marquee effect

[Bryan K]

Hello...



I have a question about creating a marquee effect with LOR.... where the lights chase, or scroll from right to left such as along a rain gutter....



The question is how many strings of lights are needed to make a good effect.... I have tried this effect for a couple of years and I am close to figuring it out... I first tried 3 strings of c-7 lights with each string slightly off from eachother in a strait line... It was close... I then tried 4 stings of lights with each bulb about 3 inches off from eachother and that looked a lot closer but I am still not there so I thought I would ask what is a good number of strings for the effect... is there an average???



As far as the programming goes I am assuming that the effect is created by simply turning on one string as another goes off.... for example 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4....



thanks

[-klb-]

Actually, the commercial sign controllers are usually only three or four channels. I think what you are missing is the motion blur that helps 24 frame per second film be interpreted by our brains as smooth motion.

To simulate motion blur, make use of ramps. Look at some of the programming examples for arches. Some of the options include:

• 
  
• A quick ramp up, time on, and a longer ramp down
  
• A time on, and a longer ramp down
  
• A quick ramp up, immediately followed by a longer ramp down
  
• Just ramps down

All I can suggest is set up a sample, either on a controller, or in the animation window, and give it a try. I think you will find that any of these should help make it look more like you are looking for.

[Anthony in Houston]

Bryan

I have been doing this for 4 years now. I use the C7 bulbs and have outlined my roof and everything in the yard with the multi circuit strings. I use 5 channels for the strings. The bulbs are spaced 12 inches on center when assembled.

You can do a lot with the programming and can make a lot of different chasses and fades.

As I said above I did my strings with 5 channels and here is the reason....the lengths of my strings worked out that every string I made was divisible by 5 and that is the only reason. I had a lot of strings that went around trees and every one of them was either 25 feet long or 35 feet long. This was also true for the roof which was 125 feet long.

Ok now before someone jumps in and says 125 foot string of C7's is too long remember this is 5 channels and that makes 25 bulbs on a string that is 125 feet long. If you do the math there is very little amps per channel.

Now if I were going to make the strings again I would use 8 channels and not worry about being divided by anything. An 8 channel string can make some very good looking chase sequences. Slow chasses look good and fast chases look better.

It did take a lot of wire and a lot of time making these strings and yes I would do it again in a heartbeat I like the look of it very much.

I have a Power Point I can email you or anyone else that want it, just PM me with your email address and I will be happy to send it out.

Here are a few tips for you to think about.

When making the strings use a jig like the one I made in the PP.

Think about where the controller will be in the display and you can run longer lead in wires to the controller for multiple sets of strings. Example.. I place a controller by a flower bed with a four plug outlet box for each channel and then run longer lead in wires for items in the display say a tree, fence, side of the drive and a mega tree. All you need to do is calculate the amps.

If this is on your roof ridge you will need to make custom wire retainers to hold the string to the roof.

You may need stronger clips for the eves also.

Dont stretch the spt cord when working with it.

Dont allow the cord to twist, those orange extension cord reels work very well when making the strings.

If you have a amp draw problem using the 7 watt bulbs change to the 5 watt bulbs and this will drop the amp load.

Any questions just ask.

Anthony

[Senior]

I use 6 colors on 6 strings. (one color per string)



Purchased bulk C-9 Spool with sockets at 36 inch intervals. Cut into 6 equal length strings and placed side by side with sockets offset by 6 inch intervals then zip tied together.



One string now outlines my entire roofline and front of house.

To offset the current draw.... strings 1, 2, and 3 are on channels 1,2, and 3 of the controller and strings 4, 5, and 6 are on channels 9, 10, and 11 of the controller. Using a 1602W that has 2 power inputs from 2 seperate house circuits. No overloading.

Doug

[michael.farney]

I use 5. The trick is the ramps as mentioned before. You need to format the ramps so multiple bulbs are on at once at different intensity leaving the motion tail blur. (Ex. bulb three 100%, bulb two 66%, bulb one 33%.) Just overlap your fades like that so multiple channels are on at once using fades. 2-3 bulbs on at once using 3-5 strands will work flawlessly. It depends how close you want the bulb spacing.