paulcav151 Posted February 23, 2010 Posted February 23, 2010 The motherboard on the desktop I was planning to use to run my displays died. I still have my laptop, but can't picture myself going computerless during Halloween and Christmas. I am considering buying an MP3 Director during one of the sales. Do any of you have any strong opinions for or against that you care to share?
Dave Alber Posted February 23, 2010 Posted February 23, 2010 I have the mini director I have used for the last 2 years for Halloween and Christmas it worked greatIt was nice not having my laptop hooked up
Don Posted February 23, 2010 Posted February 23, 2010 Paul,I've used both a computer and the MP3 Director card. I can't say that I strong feelings for/against either method.The main thing (in my opinion) to keep in mind is that with the MP3 Director you have to write to a new SD card (or the same one, doesn't matter) each time you want to change the order of songs, hours, etc.
paulcav151 Posted February 23, 2010 Author Posted February 23, 2010 Dave Alber wrote: I have the mini director I have used for the last 2 years for Halloween and Christmas it worked greatIt was nice not having my laptop hooked upI see the primary difference between the mini and the regular card, besides the price, is the exclusion of a timer in the mini. How do you work around that?
Dave Alber Posted February 23, 2010 Posted February 23, 2010 My Christmas display is a log truck in a parade then we do a tractor parade the following week for Halloween I just started it at sunset and took the sd card out when we were doneI run up to 160 channels and 80000 lights
paulcav151 Posted February 23, 2010 Author Posted February 23, 2010 Dave Alber wrote: My Christmas display is a log truck in a parade then we do a tractor parade the following week for Halloween I just started it at sunset and took the sd card out when we were doneI run up to 160 channels and 80000 lightsAnd Halloween? Do you use it to control props or mainly lighting sequences?
Dave Alber Posted February 23, 2010 Posted February 23, 2010 Halloween was all lights and music I did run 1 inflatablebecause it was only used in one song I would turn on the fan with one channel at the beginning of the song and run the lights in it with another channel after the song the fan would turn off to hide the inflatable
Gary Levelius Posted February 23, 2010 Posted February 23, 2010 One noted difference is that with either the director or mini-director, you can not do animation sequences and musical seqeunces sequences at the same time (with the animation in the background) as you can with a the show editor/scheduler on the PC. If you wish to have any background animation controlled by LOR running either at the same time as the show or at times other than when the show is running, you'll need to use a PC.If you use the mini-director, you can anlways just start and stop the show by using a time that comes on when the show's supposed to start and turns it off when the end time comes.-Gary-
bisquit476 Posted February 24, 2010 Posted February 24, 2010 I used the mini director this past year and it worked great. As mentioned though, it doesn't have a clock function, so when the power is on it works. I used switches to turn on and off my show with no problems. With that said, I may look into getting the Showtime MP3 Director this year, specifically because of the timing issue, I just don't want to have to turn on and off the show each night, although I also thought of getting an outdoor timer and using that instead.
Dennis Cherry Posted February 24, 2010 Posted February 24, 2010 Have used the Mini Director for 2 years and has worked flawlessly.Used a digital timer plugged in outside to turn on the Mini Director and the EDM Transmitter, the Controllers are powered on all the time, no problem doing this.The Mini Directors has a start up pause that is long enough for the EDM to power up and lock in the frequency.I do not know about the background animation feature, but the Mini Director has 2 interactive trigger inputs that can be used. Have not used this feature, but might this year.I program 2 shows on different SD cards, one short and long show. If the traffic is light the long show is run, if traffic is heavy the short show is used. It only takes a few seconds to change memory cards, you do not have to remove power from the mini director either, but you could if you want.
wallleyes Posted February 27, 2010 Posted February 27, 2010 So if i buy the mp3 director and some ctb16pc controllers is the power fed into the mp3 director from a cat5 cable off the first controller in my setup?I would like to put my mp3 director and my fm transmitter in my garage.Or do i need a lead controller like the lor1602 w?
Guest wbottomley Posted February 27, 2010 Posted February 27, 2010 wallleyes wrote:So if i buy the mp3 director and some ctb16pc controllers is the power fed into the mp3 director from a cat5 cable off the first controller in my setup?That's your answer.
grandad Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 paulcav151 wrote: The motherboard on the desktop I was planning to use to run my displays died. I still have my laptop, but can't picture myself going computerless during Halloween and Christmas. I am considering buying an MP3 Director during one of the sales. Do any of you have any strong opinions for or against that you care to share?Paul,I've used the MP3-Director since it first appeared and I find it great.I have a nice cosy installation, indoors with the MP3-Director attached to an ELL unit and FM Transmitter. First CTB outside has the second ELL; CAT5 cable from there on.The MP3-Director, used as I do, has to have a "power-brick" to provide power for it. The MP3-Director then powers the ELL.All in all, very easy to use and minimal space required. With the release of the new firmware for the MP3-Director it will become even more versatile (Thanks Dan)Martin
paulcav151 Posted February 28, 2010 Author Posted February 28, 2010 Martin: That's the Showtime, not the Mini you are referring to?
grandad Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 paulcav151 wrote: Martin: That's the Showtime, not the Mini you are referring to?Paul,You are correct, it is not the mini. The one I have is this one here http://store.lightorama.com/dicawimp3pl.htmlMartin[edit] my bad: it's called the DC-MP3 isn't it :? [/edit]
JBullard Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 I use the mini director and love it!I just use an external timer to turn it on and off (along with some static elements), and even use the trigger inputs with the mini for Halloween.
paulcav151 Posted February 28, 2010 Author Posted February 28, 2010 So far everyone who responded that uses the mini loves it, so I bought one yesterday from the sale. I'll give it a try. Thanks to everyone for your input!PC
Surfing4Dough Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 paulcav151 wrote: So far everyone who responded that uses the mini loves it, so I bought one yesterday from the sale. I'll give it a try. Thanks to everyone for your input!PCWell the mini-director is the only item left from the sale (everything else sold out). 14 left as of 2:28pm.Mini Director with MP3 Player
lightzilla Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 paulcav151 wrote: So far everyone who responded that uses the mini loves it, so I bought one yesterday from the sale. I'll give it a try. Thanks to everyone for your input!PCI need to agree with the verdict. I to use the mini director unit and it worked just fine.I bought a new laptop to run my 2009 but I received a new mini director unit in a trade and I was just going to let it set and use the new laptop.Anyhow I thought, why not give the mini director a try and see how it works, and so I tried it and never went back.I will use my laptop when we go on vacation, or when we travel on long weekends, and make sequences.As others have said for another $10.00 or so just add an external timer.Anyone in my house can run the show using the director unit. .......which is a goodI do not allow anyone to use my computers at home.
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