Is it to late to start for a newbie

[sjmiller]

Lots of great comments here, I'll add a few more. This is my 4th year doing a display with LOR, ten 16 ch controllers and one 8 ch controller. I wouldn't "stress" myself out trying to get something going this year. Download the S3 demo software and pick a song you would like for next years display. Watch the LOR Videos about sequencing, build an animation of your house - and sequence the song. I did this in Dec. 2008 - and had my first display up in 2009. The first thing I learned is that 16 channels were not enough, nor was 32 - ended up doing 48 channels my first year. The next thing I learned is you have to think about your power budget. What kind of lights are you going to use and do you have enough available plugs/amps to support the display. My original 3 controllers and 10,000 mini-lights were popping the breaker - so I had to run extension cords to split up the the controllers to lighten the load on the plug/circuit. That's when I made another decision, I was going to transition to LEDs - 100 mini-lights draw about 100 watts, 100 LEDs draw about 4 watts. Today I have about 25,000 LEDs and about 5,000 mini-lights. The mini-lights are on wireframes that I need to redo with LEDs. You will need extension cords, tons of them. Don't buy them - build them, you can buy Vampire plugs & recepticals from most of the Christmas supply sites (Creative Displays is my vendor of choice) and SPT-1 (Lamp cord/wire) at your local Lowes or Home Depot.

This is a great forum, everyone is here to help!

SJmiller

www.shastalights.com

Last but not least - Have Fun! People are going to enjoy your display, they are going to be greatful for the time and effort you put in.

[columbus27]

Mighty I agree mostly with sjmiller expect on the point to hold off to next year. If you got kids like I do they don't care if the light aren't jump'n off like they are suppose to. They just like the blinky blink. I am an advocate of, you purchased the controller to make your house the jump off of the neighborhood so put up them light..... Bootleg or not.... it's all good. Whatever you do it's better than that person that did nothing.

[mighty_mace]

Their will definitely be something going up this year. I don't have near enough lights to warrant the second controller....this year. I plan to stock up, build an inventory for next year. I'll be going all LED, for sure. I can absolutely see how 16 channels would be limiting. I set it up in the house last night to 'tinker' with and the ideas started flowing after I saw how the software and controller worked together. I took everything back apart last night since their were extension cords going all through the kitchen so my 4 yr old didn't see it live but I took some video for him. He loved it.....which pretty much made the decision for me on putting something outside this year.

Just testing out the new equipment.

[m1ke05]

Gotcha. Lots of learning for this fella. Thank goodness for you guys and this forum.

This forum is a god send!!! There is literally sooooo much to learn your first time around that you would be lost without the countless experts on here!!

[JJGullett]

NEVER TOO LATE!!

My brother and I went to a class in Orlando a saturday or two before thanksgiving; received our order the wednesday before thanksgiving and got our 10 CCRs; 2CCPs and normal 16 channel controller running in 3 days. Took another 2 days to hide wires in the attic and all is well.

Start now!

[TprSteve]

_{I'm not sure how accurate the delivery times are from LOR, (it said 2 day ground) but I just placed my order for my 1st "controller kit" yesterday!! And I'm HOPING it comes in time to at least get something up and running. I have the majority of my lights up and in a static display that I've been doing for years. Just hoping to add a few animated segments for starters. My biggest concern is that me and computers kinda have this hate, hate relationship thing going on! My wife has to hide all the hammers when I sit down with a computer to do anything more than basic emailing or word processing!!! So this is gonna be a challenge, but I'm VERY impressed by this forum!! BTW I think I may already have the CLAP "disease!!"}

[BryanZ]

Anything is possible. I'd say 80% of this is all of the planning and sequencing. What do you want to do and how do you want it to look? If you don't have a clue now, wait until next year and don't feel rushed.

This site and the people on it have truly been a blessing with their willingness to help and troubleshoot.

Another fantastic site for sequencing is this: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B86vzf3chl0oTjdPRjRNa1oyVzA/edit?pli=1

Find ones that you like and customize them to your display. It has been a fantastic time saver. And most of all: Have fun!

[daveo150]

Bob, assuming you can get the hardware......you could always throw up a quick mega tree....2 color or 3 color (i did 4) and it would still look really good. Lots of free mega tree sequences and lots of people willing to share. If you go for it, shoot me an email.......I'll send you all mine for a 16 channel mega tree.

D

[mighty_mace]

Well, got my lights up and running for the first year. Did 5 songs and definitely want more channels / lights now. I hope they go one sale in the off season. Here's a video of a sequence I put together featuring Run DMC, Christmas time in Hollis.

https://vimeo.com/55487919

[jtomason]

Hey folks, a 2012 newbie as well. I am yet another graduate from the Mister Christmas Academy. I've been wanting to upgrade for a long time, but never got around to pulling the trigger before it was too late each year; just making do with good old Mr. C. Well, this year, Santa came early - I managed to buy 5 controllers for $500, pre-wired and ready to go. One starter kit and stand-alone controller later (that arrived yesterday), and I'm in business.

I'm starting small this year with just one controller - in fact, I literally unplugged the 16 lights that were connected to Mr. Christmas and plugged them into the controller and started making some sequences. I had played around with the software for a short time, so I had some idea what I was doing.

Quite frankly, even getting the controller on Dec 13, I've got a decent show up and running; a few more songs and I'll be happy, and I'm finding that I can get a decent (if not fully tweaked) sequence for 16 channels done in a few hours.

So if you have the lights and the equipment, I feel comfortable saying that it CAN be done - the only question is whether or not it's too close to Christmas for you to want to do it. I had Mr. C as a backup, but I was pretty determined. My show is very small this year (we're going to be away), but it's not bad, all things considered.

[caniac]

Well, got my lights up and running for the first year. Did 5 songs and definitely want more channels / lights now. I hope they go one sale in the off season. Here's a video of a sequence I put together featuring Run DMC, Christmas time in Hollis.

https://vimeo.com/55487919

Part of what makes this hobby so addicting is after you do your first show the mind starts working over time about next year, what you want to add, props you want to build or purchase, etc.