Well here goes

A

averagebloke

New elf
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
36
Location
melbourne
Hi
I have caught the bug and going to get into this Christmas Light thing.
Have been on the site for the past month, read and reread 101 manual. Read the posts on here watched the chat conversations with real interest.
Finally decided on going down the LOR path had it all in my head but.... after reading and some advice from other members saying probably not the way they would go I now have changed my mind.
So back to square one and to be honest have no idea where to start.
Someone suggested go to the mini in Melbourne before you spend money on controllers etc. With it being in May is that to late for me to get things ready. Also I will be overseas for 6 weeks in Sept/Oct.
If this is the way to you think I would be wise in getting props ready (I want a mega tree) should I start buying lights strips and things now or also wait. I have NO electrical knowledge at all.Never soldered a thing in my life but willing to learn and have the time to do so.
Here is a pic of my house so I think I have something good to work with so any suggestions, help, advice where to buy and what or just say get out now while you can would be appreciated. Really want to get into this
image.tiff
 
Hey and welcome to ACL. You never posted a picture of your house so cant help you there. It would be great if you could attend the Melbourne mini but its not essential. If you can work out a design and we can help with options of controllers from there.

It can get overwhelming at times but chat and this forum is your best friend. If you have reread the 101 manual you should have a bit of an idea on what controller could suit you best. The more info you can provide the easier it is to help!

Good luck :D
 
LOR is great if you want plug and play (virtually) and you have lots of money to spend. The LOR software is now getting somewhat dated compared to Xlights 4 and Vixen 3 and it costs hundreds of dollars that are better spent on blinky lights. Once you know the basics of how DMX and E1.31 work it isn't very hard to understand them and they provide much cheaper options than using LOR boards. If you can get to the mini in May then by the following weekend you could be well on your way to sequencing with a much better/cheaper product than LOR S4. Around May the time to get lights from benbrown, Ray Wu, Paul Zhang etc in China is usually only about a week so that gives you enormous amounts of time to play. Actually seeing the lights, boards, sequencers in person will save massive amounts of time reading the ACL 101.
 
Welcome.
Go to the mini get everything sorted out then order. Don't end up like me. I thought i was on right path went to mini and changed everything for the better.
 
Welcome to ACL

Going to the mini is a great idea but it is still best to research as much as possible beforehand. The mini will help you learn and you'll greatly benefit from it but you won't learn everything you need to know in one weekend.

Another great place to learn is the ACL chat already mentioned by Live2ride-Daniel. It is a good idea to get several opinions on how to go about building your tree and understand the reasons behind them. You can then make an informed decision about how you'll do it.

Another good move is to post your first pixel etc shopping list on the forums and get feedback/suggestions before placing it.

A mega tree for 2016 is a big goal but it is achievable if you keep persisting and reading throughout the year. Ask plenty of questions.
 
I did a mega tree the first year, It was a dumb string tree, but certainly had a wow factor around here.
In my first year, I did the same, read everything I could and attempted to get ahead of the game, but hands on is the best.
You can start on your props, start making things with an outcome in mind, and get the controllers and program down the track. (not too far as you still have more learning to do)
But at least if you start with some props and decide to go to the mini, you can decide from there what else you to do as far as programming and controllers to use.
 
Welcome to ACL.

First - strongly suggest that you use xLights. Join the fb group as well and watch the getting started videos and browse the manual.

Don't wait till the mini ! Pick a couple of items to start with - say some outline or arches etc , and get the necessary stuff ie controllers PSU etc (look at Pixlite 16/4 or Falcon F16 / F4 , - but there are others which I have and use as well). Use the mini to sort out and extend what you want to build and then order the next lot soon after the mini.

You are also most welcome to drop in to my place any time (if u are Mel based)

I did a mega tree in my second year.
 
Welcome to ACL, lots to learn and do but it will all fall into place as you stick with it, most of us have been in your feet before.
 
Hi there Averagebloke and welcome to ACL,
Great that you have found this tremendous source of information.
If you have already lashed out and spent money on LOR don't panic it is not all bad, in fact I found it very functional and a good launchpad yes it may be a little pricey but I found it to just work.
There are plenty of members with LOR gear to answer questions - get into chat
 
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