It is true all over the world: The supremely dedicated fans of AtmosFX Decorations come up with so many clever ideas – ones that we never thought of. They spend hours upon hours creating incredibly inventive new designs, concepts and tools – all to bring joy to others!
In this case, we are talking about longtime AtmosFAN Timo Fischer. We’ve known about Timo for years – he’s been creating incredible decoration displays for years at his home in Walldorf, Germany. (Here’s one we posted from his 2016 Halloween display.)
But what really got us interested was his current project. Timo has built software that allows native German speakers to translate some AtmosFX Decorations from English into German. As an example, the wisecracking pumpkins of Jack-O’-Lantern Jamboree, after you run Timo’s translator tool, will tell their jokes and sing their songs in German. (Don’t worry: The jokes are still corny!) You can see images that Timo collected from 50 German-speaking Halloween fans that deployed his translator tool.
How does it work? “My tool is programmed to recognize AtmosFX files,” Timo says. “The user selects an AtmosFX video on his computer and then presses ‘Translate.’ My tool then downloads the appropriate audio file from my server and combines it with the video on the user’s PC.”
Timo says his translator tool supports 110 AtmosFX files, including Boo Crew, Ghostly Apparitions, Witching Hour and others – and he’s always working on more. Currently Timo has 64 users of his translator tool in Germany and Austria. And here’s the incredible thing: This is just a hobby!
Ever since he was young, Timo had been a fan of Halloween. As he grew, his family and friends would go out on October 31, as part of what they called a “creepy night hike.” But in 2015, he came across a YouTube video that, after a few clicks, led him to AtmosFX. “After only five minutes I got to the AtmosFX site and after another five minutes I knew exactly what I wanted to do for Halloween 2015,” he says. “In only ten minutes, the basis for one of my most ambitious project series was created, which still continues today.”
If you are interested in learning more about Timo’s translator tool, you can learn about it here. And if you want to see some of his Halloween displays (including the video of his house from 2016 mentioned above), you can check out his YouTube Channel here.
We always love seeing how Halloween – and decorating with AtmosFX Decorations! – continues to grow around the globe. And with efforts like Timo’s, you can see why it does. Great work, Timo!
How do you use AtmosFX Decorations to celebrate Halloween, Christmas or any other holiday? We want to see it! Send your photos and videos to us and you might be selected as the next AtmosFAN of the Week!
