BlackwolfK9 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Will 16 channels to start be a reasonable light show or is 16 just not enough to wow the public? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hans Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I started with 16 and grew from there. I think that this will give you an opportunity to work on the sequences while having a very manageable number of channels. WARNING....... YOU WILL GET ADDICTED! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Last year was my first year and I sort of jumped in with both feet at 96 channels. I can say though, it certainly wowed all those who saw it! This year, a second megatree and two more arches....and I've not even gotten into RGB yet other than a single CCR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackwolfK9 Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 So will my 16 channels be no better than one of the Home Depot or other big box controllers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckie24 Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I started with 16 last year. Chances are people will be wowed. Unless dgrant is your neighbor that is. And it is addictive. I added 2 CCRs last year after I was up and running. This year I've expanded to 48 LOR channels, plus changed out my old MegaTree to a RBG MegaTree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzaas Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 If you are the only one doing it in your area then 16 channels is way more than enough. The public is in awe trying to figure out how we do this. For years I had music with my displays but not sequenced. As I was trying to write my own program to control lights with music, I was doing some research and found Light O Rama. I figured why reinvent the wheel so I bought one controller and the response I got was overwhelming and still is. It takes time and a lot of patience to grow your display. This year I am adding two thousand RGB pixels and I can't wait to see all of their faces light up.Welcome to the madness known as Christmas Light Animation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Mitchell Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 This 16 channel display will squelch that question. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 If you are the only one doing it in your area then 16 channels is way more than enough. The public is in awe trying to figure out how we do this. For years I had music with my displays but not sequenced. As I was trying to write my own program to control lights with music, I was doing some research and found Light O Rama. I figured why reinvent the wheel so I bought one controller and the response I got was overwhelming and still is. It takes time and a lot of patience to grow your display. This year I am adding two thousand RGB pixels and I can't wait to see all of their faces light up.Welcome to the madness known as Christmas Light Animation.I agree completely. I'm not saying that 16 channels isn't enough, rather, with the right planning, it can indeed "wow" people who see it. Its very possible. My first purchase was 2 controllers, therefore 32 channels but then I started "thinking"...lol. Yeah, it was trouble for me in the "I can do this, I can do that and so on" and so on, so I was buying more controllers. I used 6 and had one spare and that "thinking" again, got me to build another pair of arches so the spare is getting used this year. Possibly next year, I'll get into RGB and will need the advice of the guys here who know it very well. Once I figure it out, I'll probably go off the deep end again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I'm having a hard time believing the above show is indeed only 16 channels. But I have seen some very well done 16 channel displays. Staying with a single color would be best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjdamico23 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 This year, I was going to start at 16 channels but realized with my 14,000 lights ( at that time in July), it would've looked like Mr christmas. So I bought a 2nd controller then a month ago I decided to go to 3 all because I forgot a tree in my layout ( I swear it wasn't on purpose!). But what Jim Hans said........IT IS ADDICTING! I know have 3 controllers and now over 18,000 lights! ( had to do something with those extra channels, lol). Good Luck and don't worry about numbers of channels so much at this point, do what's comfortable for you & 16 channels is a good start especially if your learning how to sequence. It will grow. Before I learned to sequence, I bought ready made sequences from LOR so I only had a few songs to sequence since I'm still learning it, so I felt comfortable going to 48 since they are made for 16-48. Jim Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ke05 Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I started with one 16 controller, and my neighbors were amazed. You have to remember, most people throw up a few lights and call it a year. You show up with 16 channels, well planned out and sequenced even half assed and I can guarantee your neighbors will be asking all sorts of questions. Good luck and welcome to the madness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namecipS Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 The wife saw a video and said "please do this for me". "How hard can it be?" I wish I would've just taken her to the jewelry store and given her my credit card. After a little research, I found LOR and bought a starter kit. I'm amazed at what the controllers can do. I'm also amazed at the cost. I see videos with over 400 channels and a crazy number of lights. I'm sure this will take years, but I'm sort of looking forward to seeing how our display turns out. Simple Lowes/Home Depot LED's this year. Maybe RGB pixels and strips next year. Sequencing seems to take a long long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulXmas Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 The wife saw a video and said "please do this for me". "How hard can it be?" I wish I would've just taken her to the jewelry store and given her my credit card. After a little research, I found LOR and bought a starter kit. I'm amazed at what the controllers can do. I'm also amazed at the cost. I see videos with over 400 channels and a crazy number of lights. I'm sure this will take years, but I'm sort of looking forward to seeing how our display turns out. Simple Lowes/Home Depot LED's this year. Maybe RGB pixels and strips next year. Sequencing seems to take a long long time. it took me 8 hours to sequence ONE minute.This is the reason I use the same sequences year after year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ke05 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 The agony of sequencing!! How people are amazed at the length of time it takes to sequence just 1 minute of music. Bad when you have 16 channels, worse as you buy more controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namecipS Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Jingle Bells is my first song. Purchased a kids version off of Itunes. I'm 2 1/2 hours in and I've got about 25 seconds completed. Some of the time was spent building the visual. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Copy and paste has been a big help. The wife is absolutely giddy with the visual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackwolfK9 Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Is there a more efficient way to approach sequencing? 1 channel at a time, 1 bush at a time, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ke05 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 This year I took an entire prop like my spiral tree or my 5 mini trees or my 12 candy canes and I sequenced them all the way through, and then went back and added the next prop. But I guess no matter how you go about it, it's a tedious task. My least favorite part of doing this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Mitchell Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Is there a more efficient way to approach sequencing? 1 channel at a time, 1 bush at a time, etc.See this threadhttp://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/25472-how-i-sequence/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Normally I do a song in about 3 hours for the initial, then will go back over the next couple of days and re-work it till I'm happy with it. That initial is working with the major elements, beats and so on. I do all elements at the same time. Not sure this is the best way, but it works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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