what to buy to start my own light show

[stroh18]

hi,

i am new new. i am wanting to do a light show for christmas but i do not know where to go or start. well i take that back. i have already purchased my lights but i am not sure on everything else. i have done research and i do know how many channels or anything like that. could some one please help me and tell me what way i need to go?

thanks in advance!!

[mpageler]

What would youlike to accomplish in the first year of lighting.   Have a few light strings that do different things...on, off, twincle, etc.. Or would you like to sync  lights actions to music.

 

Also, what you may want to do and what's in your budget, could be 2 different things.

Some may through out RGB and pixels but being so new, would concentrate on some "traditional lighting, no rgb or pixel to confuse you at this point.

BTW, what lights and how many  did you buy all ready.
 

[LOR Staff]

To get a feel for how everything fits together in the new world of show animation, take a look at our typical setups: http://www1.lightorama.com/typical-setups/ 

We have 16 channel light controllers available to get you started. They all connect and work together so you will be able to build and extend your show each year. 

You can begin with the 16 Channel Starter Package:  http://store.lightorama.com/ba16chpa.html 

Most of our controllers also work at 240VAC. Please specify this when ordering through our on-line store. A special note: the factory needs an extra week to configure controllers for 240VAC operation. 

You may want to download the Light-O-Rama Software demo and try it out to see how you create your personal show. 
http://www1.lightorama.com/sequencing-software-download/ 

Not interested in writing your own shows? No need to worry. We have plenty of pre-built shows (we call them sequences) that will make any venue look great. Checkout our sequence store at http://sequences.LightORama.com

Don't want to dedicate a computer and speaker system to your show? Consider our ShowTime Central. It include a specialized mini-computer just for running LOR shows as well as a small FM transmitter so you can broadcast on the radio. See details at http://store.lightorama.com/shce.html

We also have the DIY line of our controllers with several different levels of kits. Checkout the latest at http://store.lightorama.com/diyproducts.html. If you choose this group you will need to purchase the Generic Starter Package to get going. http://store.lightorama.com/spk800.html

Thanks for considering Light-O-Rama!

[George Simmons]

Welcome!

Dev Mike has some excellent recommendations. Except for one.

The "small FM transmitter" he mentioned is arguably the worst transmitter on the planet. For half that price you can score one of the BEST FM transmitters on the planet. Go to Amazon and search for CZH-05B.

[dgrant]

Your post doesn't show where you are but DevMike was suggesting 240 volt models of the controllers, so we will assume you are somewhere other than over here. Hope the strings you got were for 240 volt as LED strings are supposedly hard to find or use a transformer for each. The basic is knowing the number of channels you wish to start with, pick out some songs you wish to sequence and get busy on learning the software in the tutorials and get busy doing your sequences. You don't have to wait for the hardware to arrive to start sequencing now. Listen to the song and envision what you wish to see happening in the lights, on your home in each part of the song and then sequence it that way. Use the visualizer!

[lightzilla]

Welcome!

Dev Mike has some excellent recommendations. Except for one.

The "small FM transmitter" he mentioned is arguably the worst transmitter on the planet. For half that price you can score one of the BEST FM transmitters on the planet. Go to Amazon and search for CZH-05B.

I agree with this statesmen. I have been running mine for three seasons & this season will be season 4 & it has been very good to me.

[vdipaola73]

I started a few years ago with the small one and after one year went with the CZH. Night and day. Great info here.

[mbourassa]

I started my first display last year. If you bought lights and are stuck from there, I would puchase one 16 channel controller. At the time of purchase, you can get basic software for free. This will control up to 2 controllers. I purchased basic last year. and already upgreded to advanced. So if you are serious and plan to do this for a while, You get a better deal upgrading from start. Next i watched all the video tutorials. I learned a ton there. After you get your controller set up. I would suggest hooking lights up to all the channels you are going to use. It helped me with knowing how things would look and if my sequencing was right on time. Also every channel you use has its own extension cord. You cant plug a tree that you want to light up on its own channel plugged into a bush next to it. otherwise both will turn on. So stock up on extension chords. Also know that programming a song takes a long time. So sticking to shorter songs helped too. Also fm transmitter is a small cost for such a big result. Alows people to stay and watch show from car. You will want to make a sign with radio station if you use fm transmitter. Hope this helps from my experience.

[Old Sarge]

get extension cords when you can find them on a good sale

 

get more extension cords when you can find them on sale..

 

get some more...lol

 

if using mini lights etc.. get a couple good light testers and revues things on how to shorten light strings etc... some can be shortened and some cant... learn how to tell them apart.. and keep in mind... not all lights are the same voltage so using the wrong volts in the wrong places can cause a short or a fire..

[indi]

All the advice above are great. When I first started, I got two controllers ad basic plus(I think). And before the first show, I Advanced to Advance. I bought 86 extension cords on sale for about $12.00 each. Then, I bought vampire ugs and sp1 on a spool and made my own extension cords(it's the way to go). Have fun.

[Dana 44]

Great question!  I have tried to get LOR to help me out but no luck.   I also want to get started with LOR but the problem I have is I hear different things from everyone.  Go with CCR or start with a 16 channel or.....  so on and so on..  

 

 

I just don't want to buy something then everyone go " why did you buy that?"  

 

 

so my questions would be. 

 

1  If I have 90,000 lights what would you ( the vets) do if you were me?

2  my goal would be that one day i would like to get to the superstar program with CCR's.  So if I started with the 16 ,32 channel package will it work with the newest and greatest stuff?

[Dcroc]

As a newbie, I don't feel I should offer advise, but I can offer my second year newbie perspective:

 

I started with the 64 channel starter in August of last year. I purchased 5 sequences for Halloween, and 5 for Christmas, and made my own props (singing face, etc.). By the time Christmas came I was wishing I had a couple more controllers. This year I have expanded into RGB pixels, and am  starting to get a grip on creating my own sequences. That being said, I am pretty tech savy (although not nearly as much as some of the people here), so if I have something...I will learn to use it.  Don't be afraid to start with too many AC channels. If you end up not using them your first year, you will the next. If not, they seem to hold their value pretty well for resale. At the same time, if you are not comfortable learning new programs and tech, don't be afraid of starting too small. The number of lights are not as important as what you do with them.

[indi]

Dcroc, you summed it up pretty well. Same thing happened to me as you.

Start with what you can afford, you can always add to it. Look around and figure out what you would like your setup to be. And work toward that. I bought sequences when I started out and used them to see how the effect was created and learned how to use these effects for my own sequencing. Just have fun with it.

[dgrant]

When I started, 3 years ago, I jumped in with both feet as such at 96 AC channels and over 30 songs that I sequenced myself or mostly myself. Now I've increased my channels to 144 plus all the intelligent pixels and dumb rgb's. This year, pixel count going way up and so on. No more room to expand much more though. When I started this, figured that if I was going to do it, I would do it right and make it look nice. Lots of lessons learned both years and I'm sure there are more to learn yet to come, but that's the fun of it!

Edited June 17, 2015 by dgrant

[Darryl Lambert]

Great question!  I have tried to get LOR to help me out but no luck.   I also want to get started with LOR but the problem I have is I hear different things from everyone.  Go with CCR or start with a 16 channel or.....  so on and so on..  

 

 

I just don't want to buy something then everyone go " why did you buy that?"  

 

 

so my questions would be. 

 

1  If I have 90,000 lights what would you ( the vets) do if you were me?

2  my goal would be that one day i would like to get to the superstar program with CCR's.  So if I started with the 16 ,32 channel package will it work with the newest and greatest stuff?

 

I can see why LOR wouldn't want to get involved with making these decisions. Why risk having a person upset with them when a display doesn't end up the way the user envisions it would be. They will help with whatever direction you want to take but that direction has to come from you. After all they are primarily a hardware company. 

 

These decisions are different for every person in this hobby. Some like incandescent, some LED's, some want control over every bulb & some not so much.

 

You said that you have 90000 lights, unless your going to scrap them & start from scratch I would at least get a few 16 channel controllers to start with. It will help you get your feet wet, get use to the hardware & software. You can always add CCR's to your display sometime later. People also sequence there regular AC controllers with superstar as well, it's not just for CCR's. The LOR software will work with all of the newest & greatest stuff out there. 

[LOR Staff]

I can see why LOR wouldn't want to get involved with making these decisions. Why risk having a person upset with them when a display doesn't end up the way the user envisions it would be. They will help with whatever direction you want to take but that direction has to come from you. After all they are primarily a hardware company. 

 

More true words were never spoken.  

 

We have newbies that ask the same questions as Dana, and there really is no ONE answer we can give them.  We can point you at equipment and show you what it does, but how it fits in your venue is up to you.  We are not trying to be obtuse when we don't give you an exact list of stuff, simply because for every venue there is an infinite number of ways to animate it.  

 

If you ask us specifically for things, we can usually help.  "I want to build the pixel tree I see in your videos", will get you a response with a list of things you need to purchase.  If you ask us "What do I need to get started", we have kits with options, tutorials, and documentation that you can use to determine what direction you want to go in.

 

If however you ask us something open ended:  "I own a house and want to make it awesome like I see on the internet!", even if you include details like size and number of lights, there is just no good way to answer that question.  Something like that is going to require design work be done by someone.  If you don't want to do it yourself, you need someone who can sit with you, discuss many options, get a feel for what you want, and then tell you how to achieve it.  For those people, we suggest working with a partner.  That is what they do, and they do it quite well - and of course you will need to pay for their services.

 

We sell the flour, eggs and milk.  What kind of cake you bake with them is up to you

[Dana 44]

Thanks for the info I just wanted to make sure I didn't buy old.out dated stuff. I have some jerk in the neighborhood that has lor but told me that if I tried to get into I would.never understand it then the new stuff would be out. I just hate to put a couple thousand into something that I can get no help with. But it seems like people on here are pretty good with helping us " newbies" lol. I talked to lor today and they told I should wait a little bit for a sale. Does anyone know when this may happen?

[Cdanna77]

Prob July or August. I'm waiting for it also. Need to pick up another controller.

[tomsusie]

When getting started it comes down to budget.  You can always grow as most of us are still doing.  There is lots of good advice above and scattered all over this forum.  There are also tons of videos on this site & YouTube. Just do a search and you'll be amazed what you find.  My first year I went with the starter kit and an extra controller.  I bought a plug n play program to help me get a show up and running.  the next year I sequenced everything myself and still do.  the more you play with the software the more you will learn what you can do with it.  Your imagination can flourish.  I've moved into RGB and SuperStar this year.  My only limitations are what I can afford to add each year.  When getting started it is important to have fun with it.  Don't fret over the small stuff.  Pick a shorter song to sequence.  Then you can go back and refine it as you learn new ways of doing things. And you can never start your sequencing too early!  I started this year's sequencing a couple months ago as I'm sure most everyone has.  Have fun!  LOR is a great company to work with.  They stand behind their products and they are always improving them.

[Dana 44]

Thank you