Starting up - Help Please

[Brad 185]

All, this will be my first attempt to order from Light-O-Rama so I want to get it right, plus I'm in a time crunch before Christmas hits. What I'm looking for help with is starting and what I need.

I want to be able to have two 16 channel device, add music and outdoor speakers, but not have a computer tied up. Can anyone direct me on what products I need.

Greatly appreciated!

[LOR Staff]

To get a feel for how everything fits together in the new world of show animation, take a look at our typical setups: http://www1.lightorama.com/typical-setups/ 

Here's a really good way to get started if you want to use off-the-shelf lights: http://www1.lightorama.com/lighting-starter-package/

You may want to download the Light-O-Rama Software demo and try it out to see how you create your personal show. 
http://www1.lightorama.com/sequencing-software-download/ We do require the Microsoft Windows operating system for our software.

You can use your own lights if they are incandescent or LEDs and can be connect to a standard wall plug.  See more information here (including a link to how many lights you can control): http://www1.lightorama.com/your-lights/

Thinking about getting into pixels (any light, any color at any time)?  Here's a good place to see what is available:  http://store.lightorama.com/rgbdevices.html

Not interested in writing your own shows? No need to worry. We have plenty of pre-built shows (we call them sequences) that will make any venue look great. Checkout our sequence store at http://sequences.LightORama.com

Don't want to dedicate a computer and speaker system to your show? Consider our ShowTime Central. It includes a specialized mini-computer just for running LOR shows as well as a small FM transmitter so you can broadcast on the radio. See details at http://store.lightorama.com/shce.html 

You can also join our forum where there are a plenty of helpful LOR users.http://forums.lightorama.com/

We don't do custom work but if you have a project where you think you need a bit of help then please contact an official Light-O-Rama partner. They specialize in making sure your venue will look great. See the latest partner list at: http://www1.lightorama.com/partners/

Thanks for considering Light-O-Rama!

[philnuffer]

I'm not sure you can make it in the amount of time left, but here goes. 

1. Purchase the basic starter package http://store.lightorama.com/rese16chstpa.html

1A.  Include a Mini-Director Upgrade with the Starter Package

2. Purchase a CTB16PC controller. You get 16 channels in each controller and 1 comes with the starter package. http://store.lightorama.com/showtime-products.html

3. You will need Sequences. You can purchase them from LOR, or Google "LOR sequences" to find them available to change to your setup.   http://sequences.lightorama.com/christmas-sequences

5. Of course, you will need lights, etc. Purchase LED if possible. They last longer and use less electricity.

6. Join the Lightorama users group. Lots of help there.

This should get you started, expansion and upgrading will be entirely up to you.

Phil

Edited November 10, 2017 by philnuffer

[Brad 185]

philnuffer, thank you so much for the great assist, it means a lot. I do this for the small community I'm in and trying to step up my game for a couple of folks that really enjoy our display. Do you know if you can add speakers to this for better sound?

[tomsusie]

12 hours ago, Brad 185 said:

philnuffer, thank you so much for the great assist, it means a lot. I do this for the small community I'm in and trying to step up my game for a couple of folks that really enjoy our display. Do you know if you can add speakers to this for better sound?

yes you can add speakers.  simplest way if your broadcasting on FM is to use a receiver tuned to the FM channel you are broadcasting on and attach by wires or bluetooth to outdoor speakers.  there are other ways as well especially if using a computer to run your show but this is probably the quickest, easiest method to start with.

[james morris]

You need a FM transmitter do a search on the forum there are good inforamation there

[Brad 185]

Thanks, you re making this so much easier versus trying to read between the line to figure out what is needed, THANKS!!

[Mr. P]

Keep in mind when purchasing sequences from LOR that there are two versions; "Ready To Go" which are locked and cannot be changed or edited and the "You Can Modify" which are not locked and you can modify to fit your needs.

The "Ready To Go" are great the first year when you have the starter package but they are not so great as your show grows and you can't modify them.

[Brad 185]

Thanks Mr. P, I am looking at the "modify" version as I don't want to be locked down. Appreciate it!

[JPat]

On 11/10/2017 at 4:14 PM, philnuffer said:

I'm not sure you can make it in the amount of time left, but here goes. 

 

Phil

People told me the same last year and I bought on Black Friday with my ordering and it is only Nov. 13th.  I was up and running on the 10th of December using 45 of my 48 channels through New Years Eve.  This included making 4 firesticks, putting together 6 mini trees with 900 lights (R, G, W), and then running all of the zip cords and wiring to controllers.  I will say that my static display was already in place, so I was not completely starting from scratch.

While is was not the full season like some displays, I had a great felling of satisfaction and neighborhood loved it.  By the week of Christmas, I had cars pulling up with children who would sit and watch the show for 10-15min.

Now that being said, I am a little OCD so once the software was purchased, it consumed my every extra minute for weeks.  I was also lucky enough to have my oldest daughter who was 15 at the time as excited as I was, so she worked on 3 songs as well.

OP, jump in and go for it.  The amount of info on here as well as tutorials and youtube will be a great starting point.

[Brad 185]

Thanks JPat, I'm excited for it to arrive (Thursday). I've used a different one (Mr. Christ---) (read between the lines, LOL) and really enjoyed it, but some of my neighbors have let me know they love it, but wanted to know when I was going to step up my game. Well, that time is coming very soon!!! My son-in-law and Grandson are as excited as I am to get this started.

I have all the lights, inflatables and so on, just need to go to the next level. I know it will take me a couple of weeks to get everything laid out, but to me it's not work, this is fun. I hope this is just the first step on several to come for the Christmas season. I did order the FM whole house so my neighbors that come down can avoid standing out in the cold and enjoy the show from their cars.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!!!

[JPat]

2 hours ago, Brad 185 said:

Thanks JPat, I'm excited for it to arrive (Thursday). I've used a different one (Mr. Christ---) (read between the lines, LOL) and really enjoyed it, but some of my neighbors have let me know they love it, but wanted to know when I was going to step up my game. Well, that time is coming very soon!!! My son-in-law and Grandson are as excited as I am to get this started.

I have all the lights, inflatables and so on, just need to go to the next level. I know it will take me a couple of weeks to get everything laid out, but to me it's not work, this is fun. I hope this is just the first step on several to come for the Christmas season. I did order the FM whole house so my neighbors that come down can avoid standing out in the cold and enjoy the show from their cars.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!!!

It will be a huge jump from your previous animation and next year will be even better.  I have added elements to mine this year and going through adding them to last years sequences.  In doing so, I am changing things up being that I am much more familiar with the software.

Congrats and have fun.