Is it to late to start for a newbie

[TprSteve]

_{I'm not sure how accurate the delivery times are from LOR, (it said 2 day ground) but I just placed my order for my 1st "controller kit" yesterday!! And I'm HOPING it comes in time to at least get something up and running. I have the majority of my lights up and in a static display that I've been doing for years. Just hoping to add a few animated segments for starters. My biggest concern is that me and computers kinda have this hate, hate relationship thing going on! My wife has to hide all the hammers when I sit down with a computer to do anything more than basic emailing or word processing!!! So this is gonna be a challenge, but I'm VERY impressed by this forum!! BTW I think I may already have the CLAP "disease!!"}

[BryanZ]

Anything is possible. I'd say 80% of this is all of the planning and sequencing. What do you want to do and how do you want it to look? If you don't have a clue now, wait until next year and don't feel rushed.

This site and the people on it have truly been a blessing with their willingness to help and troubleshoot.

Another fantastic site for sequencing is this: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B86vzf3chl0oTjdPRjRNa1oyVzA/edit?pli=1

Find ones that you like and customize them to your display. It has been a fantastic time saver. And most of all: Have fun!

[daveo150]

Bob, assuming you can get the hardware......you could always throw up a quick mega tree....2 color or 3 color (i did 4) and it would still look really good. Lots of free mega tree sequences and lots of people willing to share. If you go for it, shoot me an email.......I'll send you all mine for a 16 channel mega tree.

D

[mighty_mace]

Well, got my lights up and running for the first year. Did 5 songs and definitely want more channels / lights now. I hope they go one sale in the off season. Here's a video of a sequence I put together featuring Run DMC, Christmas time in Hollis.

https://vimeo.com/55487919

[jtomason]

Hey folks, a 2012 newbie as well. I am yet another graduate from the Mister Christmas Academy. I've been wanting to upgrade for a long time, but never got around to pulling the trigger before it was too late each year; just making do with good old Mr. C. Well, this year, Santa came early - I managed to buy 5 controllers for $500, pre-wired and ready to go. One starter kit and stand-alone controller later (that arrived yesterday), and I'm in business.

I'm starting small this year with just one controller - in fact, I literally unplugged the 16 lights that were connected to Mr. Christmas and plugged them into the controller and started making some sequences. I had played around with the software for a short time, so I had some idea what I was doing.

Quite frankly, even getting the controller on Dec 13, I've got a decent show up and running; a few more songs and I'll be happy, and I'm finding that I can get a decent (if not fully tweaked) sequence for 16 channels done in a few hours.

So if you have the lights and the equipment, I feel comfortable saying that it CAN be done - the only question is whether or not it's too close to Christmas for you to want to do it. I had Mr. C as a backup, but I was pretty determined. My show is very small this year (we're going to be away), but it's not bad, all things considered.

[caniac]

Well, got my lights up and running for the first year. Did 5 songs and definitely want more channels / lights now. I hope they go one sale in the off season. Here's a video of a sequence I put together featuring Run DMC, Christmas time in Hollis.

https://vimeo.com/55487919

Part of what makes this hobby so addicting is after you do your first show the mind starts working over time about next year, what you want to add, props you want to build or purchase, etc.