advice for newbie

[odomje]

Well I did it, i bought 16 channel controller and all the software. In the past I have used a pre-programmed 4 channel from lowes I believe, and I just had to take next step. Now I am completlly overwhelmed. Sequenceing is a hard thing to do. I have been able to down load some free sequences that some of you are nice enough to put out there. That helped me understand the process some what, any advice for the experience out there would be gratefull. I have a feeling this year will be a yard full of blinking lights to music with no real direction, but I hope to make it look as good as possible and not bring any shame to the wonderful world of sequencing. Again anyadvice or direction would be helpfull. Big questions are ...

1. do you just have to listen to song and keep stoping to build sequence?

2. what is best software to make song a constant beat?

3. Is there any easy way in the Loght-o-rama software to get started with new song?

4. and in general any tips are tricks?

I realize im a little late in ball game to do a whole lot with full time job and all but im gonna try.

Thank you in advance

John

Yelm WA.

[shfr26]

1. pretty much, yes, but usually not more than 200-300 times.

2. Audcity, with lame

3. Beat wizard, tapper, VU wizard

4. learn the keyboard shortcuts, watch the tutorials on the chase, fill, mirror and others

And welcome aboard.

[zman]

John,

Welcome aboard, it is good to see another PacNWster. We have a very active group and meet at least once a year (May), and traditionally it has been close to your neck of the woods.

I suggest a good set of head phones as you will drive your family crazy otherwise when you sequence, because, yes, you will listen to the song, sections of the song, hundreds of times. Seeing some of the sequences available gives you ideas. Look at websites for pictures and videos to get ideas.

You need to get the music files prepped for LOR, and Audacity as outlined above.

Your best resource is to peruse this site as much as you can. There is tons of info here. Starting very soon, it will get somewhat quiet on the forum as folks start to get moving on this year. So keep asking questions.

No matter what you pull off this year, it will be awesome. Just remember to crawl, walk run. Take it slow and easy. Those that go from 0 to 100 overnight usually burn out quickly.

[columbus27]

Personally if I were you I wouldn't worry about making custom sequences this year. There are some good free sequences out there and there are some broke down sequences out there. You have to sort through it. You should concentrate most of your time this year on organizing your display and editing. Then next year read the manual and program something simple like Silent Night for your first song.

Below are some good reference links

• http://www.lightorama.com/SoftwareDownloadPage.html the help file is the manual
  
• http://www.youtube.com/user/LightORamaVideos LOR Videos
  
• I think last year some one on here was making a Doc on quick tricks
  
• http://www.lightorama.com/Documentation.html
  
• http://www.lightorama.com/PDFs.html if you haven't make sure you read Preparing MP3
  

Good luck

[scubado]

The best videos I've seen with small channel count use only one color of lights.

If you click and drag on the timeline, it will give you a darker grey area on the grid. Use the spacebar to start/stop the music, it will only play the highlighted part of the song.

Welcome to the addiction!

[Klayfish]

The best videos I've seen with small channel count use only one color of lights.

If you click and drag on the timeline, it will give you a darker grey area on the grid. Use the spacebar to start/stop the music, it will only play the highlighted part of the song.

Welcome to the addiction!

Sweet!! I did not know that.

[Ron Boyd]

If you click and drag on the timeline, it will give you a darker grey area on the grid. Use the spacebar to start/stop the music, it will only play the highlighted part of the song.

I didn't know that either. Thanks for the tip Jim.

[odomje]

Mark is there a user web site for the pacnwster? If so could you send me a link? Thanks for all the info from everyone so far. Im gonna make something good happen this year. HOPEFULLY!!!

[scubado]

I didn't know that either. Thanks for the tip Jim.

I have to give the credit to Orville, he mentioned it in another thread and it helped me quite a bit too.

A favorite tip I got from George, You can save your favorite colors in the 'saved tools' in the left side bar. You can also create custom colors in the color picker, but write down the values for each color. If you close the program, or computer does an update and reboots, you lose the colors you created in the picker but not in the saved tools.

[bwhitehead]

John welcome to the madness. It's awesome to have another PNW member. Like Zman(Mark) said take your time. This is fun hobby and gives a lot to the community. But can burn you out quick. I'll pm you my info if you have any questions or would like to chat. Ill be happy to send you some of my sequences. I found I learned the best by looking at what others have done. Plus their are plenty of free sequences online too.

Regards

-Brandon

Magical Lights on 63rd st.

[griswald]

From one Newb to another.........welcome!

I completely understand how you feel overwhelmed. I did too when I bought my controllers and software a few months ago, but as someone on one of these forums told me, read all that you can, take your time, and don't try to do it all in the first year; save some mojo for next year. The sequencing is not too difficult once you get the hang of it, it's just time consuming.

Best of luck to you with your first display.....would love to see some video when you get it up and running. I hope to post some of mine as well for advice/pointers for next year.

[scubado]

What you'll discover next year when you start to sequence 2013, you'll look at your 2012 sequences and go "What the heck was I thinkin?". This is my third year and still ask myself that

Next year I won't be doing as big a expansion. I've been wanting to hire George to do a song or two for my display to help me learn better sequencing for my display. I think I have a song picked out for him to do, just gotta wait to see how next year is going to pan out for me.

Edited September 22, 2012 by scubado

[zman]

Mark is there a user web site for the pacnwster? If so could you send me a link? Thanks for all the info from everyone so far. Im gonna make something good happen this year. HOPEFULLY!!!

John, we only got this going after our meeting this year, and are trying to get more content on our local site. Here is the link:

http://nwclap.org/

I have a lot of content, and display links and on my website.

One thing I will tell you, since you are starting out. Make your cords instead of buying them for the light interconnections. Your power cords, you want to have good quality store bought. If you grow at all, cords become a significant logistic issue. Most use SPT1 or 2. You can buy vampire plugs for the male/female ends. I suggest standardizing on one or the other. They both carry the same rating, SPT2 has thicker insulation. SPT2 is the cord that you can buy pre-made lamp cords at the store. I use this because if you do buy any of these cords on sale, you can customize harnesses with the vampires.