A channel is a unit of lights that can be controlled individually. For example, a single bush in your yard may be a channel if you drape one set of lights over it. All the lights in a channel work as a single unit. Unfortunately, you can’t flash an individual light bulb. 32 to 64 channels is a good size to start with if you’ve never programmed lights to music before. Any bigger than that, and you’ll probably curse the day you ever decided to take on the project (or the day your spouse made you take it on).
Look for Lowes and Home Depot coupons before checking out to save on your purchase.
Look for Lowes and Home Depot coupons before checking out to save on your purchase.
A fully built system will work right out of the box. It will cost you about $20 - $25 per channel. A fully built system can be purchased from online vendors. Choose this option if you do not want to do any electrical work (especially soldering), or don’t have the slightest clue about where to start. A kit is a little more hands-on. It will cost from $15 or so per channel, but it’s pretty much the same thing as a fully built product without the enclosure. Because it is very simple to place an electronics board in an enclosure, this may be a great option if you’re looking to save money. Some vendors sell everything you need to build a control system, including the bare circuit board and the parts. If you are willing to solder a little bit, try this A DIY system costs roughly $5 per channel and up. The price depends on how much you actually do yourself. A system consists of a controller, which communicates with your computer, and solid state relays (SSRs), which actually switch the lights. SSRs can be bought or made yourself. With a DIY option, you will spend lots of time making your hardware, but the cost savings should make up for it. You’ll also have the ability to totally customize your hardware, and will be able to fix problems easily.
Depending on the degree of difficulty, give yourself anywhere from 2-6 months of prep time before you can expect your lights show to be fully operational. It may sound like a lot of time, but you’ll need it.
The software that you choose will basically break the song you’re syncing your lights to into very short segments (. 10 second), letting you program each channel of lights to turn on, turn off, fade, twinkle or shimmer. There are essentially three commercial options for software. Light-O-Rama is the vendor for most residential lights displays. It is, however, pretty complex, and can take as much as four hours per minute of the song to program 32-48 channels. Animated Lighting is more expensive but easier to program. Some residential light displays and most commercial ones choose Animated Lighting. D-Lights is the second from the least expensive of the bunch, but you need to have some passing familiarity with and knowledge of control systems and electrical engineering. Hinkle’s Lighting Sequencer is actually a free software that is simple yet powerful on incandescent light bulbs, LEDs, and RGB LEDs.
Mini lights or net lights go on landscaping. Icicle lights or c-series lights usually go on the roof. Mini Trees are two- to three-foot-tall trees, often made of tomato cages wrapped in lights of one or multiple colors. Arranged in a line or a triangle, they are very useful in an animated display. A Mega Tree usually consists of a large pole with lights extending from the top to a large ring around the base. Again, it is very useful in animation. Wireframes are metal frames with lights attached. Blow molds are plastic lighted sculptures of deer, Santas, etc. They are usually placed throughout the yard. C9 Lights are bulbous, colorful lights that usually go on the yard perimeter.
Respectfully inform your neighbors of your plan to create an animated display; having the neighbors on your side is important if you want your display to last long enough for other people to see it. Stick to a single showing at the top of the hour, once or twice a night. If the neighbors know that the display will only last three minutes, and will show nightly at 8 and 9 PM, they’ll probably be more understanding than if you blasted it regularly from 6-9.
Again, inform your neighbors that you are publicizing your display. They’ll be much more accommodating if they know your plan to attract attention from around the neighborhood.
