Every year, I love to check out all the Christmas light displays that every day people put their hearts into to display their Christmas spirit. In recent years, videos of Christmas lights animated to musical accompaniment have been popping up on YouTube. Some are fun and others can only be described as artistic genius. This year, my wife and I happened upon a house that featured, among other things, Christmas lights that jumped and danced in time with the music. While I had a general idea of how it was done, I decided to dig a little deeper and share some of what I learned with you. I also created a video containing a mix of these musical lights to give you a better idea of what I’m talking about. Watch the video below and then we’ll get into how it’s done.
How To Program Christmas Lights To Music
Getting your lights to dance to pre-determined music is pretty simple in concept, but will take some amount of learning for anyone new to it and a lot of time for just about anyone. That may sound discouraging, but the end result may well be worth all the trouble. Not only will you have the feeling of accomplishing something pretty cool, but you’ll have the coolest decorated house on the block and perhaps even a YouTube hit like the Skrillex Equinox display that was viewed over a million times in under three weeks.
Before you dive in and create your masterpiece, you’ll need a general idea of what’s involved. First, you’ll need to have some hardware and software to make the magic happen. The hardware (controller, etc.) will connect your lights to the computer that will run the show and the software will allow you to program the lights to react to music how you want them to. Software won’t be a problem for your budget, but hardware can cost anywhere from around $160 for 32 channels and more of a DIY, hands-on approach up to $1,200 or more for 64 channels and a lot less work. If you’re comfortable with soldering, you can spend less and do a lot of the work, but if you’re not, expect to pay a lot more for pre-built hardware. In addition to the hardware, you should be prepared to spend money on lights if you don’t have them already. The days right after Christmas usually reveal lots of great sales (that’s when I buy wrapping paper and accessories, too). And don’t forget your soon-to-be-bloated electric bill.
To get it all working, you just need to :
- Check with neighbors first
- Get your hardware and software (including lights)
- Design your display and plan what you want
- Program your show (get ready to spend a lot of time here)
- Test
- Let people know
Along with all the work involved, you’ll want to plan some things ahead. The last thing you want to do is spend months putting together the perfect Christmas light musical performance only to have something unforeseen prevent it from being displayed. Before you start, check with your neighbors and agree on reasonable start and stop times and dates. Check for any local laws, ordinances, or HOA rules that such a project my be in violation of. Plan your expenses before you buy anything and avoid fire and other hazards by talking to electricians or other experts. Planning ahead may save you a ton of headaches down the road.
When you’re all done, showcase your completed project in style. Collaborate with a local video company to create a professional-looking video and don’t stop at YouTube. Send it to local TV stations and related blogs. A viral video could help offset your December electrical bill.
As always, if you embark on this adventure, share your project here in the comments.
It’s almost Christmas, but I didn’t have to wait to see Santa. In fact, he brought his elves to my house to dance. Well, at least that’s what I was able to make a video of thanks to today’s review of ReelDoozy, a pretty unique iPhone app.
What’s All This About?
ReelDoozy is an iPhone app that uses green screen technology to let you super-impose fun video they provide on top of your own video. The result is a video of, say, your own house with Santa dancing around in your living room. This green screen technology has been used for years in the television and film industry but lately, it’s turning up in all sorts of fun apps like this, thanks to the processing power and video capabilities of today’s smart phone line-up.
ReelDoozy Features And Improvement
When the app is fired up, the first thing to do in order to make a video is select a foreground video. This is the video of Santa, or whatever else you choose, that will be super-imposed atop your own video. There are four short clips starring Santa and his elves that are free to use. For most, these will be fine to play with, but the app offers six additional foreground video collections that can be unlocked for an in-app purchase of 99 cents per collection. While playing, I decided to buy the Dancing Pack to aid in the making of my review video below.
After selecting a foreground video, you select a background video or create one on the fly. So far, it’s been pretty basic stuff I had expected from the app, but the next step was a nice touch. With both the foreground and background videos selected, you can choose where to position the foreground subject and even pinch-zoom to re-size him. Better still, you’re given slider controls to adjust the brightness and contrast of the foreground video and can choose to use the foreground audio, the background, or a mix of both. Of course, this stuff is almost necessary if you want the final video to look good at all. I would have really enjoyed some kind of path selection to allow me to move Santa with the floor if my background video moves too much, but it might be a bit much to ask of a free app.
While I’m being greedy, I’d love some more selection in video packs. The dancing and humor scenes are fun, but I’d love the option for a couple scenes in which Santa is placing presents under the tree or filling a stocking. I’ll gladly throw down another buck for that.
Video of Santa Dancing
Sometimes the best part of a review is playing with fun stuff, so I tried to be a little creative and come up with my own videos with Santa and the elves and here’s the result.
Conclusions
When I first saw the press release for this, I thought it looked like a neat way to show the kids that Santa had actually been there. After installing and playing around, I realized it was pretty fun for those of us without kids, too. The price is always right when it’s free, and even the in-app purchase options were well within reason. The one stand-out problem with this app is that is freezes on me when finalizing a video. The video does save, though, so this is a minor inconvenience. In the end, ReelDoozy is a lot of free holiday fun, leaving you little reason to not check it out. If you try it out, I really want to see what videos you come up with, so share the links in the comment section below.
I’ve participated in plenty of pranks in my time, both giving and receiving, and they’re almost always a lot of fun. My cousin, in particular, is a big prankster and joker who always enjoys a good laugh. This week, I got a couple Prank Pack prank gift boxes in the mail to review, and who better to try one out on than John.
What Is A Prank Pack?
A Prank Pack is a box designed to look like a real product that is just outlandish enough to make the recipient think you bought them some crazy gift that they may never use. Inside the box, you place a real gift so that your giftee isn’t left feeling like you cheated him out of a gift. So it’s the best of both worlds. You get to prank someone, but they still get a real gift that they’ll use. They make a bunch of different gift boxes such as CoffeeTalkies – travel coffee mugs that double as walkie talkies, Bathe&Brew – a shower head that brews your coffee with the same hot water you shower in, ToeTunes – slippers that have speakers built right in, and several others. They sell for $8 per box or you can get a 3-pack right now for $20.
Prank Packing John For Your Enjoyment
My cousin John, as my mentioned above, is no stranger to pranks, so he was definitely due to be pranked. We bought him a gift we thought he’d like, and as it’s a book, it easily fit into the Prank Pack box. The box we chose was the iArm seen in the photo above. It’s a device that straps to your arm that you can attach an iPad, remote controls, or even your dinner plate to. Since John has an iPad, we thought this would be a nice fit. Just believable enough for him to not know if we were seriously giving this thing to him. We wrapped it up and invited John out to breakfast. The video below shows hot it all went.
I really liked the Prank Pack, and I think John’s even going to re-use it to prank someone else for Christmas. $8 per box is more than I’d normally pay for a quick prank, but the boxes look pretty professional and are actually good quality. Pair that with the fact that it’ll likely get used two or three times, and it’s not a bad price at all.
Buy Or WIN A Prank Pack
Like any other product, you can buy a Prank Pack box, of course. As mentioned before, they’re eight bucks a piece or you can snag a deal for a three pack. The web site seems to guarantee shipping by Christmas (as of the time I’m writing this) for only $5, but you can also drop into a Bed Bath and Beyond and grab one there without waiting. You can also try to win one right here. All you have to do is comment on or Tweet about this post or share it on Facebook, but you only have 2 days, so do it now below. Note that the box I’m giving away is the CoffeeTalkies, perfect for that coffee fiend you know.
Every year, before we’re even done with our Thanksgiving dinner coma, Christmas decorations are up in stores and my nephews are telling Uncle Joey about all the presents they want. Adults can be a little harder to shop for, though, especially if you’re dealing with a geek. Where do you even begin to shop for a geek for Christmas? While I may not have all the answers, I hope this guide will give you some good ideas.
Pivot Power
It doesn’t seem like something that might be on someone’s Christmas wish list, but anyone who has ever found themselves staring at their normal power strip, with a couple otherwise available plugs half covered by large brick power supplies, should appreciate this in their stocking. Pivot Power pivots to make more room for all those bulky power supplies. Your six-outlet power strip can finally fit six power adapters.
Price: $25.00
Magic Wand Remote Control
If they’ve seen more than one Harry Potter movie, let them cast some spells of their own… on the TV. This TV remote shaped like a magic wand lets you change the channel, volume, etc. with a flick of the wrist. Blurting out funny phrases is optional.
Price: $89.99
Cloak
Does your favorite geek have an iPad? If they do, you can help them protect it while also making it more comfortable to use. The Cloak by Quirky is an iPad case that also works as a three-way stand.
Price: $49.99
App Magnets
All you need is an Apple fanboy/fangirl and a fridge to make this a great gift. These App magnets are magnets that look like popular iPhone application icons. Just don’t buy these for the Android phone geek in the family.
Price: $12.99
Wrapster
Another great stocking stuffer, Wrapster is a way to keep your ear bud headphones untangled without any fuss.
Price: $4.99
Pandora or GrooveShark Gift Cards
If that special someone on your Christmas list has ever mentioned Pandora or GrooveShark streaming music sites, they’re sure to appreciate a gift card to help them get the most of their listening. The GrooveShark membership comes free with the purchase of a t-shirt.
PeeWee PC is a USB security suite that provides on and off line safety for children of all ages. It includes parental privacy controls and limits how much time children spend browsing and gaming, blocks inappropriate sites and prevents children from changing system settings. It even comes with a few games to keep those computer-eager kids busy.
Price: $34.95
Credit Card Light Bulb
What a novel idea. Really more of a novelty, but a light bulb credit card is a geeky little conversation starter and a unique stocking stuffer.
Price: $4.99
Bucky Balls
These things (and variations of them) have been all over YouTube. Bucky Balls are tiny little super powerful magnets that you can combine into shapes. Search YouTube to see all the fun things people are making with them.
Price: $29.95 – $34.95
Trek Support
Quirky’s Trek Support is a backpack. It’s also a mobile charging station for your geek on the move. The battery in the backpack can be recharged and will last about 7 hours (depending on what you’re plugging into it).
Price: $130.00
Zibra: Open It!
Half the gadgets I get come in the plastic packaging that can defeat the best of men. This year, you might want to make it easier on you and yours with a Zibra. You can’t enjoy all those cool gadgets if you can’t get them open, which Zibra makes easy.
Available at: enjoyZibra.com, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond and other select national retailers.
Price: $9.99
Of course, there’s also all the obvious gifts like any of the iPod models, iTunes gift cards, an iPad or a Samsung Tab, memory cards (think 8GB and up), and computer and phone accessories like a travel mouse or Bluetooth headset. Games and gaming accessories are always winning gifts, too. Make sure you know what console to buy for and take a sneak peek at what’s in your giftee’s collection so you don’t buy duplicates. What’s on your (or your geek’s) wish list?
Disclosure. A few of the items on my list use referral links that make me money if you buy the item, but they’re still items I would want, myself, for Christmas.
