Tracy West Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 I got the bugs worked out with my RGB strips tonight on the roof.All you brand new to dmx RGB.... if you have an opened end for a daisy chain.... YOU MUST HAVE A TERMINATOR RESISTOR AT THE END OR YOUR LIGHTS WILL FLICKER! They don't tell you that as you are learning how to DYI with dmx...I think it is a rite of passage or something!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddH Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I did the Styrofoam for the 1st time last year, and yes its a ton of fun. My kids really enjoyed doing those and were so upset that I did not do them again this year. But that one you did looks great. Looking forward to seeing your completion Tracy.I am almost done myself with setting up, have a few more props and lights to put out, hopefully will be done within the next day or two. Then I have to test everything. I had to relocate where my controllers were due to me adding 2 more boxes this year so that landed me in a a ton of extension cord to remake... sigh... plus added 2 more faces this year. I rented a 35ft towable boom-lift last weekend to put that up and the roof ice...man that was a lifesaver! Sorry to hear about Kevin...but then again, last year he was a no show and prior to that stated he wasn't sure if he was doing anything and then BOOM, landed that big ol whopper on us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 I did the Styrofoam for the 1st time last year, and yes its a ton of fun. My kids really enjoyed doing those and were so upset that I did not do them again this year. But that one you did looks great. Looking forward to seeing your completion Tracy.I am almost done myself with setting up, have a few more props and lights to put out, hopefully will be done within the next day or two. Then I have to test everything. I had to relocate where my controllers were due to me adding 2 more boxes this year so that landed me in a a ton of extension cord to remake... sigh... plus added 2 more faces this year. I rented a 35ft towable boom-lift last weekend to put that up and the roof ice...man that was a lifesaver! Sorry to hear about Kevin...but then again, last year he was a no show and prior to that stated he wasn't sure if he was doing anything and then BOOM, landed that big ol whopper on us! Thank you Todd.I made two other tombstones and they came out pretty good too. I went back and added a big spider right in the middle of the web on that tombstone that really gave it more dimension.I start full build up on Thursday and looking at my list of things to complete, it is going to take at least 3 full days to get everything done. Hopefully by Monday I will have a full test run of the show and then begin to video tape it during the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddH Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 The only issue I had when I did my tombstones is that I could not find the right Styrofoam, I ended up using builder Styrofoam, the type used for insulation it worked out OK but cutting it was a night mare as it released allot of the beads...and the size wasn't what I wanted but it was good for the kids. I used a dremel to cut out the words and cracks on them, but ran into an issue with allot of rain...so I thought what the hell...let me put some clear sealer on this thing...well clear ended up turning a bit brown which actually made them look more aged. I think there are pictures somewhere on here of them from last year, but will post more. This year I got some nice chains to put around the graveyard and more lights. Also got another Hurricane fog-machine and building the ice chest fog chiller. I would really like to have everything up an running by this weekend as I am feeling a ton of pressure from my neighbors who keep asking me WTF, why isn't there any lights or music yet...grrr I have no idea how you guys deal with the 100+ channels...I think I am sticking to the 48 for a while...i still have a ton to learn and the main thing for me at least is to STOP WAITING FOR THE LAST FREAKIN MINUTE HA!!! love the profile pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onewish1 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 love the columns!!.. and the tombstone.. I would cry if we couldn't decorate!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 The only issue I had when I did my tombstones is that I could not find the right Styrofoam, I ended up using builder Styrofoam, the type used for insulation it worked out OK but cutting it was a night mare as it released allot of the beads...and the size wasn't what I wanted but it was good for the kids. I used a dremel to cut out the words and cracks on them, but ran into an issue with allot of rain...so I thought what the hell...let me put some clear sealer on this thing...well clear ended up turning a bit brown which actually made them look more aged. I think there are pictures somewhere on here of them from last year, but will post more. This year I got some nice chains to put around the graveyard and more lights. Also got another Hurricane fog-machine and building the ice chest fog chiller. I would really like to have everything up an running by this weekend as I am feeling a ton of pressure from my neighbors who keep asking me WTF, why isn't there any lights or music yet...grrr I have no idea how you guys deal with the 100+ channels...I think I am sticking to the 48 for a while...i still have a ton to learn and the main thing for me at least is to STOP WAITING FOR THE LAST FREAKIN MINUTE HA!!! love the profile pic!Thanks... My wife has been telling me I have had my head stuck up a pumpkin's a** for months now working on my Halloween project. So she took a picture to prove it! I am still am using 45 channels of LOR and then 69 channels of dmx. It was not a big jump for me this year but I hope it pays off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddH Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks... My wife has been telling me I have had my head stuck up a pumpkin's a** for months now working on my Halloween project. So she took a picture to prove it! I am still am using 45 channels of LOR and then 69 channels of dmx. It was not a big jump for me this year but I hope it pays off!Thats a big enough jump to make a difference for sure! can't wait to see it man! Sure hope the neighbors are more relaxed this year for you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thats a big enough jump to make a difference for sure! can't wait to see it man! Sure hope the neighbors are more relaxed this year for you....I hope the neighbors are behind me too!I got the police behind me to direct traffic and to monitor this year if needed. I made some big changes in how and when I am doing the shows and no show on Halloween. Just lights.We will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Day two of build up of the props.I am tired and sore.The props are coming together nicely and the yard is going to look really good.Still no luck with stopping the rgb strips from flickering. I have done everything on the pros list and nada... just a flickering mess.I am about to have to go with plan B and scrub a big part of my show due to the RGBs not playing nice.I have set myself up for total stress because I have blabbed that the show is on Oct 19th.Maybe tomorrow it will all come together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddH Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) wow...man I totally feel your pain and really hope you can get it worked out!! Last night I was there myself...I was editing my channel configuration and then wanted it to be the same on every seq but something went very wrong as it messed everything up...and stupid me, I didn’t keep any backups either...then while working on fixing it, the visualizer decided to take a poop then my seq got more screwy...at around 230am I decided to stop an sleep...woke up this morning at 7 and redid every seq I had for this year after I was able to finally get lor to work, had to do an uninstall, reg wipe to resolve...but man was I stressed...I will keep my fingers crossed for you man!! I wish I could help ya out... Edited October 13, 2012 by ToddH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 I got up at 5:30 this morning wondering if I should scrub the RGB strips and just go with the DMX lighting that I had.I came real close but I started from scratch in the garage and one by one I was able to get my strips to work and then when they would start to flicker... I put a terminator on and that stopped that mess.I was able to have a successful testing tonight with 6 strands of RGB strips.Tomorrow... adding the other 5 strips and hoping to see the same results.Then I will get the LOR controllers plugged in and hope all is working on that end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 4 long hard days of building up props and getting all the wiring lined out in the yard.I had to compromise a little on the lights because I just could not get all 11 strands to fire consistently so I decreased the amount of strands to 6 and everything was looking good last night on first test run.I have a few little minor adjustments to do today and hopefully tonight will be first full dress rehearsal.Then over the next couple of days I hope to capture the show on video and get them out there before going live on Friday.I am tired and I have two and a half more weeks of show time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 First night full test... dud!Had the RGB strips working really well. But... my dmx stage lights were flickering!Went back and reworked the dmx cables on them and got them working well.. except 3 stage lights stopped working (no idea why).Then to add insult to injury.. A one year old Chauvet 1300 fog machine would not work! That is twice that I have purchased a Chauvet and run it for two weeks to stop working and only been a year old. (That ticks me off!) Especially since I cleaned it after last year and put it up in my closet away from extreme heat or cold) Well, tonight.. I hope to work out my little issues with my lights and capture some good video.My other wish is that I do not have to work so hard on getting everything to work the way they should every single night for a two hour show. If so, it is going to be a very long two weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtDew4me Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Tracy, good luck with working out the kinks. I can't wait to see the videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdeepfundraising Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 really looking forward to the video tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 2nd night of full rehearsal was better but not want I wanted.Got the RGB strips on the roof to work great and the dmx stage lights on the ground looked great!Could not get the 2 RGB strips on the castle to stop flickering.I finally pulled the plug on them and video taped it without the castle lighting up!Very frustrated.Going to change out controllers on the castle and give it another go tonight. If not. I got an OK.. light show but not near to what it would be if my damn stuff would work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLD Kevin Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I put my pumpkins on my lawn yesterday....all DMX stuff. Plug in everything, flip the switch and all worked perfect. Sorry Tracy...I guess I'm just lucky cuz I was expecting a tweak here or there.Wondering how long before the HOA comes over to question what I'm doing. They have better asked all the other neighbors what they are also doing!! Already having people stop asking when is the show starting. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 I put my pumpkins on my lawn yesterday....all DMX stuff. Plug in everything, flip the switch and all worked perfect. Sorry Tracy...I guess I'm just lucky cuz I was expecting a tweak here or there.Wondering how long before the HOA comes over to question what I'm doing. They have better asked all the other neighbors what they are also doing!! Already having people stop asking when is the show starting. :-(I hate that for you Kevin. I know you hate losing your show.I am going to hate to have a half ass show if I cannot get all the bugs worked out.Fly into Odessa Texas... Help me with my stuff... Get your fix through me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy West Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 A successful full show without a lot of major bugs!Had a few flickers and misfires but overall the show went well tonight.Got a lot of footage to go through tomorrow but should have video out by Friday. Sat the latest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddH Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 A successful full show without a lot of major bugs!Had a few flickers and misfires but overall the show went well tonight.Got a lot of footage to go through tomorrow but should have video out by Friday. Sat the latest. Good to hear that you got it worked out! I ran into my own issues as well...Can't wait to see what ya got...and I musta been under a rock or something...Kevin your shows got the boot from HOA?? for good or do you have to just scale it down?Thank god I dont have to worry about that where I am at...worst I have is my neighbors hanging out on my lawn getting drunk and the woman getting frisky the wife made me delete the video from tonight...but was funny as hell...you wouldnt believe me if i told ya anyway, glad that your show is good to go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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