How long do you spend creating a sequence.

Srmorgan

Srmorgan

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Jan 26, 2020
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I just wanted to find out how long the average is to create a sequence. This is my first year and I’m starting to worry I’ll only have a couple of songs done by the time Christmas gets here. The year is speeding up I think. I just finished my first song and am starting on Light Of Christmas (possibly my new favorite song). I know I can always import to speed it up but I love the personal aspect to making my own. But I tend to over think it and get caught up in the small details that nobody but me will notice.

Also how many songs does your show have.
 
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In terms of real sit-down and sequence time, I'd estimate 10+ hours per song, and when I import others I often spend that long getting things right as well.
 
I have one song that I feel like I got absolutely perfect, and it took 20+ hours. I have another that I slapped together in about 2 hours, and it's pretty meh.
You might feel like no one else will notice, but I think you'd be surprised. Our brains are capable of distinguishing incredibly small differences in audio timing. There's a guy in my town who does an absolutely huge show, with a ton of lights, but his timing isn't great. There's another guy with maybe half the lights and his show is far superior because the timing is spot on for every song.
In short, I would rather have 3 or 4 really great sequences than 20 mediocre ones. People can watch 3 or 4 songs and be there 10 minutes. That's as long as most people will sit and watch a show, anyway.
 
The amount of time is decreasing (somewhat). It used to be about 40 hours to do a "normal" sequence. I believe now it is taking about 15 to 30 hours of hands-on time. I want to thank those that work on the singing faces programming. Much faster than "the old days".
 
I agree with the above. You can slap together a sequence quickly but I feel it shows, I see some online where they are proud of their efforts and yet see so many miss timed, or just cheating with whole house effects throughout the whole song apart from the mega tree. To me you may of well just bought lights from Bunnings.
spend the time and do something properly that you can be proud of I say!
 
I was watching videos on YouTube today trying to get inspiration and I was surprised how many I saw that did just that. Whole house effect then centered everything on the tree. I think they forget that the house is important. I don’t have a tree or matrix so I can’t rely on that. Though that’s probably a good lesson to learn. And I think half the time doing a sequence is doing the timing tracks. Just when I think I’m done with them I hear something else in the song I want to try to bring out. Thanks for your reply’s it’s good to hear that I’m not completely of coarse.
 
I'm no expert at all on sequencing, I've only really done 2 full sequences myself, but I like to do is try and find things unique to your display to highlight, and when starting out just block out sections of songs. Don't start out trying to get everything perfect from the get go. You'll be surprised how much a sequence can change from your original idea to the final out come, just from over time you come up with more ideas and different ways to use the effects.
But as others said Timing is a big one, making sure you get the timing right makes a big difference.
 
One more comment on this. I found the biggest help on doing sequences is to use good quality headphones. it is amazing how much more you can hear in a song and how much easier it is to decipher all the different bits that you want to emphasize.
 
I find the more you do the quicker you can become. My sequences usually take roughly 40hrs- but I can spend up to 20hrs alone just doing my lyric tracks.... I think everyone takes their own time- some may think its alot- others understand why you spend the time on them... In the end, as long as you're happy with the sequences you create then it doesn't matter. If you do get stuck then there are alot of sequences you can purchase or download from google drive. :)
 
normally I take 15 hours, but this year I am finding motivation very difficult.
We still don't really know if we will be opened up by December 1.
I don't really want to commit until I know for sure, but by then it will be cutting it fine.
 
In rough terms, I'd say about 4 hours per every 15 seconds of music. But a lot depends on the size of your show and also how intricate the songs are. I find that songs that have a lot of different voices (or instruments) that I'm linking to specific props take a lot longer. Upbeat, faster music takes more time. As others have mentioned, you do get faster at the basics with time but then you take more time to make sure timing is spot on and the patterns you make are more intricate/complex.
 
Zuseleets said:
What? you pay for them?
Click to expand...
Heck I do!! I sequenced my own National Lampoons intro, def nothing flash and features a wonder whole display colour wash. Last for a whole 30 seconds. After that experience, I take my hat off to those who have the time and patience to sequence and I happily pay for their services. Their pain in my gain hahahahah
 
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