LightsWithSoul Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Hello everyone! Very excited to get in to this hobby. I have always loved decorating for Christmas but now that I have a decent sized single family home to decorate I thought what better time to get in to Christmas light choreography. I have already planned my whole show for this year and will use a mix of green incandescent minis for that warm traditional glow, and warm white LEDs. I have purchased 3 16 channel controllers and the 10w 8 pack RGB flood set. My plan is to differentiate my show through the choreography rather than sheer volume of lights. As a song writer/performer I plan to use my knowledge of music to create a (hopefully) engaging display. For example rather than choose pop songs which are very beat-driven, (not that I'm saying there's anything wrong that, just not my cup of tea) I plan on choosing more elaborate pieces, and in fact I have choreographed my first song "Joy To The World" by my favorite smooth jazz artist Brian Culbertson. I'm choreographing the lights with fixed elements like the roof line and planter borders mainly serving as the beat, and using other details like windows and light pillars to resemble drum hits, bass runs and subtle nuances like trumpet/sax vibrato. Anyways I planned to make a simple introduction post and here I am rambling about music haha. I'm pretty confident in my ability to do this without too many hiccups but I'm sure something will arise so I'm glad to see such an active forum here. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EARLE W. TALLEY Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome to the forums and the hobby, just have fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome to the addiction - err, I mean hobby! You have an advantage over some of us with your musical background. Sounds more like your issues will be either the hardware (although you're not doing anything too complex (so far)) or getting the software to what they want. Feel free to ask when things don't make sense. And again, welcome aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome! Glad to see you've got your head on straight and your priorities in order. Not everyone starts this "hobby" with that advantage. Fact is, it's always been all about the sequencing. It amazes me how many people don't get that. Bulb count will determine how bright your display is. Your sequencing will determine whether it's watchable. I'm looking forward to seeing your work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome aboard. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPaschall Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 9 hours ago, LightsWithSoul said: Hello everyone! Very excited to get in to this hobby. I have always loved decorating for Christmas but now that I have a decent sized single family home to decorate I thought what better time to get in to Christmas light choreography. I have already planned my whole show for this year and will use a mix of green incandescent minis for that warm traditional glow, and warm white LEDs. I have purchased 3 16 channel controllers and the 10w 8 pack RGB flood set. My plan is to differentiate my show through the choreography rather than sheer volume of lights. As a song writer/performer I plan to use my knowledge of music to create a (hopefully) engaging display. For example rather than choose pop songs which are very beat-driven, (not that I'm saying there's anything wrong that, just not my cup of tea) I plan on choosing more elaborate pieces, and in fact I have choreographed my first song "Joy To The World" by my favorite smooth jazz artist Brian Culbertson. I'm choreographing the lights with fixed elements like the roof line and planter borders mainly serving as the beat, and using other details like windows and light pillars to resemble drum hits, bass runs and subtle nuances like trumpet/sax vibrato. Anyways I planned to make a simple introduction post and here I am rambling about music haha. I'm pretty confident in my ability to do this without too many hiccups but I'm sure something will arise so I'm glad to see such an active forum here. Thanks guys! Welcome to the hobby, Your approach is the way I go also being a musician.Just remember,once you get engulfed by this hobby and add more channels,our approach really extends the sequencing time. Learn the software and create shortcuts to help offset some of the extra hours that will eventually take place. Happy Sequencing, SPaschall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPaschall Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 4 hours ago, George Simmons said: Welcome! Glad to see you've got your head on straight and your priorities in order. Not everyone starts this "hobby" with that advantage. Fact is, it's always been all about the sequencing. It amazes me how many people don't get that. Bulb count will determine how bright your display is. Your sequencing will determine whether it's watchable. I'm looking forward to seeing your work. No truer words were ever said, i am going to steal that quote for a class at Expo if you don't mind. SPaschall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyD Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Can't wait to see what you've done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Mitchell Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome aboard. I'm sure you will have questions and there is a lot of help here. You may find this thread helpful. http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/25472-how-i-sequence/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shfr26 Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Did I miss it or did you get software also? If not, download the demo version and get familiar with it. If you did, make sure you have the correct level of license to do what you want. Advanced at least. Enjoy the fun. Kiss your , never mind, you will understand later in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grinch Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome Everybodys display is different and it sounds like you have the right approach. Make it your display, if you play the music you want to hear you will enjoy the show as well, along with all of the work that comes with setting it up. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightsWithSoul Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 20 minutes ago, shfr26 said: Did I miss it or did you get software also? If not, download the demo version and get familiar with it. If you did, make sure you have the correct level of license to do what you want. Advanced at least. Enjoy the fun. Kiss your , never mind, you will understand later in the year. Yes I did purchase the advanced version of the software. I used the demo for a couple weeks prior to ordering everything and learned the basics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Welcome to the hobby and forums. There are a lot of smart people on here that are very helpful. I am a second year newbie in way over my head but I am confident that I'll get by with a little help from my friends. Again welcome, you're in for a wild ride! Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 8 hours ago, SPaschall said: No truer words were ever said, i am going to steal that quote for a class at Expo if you don't mind. You mean I actually said something useful? I've gotta tell Sharon about this before i forget. Hell yes - steal away! Here's wishing you success in furthering the cause of quality sequencing while you're at Expo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightingnewb Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Welcome to the place where money magically disappears in exchange for high tech bright and flashy lights and sequences. (Not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. ) I'm sure you've got a path ahead of you that you will, 80% of the time, follow. 20% of the time, you'll find you either have a shortcut, you stumble and hit a bump, or you just deviate from the course a bit. Have no fear, L-O-R is here! We'll all be glad to help you out in any capacity of answering questions. Thanks for joining us on this wild, wild adventure! LN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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