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Do You Need Help? Post it here / Twinkly strings on a real tree
« on: November 15, 2023, 12:37:12 PM »
Looking for advice regarding using Twinkly lights on a real Christmas tree and how to model them within xLights. I have purchased a set of 600 RGB Gen II Twinkly string lights and a set of 400 RGB Gen II string lights. I had no issues adding the Twinkly string controllers within xLights.
I see that I could build a model in two ways.
I can create a tree model in two parts assigning a single Twinkly controller to each part and then group the parts together to apply effects to the entire tree. I have tested this model approach and it works well and enables me to use a wide range of effects. That said, the light positions will not match perfectly to how they will be applied to the tree once I have one. I can imagine the tree shape will change year to year as well. I can certainly apply the lights in the spiral pattern I placed in the model, but the exact light positions would be next to impossible to replicate. What I like about this approach is that it provides a good 3-dimensional model representation. That said, it may not work well in the real world.
Another approach I can take is to create a custom model. The model could be built from a controller import which would leverage the Twinkly app to generate the node positions or I could record a video to identify the node positions. From the tutorials I have observed, it appears this will result in a flat 2-D model. While I could edit the model to add depth and move nodes around, that would be cumbersome. As a 2-D model, I suspect many effects will work properly or in the same fashion as applied to a three-dimensional object. As example, in the 3-dimensional tree model scenario I have applied a picture that rotates around the tree. As the custom model would be 2-D, it would likely not work correctly with parts of the picture appearing on the front of the tree and parts on the back of the tree with the image moving from left to right rather than rotating around a circumference.
Anyone with Twinkly lights out there applying them to a tree and modelling them successfully in xLights? Thoughts on a how to build a model that can be adjusted easily year to year? Am I misunderstanding custom models and can you easily build a custom 3D model? Am I crazy to even attempt this - don't answer that!
I see that I could build a model in two ways.
I can create a tree model in two parts assigning a single Twinkly controller to each part and then group the parts together to apply effects to the entire tree. I have tested this model approach and it works well and enables me to use a wide range of effects. That said, the light positions will not match perfectly to how they will be applied to the tree once I have one. I can imagine the tree shape will change year to year as well. I can certainly apply the lights in the spiral pattern I placed in the model, but the exact light positions would be next to impossible to replicate. What I like about this approach is that it provides a good 3-dimensional model representation. That said, it may not work well in the real world.
Another approach I can take is to create a custom model. The model could be built from a controller import which would leverage the Twinkly app to generate the node positions or I could record a video to identify the node positions. From the tutorials I have observed, it appears this will result in a flat 2-D model. While I could edit the model to add depth and move nodes around, that would be cumbersome. As a 2-D model, I suspect many effects will work properly or in the same fashion as applied to a three-dimensional object. As example, in the 3-dimensional tree model scenario I have applied a picture that rotates around the tree. As the custom model would be 2-D, it would likely not work correctly with parts of the picture appearing on the front of the tree and parts on the back of the tree with the image moving from left to right rather than rotating around a circumference.
Anyone with Twinkly lights out there applying them to a tree and modelling them successfully in xLights? Thoughts on a how to build a model that can be adjusted easily year to year? Am I misunderstanding custom models and can you easily build a custom 3D model? Am I crazy to even attempt this - don't answer that!
