Forum Info > Getting started with Light Animation
RGB vs Traditional multi-colored string automation
jem5136:
Seems like a good choice to me lol after a year or two you'll be a pro a sequencing and you'll be able to do whatever you want to do!!
jnealand:
Plan to put up some lights for Halloween. It is the perfect opportunity to test your installation plans. Electrical, extension cords, mounting, etc can all be debugged using Halloween. That would include an FM transmitter once you decide to go that way. Then you have a nice chunk of your Christmas display tested and debugged. It is a little easier with RGB, because you can make your lights be purples and oranges, but I did it using some orange eave incans for several years. Then just replace the lights after Halloween with your Christmas LEDs
lrhorer:
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Register or LoginA huge factor to think about when beginning a display is the amount of sequencing you'll have to do. Sequencing is a huge learning curve
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I did not find it that huge, myself. Of course, as always, YMMV. My first sequencing I did myself using a fairly simple set of macros in an Excel (later LibreOffice) spreadsheet. It was only 5 channels, although it is easily expandable to any modest number. I'm still going to use it for my inside tree this year. There are 17 different profiles each about 1 - 2 minutes in length, run in random order. Thirteen of the profiles are static, which means any particular one will be the same sequence every time that profile runs. Four of them are dynamic with random elements within the profile itself. This means the light sequence will be very different every time the profile runs. Being indoors, it is not synchronized to any music.
The second sequencer I used was QLC+. It is an extremely powerful and flexible sequencer, and it has pre-defined profiles for several hundred different fixtures, including gobos, strobes, projectors, LASERs, spotlights, fog / smoke machines, etc. I did have quite a bit of trouble understanding the design paradigm at first, but once I realized a "scene" was a time-independent function, I had no problem picking it up. I used it for my Halloween display last year, and I am going to use it for Halloween this year, as well, because the Halloween display consists mostly of intelligent devices. I have to say, however, the QLC+ UI has a lot of badly implemented features. That's why I am using Vixen 3 this year for Christmas.
It took me very little time for me to pick up Vixen 3. Of course a lot of the credit for that goes to egenoup, who kindly fired up a TeamViewer session and gave me a two-plus hour tutorial on its use. Since then, a little trial and error and a question here and there have seen me pretty well into its use.
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Register or LoginAlso, as a side note, most of us could probably agree that you will spend most of your time sequencing the display than anything else.
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Oh, well, yeah. Sequencing takes a lot of time. Well, usually. Using QLC+, I was able to get what I consider a very attractive sequence done for Greensleeves in a matter of a few minutes, but then Greensleeves is a very soft, dreamy sort of song without much of a distinct beat, so a random set of simple, soft cross-fades works well. Using Vixen 3, it took me considerably more time to sequence the same song.
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Register or Loginit will take you at least a solid 5-6 months to get at least 3-4 songs sequenced.
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Well, not that long, I don't think. It certainly has not taken me even a month to fully sequence two songs and part of a third, and I expect to be able to get at least a dozen or so done by Thanksgiving.
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Register or Loginthe quicker you can get to sequencing and the better your sequencing you'll be able to do.
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Maybe I am just doing a lousy job and don't realize it. I don't think I'm doing that badly, though. I will say that I fully realize I am not that good at this sort of artistry. I am much better handling hardware and software than in producing decorative designs. Realizing that about myself, I am not attempting to do it by myself. Rather, I have convinced an old friend of mine who is a professional artist to assist me with the lighting designs. I am handling the sequencing, but we are collaborating on the lighting design and on the active elements being presented for sequencing. It is my hope the collaboration will produce a much more creative and varied set of sequences. In fact, I am quite convinced it already has. What little I have already done would have been rather less creative without his input. I only expect the situation to blossom more in the weeks to come.
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Register or LoginJust my 2 cents
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Mine, too. I'm not going to name any names, but I have seen a number of displays that were astounding in the extent of their hardware, but the sequences themselves failed to really impress me, especially taken as a whole. Many of them seem to lack creativity and to be very repetitive from one song to the next, sometimes using a single effect over and over again, song after song after song. I want to make it clear that I don't intend this as an arrogant criticism. I feel sure my shows would very likely suffer from similar stagnancy if I were not privileged to have a true artist giving me the benefit of his years of experience and creativity. I think a lot of people would benefit from such a collaboration.
jem5136:
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Register or LoginYou are not allowed to view links.
Register or LoginA huge factor to think about when beginning a display is the amount of sequencing you'll have to do. Sequencing is a huge learning curve
--- End quote ---
I did not find it that huge, myself. Of course, as always, YMMV. My first sequencing I did myself using a fairly simple set of macros in an Excel (later LibreOffice) spreadsheet. It was only 5 channels, although it is easily expandable to any modest number. I'm still going to use it for my inside tree this year. There are 17 different profiles each about 1 - 2 minutes in length, run in random order. Thirteen of the profiles are static, which means any particular one will be the same sequence every time that profile runs. Four of them are dynamic with random elements within the profile itself. This means the light sequence will be very different every time the profile runs. Being indoors, it is not synchronized to any music.
The second sequencer I used was QLC+. It is an extremely powerful and flexible sequencer, and it has pre-defined profiles for several hundred different fixtures, including gobos, strobes, projectors, LASERs, spotlights, fog / smoke machines, etc. I did have quite a bit of trouble understanding the design paradigm at first, but once I realized a "scene" was a time-independent function, I had no problem picking it up. I used it for my Halloween display last year, and I am going to use it for Halloween this year, as well, because the Halloween display consists mostly of intelligent devices. I have to say, however, the QLC+ UI has a lot of badly implemented features. That's why I am using Vixen 3 this year for Christmas.
It took me very little time for me to pick up Vixen 3. Of course a lot of the credit for that goes to egenoup, who kindly fired up a TeamViewer session and gave me a two-plus hour tutorial on its use. Since then, a little trial and error and a question here and there have seen me pretty well into its use.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or LoginAlso, as a side note, most of us could probably agree that you will spend most of your time sequencing the display than anything else.
--- End quote ---
Oh, well, yeah. Sequencing takes a lot of time. Well, usually. Using QLC+, I was able to get what I consider a very attractive sequence done for Greensleeves in a matter of a few minutes, but then Greensleeves is a very soft, dreamy sort of song without much of a distinct beat, so a random set of simple, soft cross-fades works well. Using Vixen 3, it took me considerably more time to sequence the same song.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or Loginit will take you at least a solid 5-6 months to get at least 3-4 songs sequenced.
--- End quote ---
Well, not that long, I don't think. It certainly has not taken me even a month to fully sequence two songs and part of a third, and I expect to be able to get at least a dozen or so done by Thanksgiving.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or Loginthe quicker you can get to sequencing and the better your sequencing you'll be able to do.
--- End quote ---
Maybe I am just doing a lousy job and don't realize it. I don't think I'm doing that badly, though. I will say that I fully realize I am not that good at this sort of artistry. I am much better handling hardware and software than in producing decorative designs. Realizing that about myself, I am not attempting to do it by myself. Rather, I have convinced an old friend of mine who is a professional artist to assist me with the lighting designs. I am handling the sequencing, but we are collaborating on the lighting design and on the active elements being presented for sequencing. It is my hope the collaboration will produce a much more creative and varied set of sequences. In fact, I am quite convinced it already has. What little I have already done would have been rather less creative without his input. I only expect the situation to blossom more in the weeks to come.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or LoginJust my 2 cents
--- End quote ---
Mine, too. I'm not going to name any names, but I have seen a number of displays that were astounding in the extent of their hardware, but the sequences themselves failed to really impress me, especially taken as a whole. Many of them seem to lack creativity and to be very repetitive from one song to the next, sometimes using a single effect over and over again, song after song after song. I want to make it clear that I don't intend this as an arrogant criticism. I feel sure my shows would very likely suffer from similar stagnancy if I were not privileged to have a true artist giving me the benefit of his years of experience and creativity. I think a lot of people would benefit from such a collaboration.
--- End quote ---
I've never had to chance to use other sequencing software other than LSP, LOR, Vixen, and I've played around with Aurora a few times, so I das just speaking from my own experience and from what I have seen from others experiences. And when it comes to the end of the day, the more you sequence the quicker you'll get to it and it also depends how much time you have on your daily schedule as well. I, for one, have a full time job and a new born so I don't have a lot of time to sequence, I just do it when I can. So naturally sequencing a song will take, say 10 hours, so only getting in an hour or two per week it'll take me a couple months, that's who I got that number. It's all based on personal displays, how creative you can be, and how well you know your way around a computer.
LtKadeo:
I have been using 1st generation smartstrings by this I have some of the early version of pixal strings and version 1 SSC units. By far the biggist problems has been the strings - lot of learning curve on hardware do and donts - have seen some of the new strings and things are getting much better - As for software use LightShow Pro big learning curve with that and all the functions it can do - so my advice to everyone is if you decide to take on this do your homework find something that will make your display yours - and talk ask ? on the forms lots of good help on this site and lots of people to answer fix problems.
Ted K
See you live in WI not far from me so if you need help let me know
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