc.)
The connectors are readily available on the holidaycoro site or even on aliexpress.
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...
Hello Sir,
Thanks for your videos, really helpful to know about the latest trends.
One question - Is there any way to control SONOFF devices using the app without an Internet connection. I mean to use the app and control devices through LAN.
Kindly share about it really useful for solving this problem at home.
100% sure that I never want to do this now. Jeez Rob!
Ha! That's just as useful as being inspired to do it. Sometimes it's good to know what you don't want to do.
Lmao me to
Great videos. Did you ever do the one on FM transmitters as you spoke about in the 101 RGZ video? Would love to see that. Thanks.
i just want the lights on my eves and rakes , do i need 1 of those ready to run controls? or the one you recommended on the last videos ?
Rob, am getting a early start on the x-mass show for this year. (I have to show the wife that progress is being made with all the stuff I purchased..). My tree is going to be about 70" tall, so Im not totally sure of how to connect the lights, Im going to have 16 strands (up and down). So if I start on the bottom left and go to the right, I shoudl start at the bottom, then on the second strand start at the top, go to the bottom, then start at the bottom of the 3rd strand, go up and down and up and down until I get all the strands connected in one huge line? Or do I need to cut each strand and start at the bottom or top of all.. thanks..
Interested what all you had for your first setup you showed for the whole house. In a similar situation starting about thinking about moving to something similar. Thanks.
That's cool
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.
That will be in the next video I do on this subject.
The Hook Up awesome! Thinking it might be similar to what I am trying with my pex. Love to see other solutions to a similar problem.
Thanks!!
@The Hook Up Thanks this video is very informative, you used PVC around your doors and windows.. Are you using strips or pixels in them?
Pixels around the doors and windows
HI Rob, perfect timing on tis video! I just received my Falcon controllers 2xF48 and 2xF16V3 with the smart receivers. For the network on your unifi did you create a separate VLAN or an entire new network on a different controller (USG). Thanks!
Hey Dave, I haven’t done it yet because I need to change some rules for my porch and carriage lights to be in the show, but it’s on my short list of things to do.
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.
Thanks for the video! I noticed you have your electronics and the power supply in a sealed box, how do you deal with heat dissipation? Do I need to worry about this? Thanks !
In the garage I keep the box open, this is my first year having a box outside in Florida... we’ll see how it goes.
This isn't as much of an issue as most people expect. The controllers have several safeties - the housing is FR5 rated for fire resistance, the power supply shuts down over 160f and the controller auto shuts off output over (typically, can be configured) 140f. With a single power supply there are never issues, for dual power supply units we use a larger enclosure and for 4 power supply units, an even larger unit. The controllers also all have fan output to a "CPU" fan that can be controlled by the CPU if you want to exhaust the enclosure. The HC-2500 and BUD boxes both have pre-marked sections for vents.
I would like a little more information on installing LED walls or Displays and integrating them into my light shows. How do I add music videos to my light show? Do I use the same software? What hardware should I be using other than using RGB WS2812B lights?
Can the Mega Tree be controlled by WLED nodemcu's instead of the pre-built controller from holidaycoro? For example using the dig-quad from quindor and attaching 4 strips to each 4 channels.
Great video. I'm starting with pixels and currently have a falcon pi cap
I haven't slept in 7 weeks but thanks to your video I'm now ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Novice here, this video sounded like another language to me, gonna watch it 20 more x till I get it though, time to learn another language!!
Waiting for next Video
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.
Hey I didn't see anything in the comments about the sandevices controllers but they come fully assembled as well.
Loved the video, thank you very must. Just wondering if you went with WS2812B strings or WS2811 Strings, I can't seem to find it in the video?
The LED strips on my house are WS2812B, the LEDs on the megatree are WS2811 pixel strings.
New to this venture, but your video has given me the kick in the butt I needed to get started. Thanks for your recommended controllers and pixels, I will be purchasing them soon. I have a pressing question though, How can I incorporate some of my current yard lights (deer, snowman, sleigh, etc) into the light show, since its all 120V. What type of controller would you recommend that could tie those things into x lights?
Those are done with AC light controllers: www.holidaycoro.com/16-Output-AC-Animated-Lighting-Controller-AlphaPix-p/942-2.htm?Click=12722 xLights can still send the data.
I have been watching your videos on addressable LED's to get a better understanding for a project I am looking to try. Your information has been very helpful, could you help with the following.
I would like to know what and how to create 5 digits with 7 segments each plus 2 sets of colons. The unit will be to count down to start then elapsed time using RGBW tapes to be used outside.
Different colors for the different time displayed.
Readability at a reasonable distance about 300ft so digits to be 12" - 15" high.
I think each segment will require 2 rows of LED strips, this will mean 35 or 70 strips plus the colons.
I look forward to your views,
Can you do a video specifically on power injection? Methods, techniques and tools required? Great videos cheers!!
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.
Ha I’ve been watching your channel for over a year now, just realized you are in Tampa. Funny local coincidence.
I thought he was somewhere in Fl when I saw him decorating in shorts
I have a large sheet metal 5-pointed star hung above the front door of my house. I would like to backlight it with an addressable LED strip (3 meters should be long enough) so that the light reflects off of the wall behind it around the edges. I'd like to keep it simple and inexpensive. Any recommendations?
Hi, Rob, I did bought the Mega tree kit thru Holidaycoro: I still struggling to make it work even following the great video that you shared with us.
I was able to set up the communication to the controller. But at the time to import the files into my project the files looks empty.
Do you have a more detail follow up using the latest software? I'm running out of time.
Thank you!!
Hey Rob,
I think it would be cool to put motion sensors in place around the perimeter of the house and wire them to the nodeMCU to set off led lights within a certain range (ie lights 329-429 perhaps). This would add some light if someone somehow got by the motion floodlights and perhaps scare them off or alert the owner what section they had went through.
Please look into this. 😁
haha, sounds like a cool idea. I think it'd be easier to do with computer vision though.
@@TheHookUp does this still make sense in 2022, or is WLED + Govee strips a better option?
@@ertopex Govee strips are fine, but not the same as this. Not only will this solution be easier to repair if something goes wrong, but the customization available is significantly higher.