New to Light-o-rama and need advice for audio syncing

[MrFathom]

Hello everyone. I am new to all this and have been displaying lights for many years but only had a Mr Christmas Wireless 4 channel. Over the last 2 years I upgraded my entire display to led lights and got rid of the incans. I finally jumped on LOR this year and am super excited. I know this will take time to learn but upon ordering last week I was able to download the software and use the license key I was emailed. I purchased the package that had the plug and show sd card and 16 channels. (just the starter) I have had fun the last couple days with the software but I feel like I am needing more options. I think I am using the wrong sync.

I am familiar with audio editing so it makes this a little easier to understand. I watched a few youtube videos but not really seeing many for newbies. Most are a bit far advanced. I was able to play around with the software, add my channel labels and use beat wizard but I just feel like it is not what I need. The beats seem far apart and missing the little in betweens I would like to edit. Basically like symbols sounds and things like that. My question is what wizard do you all use? Is there a way to zoom in on the audio track I am syncing to? Again I am new to this so please keep that in mind.

My other question is how do I add the picture to the software so I can set up a visual? I do not seem to see how others do that in the videos. I took a photo of my house and want to add it in so I can watch the animation as it goes. Right now I just am watching the channel flash on the sequence screen but it would help so much to add the house image and save it so it is always there to visualize the syncing.

I am a fast learner but want to make it a bit more advanced on the sequence editor and add in more than just the beat effects. I am not sure if I am using the right terms to describe it but I watch others shows online and see they are not just synced to the beat but more synced down to the sounds in general. What should I use to do this? Also, Any links tp "how to videos" for a newbie just starting would be great. The one thing I am adding is small arches and looking to find the best way to add them this year. Just simple 5 channel ones til I upgrade next year. So pointers on that will help as well.

I have an urge to learn and see another 64 channels coming next year. The addiction has started.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I just need pointers and I am hoping to make a few friends in the community who can offer their wisdom and advice. After all we all got to start somewhere.

This is my display from last year. It is approx 25,000 led and yes, it was running off only 4 channels and never had issues on one outlet for the mr christmas so this should not be a problem with LOR controllers The only difference is I am adding 8,000 more led's this year to add a switch between blue wall and green wall and adding a second color to the roof as well.

Pardon the griswold style lights but hey it's just me... 

Edited August 29, 2016 by MrFathom
Missing info

[Brucey]

"My other question is how do I add the picture to the software so I can set up a visual? "

In Visualizer, click new, then it will prompt you to add a picture for the background.  Put your house picture in there and then 'draw' all of the decorations using the options available to you (etc. draw light strings, CCR's etc.) from the toolbar or menu.

Then when you run the simulation, your house will appear 'blank' until it gets the commands from Sequence Editor.  And depending on what you're using, don't forget to start Control Panel first.

[MrFathom]

3 minutes ago, Brucey said:

 

"In Visualizer, click new, then it will prompt you to add a picture for the background.  Put your house picture in there and then 'draw' all of the decorations using the options available to you (etc. draw light strings, CCR's etc.) from the toolbar or menu."

Awesome! Thank you so much. Now I can play around a little better today with seeing it in action.

Thank you for taking the time to respond

 

[Mr. P]

Other than the timing beat all the little things you want to add in you have to do your self. On the top bar you can click on the waveform to see the music and next to the "play" button you will see the "zoom time in" and the "zoom time out" which will enlarge the wave form and shrink it so you can get a better look at when certain beats start and stop.

[Mega Arch]

Welcome aboard!!!

For your question about videos for newbies, John Storms has some great info here:

https://sites.google.com/site/listentoourlights/home/how-to

And LOR's is here:

http://www1.lightorama.com/#

Good luck

- Daniel 

[Mr. P]

5 minutes ago, Mega Arch said:

Welcome aboard!!!

For your question about videos for newbies, John Storms has some great info here:

https://sites.google.com/site/listentoourlights/home/how-to

Awesome link! 

[MrFathom]

Thank you for the links.

I will browse through them today.

Hopefully they have something for changing the little beats within the presets in the wizard.

Thanks again and any more suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

This is something I have looked forward to for years! I dont even have the box yer as I bought it in the summer sale but getting a jump is making this even more exciting. One thing I am loving is the possibilities are endless. (within financial limits) lol

[Orville]

9 hours ago, MrFathom said:

Thank you for the links.

I will browse through them today.

Hopefully they have something for changing the little beats within the presets in the wizard.

Thanks again and any more suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

This is something I have looked forward to for years! I dont even have the box yer as I bought it in the summer sale but getting a jump is making this even more exciting. One thing I am loving is the possibilities are endless. (within financial limits) lol

I use the beat wizard quite often as well as the tapper and VU wizards.   When you have the beat wizards pop up box open you can make changes by checking the square boxes and entering numbers where  appropriate.  I do this all the time to get faster, slower beats as well as shorter to longer on times of specific lights.

Best thing I can tell you here is to play around with it, use the 2X faster and higher settings, try the slower settings, change numbers, there is no set way to do it, some work much better than others.    And everything you do can be undone with the UNDO option.   If I try it with options I want, then it doesn't look like I want or doesn't work out the way I hoped, I note it down, and try with different numbers and options until I can get it as close as possible, HOWEVER, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, it will never be a perfect beat factor, you will have to go in and clean it up manually to make it be as close to the synchronization to the beat you want by turning some areas off and turning others on.   It's inevitable that you will have to manually TWEAK the sequence for the best effects and visual appeal.   And this applies to using ANY and ALL the wizards available in the SE.

Good Luck.

 

[MrFathom]

Thank you for the advice everyone. I am finding it difficult to work with the beat wizard timing and am currently watching some videos on it. If you all have specific videos for timing and adjusting in between the beats (for sounds and shrinking ) please dont be shy to share them. I am wanting to learn and having a hard time finding the right videos to give more of a one on one approach in newbie terms.

My timing between beats is the problem. Too bad they dont have an automated feature to do it all for you lol. I'm sure it will come to me I am just having trouble with timing certain things in the music for the channels. Not a program error, just my lack of understanding. I REFUSE to give up

*** On a side note, I tried two different computers and when editing I keep having an audio hiccup. I am not sure why because none of the other videos seem to show anyone having this problem. When I highlight a section to play it, it pauses for a second or two, then plays but right at the end of the selected area, it cuts out sound for another second or two then plays like a half of a second audio from the end of the section. Both cpu's are running Windows 7. One is Windows 7 professional. Is there a reason for this or something I can adjust to stop this? It did it on multiple songs I tried just to see what was going on. I thought it was hardware but two different computers did the same thing on the newest version of the SE   --- Any suggestions?

Once I get past that I might be a little better. It's just hard to hear the audio portion with it having hiccups.

Are there people that do custom sequences for hire if I provide the layout? I am not sure if I will have time to work on this and perfect it before christmas this year. I think for the first year I am going to have to learn the guides then focus on programming next year. It is still new to me so I feel like a kindergarten kid doing high school work HAHA! 

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond

 

 

Edited August 30, 2016 by MrFathom

[Mr. P]

Ensure that your music is all constant bit rate (CBR) and not variable bit rate (VBR). VBR may have  a better quality sound but in this business it may create some timing issues.

[Orville]

Also note that VBR MP3 files in the SE can sometimes generate an error when loading the sequence back into the SE and won't load the sequence at all.   I've had this happen a time or so, converted to CBR and all worked well.

Also to check your MP3 files to see if they are VBR or CBR, they *should be* CBR, you can use a program called MP3tag, it allows you to see and even change info in an MP3 file, it won't convert an VBR to a CBR, you need a music editor like Audacity for that.

MP3Tag can be downloaded here: MP3Tag Download Link

Current Version is 2.78 as of this posting.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Orville

[MrFathom]

Thanks. I realized it tended to only be doing it to one song I had. Hasnt done it on others yet.

The advice you all gave has really helped me. The video tutorials were a HUGE help. I messed up a bit and am not happy with my sequence but I am reworking things and opting for a few pre done ones for now until I get bettrer at it. After reading the forums it seems many favor the tapper so I may have to start researching that as well.

I got my 1000' of wire and all my clips today and LOR just shipped my order so this was a good jump on learning before everything got here. I just have to focus on how to edit channels. I opted for a couple premade sequences by someone else to get me more familiar with the lor. If you guys have any "editing" channel sequence links please let me know.

Once again you all have been a great help with your suggestions. Cant wait to master this! 

[Mr. P]

By editing a particular channel do you mean change the name, color, device, channel? If so then just left click on that channel and a box opens with the channel info in it.

Also, you can open more then one sequence at once, so if you like one particular affect in another sequence open both then copy and paste.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Mr. P

[Orville]

Mr. P. is correct.  I sometimes may have up to 8 different sequences open at once to copy and paste to/from because I found an effect I wanted to use in other sequences.   Some effects I may have created for a special set up, like getting Orange opaque C7 bulbs to flicker like an actual candle flame for my 5 Styrofoam  Jack-O'-Lanterns, but I will move each J-O-L's sequence line around so that it's not flickering exactly the same in every sequence.  Plus I may make a few changes along the way to enhance or even detract from the effect.    Don't want everything looking the exact same, no canned sequences allowed. LOL

[Vince4xmas]

Orville, when I run MP3TAG it depicts Bitrate at 128 kBit/s for all songs. So I have verified all songs are CBR?

 

[k6ccc]

I realize this is a several months old thread, but I also find it hard to get the timing right. I have a different solution - I don't have to. Yes, all my sequences are perfectly timed to the music - but I did not do it. The centerpiece of my display is a 12 string pixel tree. I'm very open that I am not creative enough to sequence the tree worth a darn. I am perfectly able to make the software do what I want, but I don't have the creativity to know what I want, so I purchase all of my sequences for the pixel tree. The people who write those sequences ARE GOOD at the timing (among other things). I then add my 3,000 other channels to work around what's happening on the pixel tree. I can expand on the sequencing (as it pertains to this thread) in perfect timing because it's already been done.

Sent from my Droid Turbo via Tapatalk, so blame any typos or spelling errors on Android