Lighting and sound effects on your layout - please share

1st video was good but I don't think I could stand the music & noise in the 2nd. one.

no, me neither ... it was just a demonstration video. I believe you can control the lights and fade them with different colors as you would like.

Art (Chugman) gave me an excellent idea about using background sounds for the layout. Since we have a large city area, the sounds of a city would really add to the experience. Something planned for 2015.

Great thread, John.

I wonder if you could use the new LCS system and its accessories to allow control of lighting from your iPad; seems reasonable.

Can also do it with any of the common home automation systems if you have one, e.g. Insteon.  I use that in our home so adding lighting control for a layout room would be pretty easy.  They would provide on/off, dimming, etc for room lights and can be timer based and are controllable from your phone with the right interface box ($80).

You can get really elaborate and use commercial style control systems.  Don Wolford posted this video on Youtube of his Disneyland tribute layout.  He uses Light-O-Rama control systems.  http://youtu.be/BPAmaDtbnKk

Ok, I'm rambling.  There are much more knowledgeable folks on this forum than I and I'm sure they will provide their input to help you out.  I like your idea (reminds me of Roadside America in PA).  PTC, I really like your idea of background sounds.  Do you think one could provide local speakers with sounds specific to an area of the layout? E.g. mechanic sounds near the engine house, station sounds at the station, traffic sounds in town?  Hmmm.  Oh, you have to have a layout big enough to do that.  SIGH!  Not at my end.

Ron L

Wow... that is a wild light show of layout... pretty cool.

However I am looking for something a little more toned down like in video 1 above...

I use blacklight bulbs to light up my city backdrops.  This works quite well since the bright copy paper I used to create the buildings makes the structures look like they are reflecting city lights, etc.

Several years ago I went online to download city sounds.  I burned a CD and have speakers placed under the layout at various places to give the added effect...really makes a difference!

Alan

My general idea is to have a freight yard that is modern and well kept up. It will have allot of lighting of course for night shift. Lights add dimension to a layout and even though it can be a bit pricey, it is well worth it when you first get that yard done and light it up with lights that make the yard look real. I love lighting and the special effects it can generate on a layout.

Pete

I have effectively used incandescent track lights with a variety of modified special effects available to disc jockeys, etc., to create my night environment. 

i find that dimmable LEDS do not change color as they are dimmed, unlike incandescent lamps which give you a warmer, "redder", color at lower voltages. I think incandescent lamps simulate dusk and dawn scenes quite well at lower voltages.

Use black lights for night/moon effects along with fluorescent paint on distant building windows for a convincing and economical effect.

I use the old X10 lamp and device control modules activated by a home automation computer program to control everything and synch it with a custom soundtrack, but you can do the same thing manually if you want.

I have toyed with the idea of going to DMX DJ type controls and RGB LEDs to give me specific colors but my current system works well and it's paid for.

The other caveat I have seen with LEDs is that they do not seem to dim in a linear fashion.

They stay bright for a long time as the dimmer is activated then they ramp down quite rapidly, sometimes turning off well before they are very dim.

I use Disney World and live theater as my source and inspiration for effective lighting.

Here is a video link to my special effects lighting program...(missing my more recent tornado and rainbow effects!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ly2Wl2zjI

TJ

J Daddy

We have the LTAC system that should be out by April.

We have made some revisions to it to make it even better than we had originally planned. LTAC system allows users to easily control room lighting using X-10 modules if you use X-10 light switches or dimmers. LTAC also controls layout lighting, sounds and animation, all driven by the time of day on your layout, using our master layout time control module and remote modules .  This system allows the operator to control up hundreds of different time driven events and up to 16 different devices triggered per remote module. This is all controlled by the master time control unit. This system will be affordable to implement even on large layouts!

I'm not sure this qualifies as lighting "effects" unless you count proper-illumination as an effect.  During my on-going revisions on my layout, I have installed over 300 feet of LED rope-light.  What I like about it is that it is good light, cool-running so you can put it anywhere, easy to install, and flexible as to where you put it.  

Below you see one string (four fifty-foot sets in series) turned on, over about twenty-five feet of deep (43 inch) shelf layout area that was a challenge to illuminate enough, but evenly.  What was good about the rope lights is that where I needed more light (in the corner) I just circled it into a loop once or twice, or ran it back and forth: with a ilttle experimentation I got just the amount of light I wanted everywhere.  

Here is the one end of the shelf area in the background, with only the rope-lights turned one back there (I also have about 120 W of LED fixtures back to the left in the top photo and to the right in the second photo, now turned off).  

You can see above how even and "just enough" the lighting is . . .  and in the corner here.  There is an addition LED fixture just to the right in the photo below, turned off here, but you see how evenly these ropes light the whole region . . . 

To install them, I ran a set of heavy steel pilot wires along the cieling of the shelf areas and then twist-tied the rope to them as needed . . . placing it up under the wooden awnings I built so you can't see the LED lights directly when watching the layout.  

like the Fog machine... this is what I would like to do... very nice! Thanks for posting.

Al, keep us posted sounds like a winner.

Wow...  Some very effective lighting and sound effects.   I'm going to save this thread for future plans.  Thanks for posting.

Will do J Daddy. We will be looking for a few beta testers.