It has been awhile since I have posted to the blog. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on the show. Let me see if I can provide you with some information on some of the things we have been working on.
The New Moving Heads – I have received the new moving heads. These are substantially different than the previous 3 that we had and I am figuring out how to seamlessly integrate them into the show. I have also commissioned the mounting brackets for the roof. These will be similar to the others in that they will be permanently be mounted to the roof and will be covered with BBQ covers during the off season. We have also been updating and adding songs with new moving head sequencing. Our goal is of course to make them an integral and effective component of each of the songs where we have them.
Snowflake Arches and Whale Tails – I have added the lights to these new elements of the show. The lights I used for these is called a seed pixel. They are substantially smaller and less heavy than our normal 12mm bullet pixel used on the majority of the other show elements. We are going to use this year to determine just how durable these are in the severe weather that we often receive during the show time. Seed pixels need a way to be “inserted” into the prop and a hobbyist (Keith) created a 3D printable version of a mounting that could be used. We now affectionately call it the Keith Popper. Since I needed thousands of them and 3d printing would take way too long I had them created at a China factory where we purchase the seed pixels. These props are not ready to go and are awaiting their chance to appear on the hillside.
Firework Stars – I have one of these completed and ready to mount on the hillside. The remaining 2 are about 50% completed. I expect over the next couple of weeks that I will wrap these up. All of the music and show sequences that have the effects have been built for the 3 of them that will be in the show.
Orca Whales – I received these on the 13th of September. They are so cool. The vendor I purchased them from – Charlees Props – did a fantastic job! Today the 19th I finished pushing the lights into one of them and ran a few tests. They are going to look fantastic on the roof. They will bookcase Whalen – one on each end. Size wise they are about 8 feet long and about 4 feet tall. Nearly 400 lights on each of them.
Angel Wing Selfie Station – We have finished with these. They will be located on Coast avenue so people can take a selfie with the color of Angel Wings that they would like to have behind them. When not being used to take a selfie the 1000 lights will become part of the normal show music and action.
Show Electronics – The show runs on a number of electronic devices and small computers. The main show controller has a new cabinet for mounting in the yard. This cabinet contains the main show controller, the radio station (remember 92.1 is the FM station to hear the music we are syncronized to), and the small computer that controls the synchronization of all of the other controllers in the show. I have also built a couple of additional power supply boxes. The lights themselves all operate on 12V DC current. For each connection we can do about 200-300 lights without providing them with a power boost. These power supply boxes have computer power supplies that convert AC electricity to 12V DC electricity and the power distribution boards that assure that we have fused and dispersed connections where we need them.
Music Sequencing – There will be a LOT of new sequences for the show this year. Our goal is to have a nightly show that will have 7-10 songs. Each night of the week we expect to have a different show. We will post the program on the home page once we get closer to the show time.
Overall things are progressing well. We expect to start setting the show up on the hillside starting the second week of October. You will see a few things change each day as we work toward out goal of having everything fully operational and tested by Thanksgiving weekend.