Hi from the Gold Coast

B

BruceGC

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Joined
Apr 15, 2022
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I am looking forward to learning heaps about Christmas lighting and it looks like I have come to the right place.
I have been using DMX lighting around my property for about 7 years running PC Dimmer as the software, Now I am really keen to start building up a Christmas lightshow. Looking for advice as to the best starting point. Do I purchase some type of kit from Coro, built it up and plug it in to my laptop and then start expanding from there. I had thought of something small like a singing face as a learning base then a mega tree and so on. Happy to consider all advice.
Cheers Bruce
 
Hey Bruce, welcome to ACL!

The best place to start for information is the 101 Manual - https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/auschristmaslighting-101-manual.1889/

I would suggest downloading xLights (sequencing software), and start designing your layout, working out how it all pieces together and what looks good, so that you can then put together a shopping list.
Kits may or may not be useful, it really depends on how you want your display to look.
 
Thanks for the welcome. Yes I have saved the manual to my iPad as I have a flight later this week so I should have some time to look though it so i can configure the software correctly as I learn.
B
 
Lots of good info in there to get you started - also - feel free to jump into the chat too, a few folk often around who would be more than happy to help answer any questions you may have.
 
The xLights and manual suggestions are good ones, top of the list.

I assume you've got in your head some idea of the scale/budget you want to work at, how much time you have, and some initial ideas you got looking at other people's display videos (on here, video sites, xlatw, etc.)? Are you sequencing it yourself or getting other people's sequences? How much of the DMX investment (not just the lights, but the sequences) are you hoping to keep?

The biggest thing I wish I had appreciated more fully the first year was how long this stuff takes to set up (ordering, pushing pixels, power+ethernet+setup of controller & audio, mounting + wiring prop, adding prop to your xlights layout and groups, mapping sequences to your layout)... On average I bet I spent 20 seconds per pixel to do all that.
 
The Brisbane Mini is on this weekend coming, if you can head up to that and have a chat to some like minded people.
 
Johnno said:
The Brisbane Mini is on this weekend coming, if you can head up to that and have a chat to some like minded people.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that invite Johnno, I will be on a plane to NZ reading the 101 manual. just for the weekend.
Cheers Bruce
 
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