Ideas for lighting

[paulcimn]

I was not exactly sure where to post this for best results so I am positng here and on my welcome page where I have already gotten a LOT of great advice...

Last night, I had an 8 and 10 year old boy come to me with a few ideas and I wanted to see if someone has already overcome these...

1- Boy number two (Matt) wants a talking Pumpkin. I am pretty handy and imaginative so the structure is good (at least I think). The lighting for the mouth is what I am trying to plan:
Channel 1: Bottom lip, Channel 2: Top Lip 1/2 way up, Channel 3: Top Lip all the way up, Channel 4: O shaped lips. Cahnnel 1 is on with Channel 2 or 3; channel 4 is solo... Question, light stands are 50+ lights. Is there a way to control Lights 1-25 seperate from 26-50 if the lights are full wave and dimmable? Looking at 4 channels for this, I can see why people have tags ont heir comments reflecting 100+ channels.

2- Easier try... Boy number three (Nick) wants Sata Sleigh on the roof with runway lights. Question, can you control c7/c9 or other style bulbs sequencially? i.e. turn on bulb one, then two, then three... if so, con you specify the bulbs ie. 21-23, 18-20, 24-26...

Thanks,

[gophergrove]

It sounds like you should get in on the smart string controller coop and then the node coop when it starts.

I don't think you can do what you want with traditional lights without having each group of lights on separate channels, emulating what smart strings will do (minus the full color output).

[rrowan]

Hi Paul

#1 take a look at what RJ did for a Singing Face. He used plastic fence material from home depot and attached rope lights to it. Just used different channels to make it look like the face was moving. link here You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

#2 Yes C7/C9 lights can be single lights per channel but also look at smart strings like gophergrove mention

There are lots of ways to do things, it all depends on how much time and money you want to use.

Cheers

Rick R.

[Rainlover]

There are a lot of different styles of animated pumpkins around. Here is one that we built last year. It is built with 12v pre-wired leds and uses 25 channels controlled with MR16 controllers. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
It was our first animated lighting project. If I had to do it all over, I would not use the pure white leds. They are extremely bright.
The only limits are your imagination and your budget.

John

[mmulvenna]

#2 Yes C7/C9 lights can be single lights per channel but also look at smart strings like gophergrove mention
 Rick R.

Paul,

Unless my old brain is mistaken, you would have to make a string a single(or group) of c7/c9 bulb(s) only so it would require lots of re-wiring, adding male adapters, etc.

[ratroder]

Here is a great video of singing pumpkin heads. There is a guide floating around on planet Christmas of how the guy did it.

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[sirloinofbeef001]

It would be a lot of rewiring but what a great affect.. It has my coconut spinning.

[smartcontrols]

At one time I did part of my roof line with C9's rewired like that.
It takes a LOT of 120 volt channels.

I now have candy canes done that way going up my drive way. I rewired them to 12VDC with each on its own channel (4 MR16's). Using the candy canes allowed me to space them much farther apart, so less wire and channels.

-jeff

[paulcimn]

In what I have seen... I am soliciting comments and thoughts regarding ideas...

I am looking at making 5 D-shaped loops. The straight line of the D is where the hoops connect and the face parts will 'hang' across the three center hoops holding them in place. I have a sketch that I will provide and when construction is close or complete, I will provide for any or everyone to use and improve...

Two things I am looking for thoughts or recommendations on:

First, I was looking at getting an orange rope light to illuminate the 5 hoops, I am tracking that this would require that I custom cut the LED rope lights and connect them together (1 plug) or terminate each of them (5 plugs)... any ideas? Has this been done? pros/cons?

Second, for the face grill, I am trying to secure the lights perpendicular to the wire structure. The lights are going to be the 5mm LEDs on white wire. What might be the best way to secure the lights to the structure?