Ballmiester Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Just wondering how long you all run your shows do you do 1 big show every hour and half hour or a bunch of smaller shows just trying to figure out if people actually come to see my house if I can pull this off. how long do I want them out front without making that one angry neighbor even angrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I don't think there's any one right answer. We all live in different neighborhoods, rural, city, farmland and everything between. What I do won't be what someone else does, based upon their particular location and show. Myself, I run from 6Pm to 10Pm non-stop with 37 or so songs. This will only be my third year though and people are starting to find out that I'm here. Another person in this town, huge home and has been doing LOR shows for years, has a mile long line of cars each night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballmiester Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Wow 37 songs non stop that just blew my mind hahaha I never even thought of that I was stuck in the mind set of start a show and stop then start again. I'm going to have to start begging for some sequences because now you got me loving the idea of 1 show hahaha this is my first year and I'm seriously behind I think. Got to start somewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) My first 3 years I ran about a 45 minute show on a loop from 6-9 pm. First year about 200 cars total, second year, 200 cars the week of Christmas and the third, about 200 cars each night on the weekends. Opening night and Christmas Eve was about the same. Don't be disappointed if you don't get much traffic the first year. Word has to get out. It will get better every year. I remember the old movie saying, "Build it and they will come" Same holds true for these type of shows. Once you get a few visitors, they'll tell a friend or two, then those two will tell a friend or two and so on. If you find that folks drive off if you step outside, try putting on a Santa hat. It worked for me. Edited October 9, 2014 by Ron Boyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 +1 on the Santa hat. I wouldn't dream of going outside without it during show hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Cool idea on the Santa hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) Usually the first night, I run the show with the songs in a specific sequence. After that, I'll turn on the song randomizer function in the show editor. What I hope to do is insure that anyone driving by here will not see the same song twice. As for the number of songs, I added a couple this year on request of the grandaughters...the Frozen movie ones..lol...can't say no to them! Most of the songs I do are from various Christmas movies that I enjoy, a couple from an old Christmas LP that I grew up with and of course, TSO and so on. I researched light shows and in doing so, found LOR. So rather that go in little by little, I jumped in with both feet at 96 channels 3 years ago. Last year was 112 channels and this year 144 with 600-channel pixel tree, firesticks and also adding RGB windows. If you change your description and show where you live, you might find there's someone there close to you that can assist you. Just starting out, you need to consider music to the front yard and/or FM transmitter, then a sign to tell everyone what frequency to tune too. If you live in a neighborhood that's controlled via a POA or similar, let them know first. Talk to your neighbors and let them know what you are considering. Much better to have them on your side first. Again, depending on where you live, the security of the equipment may or may not be a concern. As for planning, you really need to begin in January. You could do a show this year but its way late at this time, but it can be done. Let us know how far along you are, equipment you bought and etc...we might be able to advise you better. Edited October 9, 2014 by dgrant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box on Rails Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I run 2 shows each year one for Halloween and one for Christmas. I have about an hour of music for Halloween that loops from 6 to 9 and then from 9 to 10 I have a 10 minute of scary sounds of the night track that loops. No music just a lot of wind, thunder and night creature sounds. for christmas about the same an hour of songs looping from 6 to 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeighty Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) Wow! These show times are much longer than I have done. I have done this for 2 years. 1st year with "canned" package (similar to Mr. Christmas). 2nd year with LOR 2 controllers using 32 channels. The canned system had about 22 -23 minutes of songs. I struggled with year 2 sequencing and ended up with 11 songs that ran just about 30 minutes total. I ran it continuously from 1800 to 2130 during the week and until 2300 on Friday and Saturday nights. Perhaps I will do a longer show in the future. This year I am going way off the grid of sequencing and using DMX via Madrix. No sequencing. Madrix does the "sequencing". Not sure I am going to like it, but I made the investment in the s/w and the show will go on. Edited October 9, 2014 by zeighty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballmiester Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 I will be jumping right in with the 32 channels that I recently purchased. I always had a large static display and tried one of those boxes shows from Lowes last year and was not very pleased so after researching I bought the LOR equipment and figured I would give it a go and just get better every year I have to start somewhere right. The wife always asks for just white lights so my plan is for the house to be lit up white and then go in to the show I'm probably going to end up purchasing some sequences to help me get a show on the hour and half I hour then back to white for for a few min before it starts over my kids are already requesting Frozen and are just as excited as me so I see hoe quickly someon could go to over 100 channels once they figure it all out. I was going to try and hit a class but none in NY this year so tutorials it is Thanks for all the Help and Info and I apologize in advance for any stupid questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 No stupid questions my friend. That is, unless you ask what color a clear, daytime sky is. Then we'll call that a stupid question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godney Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Well i have close to 100 songs on my mini director, and my show runs for 3 hours before it starts over by then my system is only 30 minutes away from turning off it runs 6 to 9:30pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I don't think there's any one right answer. We all live in different neighborhoods, rural, city, farmland and everything between. What I do won't be what someone else does, based upon their particular location and show. Myself, I run from 6Pm to 10Pm non-stop with 37 or so songs. This will only be my third year though and people are starting to find out that I'm here. Another person in this town, huge home and has been doing LOR shows for years, has a mile long line of cars each night. This is a good answer. To each their own.And I do the same thing. Loop the show all night. 6 to 10pm non-stop as well.Looping the show keeps the activity going without someone driving by during a pause/still moment asking themselves if it's animated or not, then drive off. The patients of spectators is short during the holiday season so it won't take long for them to drive off if there is nothing going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrock_at_rons Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 This will be my first year and I'm planning on simply looping the 7 songs I sequenced (one is THX). All together its about 17 minutes of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 This will be my first year and I'm planning on simply looping the 7 songs I sequenced (one is THX). All together its about 17 minutes of music. To me, that's a good amount of time. Not too short but not too long. Gives folks a chance to check out the whole line up without spending all night there. Mine varies from about 23 to 30 minutes depending on what songs I use. I change it up from a list of over 100 sequences every year. My list ranges around 10 to 13 sequences for a show and looping it all night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyD Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 This year I am going way off the grid of sequencing and using DMX via Madrix. No sequencing. Madrix does the "sequencing". Not sure I am going to like it, but I made the investment in the s/w and the show will go on. Please let us know how it turns out (video too!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl20415 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Well, this is also my first year! I really jumped in with both feet! I'm going with 13 controllers, over 200 channels, and an RGB tree . I had never even seen an animated show except on TV last Christmas, so I had to learn everything from jump! I'm about 95percent done. I have 30 plus songs that I'll run from 7 to 10. By the way, I started last January and have been pretty much working on this every day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I start off playing three songs on the half hour and static mode remainder of the time. I have three shows that rotate. I don't use a transmitter, I can play music fairly loud without bugging anyone except my wife, we can hear it in the house. As it gets closer to Christmas, I increase the show lengths. This year I'm doing static with music playing. Trying out a couple new ideas this year, but haven't had the time to sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 This year I'm doing static with music playing. Trying out a couple new ideas this year, but haven't had the time to sequence. Hey Jim, Just curious. What got you to thinkin static in your new idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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