The majority of our exterior display is controlled by hardware and software made by Light-O-Rama. We use a PC, speakers, controllers, cables, and an FM transmitter to make the animated portion of the display work. Each song takes 10-20 hours of programming.
The Light-O-Rama software allows us to design our own light shows. The software is then used to run our shows and play any associated music.
Speakers to play the music accompanying our show are attached to the PC's sound card.
Small converters convert our PC's USB port to RS485.
Commands from the PC to the lighting controllers are sent over CAT-5 LAN cables.
AC power is supplied to the lighting controller. We had dedicated circuits run for these controllers.
Commands from the PC are performed by the controller. Power to each of the attached lighting circuits is controlled independently. Light-O-Rama hardware manual [link]
The transmitter broadcasts our music over 87.9 FM. To comply with FCC regs, the broadcast is local.
Here's the Light-O-Rama software keyboard shortcut list [link].
Here are links to our blog postings about how we approach sequencing:
Jan 2010, "Computer Work..."
Dec 2009, "Done with Sequencing..."
Nov 2009, "Lights are Working..."
Dec 2008, "Revised Some Songs..."
Oct 2008, "Programmed Some..."
Oct 2008, "Got A Song..."
Oct 2008, "Got Some Programming..."
Oct 2008, "Display Mock-up..."
Sep 2008, "Must Maintain Order..."
Jul 2008, "More Lights..."
Nov 2007, "Testing the Lights..."
Nov 2007, "Power Consumption in Excel..."
Nov 2007, "Light Testing Area..."
Nov 2007, "Light-O-Rama Testing..."
Nov 2007, "Installed a Sub-Panel..."
Oct 2007, "Power our Display..."
Oct 2007, "Received Radio Transmitter..."
Here's the link to all our 2011 sequence files. Others have shared some of these files with us over the years, and we are happy to continue passing them along.
- Intro by Clark Griswold file
- THX sound check file
- Wish Lizt by Trans Siberian Orchestra file
- In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg file
- All I Want is You by Maria Carey file
- intermission 1 file
- Angels We Have Heard on High file
- Nutcracker Suite Medley by Trans Siberian Orchestra file
- Intermission 2 file
- Sandstorm by Darude file
- Carol of the Bells by Monique Danielle file
- Angry Birds Intermission by Pomplamoose file
- That's All Folks by Porky Pig file
