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Need Brutally Honest truth on 1st display


Christmas

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If you take a sequenced area of your display that has a particular element, like say chasing, then add lighting onto those same channels, but on the other side of your yard and in a random patern set up, audience will imagine many more circuits than 16. Or if you do a mega tree with at least 8 channels, then electrically reverse another tree on the opposite side of yard, general public again will believe more action and more channels.

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I do that with my megatrees. To save sequencing time and controllers, I use 32 channels on one tree. 16 spiraling one direction and 16 the other direction. Then with SPT1 vampire extension cords, I connect the 2nd megatree to the first, but electrically the strings are reversed from the first tree. It does indeed look like two different sequencing efforts and no one knows its just one.

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I do that with my megatrees. To save sequencing time and controllers, I use 32 channels on one tree. 16 spiraling one direction and 16 the other direction. Then with SPT1 vampire extension cords, I connect the 2nd megatree to the first, but electrically the strings are reversed from the first tree. It does indeed look like two different sequencing efforts and no one knows its just one.

Now we do!!!

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Other than ditching the Fox song, as others have said along with timing issues which most everyone has, I'd change up the column to the right of the doorway. It seems out of place with the garland lights on it. Perhaps remove the lights from around the door frame and add the illusion of a matching column on the left. Could try and complete it with an arch.

 

The lighted door wreath is okay, but is it seen? It is another item which appears to get lost in the shuffle, along with the middle red candy cane. 

 

I'd be tempted to change the layout. You have a lot of items, such as the mini-trees and candy canes, in the background. Why not move some of them to the foreground?

 

There is a lot of space available on the front lawn. Use it to your advantage. 

 

With the addition of the extra channels, you can separate out the eves and other items on the roof line and you can add extra props to give the illusion of more channels.

 

Mainly, play around with your layout in Visualizer and see what you can do with your display and with the extra channels. You're already off to a great start! :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I agree with ditching the fox song.... I hate that song... so I am glad I am not the only one to say it..... add color...and you have alot of dark spots... get lights in the tree not just the trunk...and if you don't use that garage...add something to the doors... but then again.. it's Christmas... park your cars elsewhere and use the garage doors  :) 

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You asked for it............Looks to me like your trying to make 16 channels look like 128 channels too much blinky flashy .........If your budget doesn't allow for more channels I would concentrate on a few items to do the movements with the song, say your yard, and do small changes to the roof line IMHO......

 

Also trash the fox song song and use it in your Halloween display

 

Just my thoughts....(My thoughts and $1.75 will get U coffee at your nearest 711 store)

 

Keep working at it........

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Only my second year coming up and I'm way behind.  Had the benefit of a bigger budget but suffer some of the same items you have going on as others have said about the imbalance in the yard.  The driveway and your self side are lacking.

 

So if I had just enough for 1 item I would add the 16 controller only.  RGB is dropping hard and you could afford to sit out one more season and then get a better deal next year and have more time to integrate it in.

 

With the left side 16 channels I would break the roofline into 6 segments.  Get a few segments around the garage door.  I've seen a fellow with a flat arch concept along the garage soffits or just above the garage doors and that looked great.  You could maybe attach that like others have indicated by running some other cords out to the yard and get a couple of leaping arches using the same channels as the chase bar on the garage.

 

Tough to be adding color, but if you were definetely going to stetch the budget for RGB I would get RGB floods, I went a bit overboard this year and have added 3 more 35 watt units for a total of 6, and bought the LOR RGB flood package when it was on sale.  The 10W have to be closer, but with 8 or them I can do that.  I'm going to check the draw on the individual floods on full white, but I think I can double up on a channel too and probably be able to run 16 heads off one controller to get a little more intensity and be able to space things out a bit more.

 

Lastly, I was going to ditch the fox song this year as the one hit wonder it was, but both of my kids said leave it.  Sort of a running joke that it chasses off the senior citizen light tour bus when it comes on.  I may pull it back a bit in the rotation this year to only play every other cycle or something like that.

 

Anyway the point is, most likely, if you have lots of channels you are older and able to have more disposable income and are less likely on here to like the Fox Song, but you have to remember a lot of your audience is younger and it makes them smile.  And THAT is the reason we do this right?

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And THAT is the reason we do this right?

Well, THAT's not the only reason. We do it for ourselves too. Plus we have our dignity to keep in check. :P

If I didn't enjoy my own display, I wouldn't be doing period.

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Scare away senior citizen buses?? that's the most awesome thing.... to have buses pull up!! but just remember, if you leave that song in, you have to hear it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over..... and so do the neighbors. 

 

believe it or not, you can do alot with 16 channels.  My first year I made a spreadsheet and kept up with the amps and watts for every strand of lights that went on the house.  I had both LED and incandenscents.  Obviously I got more lights out of the LEDs.  you can add a colored spot light, do a little up lighting.. just make sure you do LED because big spot lights take a lot of draw...

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" Sort of a running joke that it chases off the senior citizen light tour bus when it comes on. "

 

Now why would we do something on purpose to chase someone away. I thought our displays were to put smiles on  everyone's face that stops by.

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Now why would we do something on purpose to chase someone away. I thought our displays were to put smiles on  everyone's face that stops by.

Very good point Doug!!!

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This display makes excellent use out of 16 channels

Good lights... Music... not for me and not for my audience. 

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The first problem you have is you need a different house. I have the same issue as my front yard is rather small. I have talked to the neighbor about taking over his yard and he is ok with that. Maybe chat with your neighbor.

 

16 Channels makes it somewhat hard unless you double up items in the display. I would have gone with doubles in the yard and moved the channels to break up the roof line. You also need to have something that is going up and down. Fade up/down twinkle/shimmer in there would have been good as well.

 

I agree with one comment, map out the song to get your highs and lows, foreground music, background beats and set your lights to accomplish that. Again, 16 channels and a small yard make it tough for sure.

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