What is a MegaTree?
A MegaTree is one of the most iconic elements in a Christmas light show—a large cone-shaped structure made from strands of pixels that simulate a giant Christmas tree using animated lighting effects. A MegaTree can be part of a light show or a show all on its own! I have also built a new MegaTree Calculator to help with all of the geometry and give you a ballpark estimate of what the pixels will cost.
How a MegaTree Works
- Center Pole — usually 10-20 feet tall provides the structure (there are many ways to mount the pole, depending on height and soil conditions) — that could be an article on its own
- Base Ring — often a ring of PVC or Steel attached to the ground around the base of the pole, where the bottoms of the light strands are attached
- MegaTree topper — attaches near the top of the pole and provides hooks/clips to evenly space strands of lights around the tree
- Light strands — strands of pixels that run from the top down to the base in a cone shape (typically bullet pixels or seed pixels)
- Controller — like all pixel lights, requires a controller to power and provide data to the lights; MegaTrees often have a dedicated controller
- Sequencing — xLights will control the MegaTree like any other prop in a light show, but can apply some unique effects due to the pixel density and size; xLights has built in models for MegaTrees, that are customizable to your build
- Star — most MegaTrees have a star or spinner type coro prop mounted on top, similar to a real Christmas tree
Bullet Pixels vs Seed Pixels Pros & Cons
| Pixel Type | 👍 Pros | 👎 Cons |
|---|---|---|
12 mm bullet pixels mounted with strips (or coro) | – Brighter for large displays – Easier to repair – Standard for most builds | – Significantly Heavier – More wind resistance – Higher power consumption |
Seed pixels | – Light weight (less sag) – Great for dense, smooth effects – Much more compact for storage – Less expensive per pixel – Significantly lower power consumption | – Harder to mount cleanly – strands can get twisted, but there are 3D printed clips on the market that can help with this – Long term durability is sometimes questioned, but may be less of an issue with newer versions of seeds with thicker wire |
What did I do?
For my first MegaTree (shown in the table above), I chose to use seed pixels due to their lower power consumption, lower cost and much easier to store in the off season. My tree is relatively small because I have a small yard — it is 10 feet tall without the spinner on top (~12 feet with the spinner). It is also a 225 degree MegaTree, meaning the lights don’t go all the way around (open in the back). Depending on your layout, you may want a full 360 degree tree, but in my case it would be a waste of lights in the back. If I were going to do it gain, I would think about using 1 inch spaced seeds for better resolution. The tree uses 5 ports on a 16 port controller and consists of the following:
- 10 strings of 240 seed pixels with 2 inch spacing (2,400 pixels total) in a “folded” configuration – one 240 pixel string becomes four 60 pixel strands on the tree – for a total of 40 strands of 60 pixels
- Two strings are daisy chained from each of 5 ports, and is power balanced via a tee connected to the start and end of each 480 pixel segment (powered from both ends)
- 64 string BillyGoat topper from PixelParadise
- 10 foot 1 inch galvanized steel pipe for center pole (plus 24 inch 3/4 inch pipe to hold the “star”)
- 40 twelve inch steel tent stakes for base “ring” instead of traditional PVC or steel ring
- 4 steel guy wires with turnbuckles
- 2 galvanized “floor flanges” (3/4 inch) to attach topper securely
- 1 inch to 3/4 inch galvanized reducing coupler
- 1 inch 3/4 inch galvanized pipe
Could you do this using Twinkly strings?
You could, however, it would likely be significantly more expensive and probably wouldn’t look as good. Twinkly spaces their pixels on the wires at a little over 3 inches apart, so you wouldn’t get the same light density you can get with seed pixels without some sort of strips. In addition, to get 2,400 pixels on a tree would take four sets of Twinkly 600 strings (at roughly $200 per box), add four more Twinkly controllers on your WiFi network and potential latency issues. Wanting to do a MegaTree was actually one of the main reasons I started adding WS2811 style pixels to my show in the first place, as I knew it would be more affordable and work properly right out of the gate!