End State -- Leave Lights ON

[Forest]

I talked with Dan at the Texas Christmas Lights Workshop. I explained to him that I would like for some of my elements to stay on between songs. I have some elements that are primarily static but I wll do some occasional fading and morphing during any given song. My primary feature is my Mega Tree. At the end of a song, I would like the Tree to go dark but the remaining elements to stay in the state of the final cell of the song. Because of the fact that I want to controll these elements during a song, a background sequence would not work.

Dan assured me this is a feature that is coming this season. He said we will have the option for the sequencer to turn everything off or leave in final state.

Can you give me an idea of when this will be available. How will I know it is available when it is?

Many Thanks,

Forest

[zman]

Forest, there is a simple relay box you can build that will allow you to control lights after the show. Check out Wirekat's website, he has a how to on it to explain how one of these are made. I will make 2-3 to get flood lights on after my show using LOR channels.

www.christmasinkent.com

[Forest]

Thanks for the info. I read through his how-to. What he is doing is a bit different from what I am wanting to do. He is handing control off to his timer after his show is completely over.

I want to leave a portion of my lights that are controlled on between songs. My featured element is my Mega Tree. The 3 layers of lights that outline my yard are generally static. I do have them controlled to change colors during the songs. When the song is over, I want my Mega Tree to go dark but none of my other elements.

Thanks, Forest

[rwertz]

Forest wrote:

Dan assured me this is a feature that is coming this season. He said we will have the option for the sequencer to turn everything off or leave in final state.

This would be great. I plan on having several near static songs (most of the house lights will be on with a little something going to the music). However I will be using the house lights for the full blown sequences. I really want to leave the house lights on between the near static songs.

[Greg Young]

Forest wrote:

Thanks for the info. I read through his how-to. What he is doing is a bit different from what I am wanting to do. He is handing control off to his timer after his show is completely over.

I want to leave a portion of my lights that are controlled on between songs. My featured element is my Mega Tree. The 3 layers of lights that outline my yard are generally static. I do have them controlled to change colors during the songs. When the song is over, I want my Mega Tree to go dark but none of my other elements.

Thanks, Forest

Hey Forest:

I have been doing that very things for the last several years with LORI and now LORII.

It's very easy .. just go to the last cell in the song that will be ending and turn on the channels you want to stay on after that song finishes.

Make sure in the song that follows, the first cell has those same channels on. After that the second song can change them as desired.

I usually use the last 2 or so cells in the first song to do a fade up to full intensity, and in the song that follows, a couple of cells as well to do a fade down to zero intensity.

As long as you remember to make the appropriate changes in the song that follows, you won't have any glitches.

Greg

[Forest]

Greg Young wrote:

It's very easy .. just go to the last cell in the song that will be ending and turn on the channels you want to stay on after that song finishes.

Make sure in the song that follows, the first cell has those same channels on. After that the second song can change them as desired.

I am going to test this very soon. I will be so pumped when I see it.

Many Thanks, Forest

[Forest]

Bump...

Was hoping that one of the LOR staff would respond to this.

Thanks, Forest

[Dr. Jones]

I have this in the past - trying to keep my "tune to" sign lit

you might experience a momentary black out as the controller switches songs

[Greg Young]

Forest wrote:

Bump...

Was hoping that one of the LOR staff would respond to this.

Thanks, Forest

Did you try what I suggested?

Unless I am misunderstanding your question, what I posted will work.

Greg

[Greg Young]

Dr. Jones wrote:

I have this in the past - trying to keep my "tune to" sign lit

you might experience a momentary black out as the controller switches songs

Dr Jones - maybe it's my setup, but I have not experienced any black outs between selections/songs.

Once the elements are turnd on in a given selection, they will stay on, as long any subsequent selections during which I want to maintain them on has turned on (from the very first to the very last cell of the selection).

That is how I sequence my animated choir. The choir will respond to the music for selections that includes a chorus, but on solo vocals/instrumentals, etc, and between selections, they remain on at full illumination.

Greg

[Forest]

Greg,

I plan to utilize your solution. I would prefer to have the option to do this progamatically rather than needint to trick the system. Dan had given me the indication that this is coming. I am hoping to get an idea when.

Thanks, Forest

[Richard Hamilton]

It sounds like an interesting feature, yet I am not sure we would use it. We do things a bit differently.

We have a short announcement of a few seconds between songs to announce the next song, and in the middle of the show we announce safety reminders or other messages. We like for the lights to be very dim and subtle during that time. We''ve noticed over the years that people listen to the announcements better when they aren't discussing the lights that are on.

There is a second reason we don't leave lights on in the last state. Many of our songs don't blend together well. Example, I don't want to leave the lights in the last state of an intense song like "Wizards in Winter" when a soft song like "White Christmas" might follow. We like to mix things up.

Soooo, we have a sequence that runs between every song where the lights are set to a soft glow of about 15% 0r 20%. Voice-overs come on top of it.

[Greg Young]

Richard Hamilton wrote:

It sounds like an interesting feature, yet I am not sure we would use it. We do things a bit differently.

We have a short announcement of a few seconds between songs to announce the next song, and in the middle of the show we announce safety reminders or other messages. We like for the lights to be very dim and subtle during that time. We''ve noticed over the years that people listen to the announcements better when they aren't discussing the lights that are on.

There is a second reason we don't leave lights on in the last state. Many of our songs don't blend together well. Example, I don't want to leave the lights in the last state of an intense song like "Wizards in Winter" when a soft song like "White Christmas" might follow. We like to mix things up.

Soooo, we have a sequence that runs between every song where the lights are set to a soft glow of about 15% 0r 20%. Voice-overs come on top of it.

I agree with that Richard.

The only controlled lights I leave on between selections (for the reasons you stated) is for my animated choir, and a spotlight on the garage door mural we have.

The rest of the nonstatic (controlled) display is off.

Greg

[Greg Young]

Forest wrote:

Greg,

I plan to utilize your solution. I would prefer to have the option to do this progamatically rather than needint to trick the system. Dan had given me the indication that this is coming. I am hoping to get an idea when.

Thanks, Forest

OK, got it Forest!

Greg

[Forest]

Richard Hamilton wrote:

It sounds like an interesting feature, yet I am not sure we would use it. We do things a bit differently.

Richard, I can see how that works for you. When I talked with Dan in Houston, he indicated that they were going to make this an optional feature. It seems that the program goes through at the end of a sequence to be sure everything is shut off. Because of the way my display is set up, I would like the option to bypass that module and leave things as they are.

[Richard Hamilton]

I see. Makes sense.

[Steven]

I would like to use the proposed "leave on" feature on an X10 channel.

I have motion-activated (security) lights on my porch and above my garage door. They are connected to an X10 switch so I can turn them off during the show with a CM11A controlled by LOR.

I would like to turn the motion-activated lights back on at the end of a show and leave them on. The solutions I have seen so far include:

1. Run an "always on" show after my light show that contains a single background sequence that turns the lights on. The problem with this solution is the "disable shows" menu will still turn the lights off, as will shutting down the computer. It also makes for a messy schedule when shows end at different times on different days of the week.
2. Don't control the X10 lights with LOR, but instead with a timer in the CM11A. The problem with this solution is the times are not exact because the show doesn't end until the last song is finished, which means the lights will come on a bit too soon. Also, when Christmas is over, I have to remember to turn off the timers on the CM11A. And again, the "disable shows" menu will not turn the lights back on.
3. Have the X10 switch power a relay that turns the lights off. Then turn the X10 switch on in the background sequence. This is a bit of trouble to wire, but it would integrate with LOR better. If it's an X10 wall switch, then turning the switch off will turn the lights on.
4. Buy a second CM11A, and create a macro that will turn the lights on when an off command is received on an unused X10 address. Then put this X10 address in a background sequence that will stay until the end of the show. At the end of the show, LOR will send an off command to this X10 address, which will be received by the second CM11A, activate the macro, and turn the light on.

Obviously, the ability to turn an X10 channel on in a cleanup sequence and leave it on would be much easier.