To control my display, commands have to be sent out from somewhere. That's where the computer comes in.
When I first purchased some stuff from Light-O-Rama, I was sent a software package that came on a CD. The software enables me to create sequences to control my lights. Basically, after choosing a song that you want to use, a grid appears on the screen. On the left-hand side of the screen is a list of all the channels, and across the top of the screen displays the timings. The timings can be as long as the whole sequence or as short and precise as up to a 100th of a second. However, I find that if I have my timings spaced to about a 20th of a second that the lights can be sequenced quite accurately.
After I set up my sequence, it's time to actually start programming. This can be a very time-consuming task. You have 20 different cells/timings per second, and most songs are between 2-3 minutes long. That's close to 4,000 cells! Also, the time you spend programming also depends on the amount of channels that you have. For 2008, I had 16 channels. For the sequences to look good, I spent around 1 hour per minute of music. That means that I had to program for about 10 hours for my 10-minute show. My guess is that for every 16 channels you add, that's about 1 more hour per minute of music. You see where all your time starts to go...
Finally, you have to get those commands out to your controller(s). This isn't that hard, but you have to make sure everything is done right. Also in the starter kit from Light-O-Rama you get a CAT5 controller cable. One end of this cable will plug into the USB port on your computer (through a series of adapter cables and units) and the other end will go to the controller unit/units outside. The ends of the CAT5 cable look much like the ends on a telephone cord, and where you plug in the cable on the L-O-R unit looks much like a telephone jack. You plug the cable in much the same way, too. Once your computer and controllers are connected, you can send commands out to control the lights.
That's pretty much it. More will be added to this page as I get more ideas.
When I first purchased some stuff from Light-O-Rama, I was sent a software package that came on a CD. The software enables me to create sequences to control my lights. Basically, after choosing a song that you want to use, a grid appears on the screen. On the left-hand side of the screen is a list of all the channels, and across the top of the screen displays the timings. The timings can be as long as the whole sequence or as short and precise as up to a 100th of a second. However, I find that if I have my timings spaced to about a 20th of a second that the lights can be sequenced quite accurately.
After I set up my sequence, it's time to actually start programming. This can be a very time-consuming task. You have 20 different cells/timings per second, and most songs are between 2-3 minutes long. That's close to 4,000 cells! Also, the time you spend programming also depends on the amount of channels that you have. For 2008, I had 16 channels. For the sequences to look good, I spent around 1 hour per minute of music. That means that I had to program for about 10 hours for my 10-minute show. My guess is that for every 16 channels you add, that's about 1 more hour per minute of music. You see where all your time starts to go...
Finally, you have to get those commands out to your controller(s). This isn't that hard, but you have to make sure everything is done right. Also in the starter kit from Light-O-Rama you get a CAT5 controller cable. One end of this cable will plug into the USB port on your computer (through a series of adapter cables and units) and the other end will go to the controller unit/units outside. The ends of the CAT5 cable look much like the ends on a telephone cord, and where you plug in the cable on the L-O-R unit looks much like a telephone jack. You plug the cable in much the same way, too. Once your computer and controllers are connected, you can send commands out to control the lights.
That's pretty much it. More will be added to this page as I get more ideas.
