MikeA Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 My perfect idea of slow and smooth has still got to be George Simmons's 2012 Brian Damage/eclipse video....I know it's not Christmas but wow it's smooth...IMOYes, George, like me, takes inanimate objects and makes them move with lights. Yes this takes a lot of channels. IMHO I do not like a display to have thousands of lights and 16 channels that blink like heck all over the place from one end of the property to the other where you need a warning about the use of strobes. If all you have is 16 channels, build a 16 channel 1 color mega tree and add static light to other objects for now and add more as you grow over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 (edited) Thanks for the kind words guys. It's worth noting that as your experience grows, as your display grows and as your prop count grows, it becomes increasingly easier to create a flow where all your elements work together, rather than everything doing it's own thing. Smooth is another matter. It depends a lot on your sequencing ability, and also just how you have your display set up. For instance, if you have only one color scheme, and/or if you have only one color on the roof, or one string of lights up there, it's very difficult to do smooth when your options are mostly on/off. I've found that one of the keys to "smooth", besides using fades often, is lateral motion. Arches, mini trees and other types of chasing items that travel from side to side can go a long way toward accomplishing smooth. I think what I respect the most are people who do such an amazing job with "only" 16 or 32 channels. I wish I could do as good a job as some of those I've seen. I had a client with 32 channels (actually 30 as he had a couple bad triacs - his own fault) who talked me into doing a couple sequences for him. I've gotta say those are probably the two most difficult sequences I've ever done. The client was happy with the results, but I never was. Anyway, I had someone contact me asking for a link to the PF video Dusty recommended. Vimeo seems to be having issues but I was able to find it and the link seems to work just fine. Please let me know if it isn't. https://vimeo.com/57293220 Edited October 16, 2013 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjdamico23 Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 (edited) Yes, George, like me, takes inanimate objects and makes them move with lights. Yes this takes a lot of channels. IMHO I do not like a display to have thousands of lights and 16 channels that blink like heck all over the place from one end of the property to the other where you need a warning about the use of strobes. If all you have is 16 channels, build a 16 channel 1 color mega tree and add static light to other objects for now and add more as you grow over the years.Guess you would never like my display though I have 32 channels. Next year it will double. The sequences I have have the fades twinkle chase and shimmers which is what's on the sequencing editor, I mean, what else do they do? Don't have CCR's or any other of that fancy stuff so why do light show then have 90% of it be static? I have a rather large property where even when I had 18000 lights static it looked like 1000 lights. I could see your point on small houses, confined spaces, but spaced out and channeled properly I'm sure it wouldn't give anyone seizures. I know it would smooth out in years to come when we figure out how to do more, but I'm assuming you need all the fancy lights and stuff unless I'm missing something (which I could very well be). Edited October 17, 2013 by mjdamico23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Mitchell Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 OK !! Now is anyone willing to share their concept of smooth flow?I guess I can offer up another example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Here is my slow one. The video doesn't do it justice but I hope it helps. http://vimeo.com/18411396 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackchecker Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 here is one of mine for example: https://vimeo.com/34172591 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave S Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 All I can say is WOW...And I guess it is what draws us to this art...I do still gravitate to the more mellow tempo...But the "Sandman" video really spoke to me...Serious depth to putting these shows together that I never imagined... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) OK !! Now is anyone willing to share their concept of smooth flow? Here's a new song for this year's display which combines blinky-flashy with flow. It isn't quite finished yet - some shaky stuff at the beginning I have to fine tune - and the audio sucks for some reason, but good enough for show and tell. It's the neighbor's yard. https://vimeo.com/77271650 If you look at many of the display elements by themselves, I think they would definitely qualify for too much flashing - were it not for the support from the rest of the display. But when it all works together it doesn't look visually offensive. Unless, of course, you hate the song... Edited October 19, 2013 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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