When your Synchronized Light Display is same ole' same ole

[PMC]

Surfing4Dough wrote:

PMC wrote:

I don't really do this for my 15 minutes of fame, I love Music, Lights & Christmas and I adapted very quickly to make a good show.

The way I started was many years ago my son was getting his treatments for Leukemia and he had to stay in the house almost all the time so he was on the computer and he stumbled on William's Wizards in Winter video on youtube and as he was watching he looked up at me and said, Dad....you can do this, can't you? what was I going to say. So I spent all of early 2007 trying to build my own controllers, I found how to build one on a DIY website, there was no mention of LOR at this time. so 10 months into it and not having much success I searched again and I found Wowlights, I emailed them before Thanksgiving 2007 and I purchased my 1st 16 channel controller and by the 1st week of December I was up and running.I kept the entire project to myself until a week before lightup when I told the wife and the night I turned the system on, we took Michael out to dinner and as we were driving home I put the radio on the frequency I was transmitting the lights on and I was looping WiW and he heard the song and said.....Hey, Turn that up I like this song, and as we got closer to the house and he didn't see it right away and we told him to look out the car window and he started to give a big smile and looked and said, You did it...you really did it. I will never forget that

and folks that's my reason for the lighting season

and if you look at my LOR forums sign up date it was December 2008, I spent all 2008 just watching and learning I didn't feel good enough to participate in any discussions on here, and if you look at my videos from 2007 and one from 2008 you can see I learned alot on this forum, and I hope I help the new people as much as the seasoned lighting pros taught me back in all of 2008 and they didn't even know they did.

but now with all this competition and if I should go bigger and stronger, I asked my son, who is now going on 15 said, are you nuts?.... your the best at this better than those wannabe people

And has anybody noticed that this forum now has over 10,000 members

so here I am putting songs together for 2012 lighting season

It is very possible that the "other display(s)" that has invaded your territory has a son that "stumbled on [your] Wizards in Winter... and as he was watching he looked up at [his dad] and said, Dad....you can do this, can't you? What was [he] going to say?"

How can you blame them for having a display? Think of how blessed you are. Think of how blessed those other dads must feel. They aren't competition. We are all in a wonderful and privileged group together that gets to bring joy to lots of sons and daughters in such a unique way. If we reach a point where we can no longer be content with "just that" then it is time to move on to another hobby.

Well what you said resonated in my head all night, I own http://pittsburghlights.com and for my local town http://wheelinglights.com and i am going to put a free ad in the local papers inviting everybody who does this "hobby" or even has a static display to email me and submit videos/photos of their displays and let them have a page of their own on either of these websites this is for the ones who can't afford to host their own website, plus I can give them personalized emails too with that URL, I will do this for free and I will not put ads all over the websites.....or maybe I will have ads

I know this is very small contribution and I'm sure nobody will take me up on it. but when I was starting it would have been great to have a place to post my videos locally

[Guest Don Gillespie]

I think everyone has their reason for doing Christmas lights, Paul your stoy touched me in a way I can't tell you, the whole Christmas seson is about family, Robin its a crying shame you aren't doing a display I have heard so much about you on this forum, George I am like you in a way, doing Christmas lights is what makes me happy, my wife loves it and so does my family, the day that I find this more work than fun is the day I sell everything (but thats not going to be for a while) I enjoy when people come to my house to see the display because watching Christmas lights with music takes everyone back to their youth even for a few precious minutes, they forget about their troubles, and it brings a smile to their faces, in short I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and I hope to see all on the forum so I can either pick their brains or laugh and cry with them, happy sequencing for 2012



Paul I still like your trees

[yukon]

PMC,

This Forum caught my intrest as I read the title. Like you I believe it was back in 2007 when I first saw LOR in action with the Holdman Display. Like you I had already had a fascination with Christmas lights and I am a Professional Musician so It was a perfect combination for me. It took me a a few years to save up the money to buy a few controllers and lights and what have you....spent a ton of time like everyone else here reading the Threads to understand the "what and how to".. I went to see a somewhat local dispaly even before I started doing this myself....that house was about 30 minutes away.

I did my first LOR display in 2010 and it was a hit. I kinda felt bad for some local light enthusiasts as I think I may have stole their thunder...But it was only because my display was different as everyone else was doing static not because I was any better.

I figured sooner or later more people will see my display or the tons that are out there on You tube and all the other media avenues and local LOR displays will start to show up.

My satisfaction is from what I created and it will always be a little different from what anyone else will create. I like the idea that there will be more local LOR enthusiast and it pushes us to strive to do a little more....In the end we all win as it pushes our creativity and the Viewers "Fans" reap the benefits of our work!

[friskybri]

There has to be a mixture of RGB and regular christmas lights. You will lose the Christmas in all RGB. I dont think anyone here knows if you took all your elements in your display and went RGB you will have 5,000 channels plus. Everyone is so quick to run to RGB over crackers display. Yes it was cool, its the right size for his display. I can see alot of RGBs next year for sale in here because you will simply not have the time to program a 30 min show. I thought of doing rgb's on everything but after what I wanted I saw 4830 channels on the house alone. I saw a few other RGB's and thought those need alot of work.
Robin is right People think by going big is better. I look at alot of videos online here and see huge displays and say those really suck. Keeping it a size where you wont loose the cool effect. Take what crackers did and put it to he size of Georges Simmons display and I know it will suck then or you will be programming 6 months for one song.

[lightzilla]

I know my display wont change much from year to year do to the $$$$ factor. I refuse to go into debt to make my display. I welcome those who want to (Light Up People Lives) with lights on their house.

To the best of my knowledge only one other display within a 1 hour drive has a musical display & everyone else is in the City just over 1 hour away.

However if the truth be known it is me who actually is not liking the display no matter how good I could get it to look or how bad it could look. The display has almost taken over my life. Outside of the Christmas display which is my life (now) my otherwise life is like what Katy Perry said in her song "Hot & Cold"......now I am "plain boring".

When a display takes you from things you liked way more than this, when it starts to take you from family & friends & turns you into a hermit then perhaps it is time to "Chill-out & re access" why we put up lights.

I use to run my display from the heart & now I run it from sight. I use to know what made folks go awe that is so cute & take pictures. The display moved peoples heart strings & got them to relax & enjoy Christmas, now they may leave & vibrate like someone hitting a tuning fork, but folks may not be as relaxed as the display use to leave the folks.

This year I backed off & began to enjoy my life a bit more . If my display was as good as Lindsay Lights or any other "Wow" display I would have still backed off & I would still consider selling all like I am now.

[David Rise]

Because of me, my neighbor across the street, put lights up. A few houses down, they added more. The other 3 houses that usually put up lights every year, put up MORE!

I highly suspect that next year, they'll put up even more lights. In a few years, this just might be the block that everyone comes to.

I think it's awesome! All because I did a show this year.
That alone makes it worth it.

I thought about changing stuff for next year, but what a pain. Since I'm the only one in the neighborhood doing it, I'm just going to add a couple of things and spend more time on my sequences.

[friskybri]

I think most people would like to hear new music, more of the sequencing changes then Bigger and better.

[yukon]

Agree...What catches my eye is the sequencing...color changes and Music choice.

[jeffandnicole]

The biggest compliment I get is around Halloween, when a few people ask when I'm putting up the lights again this year.

I never have lines of vehicles outside my house. Thankfully. It keeps the neighbors from getting irritated.

I look at my display and wished I could have done more...or done it better. But I sit inside my house some nights and can hear people's radios from the street. They are enjoying it.

One day, I happened to be looking out the window and watched someone walk up the driveway to look at the Light-o-Rama box, and possibly went home and checked out the website...free advertising for Dan! Maybe they purchased some equipment, and have their own display going on somewhere.

And to me, that's what counts. Whether someone sits outside for 1 song or every song, hopefully they enjoyed the display. If they want to create their own display because of what they saw, go for it. Sure, there's a certain level of competition, but if you're in it for the competition factor alone, then you're probably not enjoying what you're doing. My display isn't going to win any awards. I don't even send it in to the local news stations. To me - it's a hobby...one of many I enjoy.

[caniac]

David Rise wrote:

Because of me, my neighbor across the street, put lights up. A few houses down, they added more. The other 3 houses that usually put up lights every year, put up MORE!

I highly suspect that next year, they'll put up even more lights. In a few years, this just might be the block that everyone comes to.

I think it's awesome! All because I did a show this year.
That alone makes it worth it.

I thought about changing stuff for next year, but what a pain. Since I'm the only one in the neighborhood doing it, I'm just going to add a couple of things and spend more time on my sequences.

that has happened here!! Really awesome, 5 years ago we did a couple of inflatables and not much else was done in this area but as we kicked it up a notch and "LOR'd up" the rest of the neighbors have gotten into the act. Now the town has adopted a Christmas-town "theme" for 2012 with one guy moving his LOR display downtown. It's contagious I guess.

More folks were decorating for Halloween too!

[De Trommelslager]

David & caniac, that brings back some fond memories!

In the small town I grew up in, there was one street that all of the houses had lights and props up. The street had a cul de sac at one end (back when streets were made wide). They called it Candy Cane Lane, and every house had a 4 foot candy cane on each side of their driveway.

A couple of the neighbors build a wooden airplane, lit it and set it up in the middle of the cul de sac. Santa Claus would be there in the evenings sitting in the plane, giving candy canes out and letting parents take pictures.

Streams of cars would slowly drive down the street looking at the lights, and going to see those lights always was one of the highlights of the season for me. I remember one house had a huge (or at least it was in my young mind) Snoopy sitting on a huge red doghouse in their front yard, one home had a working ferris wheel with elves taking the rides, and there was lights everywhere.

Those drives up that street were experiences that have never been duplicated for me. I'd love to go back to that time; that place!



I have a young son, and those memories of Christmas when I was growing up are among the fondest. My goal for doing a LOR display is to hopefully give my boy some of those same fond memories, and build those memories for the other kids that come to see it. If every house on my street did the same thing, in those kids minds it would be much the same as what I remember of "Candy Cane Lane". Only one does any lights at all, and that is a string around their front door.

If our house having LOR spurs the others to decorate, then I am all for it. Rather than compete, I'd be willing to help them where I could. In the end, it is about the people and relationships; not the competition. Who knows, LOR might make get the neighbors involved with one another, and make the neighborhood what a neighborhood once was. And that would be very much worth the cost of admission.

Isn't building pleasant memories what this hobby is about? What is it we (collectively) are trying to do?

[R Weiland]

Robin wrote:

Okay here is my two cents. Take it or leave it.

If you do it because it make you, your family and others happy then continue. If you do it for competition and the competition makes you happy then continue.

However, if it consumes your life, if it consumes your wallet, if it takes away from family time the remainder of the year then back off a bit. I offer this from experience.

For three years, 365 days a year I ate and slept my display. I built things no one else has built, designed things no one else had. However, I was tired. I never went anywhere during Christmas. I had a good time, loved playing Santa, loved donating the money to my charity but it became a job.

I truly believe that the more channels you acquire the quality of your sequencing suffers as well. Twelve to twenty hours per minute of music is just Not fun after a few years.

Three years ago I decided I was going to change my display. I started selling some items. Last year in injury prevented me from doing the display. This summer I sold everything, including 49 controllers. (I wish I would have kept five.)

I would suggest that you have 2-4 key elements in your display each year. Concentrate on doing those items perfectly. Change them up from year to year to keep you fresh. I believe the optimal number of channels to do good is around 128 or so.

Most importantly, take time off. Don't post on the forums, don't read them. Walk away, read a book, go to a few movies. Pay attention to your family. Hell, paint your house. Then start back with a fresh outlook and a fresh mind.

As far as contest are concerned I have a love hate with them. Pretty much I feel they are stupid. A few years back a guy thirty miles from me bragged about all year long about winning a TV contest. I mean it was brutal. So the next year I entered. I don't think anyone ever won first and second place before. Never heard from him again. That was the first and only contest I ever entered. However, the love part was the $500 mall gift card!! My wife and daughter love it. 

Happy New Year!

Very sound advice!

[Surfing4Dough]

PMC wrote:

Surfing4Dough wrote:

PMC wrote:

I don't really do this for my 15 minutes of fame, I love Music, Lights & Christmas and I adapted very quickly to make a good show.

The way I started was many years ago my son was getting his treatments for Leukemia and he had to stay in the house almost all the time so he was on the computer and he stumbled on William's Wizards in Winter video on youtube and as he was watching he looked up at me and said, Dad....you can do this, can't you? what was I going to say. So I spent all of early 2007 trying to build my own controllers, I found how to build one on a DIY website, there was no mention of LOR at this time. so 10 months into it and not having much success I searched again and I found Wowlights, I emailed them before Thanksgiving 2007 and I purchased my 1st 16 channel controller and by the 1st week of December I was up and running.I kept the entire project to myself until a week before lightup when I told the wife and the night I turned the system on, we took Michael out to dinner and as we were driving home I put the radio on the frequency I was transmitting the lights on and I was looping WiW and he heard the song and said.....Hey, Turn that up I like this song, and as we got closer to the house and he didn't see it right away and we told him to look out the car window and he started to give a big smile and looked and said, You did it...you really did it. I will never forget that

and folks that's my reason for the lighting season

and if you look at my LOR forums sign up date it was December 2008, I spent all 2008 just watching and learning I didn't feel good enough to participate in any discussions on here, and if you look at my videos from 2007 and one from 2008 you can see I learned alot on this forum, and I hope I help the new people as much as the seasoned lighting pros taught me back in all of 2008 and they didn't even know they did.

but now with all this competition and if I should go bigger and stronger, I asked my son, who is now going on 15 said, are you nuts?.... your the best at this better than those wannabe people

And has anybody noticed that this forum now has over 10,000 members

so here I am putting songs together for 2012 lighting season

It is very possible that the "other display(s)" that has invaded your territory has a son that "stumbled on [your] Wizards in Winter... and as he was watching he looked up at [his dad] and said, Dad....you can do this, can't you? What was [he] going to say?"

How can you blame them for having a display? Think of how blessed you are. Think of how blessed those other dads must feel. They aren't competition. We are all in a wonderful and privileged group together that gets to bring joy to lots of sons and daughters in such a unique way. If we reach a point where we can no longer be content with "just that" then it is time to move on to another hobby.

Well what you said resonated in my head all night, I own http://pittsburghlights.com and for my local town http://wheelinglights.com and i am going to put a free ad in the local papers inviting everybody who does this "hobby" or even has a static display to email me and submit videos/photos of their displays and let them have a page of their own on either of these websites this is for the ones who can't afford to host their own website, plus I can give them personalized emails too with that URL, I will do this for free and I will not put ads all over the websites.....or maybe I will have ads

I know this is very small contribution and I'm sure nobody will take me up on it. but when I was starting it would have been great to have a place to post my videos locally

Sounds like a good idea.

We used to love Light Up Night in Pittsburgh when we lived there for a few years. Nothing like coming down Rte 279 and making the bend and seeing the city all lit up for the first time. Coming out of Pitt tunnel or from Mt Washington also is an amazing view.