AB21 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 This was a brand new adventure for my wife & I this year. We don't have a lot of house or yard to work with so we started with the very, very basics - only 16 channels, but we were pleased with the results and are already planning what to add next year. I am surprised the neighbors didn't complain, but maybe they were all too busy having seizures to make it over. Thanks to all of you on the forum for the examples and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Shepherd Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 This is a nice job with only 16 channels and you have used them well. Not a seizure inducing sequence at all! How many next year? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 +1 on no seizures. I really enjoyed it. Good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Good job. You made good use of your channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtoews Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Nice- what song is that and sung by who??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Very nice! Deserves to be added to the required viewing list for all new people as an example of how NOT to cause seizures with 16 channels. Congrats! Deb - which song? The first one is Jesus' Birthday by Bob Rivers if that's the one you're asking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 For 16 channels, I think you did very, very good indeed. Looks nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB21 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks everyone. We are planning to add another controller next year and use it to control a spiral tree. Do most of you keep the same songs for the following year, do you switch songs, or add even more? Our set lasted right about 20 minutes as it was. I can't imagine people being interested in sitting through a longer show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I do a lot more songs but its to insure that anyone driving by, probably won't see the same song twice. However....this year, I was doing two songs from "Frozen" with animation to my new pixel tree. People came from far and wide just to see those two so I had to bump them up to every 3rd song playing. My entire show runs just over two hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) I Like it.... Its my first year to and I still am learning and watching all I can from others. I have 48 channels and all my sequences are posted at http://www.northjerseylights.com/ for FREE download in case you would like to take some to play with or help you for next years show... they can be found here share.northjerseylights.com/for_chuck/ and Feel free to use what you want. My display can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rQS92LcPWUXsSF1WR3hkw again.... job well done.. Edited January 23, 2015 by Old Sarge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) In answer to your song question, I do all the above. I add new stuff every year, but I still use songs that go back to my first year. As new channels and elements are added the sequences get updated to include those things. Songs get retired when they're not interesting enough to update anymore. I wouldn't worry a bit over how many songs you have or how long your "set" runs. IMO you should let it loop all evening long and let viewers decide how long they want to watch. But that's me. It's your display. I can't think of anything that gives you more bang per channel than a spiral tree. It doesn't have to reach the sky, all you have to do is make it look good. There's something else I also believe you're underestimating. No matter the size of the display, what keeps people interested is good sequencing. It's that simple. Nothing else compares, and I've yet to see anything that can take its place. If sequencing is precise and entertaining, people are going to enjoy it longer. Quite frankly, 20 minutes is nothing. I can easily see people sitting out in front of your place longer than that. I sure would. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what you do this year. Edited January 23, 2015 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightingnewb Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thanks everyone. We are planning to add another controller next year and use it to control a spiral tree. Do most of you keep the same songs for the following year, do you switch songs, or add even more? Our set lasted right about 20 minutes as it was. I can't imagine people being interested in sitting through a longer show.With 2014 being my first season as well, I hope I can shed some light (pun intended) on your questions. I used 22 out of 32 available channels this year - mainly because the supply of elements to add ran low and we ran out of extension cord to use. However, the 2015 season will bring 10 new channels and a couple of new elements hopefully. (Personally, I want to add strobes and a couple of mini leaping arches, but don't tell anyone ) My set of 4 songs lasted roughly 12 minutes. I have our scheduler to stop the show at about 10pm, but it depends on how you feel. If you want, you can extend the show to midnight - I wouldn't venture too much later though. Keep in mind your neighbors and how they would feel about some stranger driving in the neighborhood around midnight. As for set length, I intend to add a HUGE amount of songs to our list, while updating our pre-existing sequences to use the new elements. I intend to integrate enough songs to have 2 separate show days (Sunday is Show #1 and Show #2, Monday is #1, and alternating and repeating.) I also intend to do a special Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve showing that will be a completely different set list. Hope this helps a bit. LN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thanks everyone. We are planning to add another controller next year and use it to control a spiral tree. Do most of you keep the same songs for the following year, do you switch songs, or add even more? Our set lasted right about 20 minutes as it was. I can't imagine people being interested in sitting through a longer show. This wii be year 5 for me, I have a couple songs that I will continue to use because they are favorites of mine. Other will be retired, some only ran one year and I've decided I didn't really like them and have others in mind. For example I did let it go to make the wife and kid happy, next year it won't be staying in the show. Spirals tree and great and they look nice, but they certainly do tie up quite a few channels. You could attempt an 8 Channel spiral and some have pulled it off, but I think the best bet is using the full 16 channels, the effects are nice and smooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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