Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

newbie with lights


friskybri

Recommended Posts

Stitched two pics to make it panoramic and made my house look crappy but thats not what I need from you guys. Need input on lights for the roof. I have been playing with LOR and holiday light designer. I put white and blue icicle lights on the gutters. Once channel for each color on the house and garage. (4 total). Then 4 sets of rope lights (red, green, blue, white) for the ridge line and down both sides of the house to the gutters.(4 channels) Same for the garage.(4 channels) Total channels for the roof is 12. Now when I try WOW i have them go back and forth from the garage and house. Maybe I am wrong but I think they look crappy. Am I just picky or do you think that is to many channels waisted on the roof? Or maybe better sequencing might do the trick. I also have thought of combining them the garage and house instead of having them split. Please help. All input is welcome.

Attached files 165445=9531-Stitch1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Controlling the house and garage roof separately would work in certain applications. WoW I think benefits from balance. Maybe if you split your house roof into thirds to balance the small size of the garage or the entire roof into two sections and did your windows and garage door.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

okay consider this,

1.where will the folks viewing this be? On the street standing or in a car or do you let folks walk through your yard?

2. Will the tree impede the view or will the tree be lit up as well.

3. If you do thirds on the roof and garage you will have two outside thirds and then a middle section, so sequencing will be easy. However the more sections you split intp offers more options.

4. I would avoid seperating the roofs into only the garage and main roof unless you have the desidnated as seperate scences.



Mikey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with both. I like the idea of spitting into thirds. The house is just to long for the garage. one for the garage and two for the house. I just don't want to put up a display next year and go this sucks. Then you think I should put the rope lights at that go on the crest of the roof as one instead of two or go to three on that also. Maybe I am making this harder than it really is. Anyone having issues with Holiday light designer not keeping up with LOR?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't use holiday designer but hem again this is my third year.

I think a rope light on the peak woul be nice, On its own channel you could black out the roof and leave it on for a nice quick effect.





Mikey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I played with the animation in LOr and it works much faster then Holiday light designer. I think your right about 3 on the house and one on the garage. I was going to go with just two on house and one on garage. Then I used the animation and it looked better and more options when I have 4 ice across the hole front. So to keep with the same amount of channels I think I am going to go with 4 instead of 8 rope channels on the entire house. I had White,b,g,r (4 channels)garage and same for house but I think 4 for all should be fine. Thanks for helping me we this issue. I been thinking for hours on this. I plan on one channel for each window, door and bush. 8 mini trees 2 arches 2spots. I figured 48 to start is ok, would like 128 but don't want to overwhelm myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

I have been playing with different options for my house and I like the 4 channels across the gutters. I plan on 80 channels and now I am down to a choice that needs input. I made room for two more red icicle channels but need two more for the green icicles. You will see in the sequence what a difference it makes by having four verses two. I have come down to putting the two side by side windows together to free up a channel. Also putting both window bells together to free up the second. The other choice I have is going from 8 channel arches to 7 to free up two. The arches are only 10 foot long. I was going to free up a channel by combining the candy canes on the driveway to one but I am not for sure if that was a good idea. I was using Mr. Holdman's krypton to see how I like the house lights. I did cut and paste just to play with the lights. I like the ability to go from center out to top or side to side or even 1 and 3 and garage and 2 to dance back and forth. Granted it takes a controller to run just the icicle but I think its worth it. I am at 50/50 on which way to go. What do you think.

Attached files Bri krypton.lms

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did not review your sequence but IMO go 7 channels on the arches. This allows you to start some the arch movement at the top.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, in looking at your house it appers the garage is in the 12' wide range.

Your house is more than likely about three times that wide so I'd go to 4 channels on how ever many different colors you use. You can go back and forth between colors with them or chase them in any direction. When you chase also rather than just going on/off on the sequence too, throw in a down ramp or fade on them each as the next channel comes up. Kind of like a dissaperaing tale on a meteor. This looks cool on the arches also, especailly with shorter segments. I'm making 15 foot arches with 9 channels. That odd amount of channels gives you more variation, especially the ability to make them "clap" in the center. Also IF you have a free channel think about throwing in a few strobes.



Lenny

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You were close its 16 feet and the house is 44'3" From the street about a foot wont make a difference. I thought of strobes but I think it will go in the following year with the mega tree. Its early in the year I might find a way to add strobes. :D Wanted to start with 32 but I kept adding and adding until I had 80. I didn't want to take on to much for the first year coming up. So far I am leaning now 70/30 towards the 7 channel arches to free up the two channels I need for the house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep:
I just started with 16 this year to get the feel for it with 13 animated songs. We always did a large static display and still will. The animated stuff is on top of that and we are going to 64 channels for next year and then 96 the following, which is probably about as big as I can get with our house and lot. We could always switch some of that static lighting over but we really like that as is and it totals between 15 and 17 thousand lights. We have a 3 bdrm ranch that is set back about 40 ft with the narrow dimension facing and a two car attached garage so I have a peak in front on the house with the garage off to the right. I divided the front in to 4, 8' zones and have red, green and white in each zone. Then to fill the final 4 channels I made 7' trees and have mutli color red, green, white lights in those and centered them in front of each zone. Really compact, but really neat and easy to have lots of variation. I'm keeping the house as is but am going to move the trees out and form a semi-circle with them with a maple tree we have as the middle.
I'm going to go with the seperate red, green, and white then as well as doing the same with the maple. I figure about 7500 lights on the Maple total. Then we are adding a pair of twin leaping arches on each end of the lot, a couple dozen strobes, and then all those strings of red, green and white multi colored that where on my 7" trees are going on a mega tree. That along with one of the arch sets on the south side of the drive. The expansion the following year will make the mega tree three color then also. We also plan to add 7 songs to be at 20 which is close to 90 minutes. Running 5:30 to 10:00 should get three shows a night in. It's great fun though planning all of this and seeing it work.

Lenny

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lenny and Iresq, thanks for the input on the decorating issues I was having. I went with the 7 segment arches that opened up the channels to do the gutters with ice. I also took your advice on strobes. I put the two windows that are next to each other and put it on one channel. This opens up one to put in strobes. MAN, thats going to drive my wife nuts. I don't think I will tell her about the strobes until show night. LOL. Without a mega tree. where would be a good place to put the strobes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depending on how many you put up, anyplace. Use your imagination and space them around. Hang them at varying height from your gutters. To get them above the gutter mount a support pole on either end of your house and run a line between them. If you can get the line at least 6 feet off the roof and hang them at different heights there as well that gives you more. If you can mount a couple sets of them that's better yet. I plan on mounting two at different distances up my roof line. one at the peak and another halfway down the eave which will give me three levels to hang them off of with the gutter being the third. With the snow we get if wouldn't be a good idea to set them on the roof unless you could somehow make a bunch of risers for each one to get then up like 12 inches or so. I figure the supports are best. At 6' off the roof they are very reachable. And, you can keep a few strobes hung tighter to the line then drop a few so they hang closer to the shingles. Also, I'm using the CDI strobes which concentrate most of the flash out the front lense and very little if any out the back so I'm going to try to somehow get them to stay pointed at the street. At least the ones that would be hanging near any windows;o) From what I'm being told you can easily put 20 or 30 on a channel. Just be sure to only turn them on and off. No twinkle, shimmer or fades.

Lenny

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...