Lookn for advise

[George34]

Ok...running a small show for my 1st year with pixles. 1 falcon board and running 10 stings of lights all with a 50 count on all of them.   
So here's my question. When i set up my universes should i put each string of 50 on a seperate universe or let a universe fill up then go to the next one?  I plan on getting bigger eventually but figured go small..get my feet wet and build from there.
Any advise will be greatly appriciated.
Thx
G

[Gilrock]

You can do it either way.  With the Falcon boards its easy to fill up the universe which is the more data efficient way to set it up.  You can daisy chain the models in xLights and then when defining outputs on the Falcon after you enter number of nodes for each output you can see where it ends and start the next output one channel higher.

[keithsw1111]

While gil is right you can do it either way I would go with the policy of always starting a string of lights connected to a string port on a falcon to a new universe and channel 1.

[algerdes]

If you want a middle of the road view:

We use the long string method for everything that goes to a specific controller. (We let the controller make the divisions to the various ports.)

We start each controller on a different "natural break" (as in universe number with at least a pair of zeros at the end. e.g., Controller #1 starts at universe 100 and ends at 193, Controller #2 starts at universe 200 and ends with 205, Controller #3 starts at 300 and ends... [you get the picture].)

[Gilrock]

I do it like Al says.  Every controller starts on a new boundary but within each controller I run all the channels back to back and I fill up the universes.  Keith and I have different opinions on this topic but its probably because I'm only running one prop per output so to start every output on a new universe would be very inefficient use of the data packets.  If you are running a lot of elements from one port then maybe that would make sense for you.  My method is so fast that I normally redo all my universes every year as I'm setting up...and that's mainly because I've used my controllers for demos and all the channels get messed up during the off-season.

[George34]

Thank you ..  Really good stuff here. 
I drown myself in these youtube vids and just like you all said they do it both ways.  With that in mind is there a particular way that will make it ezr for setup/sequencing..etc in your opinion?   Like i said tryn to keep it as simple as possible so i csn get the knowledge i need and grow from there. 

G

[Ebuechner]

I guess before I would answer that question I'm curious what you're going to do with that 10 strings of 50 pixels? Are you spreading them all over the yard? Or are they all going to be on one element like a pixel tree?
You're just starting out in this and it could be done either way easily, which way would be easier for you to keep it straight in your head while learning?

[jnealand]

Ask 10 people and you will probably get 10 answers.  For instance I also have pixelnet props in my show and they use a 4096 channel universe.  So it all depends.........

[George34]

10 string (50 count each) will border the house. I figured 1 string per port and 1 universe per port.   I think in my head that will be the easiest to do. 

[Ebuechner]

Just watch the quality and length of wire between the controller and the first pixel and I think you'll be fine.

[George34]

Quality?
I'm running a centralized set up. 25ft or less is what I'm shooting for.  What is the average max length for 1st pixel to the board?

[Ebuechner]

Quality. There's been some cheap Chinese wire floating around that people have tried with not-so-good results. Nobody's sure exactly what type of metal they are using, just remember copper is King. At 25 feet you should be fine if you make sure you use a decent wire that's at least 18 gauge or better. If you only have 50 pixels per run you won't have much of a load to worry about. As you go forward and get bigger you'll have to think more about things like voltage drop and Signal degradation.

[George34]

Well i didn't even think about all that but the lights ive got were from wowlights.   They had a 10% off sale so got the lights that i needed from them.  I know everyone seems to like RAY but im a very impatient person and he takes to long to deliver.  Lol.  On that subject who else do u recommend to buy from?   I am a firm believer of you get what u pay for.   

[Gilrock]

Almost all the lights are coming from China no matter who you get them from.  I've never thought Ray took long to deliver.  It varies based on what you are ordering.  Some items he is literally making them after you place the order.  All because you buy from a US vendor that costs more it doesn't mean you are getting better quality.  I don't believe any of the US vendors actually plug in the lights they are buying from China and testing them before they ship them to you.

[Gilrock]

I just got an order from Ray that arrived in LA the day before it was shipped from Hong Kong...lol.