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Messages - sielbear

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1
Light Show Pro / Re: RGB effects in LSP on large mega trees and matrices
« on: December 29, 2013, 05:04:25 pm »
Sorry for the late reply, but transitions are the way to go. I use only transitions to sequence for to the complexity of the shows with rgb. In 2012 / 2013 I ran 12,166 channels. In 2014, I'll probably be pushing 32k.

Here's a presentation I gave at the academy in 2012. I explain how and why.

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2
The Porch / Re: Voice overs
« on: December 15, 2012, 09:48:31 am »
Forgot to mention- if nothing else, having the voiceover request the visitors think of your neighbors will win huge points with your neighbors, even if you don't get full compliance. My neighbors thanked me this year and last just for having the voiceover. I apologized for the more challenging guests, but I was told, "Don't worry about it. All you can do is ask."

3
The Porch / Re: Trouble Shooting Dumb Strings...
« on: December 15, 2012, 09:42:54 am »
I had a similar issue with an entire strand from Ray. I ultimately replaced the strand.

Also, to improve your shooting, I suggest a very stable position, ideally with support from an external structure. Take nice, controlled breaths. Wait until the dumb string is within range - verify no people, animals, or smart strings are behind the dumb strings, and squeeze the trigger. Following these simple steps will help improve your shooting accuracy and ensure a safe, happy dumb string season!

:)

4
Lynx Conductor / Re: Issue playing from control panel
« on: December 14, 2012, 05:43:42 pm »
Congrats!  That's gonna change priority pretty fast, huh?

Thanks for sharing!  Great photo!!

5
Lynx Smart String / Re: Lag on hub2 strings?
« on: December 14, 2012, 05:27:15 pm »
Interesting...  What's the propagation delay in going from 1 hub to a second hub via the regeneration?  I bet it's minimal...

6
The Porch / Re: Some folks just take the fun out of Christmas
« on: December 14, 2012, 05:12:10 pm »
I did this back in High School with a power inverter and some of those early chase lights.  I wondered if it was legal, however, I was particularly careful to keep from putting lights anywhere near the headlights / taillights. 

From looking at the photos / news story, these lights are all over the brake lights / turn indicators.  I can see why they might have an issue with the placement.  Alternatively, I've seen much worse...


7
The Porch / Re: Voice overs
« on: December 14, 2012, 05:09:00 pm »
I'm dong a couple of things this year.  1.) I have an animated voiceover between every song.  The voiceover rotates between "be nice to my neighbors", "give generously to Happy Tales" and "sponsored by Safe Network Solutions" which is my company I own.  2.) I try to stay engaged with the audience pretty frequently.  I'll go out tonight about every 10 minutes to hand out candy canes and talk with visitors.  I probably give out  2,000 candy canes a year.  When I am in the grind in the spring, debating if I have the energy to do another year, I remember the guests, not the technology / lights.  The people are what keep me motivated.  3.) I have about 10 songs total.  I mix up the playlist to keep traffic moving, but still show all of the songs.  What I do is play songs (remember, voiceovers between every song, and I do the Christmas Story every couple of songs too) 1 and 2, then 3, 4, and 5.  I then play 1 and 2, then 6, 7, and 8.  Back to 1 and 2.  This gives the FELLING the show is repeating.  This also let's me keep some sanity with a larger selection of songs. 

8
The Porch / Re: Newtown, CT
« on: December 14, 2012, 04:51:50 pm »
As many of you have already indicated, this is a horrific act that will impact this community and nation for years to come.  Having no kids of my own, I put considerable thought into whether I should modify the show as an outward acknowledgement of the event.  I think we as decorators are already pulled in the direction of sort of putting our emotions in our front yards. 

My initial thought was to change to Silent Night (part of the tranquil / peaceful late night rotation) with a simple voice over.  Then I tried as best I could, imagine myself as a parent.  After lots of debate, I came to the conclusion that my show represents all that is good and wonderful about this time of the year.  My show focuses on the Good News, the joy of friends and family, and the excitement of a new year.  Ultimately, I decided that it's not my place to start a discussion / acknowledgement within the vehicles of the visitors.  I'm sure there are many parents who may not be ready to talk about the event, etc. 

Ultimately your drawn to feelings of empathy / sympathy / prayer for the affected families with a lingering question, "is my prayer and empathy enough?" 


9
The Porch / Re: Peeking...
« on: December 12, 2012, 10:49:58 pm »
That's great!!!!! You have a spy!!!

10
Look here?
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11
Lynx EtherDongle / Re: Trigger assembly / use?
« on: December 11, 2012, 04:57:10 pm »
Very cool!  Thanks so much!!

12
The Porch / Re: Peeking...
« on: December 11, 2012, 04:51:44 pm »
The way our windows are, I CAN'T peak.  If it weren't for the security camera's I'd have no way of knowing what's happening outside!

As other's have mentioned, I both keep tabs on how busy it is and on how the show is running.  I now feel I've reached tech nirvana as I have the DVR connected to the home network.  I can now check on the house day or night, from home, office, or taxi cab.  I have the apps on my phone and ipad.  Oh I'm a dork!

I hand out candy canes to the visitors, so I'm outside a bunch.  Funny story too...

Had a car outside for a long time "watching the show".  I first saw them pull up at perhaps 8:30 PM.  It's a guy and a girl, and she's all snuggled up to her man on the driver's side.  I handed out candy to perhaps 12 cars (including this one).  I went back inside.  At 9:00 PM, I went out again to hand out more candy.  I noticed this car was still there.  A white Lincoln.  "Hmm...  guess they love Christmas lights." 

Ok, it's now 9:45 and the car is still there.  NO ONE likes Christmas lights THAT much unless you put up a show yourself.  Additionally, I've played this game before, and if you've not, count your blessings.  If you suspect something's going on and you don't want to know, don't offer them candy / initiate conversation.  Otherwise you're probably gonna see something you'll wish you hadn't!  Still have that silhouette BURNED on my retina to this day!!

Car left about 5 minutes later.  If they were doing as I suspect...  I don't know what to say but admire that guy's...  tenacity? 

For clarification, the cars windows were VERY tinted.  Had they not been COMPLETELY in the dark, I would have either asked them to move along or placed a call to the men in blue.  I mean, come on.  It's a family friendly show!

13
The reason is most likely the frequency with which the data is being sent.  When you turn on LSP output, LSP sends the data at the full data rate to the etherdongle multicast address.  Your router is most likely trying to forward this out to the interwebs.  With other applications (be xlights / vixen, etc.) the frame rate may not be spamming 0 data packets as often.  It APPEARS (and I'm not a programmer, but based on packet captures) that LSP is sending the full set of universe data with 0s when you enable the output.  With xlights, I know xlights only sends data as needed - as changes occur, plus a packet once or twice per second. 

I'd guess you're saturating your upstream bandwidth with multicast in your current configuration.

The recommendation below does address the issue.  You also may be able to set your router to block outbound multicast data. 

14
Light Elf Software utilities / Re: Importing is now failing.
« on: December 11, 2012, 04:10:01 pm »
Can you copy the text of your error and paste it here?  I saw all of the text, but I couldn't read it on the video. 

You can right-click in the window, select "Mark", then highlight the portion of the window you want, then right-click.  Once in the forum, you can past with a regular ctrl-v. 

The text may help point in the right direction. 

15
Lynx EtherDongle / Trigger assembly / use?
« on: December 11, 2012, 04:03:51 pm »
I received my trigger / assembly from the coop.  Are there instructions on how to use this?  Does any firmware exist for this yet or am I ahead of schedule? :)  You know us geeks and our toys!  Just wanting to open all the presents at once and PLAY PLAY PLAY!!!! 

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