I have many real trees with pixels. I use bullet pixels, I try to find at least 4 inch spacing on the wires. I run the string to the end of the branch, then bring the signal
and power back down the branch to the next branch, run out to the end, and keep repeating until I bring the signal and power back to the beginning. All power injection is at the trunk. I have branches like the one shown in the picture for every major branch of the tree. It is just one long string.
To map the pixels, I use the Vixen custom prop editor. I set up a camera on a tripod near the tree, but on a line from the tree to the optimum viewing location. I map it as a 2D prop, even though it is not. What is important to me is that it looks good from the normal viewing location. I light up an individual branch and all of its sub branches, giving each sub branch a different color, and take a picture of the entire tree. This makes picking out the pixels in the custom prop editor much easier. Since all of the photos were taken from the same location, I can use one phot in the prop editor, map the pixels for that picture, then swap out the picture to that of another branch. When I have mapped all of the pixels for that tree, I now have a custom prop for that particular tree.
I leave the pixels in the trees year round. I tie them to the tree with landscape twine, which will break as the tree grows. Trees only grow from the tips, so as long as I prune the trees, everything stays the same. I just have to replace ties occasionally as they break.
IMG_branch.jpg
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