How the Lights Dance: Light-O-Rama
Light-O-Rama software and products are used to make the lights dance each year. Our laptop runs the Light-O-Rama program, which connects to the controllers, each linked together in series via Cat5/Cat6 signal cable. In addition, the laptop is connected to our FM transmitter powering 102.5 FM.
To get the lights to dance, much time and patience is required. Each Light-O-Rama controller has 16 channels (essentially outlets) that power and organize the lights. In total, we have over 1000 Light-O-Rama channels across all of the synchronized properties along the street! On the laptop, these channels are organized by object type (tree, bush, house, fence, arch, mega tree, etc.), color, and location per property. For ease of use, we label each channel on screen to match the color of the lights for that particular channel.
The next step is to load the songs into Light-O-Rama, and to split the songs up by beat, essentially into milliseconds of the song. From there, it's up to us how to program everything. Light-O-Rama comes with multiple functions built into the system (fade, twinkle, on/off, etc.). We tell each channel what we want it to do based on these functions, which takes on average 8 hours per minute of a song! Recently, we've been able to get it down to 5-6 hours per minute of a song. This means that one single song can be completely programmed within 15-30 hours! Thankfully, we are able to keep all of our dancing sequences and use them year after year. Our goal is to continue adding at least one new song every year.
The next step is to load the songs into Light-O-Rama, and to split the songs up by beat, essentially into milliseconds of the song. From there, it's up to us how to program everything. Light-O-Rama comes with multiple functions built into the system (fade, twinkle, on/off, etc.). We tell each channel what we want it to do based on these functions, which takes on average 8 hours per minute of a song! Recently, we've been able to get it down to 5-6 hours per minute of a song. This means that one single song can be completely programmed within 15-30 hours! Thankfully, we are able to keep all of our dancing sequences and use them year after year. Our goal is to continue adding at least one new song every year.
Example of a Light-O-Rama dancing sequence, with the different channels (rows) color-coordinated on screen. Note the sound track (blue wave file at the top), as well as the detail in splitting up the song by multiple parts per second (extremely tiny vertical columns). The song time in seconds is labeled above the sound file at the top. Image courtesy of Light-O-Rama.
