THE PANEL IS ALMOST DONE?! Light Show Update + Bracelets transmitter Firmware Upgrade + More!
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- čas přidán 16. 08. 2023
- Today's video is packed with tons of juicy things! So sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy!
In this video, I have an update with the almost completed P5 panel build, an update with some of the props we've been working on for the show, a semi-tutorial of how to upgrade the firmware for the DMX bracelets transmitter (basically me attempting to do it with no experience), and more! So much has been going on that I decided to sum it up into one video. Feel free to use the timestamps at the bottom of the description to skip to what you want to see!
Boscoyo candy canes: boscoyostudio.com/product/day...
Boscoyo wreath: boscoyostudio.com/product/chr...
Boscoyo mini trees: boscoyostudio.com/product/med...
Software to upgrade the DMX bracelets transmitter: www.dropbox.com/sh/g1y4jxqroh...
Facebook group to buy the LED bracelets: / 187336816411791
Timestamps:
00:30 - Intro
01:06 - What's been going on at BBL?
03:13 - Finished props for the show
05:20 - P5 panel build update
09:20 - Bracelets transmitter firmware upgrade
16:37 - Building a mini tree prop
20:46 - Finishing up
Thanks for watching! If you enjoy the videos, feel free to leave a like and subscribe!
For more information about the show, or to see it in person, visit our Facebook page at: / bridgeportsbrightestli... - Jak na to + styl
great intro!!!!! and another great video
Haha thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
I have the exact same mini trees & stars. The metal is to help support & angle star. To wire my trees , I used 50 pixel strands for body of tree and I bought 20 pixel strand for star from Gilbert Engineering so the install is cleaner.
Nice! I usually just buy all the pixels I need for the year at once from Holiday Light Express (Because it's usually the cheapest) and strands of 100 was all that was available at the time. As to the metal piece, thanks for letting me know! I assumed that's what it was for after I noticed how flimsy the star was with pixels in it.
LOL, I think that was your best introduction yet. That screen is huge. Nice job so far. Now you need to out either a picture or vid on it in your next update to show just how big it really is. Are you sure you have enough power supplies for that many panels? When you start running high color videos, those panels are going to start pulling s lot of power. Can't wait to see it in operation.
Thanks haha. I thought of using a windows error screen for the intro, and when I found the self-destruct one, I had to use it 🤣. I will definitely put a video on the panel when it's complete and when I have a whole video about it. As for the power supplies, 3 should be enough. I ordered this panel as a kit on Wired Watts using their build a panel feature, and it recommended me buying 3 power supplies. I did the math, and each panel takes 2.38 amps on 100% white (As said on Wired Watts). I have 56 panels total, so 56 multiplied by 2.38 is 133.28 amps. Each 5v power supply can output up to 60 amps but shouldn't use more than about 48 for a long period of time. So even if we were only to use 48 amps, we can get 144 amps across all 3 power supplies. So this should definitely be fine. We will have vents in the back since the power supplies will probably get pretty warm. Thanks for your concern though! I can't wait to see this in the light show 😂
So I wanted to get in this hobby. I picked up a DC12V WS2811 RGB 50 pixel strand. I have a 12V adapter for power and a Raspberry PI 4, can I make it work with the Raspberry PI or do I need the Falcon board too? My goal is to make a X-mas tree for my front porch and make the lights twinkle. Can you point in the right direction with this or to one of your videos you might have done. You and Canispater Christmas are what inspired me to do this.
Welcome to the hobby! So to answer your question, unfortunately, you cannot run pixels on just a raspberry pi, you will need some type of controller to go with it. The good news is you can buy a really cheap controller that mounts right on top of the raspberry pi, and it gives you 2 pixel ports. It's called the RPI-28D+ from Hanson Electronics. You can find it on Wired Watts currently for around $39, or on Hanson Electronics for about $25 www.wiredwatts.com/hanrpi28d
www.hansonelectronics.com.au/product/rpi-28dplus/
Now I've never used one of these myself, so I don't have a tutorial to set it up, but I've heard it's very easy to use. You put FPP (Falcon player) on the raspberry pi like you normally would, and instead of enabling E1.31 data output under the channel outputs menu, you go to the pixel strings tab. Then it has settings for setting up a "Cape" or "Hat" (which is what the controller is considered since it's like a hat on top of the pi). If you don't know how to use FPP yet, I do have a video here that you might find useful czcams.com/video/pjJMpwaXGTQ/video.html (you can skip to 29:50 in the video where I briefly show the tab I am talking about).
Overall, this will probably be your cheapest and simplest controller without spending $250+ for a full-blown one. However, if you do expand your show, you will need a separate controller eventually as this controller can only control 1,200 pixels on 2 ports (Giving you 2,400 total). Hope this helps! If you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask!
In addition to Nicholas his Channel, I agree Canispater Christmas is also an awesome resource 🙌, he hasn’t posted for a while though
youtube.com/@CanispaterChristmas
I’m not sure whether to buy a regulated or a resistor pixel. Which type do you prefer?
Well there are a few pros and cons to both. First, resistor pixels are usually a little cheaper, and I think more commonly sold everywhere. However, you have to power inject more often with them, and if you accidentally reverse the power, I've heard they are less forgiving than regulated pixels and will probably break (not saying regulated won't break, they just have a higher chance of surviving). Now with regulated pixels, they are usually more expensive, but you can power inject less, and like I said, more forgiving if you accidentally reverse power or give them too much/too little power. Now as for me, I think I have a mix in my show, but I usually buy resistor. I can save a few dollars, and the power injection doesn't annoy me. I can still get 200 - 220 pixels at 30% brightness with no power injection. You can also mix types in one strand, and it won't mess up anything. So don't think once you buy one type you can never use the other. Hope this help!
I've been doing xlights shows now for 6 years and still learn something from EVERY one of your videos. Thank You. and I love the intros!! Also why the P5s over a projector? I went from a pixel matrix (4'x8' ) to projector and love it.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoy the videos. As for why I switched, there are a few reasons. First, I'm from New York, so it gets really cold in the winter. I didn't want the projector to break from the freezing temperatures sitting outside every night when the show ends, so every night I would have to bring it back in when the show ends and take it back out when the show starts. Doing this for about 40 nights straight was extremely annoying. With a panel we can just leave it out for the whole show season. Second, we've had a lot of theft in our neighborhood before, and even had someone in 2020 cut strands of lights near the end of our yard. We had a lock on the projector box, but you could just easily pick the whole box up and walk away with it. I feel like with a giant panel it would be a lot harder to steal. Finally, it makes shoveling/snow-blowing our driveway way easier. The panel will be up against the garage, whereas the projector box was in the middle of our driveway, with cords going to it. The final reason why is I just really wanted to try panels 😂
@@How2Pixel Yeah vandalism sucks! I have my projector (short throw) hanging on a bracket over the garage door. I didn't have any problems with snow or temperatures near zero at times but mainly in the 20's. I just programed a warm up and cool down before it FPP shut it down or started it. I have to set all ground props at least 1ft above the ground for snow. Last year we had around 2 ft the whole month of Dec but everyting worked fine and looked cool what was under the snow!🤪
Nice! Our ground props I usually don't purposely make higher. The only exception is with the peace stakes. Since those are really short, I put them probably 6 - 8 inches off the ground. We are adding a lot of new props on the ground though this year, so hopefully everything works! I'm not afraid of the wires getting wet because as long as the connectors are sealed with the O-ring, they will be fine.