Need Brutally Honest truth on 1st display

[Christmas]

Can I get some comments on my light show. This was done on one 16 channel LOR controller. Last year.

I'm planning on getting another controller this year

 

As the title suggests, I would like some Honest truth, what could be done better?

 

[gpennington]

This will be my first year so I am not coming at you with any exp. but I think for a 16 ch show it looks great! 

[plasmadrive]

Brutally honest?  Really?  You ready for that?   Seriously? 

 

1st off.. the timing on the video,  audio vs the lights....  it is off.   I am assuming that is either your video editing or the darn YouTube.. (most likely the latter).

2nd, your camera should not be in auto focus..

 

As for the programming.... mine is not perfect.. so who am I to judge?     Each to his own..

 

Oh yeah..3rd, 4th and 5th.... Dump the Fox song..    Not so much Christmas..

[dgrant]

I think you did pretty good for only 16 channels. Most of the songs you used were complex and might require a more complex lighting scenario and control. If you are adding a controller, you need lights on the left side of the yard, to help balance it out more. If you are broadcasting music on FM radio, you need a "Tune To" sign out there people can see from their cars. You've got those garage doors there, use them....hang something on them or illuminate them somehow instead of big blank areas. In place of some of the small tree type lights in the yard, you could do a megatree there and really go wild but megatrees and arches are channel eaters. You could also expand into RGB led's on the windows, around the garage or any number of places...whatever the checkbook will allow.

[evan.a]

take a look at others people sequences. find a pattern that you can understand while looking at it. dont ever rush a sequence, it takes a lot of time and practice.

[jimswinder]

add some color...

[redsea300]

The above comments are good. For only 16 channels I think it is good. I started my first year with 176 channels. I could not imagine trying to do with 16.

 

PM SENT also

[Surfing4Dough]

A bit too blinky for my liking. Make sure you hear all of the song rather than just the lead beat. Much like a song uses background singers or instruments to add "depth" to the sound, you need to do the same with the choreography of your channels. Try to use some of the lights that are off to add some accent or depth to the lead beat lighting with the use a fades or decreased intensity lighting. This will also help cut down on all the dark spots in your display. If you turn off the sound to your video, you start to notice that every sequence starts to look the same otherwise -- just a bunch of blinky lights.

A couple sequenced floods might look nice on the dark space of your garage doors and possibly the right side space by the window behind the mini trees. 1 color per channel. A couple of colors of incandescent floods (1 color per channel) would suffice but RGB foods would look great.

[Santas Helper]

I was going to give my feedback but didn't make it 10 seconds in the song.

Ditch the song. First thing in the morning? Could have issued a warning or something.

If you have another sequence, I'll check it out. But not the fox song. (puke)

 

[dgrant]

The above comments are good. For only 16 channels I think it is good. I started my first year with 176 channels. I could not imagine trying to do with 16.

 

PM SENT also

Yeah, I started my first year with 96 channels and I used every one of them. His available space is more limited than some though. There's logic to both arguments as such, jumping into the hobby with both feet or slowly doing a little more each year. Checkbook, interest, available sequencing time and so on, all come into the equation. Each of us does what we think is best at the time. However, its late in the year to be adding more so the originator, needs to jump on it right now and get busy.

[bobschm]

Make each element roughly the same size. Your roofline seems to be one huge long element, while the trees on the lawn are small individual elements. By breaking the roof into segments, you can do chases (sort of) and patterns. Check my page below.

Oh and maybe some penguins?

[jrock_at_rons]

After a while I felt like it was just a sort of a 'beat-box' for the song that was playing. Aside, from a few transitions and melodies, the lights were primarily set to the beat of the song and nothing else.  I would try to concentrate on some of the background singing and just overall 'mood' of the song... dim lights during the quiet parts, use certain elements to visualize some of the 'non-beat' elements.  

 

If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to sequence each song? 

[Christmas]

Brutally honest?  Really?  You ready for that?   Seriously? 

 

1st off.. the timing on the video,  audio vs the lights....  it is off.   I am assuming that is either your video editing or the darn YouTube.. (most likely the latter).

2nd, your camera should not be in auto focus..

 

As for the programming.... mine is not perfect.. so who am I to judge?     Each to his own..

 

Oh yeah..3rd, 4th and 5th.... Dump the Fox song..    Not so much Christmas..

I spent about 3-6 hours getting the timing perfect for the show, the audio/video error stems from my video editing and my camera

Thanks for the feedback.

[Christmas]

I think you did pretty good for only 16 channels. Most of the songs you used were complex and might require a more complex lighting scenario and control. If you are adding a controller, you need lights on the left side of the yard, to help balance it out more. If you are broadcasting music on FM radio, you need a "Tune To" sign out there people can see from their cars. You've got those garage doors there, use them....hang something on them or illuminate them somehow instead of big blank areas. In place of some of the small tree type lights in the yard, you could do a megatree there and really go wild but megatrees and arches are channel eaters. You could also expand into RGB led's on the windows, around the garage or any number of places...whatever the checkbook will allow.

Thank you, I will be adding a control this year, budget really only allows for one, and I'm thinking RGB. Hopefully RGB lights are expensive. I was broadcasting the show over FM, the sign wasn't up at the time of the video. 

I really would love to do RGB on the garage but the whole RGB thing is confusing to me. 

Would these strips work with http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca3.html ?

I would love the cosmic color ribbon But those are out of my price range. So I'll have to stick to dumb RGB strips. 

 

A bit too blinky for my liking. Make sure you hear all of the song rather than just the lead beat. Much like a song uses background singers or instruments to add "depth" to the sound, you need to do the same with the choreography of your channels. Try to use some of the lights that are off to add some accent or depth to the lead beat lighting with the use a fades or decreased intensity lighting. This will also help cut down on all the dark spots in your display. If you turn off the sound to your video, you start to notice that every sequence starts to look the same otherwise -- just a bunch of blinky lights.

A couple sequenced floods might look nice on the dark space of your garage doors and possibly the right side space by the window behind the mini trees. 1 color per channel. A couple of colors of incandescent floods (1 color per channel) would suffice but RGB foods would look great.

I agree, it is blinky, I'm a little tied down with the amount of controls I have. And of course I look back and think I should have done X.

 

I was going to give my feedback but didn't make it 10 seconds in the song.

Ditch the song. First thing in the morning? Could have issued a warning or something.

If you have another sequence, I'll check it out. But not the fox song. (puke)

 

Sorry! It was a meme going around town and I couldn't help myself from not doing it. 

 

Yeah, I started my first year with 96 channels and I used every one of them. His available space is more limited than some though. There's logic to both arguments as such, jumping into the hobby with both feet or slowly doing a little more each year. Checkbook, interest, available sequencing time and so on, all come into the equation. Each of us does what we think is best at the time. However, its late in the year to be adding more so the originator, needs to jump on it right now and get busy.

Right now I'm planning on adding one controler I'm thinking it's going to be RGB but still researching on the all lights and what I can and can't use. 

 

Make each element roughly the same size. Your roofline seems to be one huge long element, while the trees on the lawn are small individual elements. By breaking the roof into segments, you can do chases (sort of) and patterns. Check my page below.

Oh and maybe some penguins?

I will try to break up my roof this year but I'm torn on where to take the channels from. As I've said I think I'm adding a RGB, budget only allows for one controller, so I'll still only have 16 channels to work with. 

 

After a while I felt like it was just a sort of a 'beat-box' for the song that was playing. Aside, from a few transitions and melodies, the lights were primarily set to the beat of the song and nothing else.  I would try to concentrate on some of the background singing and just overall 'mood' of the song... dim lights during the quiet parts, use certain elements to visualize some of the 'non-beat' elements.  

 

If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to sequence each song? 

About 4 days, 4 hours a night I was in my car programming the light and testing with a laptop.

And yes the lights were basically set to the beats of the song. I will take your suggestions and use them this year

Edited September 3, 2014 by Christmas

[Santas Helper]

Would these strips work with http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca3.html ?

 

 

Those strips are not weather/water proof (at least they don't say they are). Do not get those. But you are correct on the controller.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Santas Helper

[Christmas]

Those strips are not weather/water proof (at least they don't say they are). Do not get those. But you are correct on the controller.

How did I miss that 0_0 

How about these http://smile.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Waterproof-Changing-LED-Strip/dp/B003UYL23C

same supplier looks like these do say waterproof. 

Is there a keyword I need to look for in RGB strips to make sure it's compatible with the CMB24D?

[Santas Helper]

Those are the 150s. There are 300s which are closer together. (300 per 5 meters)

I've purchased mine from ebay and found them alot cheaper.

Since there is a lot of sellers either on Amazon or ebay, spend a little time looking and learning about the different types.

150 is okay but 300 is better and brighter.

Look at the sellers rating. If it's below 97 or 98%, use caution.

Then look at the shipping price. Some product prices might seem like a good deal but then the shipping offsets that good deal.

Here is a good example of a product.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-5050-RGB-SMD-LED-Waterproof-Flexible-Strip-300-LEDs-44-Key-IR-Remote-/180992529478?pt=US_Car_Lighting&hash=item2a23fed446#ht_2619wt_1125

 

And look how many have been sold. You can tell people are buying the heck out of it and the seller has good ratings. AND the total price is one of the lowest.

Then one last thing. The item is located in the U.S. so you get the items a lot faster.

 

For starters, I would go with this because your not spending a lot of money on something new.

Hope that helps.

Good luck.

 

Tom

 

P.S I realize they come with a power box and controller. Don't worry about it. Throw it away. I don't think you will find cheaper even without a power box and controller.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Santas Helper

[Santas Helper]

Here is even a cheaper model by the same seller.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-5M-5050-RGB-SMD-Waterproof-Flexible-led-Strip-300-LEDs-24-Key-IR-Remote-/170922603127?pt=US_Car_Lighting&hash=item27cbc7f277#ht_3377wt_1125

 

This just proves to shop around for the best deal and since your learning, don't spend a lot of money on any one item till you have an idea of what you really want.

[Brian Mitchell]

I think it is a good first year 16 channel effort.   It is tough to make a 16 channel setup not seem blinky and still hold the viewers attention.  Very few people have pulled that off and I'm not one of them either.  You do need to get something over on the left to balance out the display.   I don't hold the video skills against you but do use a tripod and set the focus to manual.    Time and experience can work wonders.

 

Keep it up.

[Christmas]

I think it is a good first year 16 channel effort.   It is tough to make a 16 channel setup not seem blinky and still hold the viewers attention.  Very few people have pulled that off and I'm not one of them either.  You do need to get something over on the left to balance out the display.   I don't hold the video skills against you but do use a tripod and set the focus to manual.    Time and experience can work wonders.

 

Keep it up.

Definitely, I do hold them against me, but it's just something I didn't think about at the time. I've ordered a tripod for only 25 bucks on amazon. and will fix camera setting this year.