what this hobby needs

[shaunkad]

I have been reading a few how to books for my other hobby and realised that they're are none for this obsesion.

[arw01]

Then a true expert could likely get an animated "christmas" displays for dummies book contract, spend a year writing it, and make no money 

[MrChristmas2000]

There a few people that have gone expert and published how to books. I have not seen any very recently though.

This hobby is so dynamic that by the time a book could be written it would be out of date.

[jim saul]

Absolutely! I'm waiting on pixels because there will be too many changes between now and next season, no less a "dated" book.

Plus who would want to deal with the outrage because you told someone to use brand x over brand y

[taybrynn]

I think its a good idea.  I'm surprised there are not more ebooks on the topic.  THere are some pretty nice pdf(s) which are like little books in themselves almost.

I remember reading one book at my library which was for the hobby, but even by 2008 standards it was out of date ... and focused a lot on a few DIY projects that didn't apply to most people.
There pictures were horrible and in the end I got very little out of it.  I get more out of reading boards, attending meetings with other enthusiasts personally.

One problem is how out of date some of the material could become and also the very limited audience in the eyes of a publisher.

The other is that your getting the opinion of the author and that might be very biased or it might not be.  But in my experience most people are very biased towards whatever they have been using whether its the best or not.  Again, what is "best" is very subjective.  Whats your budget?  Whats your skill level to build and solder?  Whats your location?  What kind of time do you have throughout the year?

[mms]

I think this hobby is way too dynamic for a book to be written.  I'm happy soaking up knowledge from this website and others.  Hardware-wise things change - eg the different versions of SSCs - heck, you don't even need a traditional computer/laptop anymore.  Software-wise things change - eg Nutcracker has evolved quite a bit from the first release nearly 2 years ago - and in that time 2 more free sequencers (HLS and Vixen+) have come online.

My sequencing "philosophy" has changed a few times compared to my first show in 2011 to now in part because 1) my show is becoming more pixel based, 2) my experiences with what works/doesn't work and other techniques I "borrow".

I would consider this era to be the "golden age" of Christmas lighting lots of exciting things happening that make what we do fun.  It moves fast though!

[jnealand]

There is also the issue of what support is available to you.  Besides websites and forums there may be experienced people near to you that will help you and guide you.  We see similar questions come up in other hobbies like model railroading and digital command control systems.  I always tell folks to buy what their friends, who will help them, have.  Being a lone ranger with what you think is the best buy/performer won't be much fun if it does not work and no one is around who can help you.

[dmaccole]

I always tell folks to buy what their friends, who will help them, have.

+1

As I have told my friends and family, they are welcome to buy Windows-based machines but I won't be able to help them, since I only know about Macintoshes. Lots of Macs around here.

On the point of a book, I am in the midst of publishing a "getting started in the xxx hobby" one right now and it is a pain in the butt. I have a number of writers (all way experienced iin this hobby) contributing and more than one has submitted an inaccurate statement or three.

\dmc

[IndianaChristmas]

 ;)I'm afraid the 'xxx' hobby book may suffer from some of  the same issues as animated lighting hobby.  Things change quickly!

[t.jo13]

+1

Its kinda like bass fishing.. a 1000 ways to fish a worm, but the environment at hand and the particular items used yield many variable results

[drlucas]

I though if the wind is from the east the fish bite, wind from the west not so much. Perhaps that's why I only fish walleye with worms and down riggers and hope for the best

[Rogelio]

On the point of a book, I am in the midst of publishing a "getting started in the xxx hobby" one right now and it is a pain in the butt.
\dmc

Am I the only one who caught the "getting started in Triple X is a pain in the butt" comment???    Or do I just have a knack of reading things the wrong way.

[drlucas]

I wasn't touching that one!

[zwiller]

I though if the wind is from the east the fish bite, wind from the west not so much. Perhaps that's why I only fish walleye with worms and down riggers and hope for the best

Works well here on Lake Erie and for perch as well.