How exactly does shimmer and twinkle work?

[Vic Fortenbach]

I'm wondering, how does the shimmer and twinkle functions work in LOR, I'm going to assume that the functions are the same in LORII.

The shimmer function looks like it rapidly dims and brightens the lights at random levels. But what about if you have 2 channels, do both channels "do the same thing", or will two channels be "offset". What about 3 or more channels?

The twinkle function "twinkles" the lights in a fast on /off time frame. Does the twinkle function look better with 2 or more channels? Or will it too be the same as shimmer.

Here is what I want to do: Outdoor tree with 16 channels of white lights. If I choose a shimmer or twinkle effects will the whole tree "shimmer or twinkle" at the same rate? If I offset the channels, ch1 start twinkle at 12:00, ch2 start twinkle at 12:02, how much timing space between channels is required to achieve a truly random looking tree?

[Erik Sommer]

I beleive shimmer fades up and down all the channels it's applied to at the same rate. Twinkle randomly turns on and off the channels, so the more channels it's applied to the more random it will look.

[Don]

Erik is correct.

Shimmer is all channels at once, same flash rate.

Twinkle is random, and there is no need to offset the channels to get the random effect.

See my "Good King Joy" video, 2006, about 1 minute in. Entire display is on twinkle.