Did you know that you can use a TV or projector in your Christmas light display? Here are two ways to set it up!
Let’s talk about using and adding video and video monitors to your lighting display!
Videos and xLights Effects
When it comes to playing videos and x-Lights as part of your Christmas lights show there are two primary methods of going about this depending on your needs. The simplest method is to use x-Schedule with a full length video file that you build your sequence off of. The other way that you can go about doing this is FPP.
FPP or x-Lights?
The main reasons that you would use FPP rather than x-lights is if you want to use multiple monitors and be able to play back multiple files or if you want to do x-lights type effects on your screen, or you want to do video files that may or may not match the length of your sequence.
Sequencing with x-Lights
The first step in using this method is to sequence your video file, putting the audio that you want to use into your video file, making it the full length of the sequence, use it to sequence, and then go over to your tools under “x-schedule”. This is where you can add your video for use on one or multiple monitors depending on your needs.
A helpful hint if you find that your video is not playing as smoothly as you would like, go into the section for file types and sizes and simply correct it as needed to get things going seamlessly.
Setting up With FPP
Technically you can use the same approach setting up FPP as you did for x-Schedule or to ensure that everything will run as smoothly as possible you can choose to go a different route and create a virtual matrix.
The first step is to define your virtual matrix. You can start at any point you would like to for this. You will edit the details to be exactly how you want them and then save the sequence.
When your sequence is saved you will then go over to “controllers” and choose “discover” and find your FPP controllers. Inside you will see all the channels for your matrix. You will ensure that all of the information is correct and then connect it and send your sequence to upload.
Once uploaded, open up your FPP and under “other outputs” you will choose “add” and then select your virtual matrix option. Double check that everything is working properly and that your signal is up and running without issue and then save.
Your sequence is then ready to use! The virtual matrix will work both as a stand alone and master. The system will then do a reset and once it turns back on you will end up with a blank screen. This is exactly how it is supposed to be! You can then check to make sure everything is configured properly and make any necessary alterations if it is for any reason not exactly right.
Closing
Whichever method you choose to implement is totally up to you and will be based on your personal needs. Either method will work great. The most important thing to remember is to consider what you want the end result to be and then take the route that will best give you the result you want!