DiyLightAnimation

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Yes 2 matrices, the small one is made up of 1 x 5 metre strip cut into 5 pieces to give a 5 x 10 matrix, the spacing between the strip is 100mm so 50 RGB channels

The larger matrix uses 4 x 5 metre strips, each strip is cut into 4 sections to give me a 12 x 16 matrix  again spaced at 100mm apart. So 192 RGB channels

Both these matrices are then covered with corex to help disperse the light better.

Eddy,

Do you have any closeup photos of those matrices that you could share?  I'm kind of curious to see the construction details.  It's very effective, especially in that song.

-Mike

I have the instructions on how to build the matix here: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Quote

For people on a tight budget you can get the standard 3 channel RGB string for around 34 cents per LED so thats nearly half the price of the smart strings or similar pixel based lighting. Some elements may never require pixel based lighting so why bother paying the extra expense. Again these led strings do need some extra work to water proof like most of the other DIY strings and are 5VDC instead of 12VDC

True, but since the coop for the actual lights hasn't started yet, the price and specs of the strings could still change (as with possible preice breaks for large quantities as what helps as running a coop.)
So this is all speculation until the coop actually starts.

If you did buy strings that only did string mode, and later decided "maybe, i should have done pixels" then the costs increases, as you bought 2 strings, instead of one in the first place.

kinda like buying a color tv, vs black and white. the color tv can still show black and white programs, but gives you color as well  "just in case"

I wouldnt be expecting too much of a price discount from what RJ has already stated in price with the group buy even with the bulk purchases.
The difference in price can be quiet considerable, you could spend $3000 on super strings just alone and may not get the effect and coverage your looking for based on your budget but using a combination of smart strings/ pixels in conjunction with standard 3 channel RGB lights can still give an awsome RGB effect within your budget.  It may not be every ones cup of tea but many many people do have tight budgets and the combination could allow them to afford having many more RGB elements than what they could afford if just buying smart strings or something similar, there are options.
In fact thats exactly what i did in 2010 i used a combination of both standard 3 channel RGB and digital RGB pixels to get a great RGB effect. I was happy with the effect and it also kept things a bit simpiler by keeping the channel count down to 2200 channels

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If you look at the part where it has the 5 golden rings you get the illusion of the whole house being made of pixels as the rainbow flows across the house, but this was done using a combination of both. If I had gone to just pixels/smart strings then i would have never been able to acomplish what i wanted within my set budget.

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what does it mean by 50/50?

Like all surface mounted devices 5050 is the size of the node 50mm x 50mm

Cheers

Rick R.

I know its hard for Americans to understand the metric system  , just kidding Rick, but in keeping things correct it is 5.0mm x 5.0mm.

A 50mmx50mm LED is massive which is nearly 2 inches x 2 inches

I would recommend the SS nodes for the following reasons

1.  You can customize the length very easily to within 3.5"

2.  Since it is a effectively a 3 wire ribbon cable, it is pretty easy to tack them down to a "strip" of wood and all be perfectly straight with just a small amount of tension.  What I did was take a piece of 1"x2" pine and put a small shallow channel (~1/8" deep) channel in it and thus I can "staple" on top with no chance of damaging the smart string.

3.  If a "pixel" dies you lose one pixel if it is a strip, you lost the strip.



#2 can be done with a table saw and a dado blade.  Can probably get the strips for your entire house in maybe 1 hour of effort and pennies on the foot.  A bit of outdoor paint and they will last for years.

Do you actually have any experience with these RGB elements because your information seems to be incorrect and i wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong information.

The strip and the strings work in the exact same way, the only difference is the LED that is used, the number of LEDs used and in some cases the voltage. The failure type would be exactly the same so if a node failed that didn't pass the information onto the next node then that's the same for both the strip and the strings and the modules and you would loose the rest until you removed and replaced that pixel/node. The communication for the strip, the modules and the SS string are all exact the same as they all use the same IC chip so all that changes is the way it looks.

The strip can be cut into 100mm sections as well as the modules can be cut into singles. The strip can be easily resealed with just silicone.

Now if using the non digital strip it will only fail for that 100mm section and not the whole strip.

For outlining I found the strip to be actually better as you can just attach it to some 25mm electrical conduit and then mount it into place, the strings I have found if not all aligned the same way change their intensity as the LEDs are brighter looking straight at them compared to a side view and some people may not like that inconsistency as this is always one of those things that goes down to personal opinions and the look that they are after.

The other thing to consider is that the strings are not entirely waterproof if not given the extra bit of work as suggested by RJ and many other forums. It really depends on how you mount them will determine if you need to do this extra work. The strip and modules on the other hand requires no extra weatherproofing

I hope that may clear up some misconceptions.

It really depends on what effect your looking for. The strip has a look that is somewhat between a string and a rope light. These look great for outlines and pump out a lot of light. The only issue is that not much light wash is given back onto the house and this is where RGB floods come in handy. For me i found it better this way as it gave me much more control of where the light was.

The LED piixel strings (Super strings here) i found to be great for things like bushes, mega and mini trees and things where you want the light to wash and be viewed from all angles.

The LED rectangular and square nodes are great for roof fill ins and using for things like coro stars.

These are only my own suggestions after using these lights in 2010, everyone will have there own ideas on how to best use the different types of RGB elements

Below is a video of my RGB display this year and how i used the different types of available RGB lights

1: For the outlines of the garden, roof and windows i used standard non digital RGB strip controlled through a DC controller.
2: For the gutters i used the digital RGB strip (like the CCR) to help give the illusion of the whole house being all pixels, I also used the digital strip for both the mini and large matrix
3: For the roof tiles i used the rectangular RGB modules
4: For the spiral tree i used the pixel strings
5: And then finally used 12 RGB floods across the house to give light wash back onto the house.

All the strip was mounted on electrical 25mm conduit and then attached to the roof, the light dispersion was great as the viseo shows and I did slightly angle the strip lights towards the audience

Video quality is not the best but you can get an idea of some of the different types of RGB lights used

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This was posted around the same time that RJ announced that DLA will not support these links for RGB lighting that isnt covered by the Phillips patent.

So feel free to remove the post RJ or any of the mods if you feel its innapropriate.

The SS controller will also have the option to do strips like the CCR and RJ will give out those links when its time to. He has also shown this here at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

These types of controllers and strips are also available from other sites in different configurations