Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

New to the light display world


thunsicker

Recommended Posts

I am new to this whole light show world, trying to set up a display for next christmas, I planned on buying the singing trees from Holidaycoro, does anyone have some tips, tricks for me? Do they walk you through the channels you plug each section into? and setting up sequences in a show you just load onto an SD card and plug into the show director?    I want to be able to add to the display every year, just want to head in the right direction before I buy anything and find out I wasted my time and money

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Visit the LOR website (away from the Forums) and view as many or as few of the video tutorials as you need. Bring back any questions you have that were either not answered in the videos or brought up because of something you saw in the videos. We (the community) are willing to help. But beware, this bug is addictive!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Visit the LOR website (away from the Forums) and view as many or as few of the video tutorials as you need. Bring back any questions you have that were either not answered in the videos or brought up because of something you saw in the videos. We (the community) are willing to help. But beware, this bug is addictive!

But beware, this bug is VERY addictive

When I was setting up in November last, I said this is big enough, no more.

On Christmas morning, I made a working mockup of an idea. Then in the afternoon put in an order for another 20,000 lights.

Yes this bug is very addictive lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But beware, this bug is VERY addictive

When I was setting up in November last, I said this is big enough, no more.

On Christmas morning, I made a working mockup of an idea. Then in the afternoon put in an order for another 20,000 lights.

Yes this bug is very addictive lol

Couldn't agree more. Following a New Year's Eve party, I began to ponder ways to change the current display and make an interactive element. Last season was my first one ever. I've got the "Blinky blinky" bug.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have behind the scenes pictures of the setups? How many extension cords is a good number to shoot for to start with. Any other ways people are feeding display pvc pipe, seal tight? Is there anyone in the Philadelphia area willing to show so tricks of the show?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

one of the best pieces of advice I was given was to forget about extension cords... buy bulk spt wire and vampire plugs. This was my first year and it took me 4,000 feet of wire and hundreds of plugs. This saved a ton of money compared to the price of extension cords and it was a beautiful thing to roll out from the spool exactly the length of wire I needed for the application. Another great piece of advice is labeling... label EVERYTHING! this might not seem like a big deal the first year because you know what you are working on right now but the next year you wont have a clue!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can run your shows off your pc. This is the best way to allow yourself to upgrade in future years. Not only is it cheaper in the immediate but allows you to add cheaper components as you grow.

Running from your pc requires only that you purchase the sw and any controller. I would recommend one of the LOR starter sets as this gives you the sw and the usb device you need. The main downside to running from your pc is you need to get a cat 5 out to your first controller. You also should not use your pc while a show is running since whatever sounds you make say playing a game will become part of your show.

Personally, I set my show pc, which is a simple pc separate than my normal daily use pc, in the garage. I have my cables go out through the wall in junction boxes originally setup for incoming phone and Internet services. I was lucky to be able to fit a couple extra cat 5 cables through them.

Now, you can use whatever pc you want and it doesn't have to be separate. I do this because I had an old pc after upgrading and this allows me to use my newer separate pc while shows are going.

If you can't get a cat 5 cable out LOR does sell ell devices that will wirelessly transmit from your pc to the first controller.

By using the mini director or showtime devices you limit yourself for future upgrades. E1.31 and dmx are rgb upgrades that are limited. And even though you may not think you will ever go this route, this forum is full of people who had those same thoughts and did in fact make the move. If at all possible, try to use your pc. You will be glad you did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 on SPT-2 ... bought 250ft, used a little over 300ft in the end. I plan on buying over 1000ft in the next season's purchases. My website is pending (I'll edit this post when it is finished), it has some tutorials/methods of how we hung our lights this year. This next season, we'll be buying corrugated tubing and use it to hide our extension cords - though we knew where the cords were, so did other viewers (which personally bothered me - it took away from the show.

 

Using the clean, black corrugated tubing will be nice.

 

As far as water sealing, I used silicone on my rope light. It depends on what kind of light you're using/where you need to seal. To route our extension cords to our controllers, we had to take the draft protector off the door and run the cables under the door. There is a gap between the edge of the door and the ground, so I needed to seal from the outside. I used garbage bags and duct tape to keep water out. It worked, even with "stormpocalypse" hitting the area with torrential rain and wind. I used an old, beaten lawn chair to provide weight on the bags. Not an ounce of water made it into the garage. :)

 

Also, extension cord number varies - how many channels do you plan to use? The number of channels should always equal the number of extension cords you use. (That's my personal theory)

 

Other questions?

 

LN.

 

Hope this helped!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the info, I will be probably starting out with 48 channels, I already purchased and received the singing trees from Holiday Coro, so I think 32 of my channels are used up just by them, the last controller will do the window outlines gutters and whatever else I can stick on it, does anyone have or know best way to get sequences for  4 singing trees and the last 16 channels or is this the singing tree sequences easy to adapt to 48?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All I can say is WOW. After doing some research and wanting to upgrade from a Gemmy box this year , it seems a little overwhelming reading some of these forums . I am planning to but a lor controller and give it a try though. Lots of information on these pages . I've watch all the sequencing videos from lor and have been looking at the papagayo program because I would like to have a singing tree and use the other channels for my house lights. Everyone here seems to be very educated as to how this all works. I do have a question though , when is the lor spring sale ? I'm kind of anxious to get started . Downloaded the demo software but need the basic plus features so am waiting to buy .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do have a question though , when is the lor spring sale ? I'm kind of anxious to get started . Downloaded the demo software but need the basic plus features so am waiting to buy .

The spring sales been as early as February and as late as April. Just subscribe to receive Lor emails and they'll notify you when it's going to happen.

The software doesn't go on sale through just all there overstock from the previous year. It's first come first served so be fast with the fingers. Some items sell out quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My advice would be to get the Advanced license for S3.  I saw somewhere on a different forum where a member there said it best.  Basically, he said that considering all that you'll spend on this hobby over the years (if you stick with it, of course) the difference between the Basic+ level and the advanced level is little more than a rounding error.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks everyone . got on the lor mailing list and have been looking at the tree sequences . some look like they will be just fine for a single tree . would really make it easy for this year . hoping to get a starter package in the spring sale so I can get the discount on software , will look to go with advanced . i'm sure I will need it . seem to get carried away in most all my other hobbies too . already thinking maybe 2 controllers if they're on sale .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I got started, 3 years ago now, I jumped in with both feet. Figured if I was going to do this, might as well do it right. I started with 96 AC channels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I user the singing Christmas trees in my display and they are a big hit, As dgrant said, contact holidayseqences.com for the tree sequences, he has tons for Halloween and Christmas, You really cant beat the $15 price tag on the sequences, 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My only issue with the different sites that sell sequences is they say 32 channels and being new to this I think most of my time will be used on initial setup, does anyone know if these paid sequences can easily be added to so I can do 48 channels

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Copy and paste? Idk... I really don't mean to waste yours (or anyone else's for that matter) time by saying something inaccurate or unnecessary. I don't use pre-made sequences because my house is mapped different from the next person's so I want to my own original work... it's personal preference. At any rate, I wanted to share something fruitful, IMHO.

 

This past year, mid-season, I decided to throw in two new channels - two separate lawn decorations. What could have been about 2 hours extra of me really hunkering down to smoothly incorporate the two new elements evenly was saved through copy and paste. I just copied mainly one channel, placed it on one new channel, removed the old stuff, and voila! 2 channels added to 4 songs in about 20 minutes tops.

 

So... in short, I used copy + paste to edit and expand. I'm sure there is a solution for you from someone experienced with this stuff. So, I hope I didn't waste your time making you read this.

 

LN.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Holidaysequences.com is helping me out. Robert seemed like he was willing to help a newbie out with exactly what I was needing. Their singing tree work looks really good to me . I am figuring to use some of their sequences for a singing tree and sequence the other channels for my lights myself. Figured their sequences would give me a good idea what it should look like when I decide to give the tree sequence a try . Like I said , theirs looked good so I'll have a good example to go by . It's my first year so just trying to make it easier .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...