Sunday, August 13, 2006

Etch-a-Sketch on a Grander Scale


Well, I dusted off the old W.O.P.R., plugged it in, and started programming the show. The Light-O-Rama software necessary to controls the lights has turned out to be quite simple to use. The first thing I did was to create the channel assignments and lay out an animation matrix to provide visual feedback when programming a sequence. The Lite-Brite looking thing you see is how my backyard looks to the computer. (a work of art!) It is useful for seeing how the display will look without actually setting up a bunch of lights in my living room. Just turn your head sideways so your left eye sees the Lite-Brite thingy and your right eye see the photo of my yard and you'll get an idea. After I got the channel assignments set, all I had to do is load a MP3 file and start programming. This part has turned out to be quicker than I thought. Given, I'm keeping the display to only 32 dimmers for the first year and using repetitive motions also reduce the amount of work I need to do. In fact, I've already finished the first song and a third of the way though the second. It's the hobby that provides hours of entertainment.