Welcome and Merry Christmas!

The shift to smart LED lights and the ability to address each individually really changed the light show possibilities, so it was time to get serious and decide what I wanted to do with this potential hobby/obsession. I started by downloading the xLights sequencing software and watching tutorials to learn how it worked. I also researched the type of control I wanted and thus the controller I would start with. Since I knew I would be doing this as more than a basic one-time deal, I also tried to learn from the tips and tricks out there to make sure I was planning from the beginning for growth as the years would go by. Late in the year I ordered my first controller board, the e682 from SanDevices, and 10 strings of 50 LED Pixels each that I used to start testing what would be possible. In early December I bought the Boscoyo snowflakes and star props along with a roll of the mounting strip. I still foolishly thought I could have something ready for Christmas, but fell woefully short on that count, so as you can see in the pict, there was no 2018 show. 

With what I had learned playing with the first controller and lights I decided it was time for me to really take the plunge and commit to this new hobby. And plunge I did! Unlike most I didn't start with the one controller and few strings I had. I went all in. By the time it was up and running, I had over 2800 LEDs across 10 strings/props and 2 controllers in the first show. As with any show it took a lot longer to figure out how to set it all up logistically for power, network and layout so the actual show "performances" didn't start until the week before Christmas.

Through the year I had learned a lot more about connections and power injection needed for long strings. There are multiple different connections used by different manufacturers and vendors for the lights. Part of the process was deciding what connector I would use to keep things consistent and interchangeable with a minimum of soldering needed. I settled on the one that seems to be most common known as the Ray-Wu connector because it started with a vendor named Ray-Wu. Of course this meant some of the stuff I already had needed to have connectors changed, so I found solder seal heat shrink connectors to be my favorite new technology for a while. They provide a soldered connection and a watertight seal with only a heat gun needed.

As the year progressed, I bought two SanDevices e6804 controllers, the Pixel strips, many more lights, all the waterproof connectors and the cabling needed and as I was doing the setup I added the HolidayCoro wreath. The logistics took a lot of planning to ensure power and data would be in place an adequate for all the controllers and props. I even ended up wiring in 2 network ports to the outside of my house to make the connection process easier. 

With the first year of running the show under my belt I knew I needed to start much earlier and work much longer on the next year's show. This started with decisions on what worked and what needed to be changed as well as what would be added for the next show. I had already decided I wanted arches across the front fence, so those were first on the list and got added to the shows even before the season was over. I also knew I wanted an FM transmitter and had researched it some, but with everything else needed for the first year I held off until later to get that and add it for 2020.

Between seasons the most time was spent in xlights working on the layout and sequences. The first major change was moving from a 2d to 3d model of the house to have more precise control over how the effects are applied to the props. This required me to learn a little 3d modelling to "build" a full 3d rendering of the outside of the house, the fence and the landscaping. While interesting this was very time consuming since it was all new to me and I needed it to be to the precise scale of the actual house or it wasn't worth making the change. In the end, I now have a accurate scale model of the house including finishes (brick, siding, shingles, etc) that I can use for future landscape planning as well if I want. Once imported into xlights I was able to realign the models to the house and it made a big difference being able to rotate and move the view and models around to match the actual placement. I adjusted the 2 existing sequences and added 2 more songs to the playlist for the show. For 2020 there were 699 new LEDs using 2097 more channels on the 4 three ring arches and the Tune To sign. I added in the additional e6804 to control the new elements and adjusted the other controllers assignments as well to simplify wiring runs. I also corrected the one snowflake's orientation, so the effects aligned to the others as I had mounted it rotated form the model in xlights causing a few odd effects the previous year.

My best friend (Shawn) is very into Halloween decorating and I am usually the engineering half of getting his show set up, then he helps me with my Christmas setup. He had wanted to go to one of the largest Halloween/Escape Room (and Christmas) shows held in St Louis, but it was open to the public and you had to be a vendor or sponsored by a vendor in order to attend. When I mentioned I got an invite to the show through Boscoyo he told me about wanting to go for years, so he and I signed up to attend the show, but COVID ruined that plan. So hopefully we can go in 2021.

The display went up over 2 weekends starting the Friday after Thanksgiving with only the basic "Classic Christmas" sequence running to begin with and the actual show run starting on 12/8 for 3 of the 4 songs. The setup challenge this year was redesigning how the tree was set up because in 2019 it was attached to the deck that that was removed this year and replaced with new landscaping. When I designed the new landscaping, I did of course know this so I had a plan that I was able to pull together and it worked out great so the tree had no issues again this year. I also tried a new method for mounting the lines along the roof using shingle clips. They slide in under the shingle to hold the lights along the roof line and I really like that look better as it was cleaner and aligned better to the roofline. They held up well, but they aren't made for pixel lights so I will be looking at how I can modify them to make them even better for next year. I'll also be looking at better options for the lights along the fence line as well for the next season. 

After the 2020 season I knew I wanted to add some mini trees to the props to fill in some of the open space in the yard, but waited until Shawn and I went to the show in St. Louis in early May. We had a lot of fun and came away with a huge number of ideas ... and a few added props for both our shows. At the show I saw the most amazing new lights from Visidream. Unlike all the Pixel lights I have used for almost all the props in the past, these have 2 LEDs on opposite sides in a crystal like enclosure that makes them visible from any side. Immediately I knew I wanted to use these for outlining and areas where using mounting strips or strip lights would not work well, so I ordered 500 right then. I also saw new combo arches from Boscoyo that had filled the centers of the arches with snowflakes and fans. They also solved one issue I had with the original arches where the sections flexed and didn't keep the alignment or spacing consistent. With the show discount I ordered the Boscoyo mini trees and 4 new arches to replace the ones I had added only the year before. Now it was just a waiting game till they came in so I could work out adding them to the layout and sequences.

Unfortunately COVID was going to impact 2021 plans as well by delaying shipments, so the props ordered back in May finally arrived in November. This left very little time to get them into the show and (of course) that wasn't the end of the challenge in adding them. By design, the new arches had 515 LEDs each, but with the controllers I currently have there are limits on total universes/channels with 510 as the normal universe size so I had to modify the models and skip a few holes in the props so they were only 510 pixels. By doing this, I could max out one controller with all 4 arches on it. The mini trees also had a similar issue in that they had holes for 85 pixels on the tree and 20 in the star for a total of 105 pixels which meant I would have to add 5 pixels to standard strings of 100 pixels in order to fill them. Instead of doing that I just didn't use the bottom row of holes in each tree and that made them 100 lights so I could use a single string without the need to splice anything. I also was able to use the new 3GO lights along the brick and around the doors adding lights to the middle of the house versus just the gutters then down in the yard.

I was finally able to get everything put together and added into xlights by Thanksgiving weekend when I started putting out everything. I was able to do some work adding them into sequences, but didn't have time to really utilize the features they had. Mostly they were part of whole house effects and in a few cases I was able to add some specific effects to just those models. I hope to be able to revamp current sequences to better utilize all the features they bring for next year. I also made some changes adding a modern lights sequence to alternate nights with the classic lights displayed between show runs. The modern lights sequence is mostly white, blue and purple lights like you see on many houses now, so it gives a nice contrast and something new since I didn't add any new songs for 2021. 

After the 2021 season, I wanted to add to the props and possibly rebuild the Mega Tree to be way more Mega, but those plans didn't come to pass. Early in the year I started a new job and had to get back in the swing of commuting to an office and figuring out how to work in time for home projects/chores, church responsibilities and family time into what is less time due to the commute, but seemed like a lot less time. The prior show had a few issues with the infrastructure and needed some refinement on the sequences so the new props were used better. I was previously able to do some work adding them into sequences, but didn't have time to really adjust the models for more specific uses. I made adjustments to the layout and the controller universes to simplify the cabling and connections. I was again hoping to add new song sequences, but didn't end up getting to that prior to Thanksgiving weekend when I put almost everything out. I did change the order a bit, but mostly it was the same show. Hopefully next year I will get more done!

After the 2022 show had so little change I more than made up for it with this year's preparation!  I launched this new website dedicated to all aspects of the show and setup a YouTube channel to host the videos of past and future shows, I also added 4 new props, 2 new controllers, 3 new sequences and migrated the show controller to Falcon Player (FPP) on a Raspberry Pi 3.

I had been wanting to add a nativity scene for several years, but had not found one that I liked or that would work with my setup until I came across the Gilbert Engineering Corotivity prop.  I also wanted a large star that had an LED layout that included a cross in the center as many do not have a line in the direct middle up and across, but GE also had their Starburst star prop that does include those. Then to round that out I also saw their Angel with Horn prop and decided to add 2 of those to flank the Nativity scene in the layout. I ordered all 4 early in the year with hopes I would get them set up early in the year and not have so much to do in the season, but I didn't actually act on that and finally assembled and lit them in November.  The 836 more LEDs for all these meant I needed to add at least one more controller and I had come across other enthusiasts that mentioned using a ForkInEye ESPixelStick that has Wi-fi connection.  After looking into them myself, I decided to purchase a couple of the V3 version to use in the show and for testing purposes since the Wi-fi meant I don’t need to drag a network cable around to test.  

I added 2 new songs and a fun intro to the sequences and updated the old ones for the changed layout and new props and as always I am constantly reevaluating them and making more tweaks. The move to using FPP was also something I had wanted to do for a while.  Previously, I had dedicated a laptop to just running the show each year, but that was overkill and also had caused issues when it chose to do updates or lost connectivity to the server hosting the files and thus interrupted the schedule. Also, with FPP on a dedicated Raspberry Pi running it, I can just leave it set up year round and can use the permanently mounted lights at any time or for any season. FPP also loads all the files local to the Pi, so it does not need access to my server to run the shows. 

I got the main light strings and the Mega tree up the weekend of Thanksgiving and the following weekend got the rest of the props that were going in the same places out.  For the new props and old ones moving to new locations it took another weekend to get everything up, patch cables made up, connected and working and the layout adjusted in xlights, so the show didn't start running until Dec 9th.