Messages

1

Falcon Pi Player / Re: V2 Sparse: Zstd versus Uncompressed

« on: January 31, 2021, 11:29:28 PM »

The PiZero and very old Pi's also might consider the uncompressed.   I'm still on the fence on this.   For my testing of using a hat to drive some pixels, the zstd is fine.   But I have some reports where there have been some lagging and I'm not sure if it's a config issue or not enough CPU for zstd or crappy SD card (where uncompressed would make it worse) or what.   

I use a few PiZeros in my more remote self-contained props and have not seen any noticeable lag with zstd. I did upload uncompressed while debugging - I couldn't see any differences between compressed and uncompressed. Given these PiZeros drive only a few channels each, uploading zstd files is lightning fast. I'd tolerate a few milliseconds delay just to take advantage of that

2

The Water Cooler / Re: Thermostat wire

« on: January 24, 2018, 10:37:58 PM »

As an alternative, this http://www.holidaycoro.com/100ft-3-Conductor-18-AWG-Extension-RGB-Lights-p/696-100.htm wire from Holidaycoro has been phenomenal.

3

The Water Cooler / Re: Thermostat wire

« on: January 23, 2018, 09:39:07 PM »

I don't know anyone who uses it but it should work fine, at first. That type of wire is meant to be used once and left in place. With repeated flexing, solid wire becomes brittle and tends to break. From a guy who's spent lots of time fixing stuff in the yard, I stay away from it.

4

Lilia Sequences / Re: You're Welcome from Moana

« on: October 30, 2017, 11:44:34 PM »

Nicely done!

5

Enhancement Requests / Re: True 3D?

« on: February 23, 2017, 12:24:57 AM »

What exactly do you mean by

I did take the time to create one 3D effect - near the end of the video.

Did you write new code? Or just use the existing effects on the 2D matrices?

I considered writing something but ran out of time, so in the end I Flinstoned it. To test my concept, I treated each of the 9 planes as a 9x9 matrix and manually adjusted the position & timing of the effects on each plane to give me the desired result.

The way I thought of implementing it was to create a function that applied a transform (user-specified shift, rotate, shrink, etc.) to an existing effect from one layer to the next. Instead of creating a 3D model, I was going to create a 3x3 matrix of the 9x9 planes and apply the effect on the first 9x9 submatrix, transform it apply it to the second and so on. The effect would then look 3D on the isometric projection I created in the layout. I didn't think it all the way through but I thought that way all current effects would work as they do on any matrix. I also considered using something like the current fade in/out to control timing of effects across each plane. I know there are better ways of doing this but this seemed fairly simple to write by comparison and should work on any rectangular 3D object.

Since I looked at this, there have been several enhancements to Xlights that appear implement all the base transforms, so it may be a lot simpler to implement today than a couple of years ago.

6

Enhancement Requests / Re: True 3D?

« on: February 21, 2017, 11:36:08 PM »

I built a 9x9x9 pixel cube a year and a half ago - 729 pixels in < 1 cubic meter. I created a 3D model in Xlights, an isometric projection of the planes, and mapped some 2D effects on it and got some so-so results. I did take the time to create one 3D effect - near the end of the video. Looked better but not enough to compel me to incorporate the prop into my display. I turned it into three 9x27 matrices instead.

Test video: [url][https://vimeo.com/user15456920/httpsvimeocom9x9x9pixelcube/url]

7

Latest xLights/Nutcracker software / Re: Release 2017.4. Include latest xSchedule.exe in install

« on: February 19, 2017, 10:43:17 PM »

Keith, I'm intrigued with the FPP Master and FPP Remote modes. As someone who runs his show directly using an FPP, I'm hoping that it will be possible to upload schedule files to the FPP (clearly a subset of the xScheduler functionality, at least today). Or is the purpose of these modes simply to allow an instance of xScheduler running on a PC to communicate with the FPPs on the network.

8

The Water Cooler / Re: Cabella Porqupine Balls

« on: February 18, 2017, 12:13:22 AM »

wondering waht you guys are using fro the actual ball in the middle of the porcupine please
Cheers Boof63

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Porcupine-Fish-Attractor-Pack-Spheres-Only/703738.uts

9

The Water Cooler / Re: Cabella Porqupine Balls

« on: February 13, 2017, 09:04:07 PM »

Good job Kent. I connected my pixels similarly to you, but I didn't bother to zip-tie the bullets, so I only got 9 per 30-inch tube. Even with wider spacing, it still looks cool. When I built these, it was not possible to drive more than 128 pixels per controller. I connected 13 tubes together for the top (117 pixels), and 12 tubes for the bottom (108 pixels) and I drive each group of tubes using a uSC. As the controllers are connected to the hub with CAT5, I can space these as far apart as I want.

10

The Water Cooler / Re: Cabella Porqupine Balls

« on: February 11, 2017, 10:06:41 PM »

Have a 3d printer on the horizon, thinking of making a collar that would go around the ball and reinforce it.  Also figured on putting a pipe through the ball as well to give it something to really attach to.

If you do, please post the STL. Extra reinforcement wouldn't hurt.

11

The Water Cooler / Re: Cabella Porqupine Balls

« on: February 10, 2017, 10:37:15 PM »

Paul what I have found is the way I used the ball was to put pieces of 1/2" PVC into the holes and use the bottom hole for a 3/4" pipe thread to attach it to the pole, with the pole guy wired for stability.

I can see why that broke... To add to my post, I ensure the rebar goes through the bottom hole and goes into the top hole - not too deep. That way the ball is stabilzed both at top and bottom.

12

The Water Cooler / Re: Cabella Porqupine Balls

« on: February 07, 2017, 08:16:04 PM »

Definitely fragile. I make sure that the rebar that I use to plant them in the ground goes all the way into the ball. It runs through the same type of PEX tube as the quills. I also use two or three tied downs to prevent the ball from turning or swaying in the wind. Have been using for three years without problems. I've got a spare ball - easy to change out if I do break one. And the balls are quite inexpensive - so even if I needed to use a new ball every year, no big deal.

13

My Show Setup / Re: First Show Success

« on: December 29, 2016, 10:21:43 PM »

Nice work. Those interludes are great!

14

The Water Cooler / Re: Videos of some of our songs

« on: December 20, 2016, 10:47:40 PM »

I agree - other forums seem to have a way to control the size of what gets displayed. On the other hand, it's not that hard to scale a picture before posting it...

15

Show Assets / A couple videos from the Laberge.Christmas show

« on: December 19, 2016, 11:38:37 PM »

I've got a 16 song sequence this year that runs about 45 minutes. Too long to film it all but here are two videos from the show. Wizards in Winter is an older sequence that I redid this year, and Christmas Eve Sarajevo is my adaptation of Lilia's great sequence. If you are interested, you can see videos from previous years at http://laberge.christmas/

For the first time in recent history, it snowed at our place. As you can see in the Sarajevo video, the snow makes the display even brighter and the lights under the snow produce a very nice effect.

Wizards in Winter - https://vimeo.com/115458551
Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24 - https://vimeo.com/196389962