New trend in the community of blinky - In my opinion.

[Wayne1]

, nowadays it's all on FB

I can't do Facebook, it's to toxic. I do read the posts but have never posted. Here I can read posts from years ago simply and egos seem to be less of a thing.

My display is 50% mine 50% paid for. Only my wife can tell which is which ands that only because we watch them every night.

 

[Kent]

I'll throw in a few more random thoughts & opinions...

Paid sequences - I'm not against sequence vendors charging for their work. If I personally see sufficient value in, then I'll pay for the sequence, otherwise move on. As mentioned previously, many vendors have a few free sequences which is in good spirit, plus also allows you to check how well other paid sequences from that will map to your display. I'm not a fan of the subscription models for sequences, nor closed communities that you need to submit a sequence to before you can access the others. I can see that they're trying to promote grown in the pool of sequences, but I think it misses the mark (we aren't all artisitc). As such, I'm not part either of those, however have paid for about 60% of the sequences in my show. The rest are either my own, from the Google Drive, or free vendor sequences.
The other issue I see is that if I make an 'improvement' to a paid sequence, I'm not able to then freely distribute my version which would have been possible if the original sequence was free, limiting my ability to give back to the community. Whilst my creative limits haven't made this an issue for me with sequences, I did pay $5 USD for a Meanwell power supply bracket STL that I then modified to suit the mounting holes in a CG1500 enclosure. It would have been nice to release my modified design.

Community - I don't use FB, but as do see a lot of references back to it. From time to time I consider signing up to see what is there, but keep coming back to the fact that between the ACL chat and forums, I have access to everything I need and find the site / community here to be one of the best examples of what the Internet can be. This civil thread is an example of that. I like the fact that ACL is a free an independently operated site, it fits well with the community spirit.

xLights (and other related apps for this hobby) - It blows me away the phenomenal amount of time and effort that has gone into that program and what it can do. Using an entirely free and opensource software toolchain, I've been able to take some shots with my DJI Mini and end up with a fully textured 3d model that I can render lighting effect onto and see the results on my house in real time, and for the enjoyment of myself and others (hopefully).
So whilst I am fine with vendors charging for sequences, this is probably where I see the potential reservations - free software to produce a show free for the community, but paid sequences. I think where I've landed on this is that each time I purchase a sequence because I see value, I think back to the 'donate' button on the xLights page and what sort of value I see in that program (hint - more than in a given sequence).

 

[Gilrock]

I've been inactive on this forum for quite some time but I was sitting at work with IT issues holding me up I guess since they have left for the year and started browsing around again. I started out with LOR but once I began to move to pixels this was the website that guided me. It took me a long time to warm up to people making more income than me selling sequences with features I helped put into xLights in my spare time. At this point though I rely on getting free sequences from the vendors which allows me to spend my time working on code instead of sequencing. I backed away from coding this past year but I've been working on some new stuff off and on. Its a big effort and I had to pause while getting my show setup and running. We also seem to have lost the xLights forum so everyone moved to Facebook. I'd be perfectly happy if we all decided to drop Facebook. I've quit Facebook several times...I think I was off it for 8 months this year. But no one else will leave with me....lol.

 

[Skymaster]

I'd be perfectly happy if we all decided to drop Facebook. I've quit Facebook several times...I think I was off it for 8 months this year. But no one else will leave with me....lol.

Hallelujah!
I managed for 5 years, but then requirements for my wife's residency pretty much meant that I had to get back on.

 

[cdjazman]

I've been inactive on this forum for quite some time but I was sitting at work with IT issues holding me up I guess since they have left for the year and started browsing around again. I started out with LOR but once I began to move to pixels this was the website that guided me. It took me a long time to warm up to people making more income than me selling sequences with features I helped put into xLights in my spare time. At this point though I rely on getting free sequences from the vendors which allows me to spend my time working on code instead of sequencing. I backed away from coding this past year but I've been working on some new stuff off and on. Its a big effort and I had to pause while getting my show setup and running. We also seem to have lost the xLights forum so everyone moved to Facebook. I'd be perfectly happy if we all decided to drop Facebook. I've quit Facebook several times...I think I was off it for 8 months this year. But no one else will leave with me....lol.

Unfortunately will kids it is hard to get off HoHoHobook.

Also I dont have any issue with people making money from the work they put in for sequences. That being said, what I do have issue with is people making money of sequences they have done sweet HoHoHo all and basically adapted it to their own house, and then selling it for $5, $10, $15....etc. If you are making the sequrence from scratch and doing all the timing etc, then have at it. But, dont get a free sequence done by someone else and then slightly change it and then sell it. In my opinion that is poor form.

 

[Snicko]

i used anumber of the free sequences kindly shared by users on here and xlights

I also spent about $300 on sequences also this year

I dont mind spending $30 per sequence but some of the $100 USD sequences really are out of my price range.

 

[JPB]

My thoughts
While sequencing is quite often a chore it is (was) an essential part of the DIY part of this hobby. I have once asked for a copy of someone else's sequence so that I could see how they created an effect and I found it way too much effort to map to remap it to my display.

Grumpy old man mode:
Way back before pixels were a thing some people were in involved in a pi$$ing contest about how many channels they had. Dumb.
You dont need to have the biggest brightest display, be happy and proud with your own efforts and take the time to do the best with what you have