Being original.

[jerry72]

On 10/28/2017 at 10:38 PM, k6ccc said:

Not much.  For most of mine, I purchased the pixel tree, and then I sequenced the other 4,000 or so channels for the rest of the yard.

 

This is what i do.

[Ebuechner]

2 hours ago, George Simmons said:

Except for people I know very well and for a very long time, add me to the no-sharing list.  Got all sorts of war stories from back when I DID share.

Seriously, I've never known you to butt heads with anyone.

 

[jerry72]

57 minutes ago, Ebuechner said:

Seriously, I've never known you to butt heads with anyone.

 

[bryan.hurley5]

This is my first year programming and setting up my show. I have 32 channels including a singing gingerbread woman. The mouth movements and eyes are all programmed by me and it feels amazing to be able to match the lip movements with the words and allow her to come "alive"...

On a side note, all the free sequences I have come across are mostly garbage. The only good ones I have seen are from Mr. James Morris. However, I do enjoy seeing how other people program. Everyone is so different. This hobby really is an art... 

[MikeERWNC]

I used to build my own with 32 channel is wasn't bad but very time consuming.

Work laid off all of my co-workers so I have to pick up the slack. Time is a commodity I can't waste.

So I have been begging forum member for sequences. It still takes a lot of time to populate the graph when you have 25 controllers.

Not all of us are retired or have 40 hour per week jobs.

[caniac]

2 hours ago, MikeERWNC said:

I used to build my own with 32 channel is wasn't bad but very time consuming.

Work laid off all of my co-workers so I have to pick up the slack. Time is a commodity I can't waste.

So I have been begging forum member for sequences. It still takes a lot of time to populate the graph when you have 25 controllers.

Not all of us are retired or have 40 hour per week jobs.

Not all of us are retired or have 40 hour a week jobs, I frequently put in 50+ hours as does my wife, have also worked thru a triple bypass, two stents, and various other surgeries.  Still get a lot of joy out of doing my own sequencing though I do use pieces and parts of others sequences.  No two shows are alike.

[Ebuechner]

Some people do puzzles to relax. 

I do sequences. 

I have my computer setup in the basement with dual monitors good speakers and a set of noise cancelling headphones. I sit back put my feet up relax and poke at it until it's done. 

I often jump back and forth between sequences so I don't get hyper focused on any one sequence. I find if you try to complete a sequence from beginning to end without any breaks you'll end up with a forehead shaped dent in front of your keyboard. 

 

[MikeERWNC]

7 hours ago, caniac said:

Not all of us are retired or have 40 hour a week jobs, I frequently put in 50+ hours as does my wife, have also worked thru a triple bypass, two stents, and various other surgeries.  Still get a lot of joy out of doing my own sequencing though I do use pieces and parts of others sequences.  No two shows are alike.

I am the guy who builds the technology which found your blow out, did the measurements so your stent vendor could build the proper sized stent and shown the endo-vascular/ cardio-vascular surgeon the proper placement of the stent.

Sometimes your health and well-fare are more important than me doing sequencing... Glad you are still alive. Put down the cheeseburger!

Small world. Eleven years ago I worked for the original company which founded CHI the healthcare company which owns Good Sam in your neighborhood.

I have a few servers in both Good Sam and Kearny Regional.

 

[caniac]

18 minutes ago, MikeERWNC said:

I am the guy who builds the technology which found your blow out, did the measurements so your stent vendor could build the proper sized stent and shown the endo-vascular/ cardio-vascular surgeon the proper placement of the stent.

Sometimes your health and well-fare are more important than me doing sequencing... Glad you are still alive. Put down the cheeseburger!

Small world. Eleven years ago I worked for the original company which founded CHI the healthcare company which owns Good Sam in your neighborhood.

I have a few servers in both Good Sam and Kearny Regional.

 

Let's not go pounding our chest Junior!  Do you homework before making your comments, had you done your research you would have know that CHI has a horrible reputation in this area for not only healthcare but also cardiac care.  Kearney Regional is to new to rate IMO.  I am not from Nebraska and have only been here five years, in that time I have learned that CHI and the doctors here in general do not practice preventive medicine.  Had I had my issues here I would have been six feet under.  I am from NC and a little town called Raleigh, you may have heard of it.  My issues were resolved at WakeMed and are a result of top notch doctors.

Again do your research, the cheeseburger comment was uncalled for and unwarranted.  If you had done your research you would have found out my family has a history of heart disease!!  Do the work, don't make wild guesses about folks.  It won't help your conquest for free sequences.

Again if you had done the research you would have found out I had configured and installed some of the first file servers used in hospitals (1986).

Before you go beating on your chest touting your greatness, do the legwork.  It will get your farther in life.

[dibblejr]

3 hours ago, MikeERWNC said:

I am the guy who builds the technology which found your blow out, did the measurements so your stent vendor could build the proper sized stent and shown the endo-vascular/ cardio-vascular surgeon the proper placement of the stent.

Sometimes your health and well-fare are more important than me doing sequencing... Glad you are still alive. Put down the cheeseburger!

Small world. Eleven years ago I worked for the original company which founded CHI the healthcare company which owns Good Sam in your neighborhood.

I have a few servers in both Good Sam and Kearny Regional.

 

It’s not all about “cheeseburgers” both of my MI’s occurred while I was at the peak of best physical condition in my life while serving in the Army. 

Unless you are the Cardiovascular surgeon or specialist you are not qualified enough to give medical advice. 

I am not a fan of the “cheeseburger”. 

JR

[Ebuechner]

Hey, wait a minute what's wrong with cheeseburgers?

I like cheeseburgers!

Damn, now I'm hungry. 

 

This post brought to you by the NCBA.

[MikeERWNC]

Cheeseburger was meant to be a joke...

I forgot how tense this place gets in November. 

Edited November 5, 2017 by MikeERWNC

[default]

* ahem cough *
Back to the topic, one thing I do that keeps creating effects in superstar fresh, is to open a blank SS file and just start adding effects. Then overlay them on top of others, change colors, change speed all while having no idea of what the finished product will be. More times than not, I end up with some effects that are very original and if I had sat and tried to create it, I wouldn't have a clue where to start. I call them happy little accidents I save these files as "SS samples" then later while sequencing, I'll go back and look at them and copy and paste the effect into a current sequence I am working on.

I think props help keep the sequencing original. I remember seeing the mega trees and thought "o I gots to get one of those". Instead of a star or ball, I put a spinner on the top of mine and a combo of the 2 props creates challenges but well worth it in the end. The blade spinner is also an absolute joy to sequence for. I am constantly amazed of what that prop is capable of.

I agree with the thought of most trees have the same old effects on them and it gets old watching them. However, I think S5 will help change that for those who dig into all the effects and settings available.

As far as the artist comments, I have good friends who paint, play musical instruments, and draw incredible pictures free hand. I have a rough time drawing a straight line with straight edge and a pencil, yet when they see what I do with the lights they always comment that they could never do anything like that. I can only dream of doing the things they do. Yet for me sequencing is putting color on a grid at different times and watching to see how it looks, then add to it.

Alan...

[jtomason]

I create (and have shared) my own sequences, but one sequence created by someone else was used just for the timings..   I had a wife-imposed deadline to meet and didn't have 10 hours to spend listening to 1/4 speed nailing everything..  I know you can relate.

That being said, I've never seen a sequence made by someone else that would have matched my house and would have taken almost as much time to copy/paste/whatever than to simply create one  much more suited to my setup. 

 

If I am going to be "unoriginal", it's by looking at people's videos for inspiration. 

 

 

[BryanZ]

Speaking for myself, I'm usually want the timing of the song for that can make things far easier to sequence. High hat here, vocals there, guitars here. Admittedly, I easily fall into the trap of making the display a jukebox and getting out of that can be trying at times.

It would be greatly helpful if more tutorials were available showing how to use the various programs for non-smart pixel shows, focusing more on those with either dumb RGB strips or LEDs for those individuals who like to keep more of a classic and simple feel  to a show. 

 

 

[jtomason]

On 11/29/2017 at 9:08 PM, BryanZ said:

Speaking for myself, I'm usually want the timing of the song for that can make things far easier to sequence. High hat here, vocals there, guitars here. Admittedly, I easily fall into the trap of making the display a jukebox and getting out of that can be trying at times.

It would be greatly helpful if more tutorials were available showing how to use the various programs for non-smart pixel shows, focusing more on those with either dumb RGB strips or LEDs for those individuals who like to keep more of a classic and simple feel  to a show. 

 

I don't know how helpful this is, but my creative process starts by listening to the song, visualizing the lights in my show, and expressing the mood of the song through those lights.   I guess the best way to describe it would be to envision that the lights are dancers; how would they dance to a given song?    Wizards In Winter has a more frenetic feel to it than Silent Night, for example.    My Wizards In Winter might induce a seizure, my Silent Night is calm and peaceful; and I try to utilize light elements that emphasize the mood in a given part of the song.    Once I have a general idea of how I want the lights to look, I go into SE and start working one element at a time.   Oftentimes, I will change my mind about a given element while editing what it's doing or decide that what I am doing would be better on another element, etc..  Playing the "set designer" and "stage hand" roles in one, as it were.     

Once the song has been completed, I will go watch it live to see if it meets expectations and adjust from there.    To date, I do not use Visualizer (I've moved too much, I may start using it now), so picturing it in my head is the main tool during song creation.   

So to kinda answer your question, I really only use SE - but it's more just "coding" what I see in my mind as I listen to the song.   My show is 80% LED and 20% RGB (dumb/smart).

 

[B.Y.R.G.]

whoops...

Edited December 1, 2017 by B.Y.R.G.

[caniac]

18 minutes ago, B.Y.R.G. said:

whoops...

where did the bacon comment go, I so had an answer!!  

[B.Y.R.G.]

11 minutes ago, caniac said:

where did the bacon comment go, I so had an answer!!  

When it posted it I wasn't sure it was the right thread as I was researching your past bacon comments in other windows so I had my facts straight.  Can't be too careful around here.....hahah!  

But it was basically if there was bacon on the cheeseburger then you might have been interested.

[caniac]

2 minutes ago, B.Y.R.G. said:

When it posted it I wasn't sure it was the right thread as I was researching your past bacon comments in other windows so I had my facts straight.  Can't be too careful around here.....hahah!  

But it was basically if there was bacon on the cheeseburger then you might have been interested.

Be careful with your bacon research, once derailed a thread to the tune of 35 pages when I changed to topic to bacon (it helped ease the tensions on here at the time).