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Controlling some lights between shows


Djmc2002

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Hey potentially dumb question.  I am planning a 48 channel show using 46 channels for the show and the other 2 controlling my lights in my smaller trees, and props and stuff  not used in the show but will be on all the time from dusk till 11 except when the show is running.  I'm sure there is a simple solution but I'm stumped.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank in advance. 

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There are several ways to do it. What kind of schedule are you trying to do with your show?

About 5 to 7 songs (15-18 mins) top of the hour. At least that is the plan at this point. Might go top and bottom of the hour kind of playing that by ear at this point. Tks

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This is just my thoughts.

But a show 15 to 18 minutes per hour might confuse spectators as to what the rest of the hour will be.

Even 15 to 18 minutes per half hour will catch some to question what the rest of the half hour will bring. 15 to 12 minutes of "no show" will leave some to think there isn't a show if they arrive after the show ended and not stick around.

Again, it's just my thoughts on this matter.

 

Try putting yourself in their shoes. What if you just arrived as the last song of the show was playing or if the lights on a few trees are static. Then after a few minutes nothing happens. Will you stick around to wait and see what happens or will you venture off to see other lights/shows? Folks tend to get impatient during the holidays.

Even a sign of the schedule or an audio present, folks might not be willing to sit around too long.

Dead time in a show is a killer in my book.

 

Just throwing that out there.

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Ok that seems like a reasonable point.  My concern is that I live in a neighborhood with homes fairly close on either side and I am concerned about my neighbors who are supportive of my obsession  with lights but might not be if there is 4 or more hours of solid flashing lights.  

 

So my question to all is what is the best format for shows,  Every so many minutes, shorter total show, continuous show?  What have you all found works best.  I have done large static displays for many years but this is my first year with LOR animated shows and am truly looking to the experts here for what works best?  Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

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Actually, the question in my mind would be. What works for your neighborhood? Maybe try a continuous show and tweek it from there.


I ran my display continuous every night (also in a tight knit housing area) and didn't get one complaint. I was certainly the brightest house on the block with LEDs all over the place.


The neighbors thought is was great to have something like this on their block.


One thing I will add, if traffic starts to be a pain, then things may change for the neighbors.


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 +1 to Tom's advice.

 

My suggestion is also to run your show continuously.  You can always insert a musical sequence with some lights full on, perhaps even a five-minute long song, during which you overdub a liner in which you thank people for stopping by and advising them the show will run again in just a few minutes.  That will let people know there isn't anything different coming other than what they've already seen and also give them a natural point to move along.  If it gets too congested, reducing the number of songs in the show has worked very well for lots of people here. 

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 +1 to Tom's advice.

 

My suggestion is also to run your show continuously.  You can always insert a musical sequence with some lights full on, perhaps even a five-minute long song, during which you overdub a liner in which you thank people for stopping by and advising them the show will run again in just a few minutes.  That will let people know there isn't anything different coming other than what they've already seen and also give them a natural point to move along.  If it gets too congested, reducing the number of songs in the show has worked very well for lots of people here. 

Very well put George.

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Just to take an opposing point of view, I'll tell you how I run my show.   I have 8 different animated shows with 3 or 4 songs, 8-10 minutes.  I play a different show on each quarter hour and then have  slowly changing lights with little teasers and announcements between shows.   I tried a solid show before and it drove me crazy after a few hours.  I need breaks just to maintain my level of insanity.  The breaks also give time for the peeps to walk around the house and see the rest of the display.

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 I tried a solid show before and it drove me crazy after a few hours.  I need breaks just to maintain my level of insanity. 

Brian,

Are you sitting out front of your house checking out your display every night? :P

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Brian,

Are you sitting out front of your house checking out your display every night? :P

 

Actually we are outside every night mingling with the guests and handing out candy canes.  With people walking through my yard every night, we don't want it unsupervised.  We give away about 2000 canes a year.

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It is only October, Get back to programing. I run an hour long show. I also run 2 different show. Every other day has a different show. You can fill time by doing Commercial, Neighbor promos and other misc stuff. Get a hold the The Demented Elf he will take care of you.

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Actually we are outside every night mingling with the guests and handing out candy canes.  With people walking through my yard every night, we don't want it unsupervised.  We give away about 2000 canes a year.

Brian I can understand the unsupervised part.

That's nice to be interactive with the crowd and letting them mingle around the display. Good idea with the candy canes too.

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... with lights but might not be if there is 4 or more hours of solid flashing lights...

 

As stated by others, not every song has to be or even should be "flashing".  I have a few songs that only have slow fades.  Other songs only use specific elements of the display.  Very seldom do I light and or flash my whole display.  Over use of any one technique can be a show killer.

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