Online Home of Derek Meister
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kWowqng_AI
Terror and technology combine at the Meister House Halloween display. I had a chance to speak with the Fox 8 News morning team about how we create our holiday lightshow experience.
Even the Agent Meister Mom was there to explain how she collects the hundreds of Halloween decorations that make up our display.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaP6yg2Kb-4
Work continues on the 2010 Halloween display at the Meister House. We decided to move the graveyard from the side to the front of the house. Once setup is complete, we’ll use a small FM transmitter to allow people driving by to listen in on the show, which will be setup to run daily between 7 to 9pm.
The lightshow is run using a D-Light 16 channel controller hooked up to a small home-built PC running AuroraShow.
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Another Halloween at the Meister House has passed. We had well over 200 kids, plus all their family and friends, visit our display tonight.
This video has a tour of our indoor and outdoor display. The music playing is “Druids” by Midnight Syndicate, a group that also comes from northeast Ohio.
The complete Halloween setup takes roughly a week to put together, as there are 30-something inflatable decorations outside, along with a computer-controlled graveyard light show and other features.
Inside our oversized garage, we have well over 150 animated decorations, collected over the last decade. All waiting for the little visitors to activate them with the push of a button.
It’s great fun watching everyone come through and enjoy the show. Sometimes, the kids completely forget to ask for candy, because they’re so busy with pushing buttons in the garage.
I have an overview of creating a holiday light show on the Geek Squad Blog for those interested. The setup even got a mention on Cleveland’s Fox 8 New.
Hope to see everyone here again next year.
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One of our favorite things to do as Geek Squad Agents is to find new ways to bring technology into our lives to improve upon the experience. Holidays is no exception, as this video I created based on the Halloween graveyard lightshow I put together for my home display.
The video is a simple overview of how to technify your decorations with the addition of two components, the first of which is a programmable light controller that can control any number of lights and other electrical Halloween decorations in a choreographed light show.
There are many different companies that make controllers, such as Light-O-Rama or D-Light. If you’re a hobbyist, you can purchase kits to assemble yourself, or if you’d like, you can even find fully pre-assembled starter packages with everything you’d need.
The second component you’ll need is a computer to control your electronic light show. In my case, I use an Intel Atom-based computer running Microsoft Windows 7, but the system requirements for a project like this are basic enough that just about any home computer will do.
To program the light controller, you first create a show combining your lighting instructions with the audio or music of your choice. Sequencing software to do this comes in many different forms, from very simple command line programs to more advanced graphical interface software, such as Aurora, which is featured in my video.
Once your sequence is completed, it can be loaded into a scheduler program on the computer, to be played back on the day and time you select. The computer is then connected to the light controller by either network cable or through a special wireless link, so that the light commands can be played back by the controller in time with the audio from the computer.
While there is a good amount of work involved in setting up a holiday light show of your own, it can be very rewarding when the local trick-or-treaters stop by and almost forget to ask for their candy because they’re too busy watching the show.
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If you remember the videos a few years back of elaborate Christmas light shows synced to music, you may have wondered how you could do something similar for your own holiday decorations.
In the process of planning my own Halloween decorations, I discovered that there’s an entire industry that has sprung up around helping make displays like that possible for anyone, with the only limit being the time and money you want to invest.
Now, instead of hand-built electronics, you can buy unassembled light controller component kits from companies such as Light-O-Rama or D-Light Designs. Prices for 16-channel kits range from $120 and up, with pre-assembled kits being as cheap as $200.
To create your computerized light show, you’ll need sequencer software. The program I used for my own Halloween light show is called Aurora, available for purchase for $100, though there are a wide range of programs at different price points, including some free, no-frills command-line programs.
If you don’t have the time to create a light show and sync it to music, you can even find pre-programmed sequences from companies such as WowLights Productions, along with a number of other light show product packages.
Having assembled the pieces for my Halloween light show, I can say that it’s definitely not a cheap holiday project, but I can say that the sense of satisfaction when the lights come alive and dance to the music I’ve synced them to makes it worth every dollar I’ve spent.