Hello from Richmond, VA, USA

M

MacThomas76

Animated Shows since 2012
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
41
Location
Richmond, VA
Hello Everyone!
A friend and collegue recommended this site to me as I'm brand new to animated light shows. I have been adding to my static Christmas light display each year for the past 4 years. On November 25, 2012 I decided to buy some LOR controllers and see what this animated stuff was all about. I figured there would be alot of work involved, but I had no idea.
Not only did I add over 5000 lights, build 4 snowflake poles, build a frame for putting a Bethlehem Star on my roof, and build a 9' megatree with 3300 lights, but I sequenced 4 songs with 64 channels. I slept about 3 hours a night up to the week before Christmas. It was a rush, but entirely worth it! I'm hooked! So much fun.
I did take a video of it, not the best quality, but I'll see if I can upload it to you tube and then post a link.
I'm just now starting to learn about all you can do with RGB pixels and E1.31 and DMX-512 universes. I'm not ready to take that plunge yet, but I'm getting there and hoping this site can help. :)
A big thank you to AUS Christmas Lighting.com and all those who make this work and contribute. This is fantastic!
-Thomas
 
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Thanks everyone! I was able to upload the video of my lights to you tube last night.


Bellevue Christmas Light Show 2012


I hope its ok to post that and that you can see it. Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I already have some great ideas for next year! I'm also very open to comments and constructive criticism.


And yes, I have the C.L.A.P.!!


-Thomas
 
Very nice display. You have excellent talent in sequencing as well.

Not that I could do it, (had 6" of snow on the ground at Christmas), but what was the white lights scattered around the ground? Very nice effect.

Such a nice video, you should also post it in the 'show off arena' where more people might see it. :)
 
Thanks Binkles, Thanks Bird. I just found the "Show off" section so I will go ahead and post the video there.


Bird, those are called Lawn Lights by a company called Landscape Decorative Lighting. But I purchased mine on amazon. They're not cheap considering a set of 36 lights is about $80 depending on what color you choose. They come in multiple colors...I might buy some cool whites for next year to match the rest of the cool white LEDs in my display. They make a nice twinkle, or firefly effect. The strings come on a reel, with 8 or 10 feet between each LED, and 8" wire stakes to hold each one off the ground so that it can be seen better. These are commercial quality and completely sealed, waterproof, i'd guess at least IP66.


-Thomas
 
Thats a fantatsic job for just starting in November, you must have thrown some time and effort into it to get it all going in time.
 
MacThomas76 said:
Bird, those are called Lawn Lights by a company called Landscape Decorative Lighting. But I purchased mine on amazon. They're not cheap considering a set of 36 lights is about $80 depending on what color you choose. They come in multiple colors...I might buy some cool whites for next year to match the rest of the cool white LEDs in my display. They make a nice twinkle, or firefly effect. The strings come on a reel, with 8 or 10 feet between each LED, and 8" wire stakes to hold each one off the ground so that it can be seen better. These are commercial quality and completely sealed, waterproof, i'd guess at least IP66.
Click to expand...
Appears you used 2 sets of those lights. If you think $160 for a large area cool effect like that is expensive, think about the controllers you just bought. LOL
Very nice find. Thanks for the info.
 
Thanks guys, mates! When I did a short test sequence with 1/10th second timings, I realized that when the lights move even just a fraction of a second too early or too late, it really takes away from the effect, and worse could actually be a bit frustrating to the viewer. So, I used the Tap Wizard in LOR to put each timing in (one per beat), and then spent about 2 hours per song sliding all the timings to be exactly on the beat. It was a bit arduous, especially on the songs with heavy syncopation and alot of movement. But it was nice once that was done that I could just stare at my blank canvass and decide what was coming on and when and no worries about the timing. It also made copying and pasting much easier as I didn't have all the extra 1/10th second timings, just the beats; so it was simple to find where things needed to go.


And yes, Bird, you are correct. For $160, the effect is worth it. $80 for 36 LEDs seems crazy, but considering all the copper with 8 feet of wire between each LED, I guess that's where the cost comes in.
 
Thomas Love it! great sequence, care to share some of you build of the snow flake poles
I am also new but have been overboard on lights for years 10' home brew mega tree with 16 legs 8 channels on a walmart controller with custom modified star run on a pic micro, wish I had a video to share of it!
working toward getting my lor controllers for this season make the mega tree even better and some pixel lights.
 
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