aesl1982 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 SO im doing so research on controllers. ive always had a very large display just without the show. id like to step it up. ive been looking at the light o rama and the animated lighting controllers. the biggest difference I see is that the LOR I have to program my own sequences is this true.. the animated lighting loads them on a sd card and you just plug that in. does LOR have the same kind of thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Someone, somewhere, has to program your sequences on either platform. Either you do the programming, or someone else does the programming. Neither platform has the abilities built into the software/hardware to respond to sound. Either way, someone is doing something to program the lights. Yes, you can run LOR controllers via the Showtime Director or mini-director. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Yah I know someone has to program it. But does light o rama offer it to where I can buy the sequence and song already placed on a sd card and just Pop thst into mini director. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 LOR has their sequence store, sequences.lightorama.com. Not sure what licensing agreement other vendors have in place, but LOR has you purchase the music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Oh, okay.When I saw "newbie to the world" I thought you meant you were just born. LOL Welcome to this crazy forum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Thank you. What is the difference in the mini director vs. The G3 director. And can I have the G3 director swapped out on the showtime central starter kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) I don't know anything about the directors but I will say, this is not a plug and play hobby. You must plan and assign the channels as you wish, whether or not you buy a sequence/music or do your own. As Don said, someone has to program the sequences. If your first year, there's plenty of people who will sell sequences out there that will take care of your needs but you must decide how to set them up and be careful of the current draws. The result with this system is that you have total control over what you see and the rewards are great when your family and friends see what you created. Edited October 11, 2014 by dgrant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 I was planning this year to do simply the showtime series and use the pre programmed sd card they offer. Then work to learn the process of sequencing and stuff next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sorry I can't advise you on the use of the directors as I don't have one. My show runs from a computer. Welcome to our world though and plan on lots of time and dreaming about what you can do! Look at other people's shows on youtube or wherever...lots to learn and lots of capability in LOR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 I see all the endless possibilities. I'm excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 So is there special lightsI should be buying. I have the c9 LEDs and a bunch of mini lights and lighted decorations. Will the lor make these dim and fade and change colors as well or is that feature a part of special lights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 RGB devices give you the ability to change the color of either the entire strand/ribbon or individual pixels, based on the type of device. The LOR Cosmic Color Devices (Bulbs, Pixels and Ribbons) are 'smart' devices, meaning you can have any color you want, on any pixel you want. The RGB Ribbons are 'dumb' devices. While they can be any color you want, you can only have one color at a time showing on the ribbon. More here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 So what is the consensus on power. Does everyone have seperate breakers installed or generator for power or a completely seperate power source. From what in seeing one 16 channel kit will use two 15watt breakers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) So what is the consensus on power. Does everyone have seperate breakers installed or generator for power or a completely seperate power source. From what in seeing one 16 channel kit will use two 15watt breakers It can handle up to 15 amps per side. That doesn't mean it's going to pull 15 amps per side. It's only going to pull the amount equal to the amperage total of the lights you have connected. Thus if you have 40 strands of LED's at .04 amps, then it's going to pull 1.6 amps worth of power. Edited October 11, 2014 by Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 LOR controllers can control standard bulbs, elements etc. led is easier on the power draw but LOR is basically controlling anything on the AC cord. Some lights should never be dimmed, shimmered or twinkled (all things LOR can do) and should be treated as on / off only. These are lights that usually have some kind of controller on them already...ie chasing lights you can purchase.Some people have found some led lights that should not be dimmed, twinkled or shimmered. This includes the Martha Stewart lights you can buy from Home Depot. Some say they burst into flames. Never tried it though.There is tons of information in these forums. You need to start by deciding what you want for next year and the years after. Unless money is no object. Because you can limit yourself to what you can do next year by purchasing something now. In particular, if you are interested in multicolored individually controlled bulbs then you need to not limit yourself by purchasing something that does not incorporate dmx devices easily.I hate to purchase something and then find out later I should of bought something else. So do some research on what you want then look for ways to get there. Ask questions if you can't find the answers.Btw, lots of people offer free sequences. You can purchase them from several people as well. You can run your shows with purchased or created sequences from your PC just as easy or easier than the sd control devices. The PC controlled shows are typically more options with less cost.Hope this helps. Any questions just ask. Welcome to the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 I sure appreciate all the responses and help. the dmx thing is still kind of foreign to me ive been researching it but not sure as to what it does and if it is needed. looks like the showtime series comes with dmx capabilities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) I'll give you the short version on RGB. Two flavors as such, smart and dumb. The smart pixels such as CCR's, CCP's and CCP's from LOR have their own controllers/power supply, that the standard LOR comm buss will talk too. Smart pixels, otherwise known as intelligent types, you can address each and every pixel and each has three different colors within. So picture a string of 50 lights...each and every light can be a different color, all the same, some or partials..whatever you wish. Chases, color fades and so on are all possible. Dumb pixels are where the string is all one color. It can be any color but all are the same. Both smart and dumb, you program or sequence them as you wish them to appear. As I said, CCR's, CCP's and CCB's have their own controller and power supply but other smart pixels require a controller and power supply. There are two popular controllers out there now and both are fairly close to each other in capability. The San Devices cards and the Joshua Systems cards. You still have to add a power supply and if outside, an enclosure. Same goes for the CCR controllers and etc...if outside you need an enclosure. These cards talk via E1.31 protocol from your computer's TCPIP port. Its easier to set up than it sounds but any number of us can help you with that if you decide to get into it later on. Dumb strips require a DC controller such as the CMB24 from LOR which will talk to the standard LOR Buss comm, also a power supply, usually 12 volts. The one card has 24 individual channels but each color requires 3 channels so you can control 8 strings/circuits of dumb LED strips. For your first show, probably best if you stick with the basics and go from there. Edited October 11, 2014 by dgrant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 yah im going to stick with the basics, just kind of brainstorming and figuring out everything for future expansion. im gonna get the showtime central kit with 32 channels and and the pre programmed show on sd card for this year. next year ill buy some more channels and play around with programming and sequencing my own show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 so im reading this about the showtime series and it says " showtime central is powered from the nearest light o rama controller, put that controller on an external timer if you want your shows to start stop at fixed times, when the timer turns on it will power the light controller and that will then power the showtime central. if you have multiple controllers then a special data cable is needed between the first and second controller this special cable on passes data and not the power from other controllers. so for one what is this special cable they talk about, and secondly does this mean since it only transfers data and not power I need to put the timer on all controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesl1982 Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 anybody? I wanna order this stuff tomorrow but wanna make sure I get everything I need for this year the first time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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