Computer Work for 2010 Copeland Christmas

I spent some time earlier this week cleaning up the computer files that control the lights here at Copeland Christmas.

Basically, I learned how to change the timing grid in the Light-O-Rama software. Now, our sequence files are all nice and consistent at a tenth of a second. This means that the lights will blink 10 times per second. This is also why it takes soooo long to program each song.

For each song that plays on our radio each night, there are several computer files that execute.

- music file (.wav or .mp3)
- schedule file (tells the computer to play the show between 6 and 10pm)
- show file (tells the computer which files to play)
- sequence file (tells the electric boxes which lights to blink)
- animation file (.jpg that shows a rendering of the display)

I still have certain parts that blink much faster than 10 times per second, but in general I like using the 10th of a second rule.