Welcome to ACL. It took me some time to get my head wrapped around animated lighting too (and I'm still learning). If you have not already done so, I suggest downloading and reading through ACL's 101 Manual. Follow that with a good browse through ACL's archived Forums. The history of the forums will give you a good idea of what others have encountered and the steps and suggestions to solve problems. I also suggest viewing most if not all of the Canispater Christmas videos on Youtube. That is Jeff and he covers Christmas lighting's hardware and such from a hardware hands-on perspective.