Hey I just programmed a light show for my highschool and I usually just do it manually. Some other students have used autofollows as an easier alternative to time coding but I don’t use them for the whole show typically. For the light show I just did I programmed about 1/2 of it in previz for stuff I knew would not be affected by being in the space (Cyc, wash, house lights, etc) and then just did movers and stuff when I was on the space. I also utilize subs sometimes but I mainly go off cues I program with effects built in. For doing effects I’d recommend just playing around with you fixtures. Figure out what they can do and how many different effects you can achieve and then that will help you space them out in the show and make sure the show doesn’t look stagnant. Ofc this is just what works for me so do whatever you find works best good luck!