Kicker3 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I have been using LOR for years and very familiar with it. Other than changing a few songs and improving sequences over there years, I have not made many changes to hardware. I started integrating fading LED's and it's turned out well with the Mega Tree and other items. However, now I am ready to tackle the Roof. My old color C9's are just in bad shape and wondering if its time to ugprade and phase them out.I stayed away from experimenting with CCR's but after poking around the last few days, it looks like they may be the best fit. Normal LED's are not bright enoguh for a tall house and it looks like that famous LMFAO Halloween house used something that looks like CCRs on it? Can someone confirm if that was CCR? If so, I see other acronymes like CCB's and P's? I finally saw the bulbs and don't know what the P's are. If i was going to invest in redesigning my roof, what's the best way to go? The CCR or a bunch of CCB's? Any helpful advise would be appreciated. I use mainly fades and other transitions from colors with my LOR. If I did invest in these, would it be a significant change/learning curve to make these work with my current sequences or would it be fairly easy ot make the new ones work with old. I am an IT person, so farily capable of moving around a computer, but is this just too big a project to undertake prior to Christmas this year and should be put off for next year as well? Sorry if you have a gegeneral question guide line on this. I did a search and couldn't find anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 THe CCBs and CCPs are very similar if not identical. The CCBs have a diffuser over the pixel and resemble a C9, which the CCPs do not have the diffuser. I am using CCPs with a clear plastic split wire loom covering the pixels which spread the light quite nicely. The reason I picked the CCPs over the CCRs, is I get 100 pixels instead of 50 for about the same price, The CCRs are more of a continuous light while the CCB/Ps are individual bulbs similar to a normal light string. Each of these items are smart pixels, as you probably know, each bulb can be sequenced seperately. A 100 bulb CCB/P will equate to 300 channels. A CCR will be 150 channels.If you're just going to use fades and or color transitions for the whole string, my recommendation would be go with Dumb strings. These are controlled with just 3 channels for the whole string.There's a bunch of folks on here that know a ton more than I do about the Dumb strips and I'm sure they will chime in.Hope I gave you a little tidbit of info to get you started.Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_moody Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Unless you have the equipment already, I'm not even sure that it would be possible this year... Since you have been at for awhile, you probably already have a pretty good idea of what it takes to sequence and add physical elements to your show.Your options today are almost unlimited. The limitation is your budget. LOR CC(x), smart strips/pixels/modules, dumb RGB strips/pixels/modules, DMX, E1.31 can be expensive.A lot of your question is, to me anyway, personal taste and what you want to accomplish or see. Do you like the straight line look of Kevin's house (LMFAO house.. he is a member here BTW)... or do want something more traditional? You can move to LED C9's and add multiple strings for color etc etc ...I may be wrong, but I'm not sure that any one can tell you which direction is best. HOWEVER.. there are a lot of folks here that CAN tell you what has and hasnt worked for them...<Personal Opinion> I think CCR's are great but I cant justify them (cost) on a roof line. emphasize that "I" cant. Also I have a second in my decorating endeavor, Sandra, who has put her foot down about anything that resembles Star Wars or a light saber in her display ... Nuff said .. huh.. However, we will be adding DMX, RGB and Smart Strips to our display in the form of leaping arches, and several other elements..</Personal Opinion>I know I just typed a lot.. and not sure if I really even gave you an answer .. which is really my point . I'm not sure there is an answer.The only "answer" I could offer .. is yes .. I think its pretty late in the year to tackle what your proposing ..Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CK57 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Consider how you plan to mount your lights on the roof. For just going around the facia CCR's will work. If you are considering going up ridges and down valleys you are going to have a very difficult time with CCR's. That would be a better application for CCB's as they are less directionally challenged. CCR's can need some servicing and you need to be consider whether you want to climb on the roof during the season or not as well. CCR's need to be faced and aligned. See attached photo where I used 1" clear PVC and heated to create a curved arch. You can still see the from the back side of the ribbon, but it does not transmit anything like the unobstructed view to front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kicker3 Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 Thanks everyone for the info. I have decided just to be safe one more year and stick with the old incandescents and get a few of the different CC products to test this year to see what I like. It seems that this is strictly a personal preference type of thing and the only way to see how each will look is to simply test them in real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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