Show Editor Question

[Guest guest]

I think I fixed a minor issue I have, but want to sanity check. it also got my wife playing with LOR software as I talked her thru it over the phone, so here might be some good come of this..

So, long story short, with all the crazy hours, travel, etc..and the fact my wife instituted a "LOR 24 hour rule" (no major changes to the lights within 24 hurs of me departing on a trip..), this week, the lights at home are just set to come on in the evening and shut off..no sequences running, etc..

So I set up a 1 minute sequence to turn the lights on, loop, and hence stay on. I put that in the animation section of the show editor, and then set it up to run 5:30 to 10:30 each evening.

This morning she called me and said "the lights stayed on all night.."...

That was when the "duh" moment hit, and I realized I had not checked the "turn the lights off at the end of the sequence" box in the animation section. So I'm assuming that is why they stayed on...I have nothing in the shutdown section turning everything off.

So..just want to confirm, clicking that box will turn things off at 10:30...but since the sequence loops, it will NOT look at it and turn it off every minute as the sequence loops back to the beginning...

And for those that say "geez..you are using 4 LOR controllers to just turn some lights and mini-trees, etc on and off?.."...I'll have some basic animation stuff done this weekend, and so all is not lost...but yea, I am guilty of just running out of time due to all kind of other craziness going on..

But, looking back on the first year newbie learning experience, a few "lesson's learned"..

1. You truly have to assume 3-4 times the expected amount of time for set up and shakeout..I had minimal issues wiring lights to controllers, and setting that up, but it is just a slower process than expected.

2. Don't freaking wait until Thanksgiving week to try to finish 14 mini-trees, especially when you find making them becomes monotony very quickly.

3. get the sequencing out of the way..even if you are, like me, in the "animation only for this first year" category...take the time to put something together and get that out of the way, rather than thinking you can put some basic stuff together in a couple hours. And I'm not doing music, or anything complex, and this STILL applies.

4. follow the wife's 24 hour rule...the lights must run and not be touched for 24 hours prior to going out of town..that's TWO violations this month for me..one more and all that will be under the tree for me is coal and maybe 10 feet of SPT-2..:X

5. Accept that this is more than a hobby, you will become obsessed, and use that obsessive energy to start planning for 2011 by February.

One the positive side..

1. the residents of the house, while skeptical, are now saying, when they see the lights "yea, this IS pretty cool..for next year, what if you..."

2. the LOR controller kits were as high quality a kit as I've ever built...4 for 4 with not even an issue.

3. You can't say enough about how easy building your own extension cords and wiring harnesses makes things...

4. its been as fun a hobby/escape from the madness and stress of work than i ever could have imagined..and my wife sees that..it may be the one thing she truly appreciates more than anything else having to do with the whole "christmas lights craziness"..

5. there was never a moment where i had an issue and could not find an answer in this forum..a big thank you to everyone that offered advice both in the forum and via PM.

[jimswinder]

I have a solution to your 24 hour rule...

Just let George know when you are going to be out of town...he'll be MORE than happy to assist your wife...

[Guest guest]

She does fine parking her car all by herself..thanks...:P:P

[jimswinder]

I guess she would have to...with you being gone so much...

[Guest guest]

with it being a low of 26 back home last night, and downright balmy, comparatively, in seattle, it was worth making the trip this week...

But yea, I'd give my left arm to have the set up time back that i lost due to travel.

And now since we've managed to hijack my own thread...any thoughts on the show editor question?

[jimswinder]

I thought that check-box to "Turn All Lights Off" was checked as a default..because I have never checked it.

Perhaps when you scheduled it you didn't change the AM to PM...

but since the sequence loops, it will NOT look at it and turn it off every minute as the sequence loops back to the beginning...

And yes, I do believe it will turn off all your lights at the end of each animation cycle. I noticed last night in my display that the lights go off for a brief moment and then right back on.

[Guest guest]

I unchecked it, thinking everything would shut off at 10:30 PM (confirmed that is set right), and that would be the overriding control.

My assumption now is..either you check the box for a specific tab, or, I guess, run a shutdown sequence that just turns it all off. For my current needs, the checkbox solution makes the most sense.

it does, however, make me scratch my head a bit that when you hit the end of the scheduled time, you can still have lights left on.

But I could be totally wrong about all of this, and not being at home means I just can' test it and verify for myself.

However, after this mornings conversation, my wife is probably, as we speak, starting to do her own sequencing..:shock: