Is the light o rama system the best?

[potash man]

i know this is probably not the right question to ask on this forum, but from what i've read everyone seems pretty honest about the products. anyway i work for a company that puts out a display in out local christmas lights river attraction. last year i created a small and simple display with chaser controls, rope lights, wood and paint. this year they want me to "expand" the display and so i will. i plan on having our greeting sign which will be 3' high letters and approximatly 80' long. each letter will be a single channel from two ctb16pc prebuilt ready to go controllers. my whole display will be using 8 controllers doing several different things. i will be using the showtime mp3 director and plan on purchasing the advanced showtime software suite to run it all. i just need to know what problems or issues there may be with the lor equipment that i will need to be prepared for. i don't know if this image will show up or not but it is the general idea of what i am going to do this year. waving santa, dancing trees, present loading and unloading, and corn growing from the gifts. anyway any comments or heads up would be great and i can get my stuff ordered and get started.

[spomalley]

I can't really say whether LOR is "the best" because everybody has different requirements and preferences, what I can say it is rock-solid. If you do have any problems with the system LOR has excellent customer service and you can always post here where you'll receive help. As for your set-up, theres just one thing I've noticed, you seem to be using Residential Series Controllers in a commercial display, unfortunately these aren't built for commercial use and don't follow all regulations you need to adhere to. For commercial setups the Pro series follows all commercial regulations.

Apart from that it looks great.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of LightORama

[digdeepfundraising]

I'm new this year but after all the research I did I found lor to be the most helpful and very fair on price and a lot of followers compared to others the forum is full of people that will help when ever you have questions or problems and and I would say the lor support team is good too but I guess everyone has the own opinion

That's just mine

Dan

[PaulXmas]

You better start using the software!

Buying the hardware is the easy part.

Programming takes a long time!

My first year using 32 channels (2 controllers took about 8 hours for each minute of a song)

if you are doing just animation then programming takes less time.

[potash man]

thanks y'all. i was reading some other posts about the controllers and i never had really thought about regulations on public grounds, seeing as last year the show was in someones backyard along the river with no oversight. not that i did a shaby job or anything like that but i'm sure the inspectors could have found something. i will change my controllers to the pro controllers. i can at least then use them without the show director to run independent sequences if i need to. this will be my first time using this kind of equipment and only my second display. i have already made several sequences that i want to use and i think i am getting the editor figured out, but i am only working with the demo that i downloaded. i love the simplicity of it and can't wait to get my display built and running. i read about triacs or something like that going out is that something that the new models this year will have an issue with or is just hit and miss for the most part?

[Rick Childers]

I think LOR is the best at what they do. I prefer their software over the other options that are available. You will also be hard pressed to find better support. LOR in my opinion is the right place for just about anyone new to get started, because it just doesn't get easier than this. They are the only vendor I have seen that provides this type of open forum for everyone to use. What you will ultimately use really comes down to what you are trying to do, and no matter what I do, they will be a core part of my display.

[Santas Helper]

Do you like to breathe?

Then your answer is my answer to your question.

Yes, and LOR is the best!!!

I don't know why others are holding back, but I wont.

On a side note, keeping the color of the lettering the same color. Easier to read IMHO.

[potash man]

Do you like to breathe?

Then your answer is my answer to your question.

Yes, and LOR is the best!!!

I don't know why others are holding back, but I wont.

On a side note, keeping the color of the lettering the same color. Easier to read IMHO.

thanks for the rousing vote of confidence in lor. the lettering is pretty hard to read in my little scetch but it looks alot better on the visualizer with the black background, but i think i will try some different colors making them all the same and see how that looks in the visualizer. not too hard to do or time consuming i'll just change button colors and check it out. let ya know what i come up with. i wish i could talk the company into rgb's then i could just lose my mind and go crazy!!!

[edvas69]

LOR offer a great path for people getting into the hobby, they also offer a great path if people also want to move onto more challenging things. I would say that a Light-O-Rama system is currently the best option for people new to this hobby or with limited time.

[Guest wbottomley]

i know this is probably not the right question to ask on this forum, but from what i've read everyone seems pretty honest about the products. anyway i work for a company that puts out a display in out local christmas lights river attraction. last year i created a small and simple display with chaser controls, rope lights, wood and paint. this year they want me to "expand" the display and so i will. i plan on having our greeting sign which will be 3' high letters and approximatly 80' long. each letter will be a single channel from two ctb16pc prebuilt ready to go controllers. my whole display will be using 8 controllers doing several different things. i will be using the showtime mp3 director and plan on purchasing the advanced showtime software suite to run it all. i just need to know what problems or issues there may be with the lor equipment that i will need to be prepared for. i don't know if this image will show up or not but it is the general idea of what i am going to do this year. waving santa, dancing trees, present loading and unloading, and corn growing from the gifts. anyway any comments or heads up would be great and i can get my stuff ordered and get started.

That's like going to a Chevrolet dealership and asking who's better. Ford or Chevy?

[Santas Helper]

That's like going to a Chevrolet dealership and asking who's better. Ford or Chevy?

Very true.

Of course my agenda isn't about winning the "try-for-free" or nothin like that. Noooo

Edited August 7, 2012 by Santas Helper

[james campbell]

I would say yes,but as William stated we are all going to be bias here.my opinion is the product is very well made and the customer service is incredible. look at ti like this,this forum is full of service techs,if you have a problem,post it and I bet in minutes you will have reply or two. also lor is very versitle,wit the addition of dmx over ethernet 1.31,the possibilities are endless.if you don't want to mess with dmx lor has a great line of rgb products.

[TJ Hvasta]

And nearly all of us never have to worry about our displays falling over, either..

[potash man]

yes i understand that most people will be biased towards lor. but i don't ask a person driving a ford what problems he has driving a chevy since he is not driving a chevy. i want to use the lor setup, and i will use it. i'm just asking if there are issues that may arise that i will need to be ready for. our company can't afford to wait for parts (if needed) or to send something off. i plan on having at least one spare controller and thinking about it now the pro series will be great since i wouldn't have to hook my laptop to the controller to set the id. anyway from all the post i've read in the forum it looks as though there are lots of professionals, enthusiasts, and amatuers ( like me ) who use the lor stuff. i need to convince my boss that it is what we need to use. it can't be perfect or there wouldn't be a need for the excellent customer service.

[Linda]

And nearly all of us never have to worry about our displays falling over, either..

Except for Jim!

[spomalley]

Setting the ID is really easy

[potash man]

well i couldn't wait any longer and i got the ball rolling with my order. i don't want to miss out on the summer sale either and it would be nice to get my order for free (well at least half of it). so i have climbed aboard the LOR crazy train and do believe i will do something at the house too.

[LOR Staff]

You WILL like it. It WILL work. We are here if you have probs (which you wont)

[potash man]

i would do the ol casa this year but i gotta spend the money on rebuilding my sea doo engine. but next year....... ohhhh yeahh it's gonna be on!! plus i will have gotten to play with the companys first

[caniac]

yes i understand that most people will be biased towards lor. but i don't ask a person driving a ford what problems he has driving a chevy since he is not driving a chevy. i want to use the lor setup, and i will use it. i'm just asking if there are issues that may arise that i will need to be ready for. our company can't afford to wait for parts (if needed) or to send something off. i plan on having at least one spare controller and thinking about it now the pro series will be great since i wouldn't have to hook my laptop to the controller to set the id. anyway from all the post i've read in the forum it looks as though there are lots of professionals, enthusiasts, and amatuers ( like me ) who use the lor stuff. i need to convince my boss that it is what we need to use. it can't be perfect or there wouldn't be a need for the excellent customer service.

the only gotcha any of us has found is that no matter how many extension cords we have we end up needing more!!