A Very SImple Halloween Setup

[amcdonald307]

Last year, I didn't want to spend a lot of time or energy on a Halloween setup, but I wanted to do a little sumpn-sumpn. If you are in the same boat this year...
1) I bought 10 light-up pumpkins at Walmart last year, but this year I will have the kids carve 10 jack-o-lanterns.
2) Put a string of incandescents in each, random colors or all clear.
3) Arrange them in 2 lines of 5 (or in a circle for that matter).

I put a couple of sequences here for this set up:
Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon) http://lightoramasequences.com/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,42/func,fileinfo/id,507/
Goodnight Moon (Shivaree) http://lightoramasequences.com/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,42/func,fileinfo/id,506/
I also did Thiller, but didn't post it. I use a single white flood to do a little lightning effect in that one. (if anyone wants it let me know).

I hope someone who thought they just didn't have the time can use this... or at least have the timing to a couple of songs...


Attached files

[amcdonald307]

Per a request, Thriller this layout at:
http://lightoramasequences.com/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,42/func,fileinfo/id,530/

For the songs, I used full "unedited" cuts, but I did run them through Audacity to change the variable bit rate. The exact ones I purchased:
Goodnight Moon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=202060760
Werewolves http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=203517710
Thriller http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=204083477

And finally, the fades and intensities were set up for incandescents. For LED lights, I would change everywhere there is a 50% intensity to 20% or 30% to get a better contrast. For the LEDs I use, 50% doesn't really even dim them. The best way to figure that out is plug it in to a controller and give it a try! I don't find it at all unreasonable to have a controller set up in the living room this time of year, though your spouse's mileage may vary...

Even though I am a grizzled vet of 3 years (lol) I do still remember working on my first set up, and I did post this specifically to help a newbie get their feet wet. If you need an answer, rest assured someone else out there does also. If you don't know how to change the intensity (or have any other questions), post and ask it here. Either I or someone else will walk you through it.

[friskybri]

Thanks for sharing. I am going to upload my Halloween sequences. Still working on thriller but for the most part that one is done also.

[JZenor]

Thanks for posting those. They were perfect to get me started. Just bought my LOR system this summer and was only planning for Christmas but thought I might try a simple Halloween setup. This gave me a great start and saved a ton of time.

I did have to skew the audio and slide certain parts .1s left or right to get it to sync properly but that wasn't too bad.

Thanks again!

[friskybri]

If the song is not on the same cd sometimes they r slightly off. I have the same issues when I look at sequences. You would figure they would be the same.

[amcdonald307]

It could be that I DID clip some dead space off the beginning or end when I had it open in Audacity - didn't think I did, but I must have...

If you don't know how to skew it to fit the full version and really want it to just "work", PM me an email address and I'll shoot you out the mp3 I actually did use.
(I do ask that you do have legal purchased copy of the song, but I have no way to check that).

I will try to fix the ones I have out on LORsequences to match full lengths (I'm out of town at the moment, so will have to wait for next week). Can someone tell me, is it just Werewolves, or are the others like that too? (I'll check it myself, but right now I don't have access to my dev system with the original music files, but I do have the mp3's I did use, so I can send those now)

[JZenor]

For me it wasn't just a simple skew. I did have to skew Thriller a little to get the beginning of the song to match but then about two minutes in it was off. So I cut everything from from 2 minutes on then pasted it back in shifted .05 or .1s. Then I had to do the same thing about every minute or so for the rest of the song. Similar thing but didn't seem as bad for Werewolves.

Not a biggie once I figured out cutting and pasting was the quickest way to fix it.

[amcdonald307]

Just to put paid to this thread (until 2011 at least), and to help one visualize what this looks like, here is what I had set up in my living room:
Toccata and Fugue video:

and the sequence:
http://lightoramasequences.com/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,42/func,fileinfo/id,561/

Again, not elaborate, but very effective and so easy a democrat could do it

[johnm160]

Where did you find those pumpkins? I was not able to find anything like those this year.

[amcdonald307]

johnm160 wrote:

Where did you find those pumpkins? I was not able to find anything like those this year.

These are the ones I got at Walmart 2 years ago when they were abundant. I had bought 10 at the reg retail price ($5-6), then after Halloween picked up 2 carts worth at 50cent each (think I got 50 to 60 - didn't count them and didn't get them all out this year) - I actually bought them just for the single C7 bulb and cord in them, didn't need them but for 50 cents...)
I did see them at Walmart this year early on (in Sept), but somebody had cleaned them out before October, and they didn't restock. On a funny side note: I suspect a bar (tavern) bought them all this year. Liquor sellers seem to be my biggest competition in buying holiday decor in the pre-season. We all decorate because the delight it brings to children - but the drunks love it too!