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A show is a collection of sequences created with the Sequence Editor. You use the Schedule Editor to schedule shows.
The structure of a show
A show comprises five components:
1. The background component
2. The startup component
3. The musical component
4. The animation component
5. The shutdown component
Each component consists of animation or musical sequences or combinations of them created with the sequence editor. When Light-O-Rama plays a scheduled show, it plays the components in the following order:
1. The startup component is played once.
2. The musical and animation components are played concurrently, for as long as the show is scheduled.
3. The shutdown component is played once.
Each component is optional. For example, you may create a show that consists of only the animation component and a shutdown component.
Why would you want sequences running at the same time in the animation and musical sections? Why have both musical and animation sections? It would seem the display would be a mess.
In some displays you can only see about 1/3 of the lights at a time. That is because the house has three sides exposed to view and from each side you only see 1/3 (plus some more depending on where you are standing). The house is then broken into a number of " sub displays". For example, an animated wireframe train may have a sequence in the animation section running all the time. Other sub-displays may also run independently. Because they are really independent displays you do not have the random effect you might imagine
The show editor is set up so that if you can select a file using the file types presented in the file open dialog then you can use that file type in that section. So the fact that you can select an animation sequence in the musical section indicates that it should work. See the musical section below for an instance of why you might want to do this.
Note that the duration of a show is not part of the show, but is determined by the Schedule Editor.
The Background Component
The background section uses animation sequences that run the entire length of the show. The most common application for this is to create a static portion of a display.
In the background section the lights are not turned off when the sequence loops. Thus if you are attempting to keep a number of static lights on then you can have a 1 minute animation in the background section. The lights will be turned on once per minute and never turned off. This is great if you use X10 because if somehow something inadvertently turned off an X10 unit it will automatically be turned back on. 
The Startup Component
The startup component consists of a collection of sequences that are played in order before the musical and animation components begin. Use the startup component to do any initialization that you need to do before beginning your show.
You may put music or animation sequences in this section.
The Musical Component
The musical component consists of:
1. A playlist of musical or animation sequences,
2. A delay time,
3. A cleanup animation sequence, and
4. A play mode (“Play in Order†or “Shuffleâ€).
Light-O-Rama will play musical or animation sequences from the playlist until the show is sheduled to end. Between each sequence, Light-O-Rama will pause for the specified delay time. When the show is scheduled to end, Light-O-Rama will finish playing the the current musical sequence and then play the cleanup sequence. If the play mode is “Play in Order’, the sequences will be played in a continuous loop in the order that they appear in the list, starting again from the beginning if the list is exhausted. If the play mode is “Shuffleâ€, then the shows will be played in random order.
The sequences in the playlist may be musical or animation sequences or any combination of the two. The cleanup sequence must be an animation sequence. You would combine musical and animation sequences in this section if you wanted to run one or more musical sequences and then "pause" and have animation only for one or more sequences.
The Animation Component
The animation component consists of:
A playlist of animation sequences, and A play mode (“Play Concurrently†or “Play sequentiallyâ€). Light-O-Rama will play the animation sequences from the playlist until the show is scheduled to end. If the play mode is “Play Concurrentlyâ€, Light-O-Rama will play all animation sequences simultaneously, each in a continuous loop. If the play mode is “Play Sequentiallyâ€, Light-O-Rama will play the sequences in a continuous loop in the order that they appear in the list, starting again from the beginning if the list is exhausted.
If there is a musical sequence from the musical component still playing when the show is scheduled to end, Light-O-Rama will continue to play animation sequences from the playlist until the musical sequence completes.
The sequences in the playist must be animation sequences.
The Shutdown Component
The shutdown component consists of a collection of animation sequences that are played in order after the musical and animation components end. Use the shutdown component to do any cleanup that you need to do after your show.
You may put musical or animation sequences in the shutdown component.
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