Hi from Brisbane (Another one) :-)

HI all,

I am looking at moving away from the static lights at Christmas and moving to a programmable one.

I would be interested in hearing what is the best out of the box products to purchase to make this easier.

Thanks all

Hi Paul

Welcome to ACL. Nothing really available out of the box but thats what makes this hobby so enjoyable (I was hoping for out of the box when I started). Research, building, research more, build more all part of the fun. Read the 101 manual to get you started. Where in Brisbane are you?
Brad

Thanks. Narangba. Fairly close to your way.
Any tips for someone starting out? Perhaps the equipment needed for a small first display?

Have a look through the https://auschristmaslighting.com/videos/ and pick out a few items that interest you. Pop that info in here and we should be able to tell you how to do it.

PaulW said:

Any tips for someone starting out? Perhaps the equipment needed for a small first display?

Click to expand...

It all comes down to your budget, how much time you have, what you are trying to achieve and your budget . As @AAH said, take a look at the videos and see what you like.
Brad

Thanks all. Will do

Welcome to ACL, Lots of great advice and help here to get you on your way if you want to make the effort in learning this great hobby.

As far as plug and play systems then you will find that these are a much higher cost and selection is very limited you would still need to understand how to map and program for your display if you are wanting a musical show with effects mapped to the house.

We do offer a plug and play system with lights which we mainly sell to the commercial market, this has built in effects within the controller so no programming if you don't want to, but this would mean you are only cycling through effects which would be the same over the whole display which can be still effective if your not wanting to go down the route of programming and mapping your display to misic, but this is all commercial grade lighting and control, so is more expensive than the DIY options.

There are some "plug and play" or "ready to run" RGB LED controllers on the market, including one which you won't find in the ACL manual.
These will all run off xLights, and as is can run a limited amount of 'props', For instance: a 4 channel one could run 4 arches, or a 16 channel one could run a 16x50 pixel (mega) tree for example.
Falcon
HolidayCoro
Advatek
LOR - not all their RGB ones work in xlights

Of course PnP / R2R controller boxes may cost you more than building one yourself and they won't be as "flexible" for your needs. However, if you can afford it and don't have the time, expertise or the tools they are an option.
You'll still need to build your props (lights attached to shapes, house outlines, gutters etc), but there's companies like Boscoyo that will even make that task easier.

Hi all,

The "all i want for christmas" display seems like what I am after. The arcs and the rope lighting at the front I would like to start off with to music as I am looking at a circus type theme. I would like to attach the lights in hoops with the rope like in a circus ring format and then have some display in the middle.
I will then work my way up from there

Thanks,
Paul

Welcome to ACL... Research and ask lots of Questions. There are many options for light control, you just need to decided what your budget is and how you want you light to be driven..There is a wealth of info on this site and great people who can help you on your way..

Hi Paul welcome to ACL!
Pity you missed the QLD mini get-together, but as others have stated, the forums are jammed full of info, and there's always someone in chat to bounce some ideas or questions off of.

So I am a bit late saying hello, but I am in Narangba! Send me a PM!