Light-O-Rama for Christmas

You’ve seen the Youtube videos of those fantastic front yard displays of Christmas lights dancing to Trans Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller, right?

No? I’ll wait while you watch.

The cool thing about these displays is that most of them were created by your average Joe using a system called Light-O-Rama. I had heard of it in the past, but I’ve never used it. Until recently. I was brought in to program and some new fixtures on existing programming for Light up UCF using Light-O-Rama.

The system is modular so you can make it as big or as small as you’d like. They offer some cool options like 8 and 16 way dimmer packs, timed show playback systems, FM transmitters, and a newly added tricolor LED strip.

The concept is great, but the software is where it got a little iffy for me (I admit I was using the first version of the software and Light-O-Rama has recently released Software Suite S2, which appears to be a fix to many peoples concerns).

Programming a sequence starts off as simply as loading a MP3 in the file and clicking little boxes where you want certain lights to turn on and off. You have different effects like fades and shimmers. The problem is is that you are confined to the grid making timing a bit difficult. You can set a grid to adjust to the beats of the music, or set a freeform grid to create points where you want them but I found myself creating as many grids as I did intensity chases. One of the grids saving graces is the ability to tap your own beat (or tap where you want things to happen) and it will build a grid based off that so you can place effects and fades where you need them.

My job was to add LEDs to wash a couple of walls. Every parameter gets its own line, so everything is its own fixture. RGB units, however, can be pseudo merged into a single unit. This is useful for color fades and seeing what color you’ve actually mixed but beyond that not much else. If I didn’t like the timing of something I couldn’t just move the effect, I had redraw it. And if I had multiple things going at once I would, for the most part, have to move each one individually.

One of the hardest parts was that there was no real time output while programming. If I made a change it would be blind until I could play the sequence. If something was off, I’d go touch it up blindly and try it again. So much time could be saved if you could just see the output in real time.

After getting over a couple of initial programming hurdles everything started to fly. After two days of programming and finally getting to see a final product, that warm fuzzy Holiday spirit started to kick in.

This is a decent product that is geared for the average consumer and works exceptionally well for that. Combine that with a price point of no single piece above $500 it’s really not a bad deal.

Doug Fleenor Design DMX Dimmer Pack

Christmas is around the corner and Dr. DMX want’s you to be prepared this year with his new DMX Dimmer Pack.

With the advent of some pretty cool youtube videos over the past few years of DIY Christmas light displays everyone seems to be wanting to create a new Christmas display to one up their neighbors. The problem was that there are only a couple of options- you either went with a full industrial strength* with a couple of 96-way touring ETC Sensor racks, a few dozen Colorblasts, and a pixelmap that makes your mom cry. Or you could just go for more budget friendly options like the modular Light-O-Rama system.

Now lets welcome Doug Fleenor to the game. Their newest product showcased this year at LDI is the DMX Dimmer Pack, specifically designed for Christmas light applications. Each 1 unit rack mountable dimmer pack has 24 100 watt dimmers  and run off of two regular household circuits.

The dimmers use a square dimming curve and no minimum load requirement so not only can you use your standard light strings, but you can also use LED strands (given they are 120v). Averaging 50 bulbs per string you’re talking something close to 20 strands per circuit. Not to shabby at all. Each dimmer also has a “leakage control system” so you don’t have to worry about any lights ghosting.

The unit takes and passes DMX, so you can hook up your favorite controller and go to town. Each unit can be addressed by the three thumbwheel switches on the front.

The units go for $1,500 and can be configured at the factory for custom built in chases.

*Some examples may be slightly exaggerated.

Images courtesy of Doug Fleenor Design

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