beeiilll Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Well tonight will begin my season of display for the year.Just curious as to who else starts their shows on the 1st of December rather than right after Thanksgiving?I know most like to get as much "air time" as they can due to the amount of work involved with this hobby but does anyone do this to their own pace rather than just to "follow the crowds"?I am curious to see how my traffic will be this year as there has been a news story done on my display as well as the town here is prommoting it through their web blog and site pretty heavy for the "tourist" travel factor that we get here in the middle of nowhere.I just do the show because it is mine to do. I enjoy the comments from people and especially the little kids reactions to things, but I certainly don't try to please anyone but myself with this except for my own personal ambition and quest if you will to make it work.Christ is the real reason for this "holiday" and people tend to lose that in all the glitter and hoopla that gets generated by the media and sales this time of year.God bless all and happy holidays!
Maine Lights Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 I go live today as well. Always like to start the 1st of December.
Sabre03 Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 I go live tonight as well. This is my first year ever doing this. had butterflies for 2 days now. every year I do a house lighting party but it has always been for static lights. my friends and family have no idea what they are in for, they think they're coming to see the same old house lighting. we are expecting over 100 friends family and neighbors for tonight. Dove right in going with 160 channels have been working on this since last Christmas
scubado Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Hey Beeiilll, glad to hear you got your show up this year! I know you had some struggles this year, glad you're back. I go live tonight as well provided it doesn't rain. I wanted to start last weekend, but had major problems with my ball tree. I got it running last night, got a couple things to look at today. The anticipation in my neighborhood has been amazing. My daughter got herself a newer version of my camera. I plan to test it's video capabilities tomorrow night.
scubado Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 I go live tonight as well. This is my first year ever doing this. had butterflies for 2 days now. every year I do a house lighting party but it has always been for static lights. my friends and family have no idea what they are in for, they think they're coming to see the same old house lighting. we are expecting over 100 friends family and neighbors for tonight. Dove right in going with 160 channels have been working on this since last ChristmasAmbitious newbie! Good luck!
viennaxmas Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Same here... Starting tonight with the push of a "Big Red Button"... Still a bit work ahead, one more mega tree to build and the opening show needs some more tweaking... We tested the Big Red Button yesterday... We got some strange looks standing around with the button and a wire running to our yard...
JeffF Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 This year I'm totally at my own pace. In the past I tried to schedule when the lights would go live and then keep to my nightly schedule... but that flat out sucks! Seriously... it can suck the life right out of you and your display turning fun into not fun.I originally thought I'd light up tonight but I got things done at least a week early due to me finally taking a week off work during setup. Without posting on our website or telling anybody, we went live last weekend. It was great because traffic's been low so when I see something that needs work I either stop the show and work on it or I do it while the show is going... *without* having people in the driveway ask what I'm doing. And on your "doing it for the kids" statement...Last night the family and I were in our car watching the show for almost 45 minutes. My son is now 12 and my daughter now 10 which are the ages where you as a parent drop down the importance list(at least in our kids case).The night originally started with just me in the car... then the wifey came out and we watched for 15 minutes or so by ourselves and it was nice. Then she noticed the son's bedroom light go off... then the daughter's light went off... then two minutes later the front door opens and the kids run out to hop in the car with us. Not only were they in the car... they were really watching the show and commenting how much they love it... and our house... and our family. Now you'd think the story would end there, right? Nope...When we got out of the car to go inside one of the cars in the driveway yelled over to us to see if it was my house. Going over to them was a huge treat. It was a family from PA that was just visiting in the area and trying to kill some time. They just couldn't believe they found a house like ours out in the middle of nowhere and they were floored with how cool this all was. Best part, their two year old daughter was in the backseat with the biggest doggone smile she could have. They said she was mesmerized by the lights and couldn't take her eyes off them.Then the guy hands me $10 "for whatever man... this is just too cool!" so I tell them we collect food for the local pantry and the money will go to good use.Overall a fantastic start to the year!
Jason Burge Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Tonight will be go time for me. I am finishing up some things now.
beeiilll Posted December 1, 2012 Author Posted December 1, 2012 Hey Beeiilll, glad to hear you got your show up this year! I know you had some struggles this year, glad you're back. I go live tonight as well provided it doesn't rain. I wanted to start last weekend, but had major problems with my ball tree. I got it running last night, got a couple things to look at today. The anticipation in my neighborhood has been amazing. My daughter got herself a newer version of my camera. I plan to test it's video capabilities tomorrow night.Thanks JimYea, it has been a struggle this year and a tough road it seems. But this helps to take some of the pressure off me for a bit at least.And I just found out a little while ago that there is an article about me and the display in the local paper here! That should bring in a few new folks to check things out as well.I am glad that I decided to go ahead and run this again even though I am certainly sore from the setup but that is a good kind of sore and makes me happy.
Lights_on_light_st_ct Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 7 more minutes and my First Christmas LOR ran Light Display will Begin yea me..
scubado Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 I probably won't add much to my display next year. I thought about repurposing the RGB ribbon from the ball tree, but after finally getting it up and running last night, I think I'm keeping it. A neighbor family came over last night while I was testing, and they just loved the show.I hope you have many good stories to cherish to help you get through these tough times.Merry Christmas!
nader Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Iam set for start tonite. got it all up and tested and i moved the main show to old pc today and tested. I AM A GO for TONITEstill needed a little tweeking on some songs but most are set to go.
Sabre03 Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 going live at 730 guests are starting to arrive now. can't wait to see everyones surprise when they hear the music and see the lights dancing
LORi P Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 going live at 730 guests are starting to arrive now. can't wait to see everyones surprise when they hear the music and see the lights dancingHow did your opening night go? What did they think of your newly animated show?!
JonB256 Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 Last night was my first night. I still have a few little things to add bit things worked well. The new E1.31 hardware didn't disappoint. 5 universes all cooperated.
thebaronn Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 Went semi-live on thanksgiving weekend.Added the e1.31. pixel panel on the first, officiallyIt was amazing!
PeKu Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 Went semi-live on thanksgiving weekend.Added the e1.31. pixel panel on the first, officiallyIt was amazing!Love the images from your pixels..can you give me a quick run down on your setup for that?
Tim Fischer Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 Dec 1st is our "official" start date, but I managed to pull it off a few days earlier this year. We have no official lighting ceremony, so I just turned things on Thursday night and it's been running ever since.
-klb- Posted December 3, 2012 Posted December 3, 2012 The Colony Christmas Spectacular always goes live 9 days after Thanksgiving. It is tied to the city's big holiday in the park event. This year we went live with nearly zero testing, and much stuff plugged in during the last hour. I still have 320 channels of stuff to put out, including 6,400 led lights to be wrapped on PVC pipe. At least next year we will likely overcompensate and be fully set up and tested early.
Karenwatt Posted December 3, 2012 Posted December 3, 2012 I hope to be running by next weekend. I am still sequencing and my husband is still building props. We usually don't get in a hurry though.
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