This is the hardest question to answer. I had some clues from looking around various YouTube videos of what others had done, and how I could incorporate aspects into my own design.
A couple of design aspects stood out which I am looking to incorporate in the final show where possible.
- Roof outline – Crisp lines bordering the gutters and ridge look great. That was a must. Adding verticals for the columns and edges of the house may come later.
- Leaping Arches – The bounce to musical sequences really helps ‘liven’ up the display
- Mega tree – A mega tree is always a focus of a display. It grand stands in the yard really bringing attention to itself, and the ability to run a multitude of effects makes them very visually appealing.
Jace (my wife) has been across some of the design and the possibilities, and one deign aspect that she really liked was singing Christmas trees. Additionally, I thought a bit more Christmas look with snowflakes, a Bethlehem star and some candy canes would be nice too.
The next step was to start laying out the design within xLights. This is the software used to program sequences. It has both 2D and 3D capabilities. In 2D mode, you take a photo of your house square on, and you lay on the models. This has limitations when it comes to rendering effects (later down the track) so by using 3D mode, you can offset each item on the Z axis as well.
This is the design that I am working towards.
- 5 arches spanning across the 5 front fence panels
- 6 candy canes, mounted on each fence post
- 3 flood lights to light up the hedge different colours. These might end up shining on the house later, but that’ll be a decision once they arrive.
- 4 mini trees on the front lawn. These stand about 1.4m high.
- Mega tree and a 3′ star on top.
- Singing tree on the diagonal portion of the front porch, so it’s visible from the driveway
- Bethlehem star over the front entry
- Wreath on the door
- 4 snowflakes, one between the lounge windows, and three on the columns
- Window outlines
- Roof & gutter outline
- House wall lighting
- Fence lighting
- Palm tree lighting
All of this adds up to a fair amount of effort, but I think it’ll look nice. It’ll also give me opportunity to add further, and each component can be done separately, so that if it’s not ready by year one, it can be used next year.