how to create a bursting star?

[winwin]

Hi,

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post. Please relocate if needed.

I have only played a little with Nutcracker so far and now would like to give it a real try with a simple 50 nodes "bursting star". That would be also be the first time I really give RGBs a try. Hoping that I am on the right track and I am seeking advices.

The star would be made of 5 branches with 7 nodes each, mounted on a post made of 15 pixels.

I first created a model using the pre-configured star model but it is not the shape I am after. So I used the custom design function instead. The first model had all the nodes on it but I cannot get the burst effect using the effects available (or I may not know how to do it). So I decided to use the "single line" design instead, 1 for each branch and 1 for the stand, meaning I have to use 6 models to create 1 star. Now I can repeat the effects on each branch so they are identical (which I could not really get before). But I have a feeling that I am making this more complicated that it needs to be. Is there a better way? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

first model tried:
29                     36                     43
   28                  35                  42   
      27               34               41      
         26            33            40         
            25         32         39            
               24      31      38               
                  23   30   37                  
                        15                     
                  16   14   44                  
               17      13      45               
            18         12         46            
         19            11            47         
      20               10               48      
   21                  9                  49   
22                     8                     50
                        7                     
                        6                     
                        5                     
                        4                     
                        3                     
                        2                     
                        1                     

second model tried (without post, which has its own model):

                     48                     
47                     43                     49
   42                  38                  44   
      37               33               39      
         32            28            34         
            27         23         29            
               22      18      24               
                  17      19                  
                  16      20                  
               21            25               
            26                  30            
         31                        35         
      36                              40      
   41                                    45   
46                                          50

[smeighan]

do you have 1 string of 50 nodes? Are you adding extra wire to get the pieces to be far apart?

I would use a vertical matrix

vert matrix
# strings? 1
# nodes?
starnds? 5
start at upper left.
as long as the top pixels each strand are in the center then all effects  (like meteor, spiral) will work correctly.

[taybrynn]

I have an 89 node star +cross topper  which I made a custom model for.    I was able to get starburst like effects using butterfly with the second effect setting.

I made my model match the physical wiring used for the shape.    Put mine on a 30x50 grid custom model.

As Sean alluded to .... I had to run extension splices of wire in a few places.    I think 50 nodes is a tad on the small side.    You might want to use one center node and then make each spoke 7 additional nodes and maybe have 7 spokes total.   All share the middle node.   It may be give you more capabilities than what you have drawn.

[winwin]

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. I plan on splicing wires as you have indicated.
I tried the vertical matrix but I can't visualize the effects as it would actually be on the star. Maybe I misunderstood the concept?

Taybrynn, on your star, are the pixels consecutive on each branch and then you jump to the next, starting from the center? (e.g. first branch 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; second branch 8, 9, 10....)

[smeighan]

Let me see if I can explain.

Here is what you want. I am using an example of a single string with 8 branches of 5 nodes each.



This is how you SHOULD wire it up. Notice how nodes 1,6,11,16,21,26,31,36 are at the center of the star. But this is the problem. When you make a custom model we overlay a rectangular grid. So if you put a meteor effect on this model, you will NOT see radiating effects coming from the center. Instead meteors will start on the top row and fall down, turning on the closest nodes.

To get radiating effects with a star laid out above, you need to use a vertical matrix model. In order to get each string to start in the center I take my single string of 45 and call it 8 strings of 5. The bottom row of this layout would be the center of the star, each leg radiating out from there.



Now the effect will be radiating on your star. Meteors, spirals will all work as expected. The problem? It will not show as a star on the preview, it will show as a vert matrix.

So on my star I use a vertical matrix  and just visualize what it actually looks like. It is another thing on the todo list is to make the custom model allow for a radiating preview.

thanks
sean

[winwin]

Sean,

Great explanations and I got the concept. Thanks so much for your help.
I played a little with this tonight and it seems that it is going to do the trick. While it does not show a star, visualizing the effects is not that difficult once you understand what you are looking at.

Thanks again!

Bernard

[taybrynn]

Thanks Sean, very helpful as usual.  It does make me think that how you wire it up matters to a certain extent -- esp. if you want to avoid using a custom model.

Attached is how I wired up my original 89 node topper.    I wired it mainly in a way that would require the least number of splices ... and while I might go out in sequential order (inside to outside) on one flare, I would then return going the opposite direction (outside to inside) on the next one.  My understanding what the nutcracker would handle the locations somehow, if I put them into this custom model.  I will say I haven't had the best luck with explosions, but I haven

Mine is a lot more confusing than your example because I have most of the elements of the original Holdman Star shapes in mine, along with "flares" ... which are similar to the start being discussed here.  I've also got a center node in the very middle.

In 2013 my Dad built a "Super topper" which takes the original 89 nodes (identical wiring and layout) and then adds on the "star" from the original Holdman and also adds giant cross (traditional square style cross shape).  THe idea was I could use programming from the first 89 (if needed) or sequence the additional shapes also.  I created a model for the big cross, the "star" and the original 89 (in total, or a model for parts).  Then its pretty cool that you can sequence these in NC as different objects and achieve some cool overlapping stuff.

Oh, and by the way, the material we mount the smart string nodes into ... is the material they sell for shower liner at home depot.  Its extremely tough, like leather, but in a thin PVC form.  You can cut it, drill it and put screw thru it ... mount it to frames, use it as strapping and its rather excellent !  And its about $20 for a 8x4 sheet.

[winwin]

That is a pretty complex star that you have Taybrynn!
I would prefer to not splice wires but with the shape and the burst effect I am looking for, I cannot avoid splicing them and keep all the nodes in series like you did. The effects in Nutcrackers based on what Sean explained seems to get me closer to what I am looking for, although I have to confess I did not find the right settings to get the explosion effect yet (close though!)
Would you have a picture of your topper by any chance? I like the way you described how you built it.

[jim saul]

Thanks Sean, those screen shots really help me to understand it too.
one question - is it possible to now or in a future release to re-map some of these models?
I know I have a similar issue with my circles which all start at the 3 o'clock position, not the 12 that the model does.

[taybrynn]

I hope this isn't a thread hijack, but just following up on this topic a bit.

I think what Sean is saying is that if you wire it basically in the shape of a "top down" view of a megatree (i.e. each node starts int he middle and goes out in order) ... then it'll benefit from the effects that would work on that, without having to do a custom model ... you could call it a vertical matrix?  I know he is showing you a custom model and you could use it ... but I'm thinking the idea here is ... if you wire it in this configuration (top down view of megatree sorta) ... that you could skip the custom model?

I did the custom model for mine and learned a number of things about the power of the custom models.    I really could not leverage Seans' ideas because there are numerous shapes on my topper ... and while sequencing them all is ok, its not the best way to control it, imho.  To be honest, most of my sequencing in the last 2 years has been against all the nodes and not the shapes -- and I know I'm missing the true power of whats possible.

One of my challenges was that my father decided to "reuse" some nodes for different shapes in the super topper.  So meaning, some nodes which are say part of the big CROSS, were also part of the original 89 node star-cross.  So he basically made some nodes dual use ... and few others were even used by 3 different shapes.  Thats what happens when an engineer builds something -- lol.  So obviously I could map out all the nodes into one big model (and did) ... but if I wanted the rgb effects to be seen on just the CROSS (nodes) versus the STAR-CROSS (nodes) ... I would need to make a custom model for each.  So I did that.  But one of the issues that came up was how to make a STAR-CROSS model which combined the nodes from SSC1 and SSC2 and only used certain nodes from each?

What I did was to create a custom STAR-CROSS model which starts with the channels in the first SSC and which ends with the channels at the end of the second SSC.  But was was truly confusing to me was how to refer to these nodes within the custom model itself.  The nodes are relative to what you mapped out for the model.  So say I mapped out SSC1 for 3 nodes land SSC2 for 3 nodes, and both have a hybrid (string mode) channel also.  And say in this example my customer object only includes SSC1 Node1,Node2 and SSC2 Node2,Node3 ... just four nodes for this example.  You see this excludes the string mode channels for each SSC and the nodes not included (SSC1 Node3, SSC3 Node1) in the custom model shape.

PN#1,2,3      model node#1 SSC1 string mode (hybrid)
PN#4,5,6      model node#2 SSC1 Node1
PN#7,8,9      model node#3 SSC1 Node2
PN#10,11,12 model node#4 SSC1 Node3
PN#13,14,15 model node#5 SSC2 string mode
PN#16,17,18 model node#6 SSC2 Node1 / object Node#4
PN#19,20,21 model node#7 SSC2 Node2 / object Node#5
PN#22,23,24 model node#8 SSC2 Node3 / object Node#6

So if I mapped out the custom model for this to start with PN ch#1 and go for 24 channels total. 
I then would map out only model node#'s 2, 3, 7 and 8.  So on the custom model grid I'd only put
in 2,3,7 and 8 into the locations on the grid, where I wanted them to go. 

The tricky part was keeping track of what model node#'s nutcracker would call them ... so I put these things in an excel spreadsheet ... which would show me that the "relative node #" for the model would related to which pixelnet ch# ... and they have to be in groups of 3, since 3 PN channels per RGB node.  ANd I also needed to included the string mode channels, since they are know to the SSC as valid PN channel#'s.

I even asked Sean what order these would be sequenced if I say threw in several models into the same sequence and threw effects against them ... how would it determine the order of sequencing when collisions occur?    I will say that my initial tests are very encouraging ... meaning sequencing against multiple models on the same topper ... (think of a holdman star with its 3 distinct areas -- inner cross, inner star, flares) ... and overall it works.  Esp. since my original 89 nodes did not include any "shared" nodes between shapes.  So right now I've basically avoided combing the big cross with the star-cross ... but I think it would work if I combined them. 

Anyways, I find the ability to create these models extremely powerful and really takes me out of my LOR way of sequencing and into a whole new mindset.

I will find a picture of my topper and post it here.

[rmp2917]

I built 5 stars/spinners with flex strips. The 8 legs are 15 nodes each with 9 string nodes for the center.

I used two models for the stars in Nutcracker. One was a custom model and the other was a mega tree model. I did not try the vertical matrix. I used the same channels for both models. One worked better with some effects and the other worked better with others.

I think Nutcracker will overwrite any overlapping channels. So the last model in your grid will overwrite any channels that also appear in other models.

[winwin]

rmp, so it looks like you wired your pixels from the center for each branch, which is what Sean recommended. This is exactly what I intend to do (building the second model on my first post would require a lot of splicing anyhow, pretty much for each pixel due to distance between them, and it goes against Sean's recommendation to acchieve radial effects).

Was your custom model built like Sean has shown in his post? So good spinning effects but no  "bursting, exploding or radial" effect I guess?

I think what Sean is saying is that if you wire it basically in the shape of a "top down" view of a megatree (i.e. each node starts int he middle and goes out in order) ... then it'll benefit from the effects that would work on that, without having to do a custom model ... you could call it a vertical matrix?  I know he is showing you a custom model and you could use it ... but I'm thinking the idea here is ... if you wire it in this configuration (top down view of megatree sorta) ... that you could skip the custom model?

This is exactly how I understood it, the custom model shown will not work for radial effects and you need to us the vertical matrix. But because the representation on the screen is not a star, you need to visualize each "strip" as if it was a branch of the star.
Still can believe all the work on your topper!

[smeighan]

Custom models always overlay a grid on top of them for effects. Draw a snowflake, candle, snowman, star in custom we overlay a grid on top of it. This makes the effects like bars work. What we miss is having a radial effect. If u don't need radial effects, the custom model works great. If you want a radial effect for your display use a vert matrix or a megatree model. Make the top nodes in the center and then you will get radiating effects.

[rmp2917]

rmp, so it looks like you wired your pixels from the center for each branch, which is what Sean recommended. This is exactly what I intend to do (building the second model on my first post would require a lot of splicing anyhow, pretty much for each pixel due to distance between them, and it goes against Sean's recommendation to acchieve radial effects).

Was your custom model built like Sean has shown in his post? So good spinning effects but no  "bursting, exploding or radial" effect I guess?

The custom model was the same except I started #1 at the bottom (6 o'clock position) and continued clockwise. I numbered them starting with 1 at the center up to 15 on the outside. Then, started 16 at the center of the next leg and etc.

I don't think it matters where you put the first node. You just need to make sure you program them the same way they will be installed in the yard. Otherwise, top to bottom and left to right effects may be in the wrong direction.

I was able to do busting, exploding and spiral effects. I think they looked pretty good. I did some of them manually in Vixen because I already had the sequences in Vixen. You should be able to do them in Nutcracker. You just have to figure out what effect gives you the look you want. For instance, you could create a burst effect by using the megatree model and use the bars effect. Set color 1 to the burst color and the other 5 to black. Check all six colors. Set direction to down and palette rep all the way to the left. You should end up with a burst type effect.

As I said, you can do both a custom model and a megatree or vertical matrix or all three. You can set all three models to use the same channels. If you create an effect with the megatree model and play it in the preview tab, it will also show on the custom model. This way you can see how it will actually look on the star in your display. If you uncheck the "Part of my display" checkbox for the megatree and vertical matrix models, they will not show in the preview window and you will only see the effects on the custom model.

[winwin]

You should be able to do them in Nutcracker. You just have to figure out what effect gives you the look you want. For instance, you could create a burst effect by using the megatree model and use the bars effect. Set color 1 to the burst color and the other 5 to black. Check all six colors. Set direction to down and palette rep all the way to the left. You should end up with a burst type effect.

Great trick, it works like a charm. Just need to build the star now but the effects in Nutcracker look great!