Customer Projects Using HolidayCoro LED Lighting

While HolidayCoro is focused on the Holiday Lighting community, we often have customers that use our products in different ways.  Here are two customer provided projects that we thought were interesting:

Club UV

Chris K at Club UV in Nashville, TN used 280 of our rectangle RGB modules and ten of our 3 channel DMX controllers to spice up the exterior and interior of their night club:

Outside the Club

Inside at the bar

Landscape Lighting Conversion



Casey H of Crowley, TX used our Square RGB dumb lights to replace the original lights used in his landscape lighting system.  Here is how he describes the project:

We have Malibu landscape lights (aluminum fixtures) around our home for security lighting and this past Christmas I wanted to include them in the light show.  I retrofitted them with the square RGB modules you sell.  The one on the left is the 20W version that Malibu offers, the one on the right is the 50W version.  I used one module in the 20W and two in the 50W after gutting the 12V halogen reflector, socket and wiring. 

 

The 20W has a 2 ½” 6x32 machine screw through the module with a backing nut.  There is a think block of aluminum at the back of the fixture that I drilled and tapped for the screw.  If you do this, be careful to avoid drilling through the back of the fixture.  On the 50W I cut a piece of wood that is a light press fit in the housing and simply used the two sided tape to hold them in place.  Obviously the 50W was gutted as well.

For control, I am using a Lightorama DC controller and that gives me 5 RGB channels.  http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca2.html  The DC controller can operate stand alone and I have set up some sequences for running the lights.  One of the options for the stand alone operation is to have the sequence start on power up, and I am powering the power supply (the HolidayCoro 45W) from a time clock.  During show season, I put it on the network and the landscape lights become another element in the show.

For wiring, I used sprinkler control cable since it is designed for direct burial.  I used 18AWG wire to avoid voltage drop issues.  The longest run is about 125’.  The one drawback to sprinkler cable is it is stiff.  Definitely not something I would utilize on the lawn for a show display, but for this project it fit the bit nicely.

Before the RGB conversion, the landscape lights were drawing 490W from a Malibu 600W power supply.  I do not have all of the fixtures converted to RGB yet, but at this point I have all of the lights on the front and side of the house running from that single 45W power supply.  Here are a couple of pictures from this evening.  Since it is Valentine’s Day, I went red slowly fading to pink and back.  Normally I have the color set static to a yellowish white.

Thanks guys for taking the time to share your projects with us at HolidayCoro.com!

If you are thinking of mounting lights on your house year round, also take a look at our blog entry on this topic.

So you're thinking of mounting RGB lights on your house permanently?

As people move more and more in RGB lighting, a common next step is consider permanently mounting RGB lighting as opposed to just putting up RGB lights on a temporary, seasonal basis.  This is a logical conclusion - RGB lights are smaller and thus making them easy to conceal under soffits and with the wide range of color output, it makes them a good match for all kinds of seasons - Valentines day, Fourth of July, St. Patricks Day and of course Halloween and Christmas.  In between those seasons, of course they can also be used as just general landscape lighting.

There are some items to consider when considering permanently mounting RGB lights and hardware to your house year round:

• Reliability of RGB Lights - The reality of RGB lighting for the seasonal decorator is that most of it is produced with cost as a major driver.  When a vendor (and thus the manufacturer) is being pressed to produce a product as cheaply as possible, quality usually suffers.  Where this often shows up is in long term reliability of the product.  It can be a variety of factors:
• Non UV and heat resistant plastics and potting compounds.  For example, in our testing over the years, we have found some RGB strip will turn nearly completely brown as a result of just high levels of heat exposure - such as what you will find when storing items in attics.
• Lower quality materials for LEDs.  These can be LEDs that are not as tolerant of voltages outside their normal range of operation or LEDs that are damaged as a result of UV exposure.
• Often wiring used to connect RGB items will degrade over long term exposure to heat and UV.
• Weather proofing of Power Supplies and Controllers - LED lights require DC power and as such, you will need a AC to DC power supply.  Factor this into your design so that the power supply is properly waterproof but still receives sufficient cooling.  Another factor is to ensure that you are below your rated power supply output - over taxing a power supply beyond its rated capacity will likely result in early failure of the power supply.  Another factor is the waterproofing of the controller.  Often pixel controllers are required to be located close (~10-15ft) of the LED lights they control, so allow for a waterproof mounting location.
• Controlling Lights - A common issue when using RGB lights in an off-season, such as for landscape lighting, is how to provide control for the device when it isn't being run by a animation application.  Some controllers feature built-in sequences or solid color outputs that allow you to "flip a switch" and change over from DMX control to a single color output.  Check with your vendor to see what options their controller has for output when not connected with a DMX signal source.
• Legal and Building Codes - This varies widely but be aware that installations will often involve high power AC wiring - which is controlled by building codes.  Wiring, such as SPT cord which maybe "ok" for a one month installation could degrade or not be sufficiently wear resistant for a year round installation.  This could result in a catastrophic event (fire, electrocution) for which you can be responsible.  Check with your local city or building code enforcement office to determine what the requirements are for permanent installation of lighting and/or power wires.
• Environment Ranges - If you live in an area where extremes of either UV exposure or heat/cold exist, consider the materials used in the items you intend to use.  When a manufacturer designs a product, often they can choose between an electrical parts and materials that handles 0F to 130F to or -40F to 170F (as an example) and if the manufacturer is cutting costs, they will go with the lower cost part which often has the reduced temperature operating range.  So, look for a vendor that is listing specific ranges that the product is designed for and ensure those match your intended environment.

When working with your vendor for parts for your display that you intend to use year round, here are some areas you should be on the lookout for:

• Warranty - Does the warranty have exclusions for year round installation?  Has the vendor been around awhile and do you expect them to be around if you need to make a claim during the warranty period?  Be very wary of any vendor outside the US, especially in China that offers a warranty - your warranty period usually expires at the same time your credit card charge back window expires.
• Reliability - Has the vendor actually tested the product you will be purchasing either in accelerated testing?  This is often a very expensive process that few vendors go through.
• Certification - Does the vendor have UL certification their products? While this doesn't ensure quality, it does show that a vendor is willing to invest in their products enough to have them tested though the expensive UL process.  CE certification means pretty much nothing as it is a voluntary certification.  If the product is sourced/purchase directly from China, assume that any certification is bogus until verified.
• Intelligent design - What do the connectors look like?  Is this part of a larger system that is well thought out?  It is often clear when a vendor or manufacturer has gone the extra mile.

Thanks,
David
HolidayCoro.com

The LOR ShowDirector and DMX

NOTE:  This article was updated on 08-Sept-2015.

A number of our customers currently have heavy investments in LOR controllers, hardware and software and they want to be able to re-use as much of this hardware as possible.  We've talked about using LOR controllers mixed with DMX controllers here on this blog post but this blog post is more specific to one group of products that LOR sells - the ShowTime directors.  The ShowTime director has been around for years and it was introduced during a period of time when people didn't want to dedicate an expensive ($500+) PC to do the task of running their display for the season.  It was much cheaper than a PC at the time, running about $150 or less (it now sells for $130) and it solved a very real problem. 

How a ShowTime director works is you sequence your shows in LOR S3/S4, then saved those completed sequences, along with the audio file, onto an SD memory card and put the card into the "director".  Then you just plugged your LOR (as opposed to DMX) network cable into the unit and it would start your shows at the scheduled time.

Fast forward to 2015 - PC's are insanely cheap - you can pickup NEW PC's for under $300 and used PCs can be found just about anywhere for next to nothing (CraigsList, eBay, the Computer Guy at work, Goodwill, friends, etc.)  So now one of the major reasons for purchasing a "dedicated" PC for your show is pretty much gone and given that even the cheapest PC is more than fast enough, the issue of having a "powerful PC" is no longer the case.

There are now two major issues with a ShowDirector - DMX and the rise of E1.31 as a common pixel protocol:

• DMX (RS485 Based)
  Another issue has now appeared that puts yet another nail in the coffin of the ShowDirector - DMX.  Given that generic and DIY DMX controllers are generally half or even less the price of given LOR controllers, experienced LOR customers are moving more and more toward the standards based DMX protocol.  The problem?  The ShowDirectors don't work with any DMX...mostly.  So, you can't use E.131 (DMX over Ethernet) or standard DMX dongles with the ShowDirector units.  So, this means you can only output the LOR protocol and not DMX and this locks you into LOR only controllers.  There is also another issue - the standard ShowTime mini can only output to one network (about 700-800 LOR channels) and the G3-MP3 director at $270 can output to only two LOR networks.  So, if you start loading up your display with large amounts of pixels, you are still limited.
• E1.31 (Ethernet Based)
  Nearly all new pixel based items are based on E1.31 and thus Ethernet.  As such, this requires a completely different system of control. Since E1.31 uses Ethernet which is completely different from RS485 based LOR or DMX protocols, it isn't possible to run this new protocol from the Director.

This said, there are some reasons why you would want to use a ShowDirector - if you are running a commercial show and don't have a good/secure location for a PC (mall, outdoor locations), if you don't have the ability to run wires to the network from where the PC is located, need the ability to have external triggers (this is also possible on PCs) or if you run a 100% LOR controller network.  We should also mention that it is possible to use a ShowDirector with another LOR item - the iDMX1000 - so you come out of the ShowDirector with LOR protocol and into the iDMX1000 which coverts it over to DMX.  We do not recommend, except in very rare cases, the use of an iDMX1000 protocol converter as it is nearly always cheaper, much easier and more flexible to use other solutions.

So, to conclude, if you are using LOR and DMX devices (E1.31 or RS-485 based) on your network, just buy that cheap PC, put on a copy of LOR S3/S4 (it's licenced for this) and run your show from that PC.  It will not only often be cheaper but you'll have the ability to easily tweak your show schedule (flip it on for people who came late, turn it on for testing before the regular show starts), easily tweak your sequences that have issues, perform testing (xLights and others), run audio enhancers (such as Breakaway) and if you want to switch to other sequencing applications (LightShow Pro, Vixen, HLS, etc) you only need install the software.

David
HolidayCoro.com

No free rides - Cheap isn't free when it comes to RGB

Fairly often, HolidayCoro receives questions from customers looking for how they can add RGB / Pixels / DMX to their display.  In the majority of cases, the customer is new to these technologies.  There are a few options here:

• DIY - Spend weeks or months pouring over forum posts, videos, blogs and other information spread, literally, all over the Internet
• Ready 2 Run - Purchase a pre-packaged solution from a vendor
• Custom - Work with an integrator/vendor to custom build a solution

So, let's break down these options and look at the pros and cons to each.

DIY - The Do It Yourself option is, without a doubt, the least financially expensive option - assuming the customer is fully educated on all their options before purchasing.  A customer that has spent the time to investigate all the options can properly select between all the different features, vendors, lights, wiring, power and software available in the market.  Because the customer knows their own display requirements, they are able to select the most applicable products and software to meet their needs.  They also are usually able to determine which vendors can provide them with the best options, pricing and quality.  There is also a cost and that cost is in the time that a customer needs to invest into spending, literally, weeks or months reading and educating themselves.  It can also get costly if insufficient time is spent prior to making purchases, with purchases of hardware that can't ultimately used.  Another major advantage for DIY customers is that during the process of learning "how" RGB works, they are better prepared for technical problems as they come up down the road.

Ready 2 Run - For customers that are looking for a simple "drop in" solution, a small number of vendors sell package solutions (also see our article on Package Solutions).  The advantage to these solutions is that they are usually a complete package - controller, power supply, lights and sometimes software.  Since these solutions are a known for the vendor selling them, it is easier for them to support should you have a problem.  The downfall of this route is that often these Ready 2 Run solutions don't exactly meet the customers requirements - sometimes this isn't an issue and sometimes it is.  Another downfall is that in nearly all cases, this solution is 30 to 100% more expensive than a DIY solution.  The additional upside is that the customer doesn't really have to fully understand what they are doing to implement the solution.

Custom - A small number of vendors (including HolidayCoro) offer custom solutions.  This is basically the DIY solution without the requirement that the customer fully understand the solution.  The vendor collects all the requirements, including ones the customer may not be aware of and through a process of refinement, uses their knowledge to narrow down all the solutions to those that meet the customers requirements.  So, the customer gets exactly (with a good vendor) the right solution for their display requirements but without the need to know the vast number of issues and solutions to arrive at the best solution.

HolidayCoro primarily focuses on the DIY market - our best customer is an educated customer and hence why on HolidayCoro.com you will find an amazing quantity of videos, articles and other educational information (see or Knowledge Base and Blog), not just on our products but on general concepts and designs - more than any other vendor.  We also offer a number of Off The Shelf solutions. We also offer custom solutions (products and  designs) for customers that have limits on the amount of time they can dedicate towards finding the best solution for their display needs.

Let us know if HolidayCoro can help you with your project.

Thanks,
David
HolidayCoro.com

Outlining Your House in RGB Lights - A Primer

While looking through all the great videos on YouTube showing houses outlined with RGB lights you may have wondered what is involved in getting those working on your own house.  The following video provides the basic process to accomplishing this and the two different methods that are possible.  Please be aware that this video only provides "generic" information as each vendors controllers and lights have specific requirements for power, protocols, lengths of run, controllers and other settings that affect the ultimate design.

We'd be happy to answer additional questions below in the comments section but please be aware that we are unable to provide vendor specific recommendations.

Thanks,
David
HolidayCoro.com

UPDATE:  See our detailed post on how to design and construct a design like this:  http://blog.holidaycoro.com/2013/04/outlining-your-house-in-rgb-lights.html

Can Light-O-Rama (LOR) Controllers be used with DMX Controllers?

A common question we get at HolidayCoro is from customers that would like to "extend" their LOR controllers to also control DMX controllers, such as the DMX controllers we sell.  First, a little background - both Light-O-Rama and DMX controllers use the signalling interface called RS-485 which we have covered here on our blog and on our Knowledge Base.  This is somewhat akin to two humans that can both talk to each other using their voices, as opposed to a human and a cat where there is no hope of any meaningful interchange of communications.  So, since both DMX and the LOR protocols run "over" RS-485 that means we already have the largest issue solved if we want LOR and DMX controllers to "talk" to each other, though one or the other controllers will need to "speak" the others language/protocol which is running over the RS-485 connection.

LOR controller owners are lucky (excluding some really old LOR controllers) because their controllers are bilingual and they can understand not only the LOR protocol but also the DMX protocol.  When an LOR controller is first powered on, the controller listens on the RS-485 line for which protocol is being spoken - LOR or DMX and then the controller adjusts and starts talking that protocol.  Now that doesn't mean that the LOR controller can talk both protocols at the same time - it can only talk one protocol at a time once it is powered up.  So, this means that you have to pick one of the two protocols but not both - mostly.  From one output "dongle" you can only output one protocol (the LOR dongles can output DMX and the LOR protocol) but if you are using LOR S3, you can output both protocols on two different dongles at the same time.  So your options if you want to mix DMX controllers into your existing LOR network are:

• Using an existing E1.31 Controller - If you have or will have an AlphaPix or EasyLights pixel controller, these controllers have RS485 DMX outputs that can be used to drive RS485 based DMX controllers.  See this knowledge base article.
• One dongle outputting only DMX - In this arrangement, you will run your LOR controllers in DMX mode when you are running your show.  DMX controllers can be attached to your exisiting LOR controllers by making a cross over cable (LOR and DMX use different CAT5 pins for data output.)  This method does require the cross over cable(s) and does require adjustment to your sequences to change from the LOR to DMX protocol method of addressing individual channels.
• Two dongles - one with DMX, one with LOR - In this arrangement, you will leave your exisiting sequences alone and you will run two networks with seperate cables - one from each dongle and the two networks will not mix.  This method does not require changes to your exisiting LOR sequences or remembering to use the right cross over cables but does require the addition of a second dongle, such as the ActiDongle ($49.)  This is the easiest method if you already have a large LOR setup and just want to add in some DMX controllers to your display. 

Which option you choose really depends on how much adjustment you want to make if you have exisiting LOR sequences as each sequence will need to be adjusted to map from the Controller/Channel system used for addressing in LOR's protocol to the Channel address used in DMX and this can sometimes be a little complex.  If you have just one LOR controller and plan to move only towards DMX controllers in the future, you may find it easier to just talk DMX as opposed to the mixed network.

Additional information:

• For detailed information on interoperation of DMX controllers with LOR controllers, see our Knowledge Base:  http://www.holidaycoro.com/kb_results.asp?ID=117 
• For information on how to wire up DMX to LOR crossover cables, see our Knowledge Base.
• The above does not apply to LOR wireless links, only wired connections. 
• To use DMX with LOR S3, you will require the purchase of S3 Advanced edition. 
• We do not recommend the use of the iDMX-1000 LOR-to-DMX protocol converter unless you have a very specific need for it.
• For information on how to map DMX addresses on LOR controllers, see this LOR document.

David
HolidayCoro.com

HolidayCoro Wants Your Sequences!

We at HolidayCoro are really good at the technical stuff but what were are not good at is sequencing.  So, nearly all the sequences we offer for our products come from you - the customer.  We are always amazed at how great some people are with sequences that really make a design of our pop and it's those exact sequences that we'd like to offer to our customers. 

Why would you want to partner with HolidayCoro to licence your sequence? 

• We either purchase out-right your sequence (royalty free) for a one-time payment or licence your sequence and pay you four times a year, a portion of the sequence sale price.  In 2012, we paid out thousands and thousands in licencing payments alone. 
• There isn't anything you need to do other than to just send us the sequence - we clean it up (remove any additional channels not required for the product (product specific sequences), produce videos, sell and support customers with questions.
• We include your name (optional) in the sequence so you retain credit for your great work.
• We control distribution though our customer specific downloads.

What are we looking for in sequences?

• A high level of quality in the sequences.  If it is for a singing product (monsters, pumpkin, Santa, etc), the timing needs to be very tight and aligned with the audio/song.
• While we post a video rendering of the sequence, we also find that it is helpful for customers to also have a "real world" video showing what it looks like when performed in a production display.  So, if you have a YouTube or Vimeo video that shows that song in your own display - all the better.
• The sequence must be a sole creation of your own and it also cannot be a cut-n-paste of other peoples sequence(s).  During the period that we are marketing your sequence (if licenced), the sequence cannot be provided for download free or for sale by any other vendor.
• Sequences need to be in the LOR S3 format.  We have chosen this format as it can be converted into other popular sequencing applications (LightShow Pro, Vixen, etc.)
• We look for two major groups of sequences:
• Product Specific Sequences - These are sequences designed to work directly with a specific HolidayCoro product.
• Base Sequences - These are sequences that don't work with a specific product but instead are a starting point for others to modify to fit their displays.  These sequences can be simple or complex (thousands of channels).  In nearly all cases, we need a video showing the sequence "in action" on your display so people can visualize the quality of the sequence.

So, if you have a sequence you'd be interested in having HolidayCoro purchase or licence, please shoot us an email with the details (video links, song name, product target, etc) and we'll get started on it!

Thanks,
David
HolidayCoro.com

-------
21-April-2013

We received feedback from Jim M who we re-sell sequences for and here is his testimonial:

"My wife and I became interested is holiday decorating a few years ago.  We incorporated computer controlled lighting in 2012.  While there were many places to buy sequences from, we chose Holidaycoro.com.  The main reason was that we knew we would want to sequence our own songs.  While this isn't terribly difficult, we specifically eyed Holidaycoro because they include a template to produce your own sequences.  This was just the head start we needed to be on our way to making our own.  We figured out the software very quickly and created a number of sequences.  We sent them off to David and he had them posted for sale within a matter of hours.  Everything from sales, support and advertising is handled by HolidayCoro.  All we had to do was create the sequences.  Every quarter HolidayCoro mails out a check with our profits.  It cannot be any easier.  There are other routes if you choose to sell your own sequences; however, none of them make it as easy as Holidaycoro.com has.  Since they are well respected and trusted in the holiday lighting community, your sequences will sell.  It is an extremely fair distribution model and HolidayCoro runs it very efficiently.  We are already looking at creating new sequences for 2013."