...and even a fresher refresher. I was having a problem with xlights talking to the ESP8266 controllers. I was about ready to throw in the towel when I thought I'd run Drzzz's RUclips again. Sure enough, right at about the 8:10 mark when you went into Sync Interfaces and put the channel # in that the light went on... literally and figuratively!! Thanks again for these really informative sessions.
You have no idea how excited it makes me to find out that I can use my various ESP connected LED strips with xLights. Previously I thought I had to wire things back to DMX controllers which had put me off. This is awesome!
Dr.zzs you rock. You just made me happy camper when it comes to trying to figure this out with xlights and making my wife happy with her Xmas lighting wants....spent an hour configuring the esp8266’s with WLED, HA and xLights. Biggest headache was trying to get the universes and nodes correct for my strips of 300neopixels. But it’s done. Now to order 8 more strips.
Thanks Dr Zzs, just got all my parts and got my ledstrip running with a nodemcu AND on the same night got xlights running to thanks to you! Love your video's, you really helped me out with all the parts and explaining how thing work in a simple manner. You really got me addicted to led and wled, i've got a whole lot of hardware comming from aliexpress ;). Thanks again en keep those video's coming :)
I am just getting started in the Christmas LED game and your videos helped me a lot. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to your xLights Part 2 video!
Thank you so much for such a simple explanation with extra explanations where you were confused. Buying some nodemcus as we speak and I'll have to get some lights too! Thanks again.
Awesome video as usual, easy to follow guidelines and just spent all of Christmas playing around with xlights and designing a mega tree with affects :-) another 360 days until next Christmas lol
Thank you! You answered the 'how to connect WLED and xLights'. I really like the WLED "solution" for addressable LEDs but REALLY wanted to use xLights instead. I needed a method to connect the two using an ESP8266. I really appreciate your step-by-step videos and your 'IDK but lets try' attitude.
Hey Man you are the greatest. I followed your instructions and i have a mac so things are a little different, but i managed to make a simple display to music, for my first time is wasn't half bad. thanks again for taking time out of your day to do these videos they are the best and so are you. thanks again. see you on your next video!!
Love your videos. Watching your original wled video has really gotten me hooked on building an awesome LED display! Can't wait to see more. Thank you for all your time!
Literally pulled my hair out of my head (to the point of almost looking like you 😉) for two straight days working through this trying to figure out what I had wrong until I stumbled on this: the WLED controllers need to be 'ON' for the lights to work. Likely something that shouldn't need clarifying to most, but somehow I assumed the xlights communication would auto-toggle and just work. It doesn't. Turn the damn controllers on 😆
Thank you for making this video! I asked another channel that solely focuses on Christmas light shows to do an xlights + NodeMCU + WLED video and they said it was too complicated for their channel! I am getting started with wled and have been wanting to hook them up to Xlights. One question for you though, would you be willing to do a video on how to control traditional (AC) Christmas lights with Xlights? Maybe something with relays and a nodeMCU?
I love that you got excited when it worked. Great work and awesome tutorial. I live in a townhome, so we can't have lights up more than 30 days after the holidays. Do you have an easy solution for easy set up and take down?
I was thinking pipe clips and rigid tubing with led strips inside so you can just unclip. Make in 2m lengths and should be easy to handle and store out of holiday season.
Great Video... Just so you know.. From the pro event industry ie DMX its had been Universe and channel since 1990s.. But yes nodes should be called a pixel... A node is what xlights is what xlights call a "controller" or a interface/node in the events world... a controller, is a lx desk or software
DRZzs, thanks for posting this valuable video and the other one about Beginner's Guide to Holiday Lights. In this video though at 3:19, the column heading changed from '#LEDs' to '#Pixels' on your spreadsheet. The quantity under remained the same. You said that three LEDs make up a pixel so same number of LEDs can't be the same number of pixels can they?? A little confused here.
Tons of Thanks Dr.zzz Appreciate your time and help to make it one of the best and detailed information. 😍😍😍😍😍😍 Please do make Video how people are running Pixel light shows using a Raspberry Pi too.🙏🙏
you can add random effects to you sequence by multi selecting the timing tracks and right click the selection and choose create random effects. It makes for a quick way but not always what you desire.
The term “universe” has nothing to do with xlights and nothing to do with WLED. It’s part of the ANSI E1.31 protocol that you chose from the drop down list. It’s an old standard for entertainment lights that predates addressable leds. You could just use DDP both support that too.
I'm only just now finding your videos (putting together a light show with my dad this year) and they've been more helpful than 90% of everything else I've watched, thank you so so much. Do you have any solutions for playing the audio tracks either through outdoor speakers or an FM transmitter?
In case anyone is wondering: A) This method DOES work for Vixen and Falcon Pi Player (FPP) as well 2) Some schools of thought say that if you're using wifi, you should be using Multicast as it's less processor intensive (on both the device running the show and the pixel controller). And if you're using multicast, then you don't care at all about the IP address, only the Universe. Doing this also allows for multiple controller to be "copied"; meaning if you're multicasting the show, and you have two controllers that are configured for the same universe, they'll both show the exact same thing.
Your videos are awesome! Giving me the confidence to finally take the plunge!! Are there any things I need to lookout for when buying equipment to use with WLED this year then hopefully expand and do a full lights show next year with xLights? (ie: controllers? Can I use Dig-Uno's and Dig-Quad's with xLights? Any other issues with expanding to xLights next year when buying some starting stuff today?) Thanks!!!
Have you tinkered with Xlights any more since this video? I'd be curious to hear about what more you've learned and some of your recommendations on the topic. I'm in the process of starting my plans for this year... It'd be nice to learn some more. Love you videos by the way. You've gotten me completely addicted to WLED!
Yes I have Thanks! I've become a bit more familiar with xlights. I don't think I'll have a big dancing display this year, but I probably will next year.
I can’t tell you how appreciative I am of this article. Do you have a version 2 you are working on? I’m about to set this all up on aluminum channels at the end of October. I was going to do the hook up version, but since I already have LED exposure (2 LED clouds) I’m going to follow this route.
And to add: what would you do different with hooking up multiple nodemcu’s? Are all of your exterior lights connected to one 60 amp power supply? I’d love to see a photo of a zoomed in version of your wiring setup at the power supply and any components next to it.
How is the wiring done for these lights? Are the controllers wired or wireless? What type of controllers are being used? I know you picked ESPixelStick in the video, but is that just a controller that represents what you have, or is it the exact controller?
Weird problem... just hooked up my first string of 50 LEDs... WLED only sees the first 30 LEDs. Trying to change it to 50 in WLED, and it jumps back to 30. What am I missing? Cheers! -C
Great video and great to hear that WLED works so well. Btw. Which type of led strips (chipset or even product) do you use and which PSU?.. Had bad experiences with ws2812b rgb stripes.
I have chase going in wled and when the yellow light bulb is let up they all go dark. So I think xlights is talking to them but when I hit play nothing happens. Any ideas?
I just installed 654 ws2811 LEDs around the house. They are all on one continuous data string. Is there a way to break up that string into controllable sections without having to have a esp8266/esp32 controller at each section?
Sorry, I am beginner level on this, and really love it. I have a silly question someone with some experience can answer ... When you append two or more led strips, in case the led is on the second or beyond strip, how each led knows if the color being sent on data line, belongs to it or not. Thanks!
Thanks Dr Zzs. Worth noting but I assume if we have rgbw strips that's 512/4=128 pixels per universe? Between you and Rob we get a little spoilt for help and info. Robs video is a little enthusiastic for my setup (I don't want to buy falcon controllers when we have awesome wled). Now, if you fancy talking about running an xlights show using falcon player on RPI, I'd be very grateful.
@@Shoopity good to know it's do-able. Does unicast just reduce the amount of traffic on the network at the expense of setup time? Each controller knows to ignore anything but it's universe messages.
@@cyberdave17 For starters, like I said, it's just certain people's "opinions". I don't think anyone has sat down and done great tests (future video @DrZzs ?); most data is anecdotal and theoretical. www.vixenlights.com/vixen-3-documentation/setup-configuration/sacn-output/ says to just use multicast if you're using wifi since there's no physical stuff happening. doityourselfchristmas.com and falconchristmas.com have some discussions. Personally I find it easier to set up multicast since you don't have to worry about wrangling IP addresses.
I’ve got this all set up but when I start my show or test it on xlights the node mcus lag between controllers and they’re not in sync, an I doing something wrong?
I can’t seem to get all my lights to work only parts of my light work and have one nodemcu with 422 pixels I have 4 universes 2 dose not light up at all and 3 and 4 mostly light up
Me beeing interested in controlling lights and synching to music, but not interested in christmas displays, would really love if it was possible to run xlights with spotify.
So if these lights are individually addressable, would I be able to (hypothetically) make a grid of lights on the side or roof of my house, and individually address each light to make a picture/sequence that can also go with the music?
Great quick start demo! Q. Do you know if it will handle one controller running 2 strings of equal number of nodes in parallel. Can you have middle starting point?
Is this just something you have to do with wled? I have an easy 20k Pixels in xlights, and I don't do any of this stuff. You literally just drag the prop to the port in visualizer. Xlights does the rest for you.
So, noon here, I broke 300 pixels into 5 segments (the 0 segment is off, so lights don't show) how can I control 1-5 segments in xlights? I'm using one nodemcu?
I didn’t realize you had so many controllers running your LED lights on the house. Is there a reason you did this? Sorry for my ignorance. I assume the reason is because the nodeMCU must have a maximum number of LED’s that it can control and maybe that was the reason?
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
...and even a fresher refresher. I was having a problem with xlights talking to the ESP8266 controllers. I was about ready to throw in the towel when I thought I'd run Drzzz's RUclips again. Sure enough, right at about the 8:10 mark when you went into Sync Interfaces and put the channel # in that the light went on... literally and figuratively!! Thanks again for these really informative sessions.
You have no idea how excited it makes me to find out that I can use my various ESP connected LED strips with xLights. Previously I thought I had to wire things back to DMX controllers which had put me off. This is awesome!
Agreed. I was watching another YT video and thought to myself I’m never going to figure it out. BAM this video is my savior
Dr.zzs you rock. You just made me happy camper when it comes to trying to figure this out with xlights and making my wife happy with her Xmas lighting wants....spent an hour configuring the esp8266’s with WLED, HA and xLights. Biggest headache was trying to get the universes and nodes correct for my strips of 300neopixels. But it’s done. Now to order 8 more strips.
Thanks Dr Zzs, just got all my parts and got my ledstrip running with a nodemcu AND on the same night got xlights running to thanks to you! Love your video's, you really helped me out with all the parts and explaining how thing work in a simple manner. You really got me addicted to led and wled, i've got a whole lot of hardware comming from aliexpress ;). Thanks again en keep those video's coming :)
I am just getting started in the Christmas LED game and your videos helped me a lot. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to your xLights Part 2 video!
DrZzs !!!! Brilliant explanation - Im a long way off this point of music sync, but this is my goal many thanks !!!
HAIL!!!! I've always been a fan, but now that I know you're a fellow Wolverine fan, I'm an even bigger fan.
Thank you so much for such a simple explanation with extra explanations where you were confused. Buying some nodemcus as we speak and I'll have to get some lights too! Thanks again.
Your video on the ESP8266 and wled got me hooked on this, and this is what I've been looking for, for a while. Kudos
This was a perfect startup guide. Wonderful work, and entertaining!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video as usual, easy to follow guidelines and just spent all of Christmas playing around with xlights and designing a mega tree with affects :-) another 360 days until next Christmas lol
Excellent job! Your use of overlays with spreadsheet is extremely helpful!
Thank you! You answered the 'how to connect WLED and xLights'. I really like the WLED "solution" for addressable LEDs but REALLY wanted to use xLights instead. I needed a method to connect the two using an ESP8266. I really appreciate your step-by-step videos and your 'IDK but lets try' attitude.
Hey Man you are the greatest. I followed your instructions and i have a mac so things are a little different, but i managed to make a simple display to music, for my first time is wasn't half bad. thanks again for taking time out of your day to do these videos they are the best and so are you. thanks again. see you on your next video!!
so my 30+ years of designing and firing fireworks displays, will come in handy here wooohooooo
Back here again for my refresher course.
Love your videos. Watching your original wled video has really gotten me hooked on building an awesome LED display! Can't wait to see more. Thank you for all your time!
Nice works. Explained it perfect
Literally pulled my hair out of my head (to the point of almost looking like you 😉) for two straight days working through this trying to figure out what I had wrong until I stumbled on this: the WLED controllers need to be 'ON' for the lights to work. Likely something that shouldn't need clarifying to most, but somehow I assumed the xlights communication would auto-toggle and just work. It doesn't. Turn the damn controllers on 😆
DrZzs for president!
Thanks Dude! I'm up and running ;-)
This is what I needed to find! Thanks so much.
This is such incredible information!!! Thank you so so much for this.
You. Are. The. Man.
Thank you for making this video! I asked another channel that solely focuses on Christmas light shows to do an xlights + NodeMCU + WLED video and they said it was too complicated for their channel! I am getting started with wled and have been wanting to hook them up to Xlights. One question for you though, would you be willing to do a video on how to control traditional (AC) Christmas lights with Xlights? Maybe something with relays and a nodeMCU?
I want to do this too. Have you ever managed to do this?
As always great video, and many thanks
Merci mec, super video
great introduction... thanks
DrZzs!!
Thanks for making this. Great walk-through.
I love that you got excited when it worked. Great work and awesome tutorial. I live in a townhome, so we can't have lights up more than 30 days after the holidays. Do you have an easy solution for easy set up and take down?
I was thinking pipe clips and rigid tubing with led strips inside so you can just unclip. Make in 2m lengths and should be easy to handle and store out of holiday season.
So clear and on point, thank you
chingon tu video, muchas gracias chico
Thanks you!
I love your videos thank you for sharing all the knowledge ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Little did we know that the "Zoom Meeting" we become all too familiar...
Great job in explaining all this!! Thank you
Great Video... Just so you know.. From the pro event industry ie DMX its had been Universe and channel since 1990s.. But yes nodes should be called a pixel... A node is what xlights is what xlights call a "controller" or a interface/node in the events world... a controller, is a lx desk or software
DRZzs, thanks for posting this valuable video and the other one about Beginner's Guide to Holiday Lights. In this video though at 3:19, the column heading changed from '#LEDs' to '#Pixels' on your spreadsheet. The quantity under remained the same. You said that three LEDs make up a pixel so same number of LEDs can't be the same number of pixels can they?? A little confused here.
Man this is great. Thanks for sharing
Tons of Thanks Dr.zzz
Appreciate your time and help to make it one of the best and detailed information.
😍😍😍😍😍😍
Please do make Video how people are running Pixel light shows using a Raspberry Pi too.🙏🙏
Awesome 👏
wow super thanks
I ❤ you're bids
you can add random effects to you sequence by multi selecting the timing tracks and right click the selection and choose create random effects. It makes for a quick way but not always what you desire.
Awesome instructional. Thanks for this. Very well explained as usual. I'm really enjoying your videos.
The term “universe” has nothing to do with xlights and nothing to do with WLED. It’s part of the ANSI E1.31 protocol that you chose from the drop down list. It’s an old standard for entertainment lights that predates addressable leds. You could just use DDP both support that too.
I'm only just now finding your videos (putting together a light show with my dad this year) and they've been more helpful than 90% of everything else I've watched, thank you so so much.
Do you have any solutions for playing the audio tracks either through outdoor speakers or an FM transmitter?
Oh Poo I thought this was tonight's (16th) live stream.
Still WLED / XLIGHTS ... YAY!
My wife is going to be sooo mad I found this!
Like this video, learn a lot, thanks
In case anyone is wondering:
A) This method DOES work for Vixen and Falcon Pi Player (FPP) as well
2) Some schools of thought say that if you're using wifi, you should be using Multicast as it's less processor intensive (on both the device running the show and the pixel controller). And if you're using multicast, then you don't care at all about the IP address, only the Universe. Doing this also allows for multiple controller to be "copied"; meaning if you're multicasting the show, and you have two controllers that are configured for the same universe, they'll both show the exact same thing.
Good explanation, thanks.👍
Bro! Awesome job!
So you need a separate controller for each universe? Or can you use one controller for all universes?
I have the same question. And a power supply for each?
Did you ever get an answer
@@kyleyfyculak7795 Trying to figure this out as well
Thanks
Your videos are awesome! Giving me the confidence to finally take the plunge!!
Are there any things I need to lookout for when buying equipment to use with WLED this year then hopefully expand and do a full lights show next year with xLights? (ie: controllers? Can I use Dig-Uno's and Dig-Quad's with xLights? Any other issues with expanding to xLights next year when buying some starting stuff today?)
Thanks!!!
Have you tinkered with Xlights any more since this video? I'd be curious to hear about what more you've learned and some of your recommendations on the topic. I'm in the process of starting my plans for this year... It'd be nice to learn some more. Love you videos by the way. You've gotten me completely addicted to WLED!
Yes I have
Thanks!
I've become a bit more familiar with xlights. I don't think I'll have a big dancing display this year, but I probably will next year.
@@DrZzs Any plans for an updated video of what you've learned anytime soon? Just curious! I love the content!
Now I get it! Thanx
Thanks a lot!
I can’t tell you how appreciative I am of this article. Do you have a version 2 you are working on? I’m about to set this all up on aluminum channels at the end of October. I was going to do the hook up version, but since I already have LED exposure (2 LED clouds) I’m going to follow this route.
And to add: what would you do different with hooking up multiple nodemcu’s? Are all of your exterior lights connected to one 60 amp power supply? I’d love to see a photo of a zoomed in version of your wiring setup at the power supply and any components next to it.
Can you uploaded a link to a simply spreadsheet? You only showed a portion of the sheet. Does the rest matter?
Hi. I have in XLIGHTS some Controllers and my WLED must have Universe Nr. 348-349. But it is not working :-(
How is the wiring done for these lights? Are the controllers wired or wireless? What type of controllers are being used? I know you picked ESPixelStick in the video, but is that just a controller that represents what you have, or is it the exact controller?
Great video!
This is awesome, thanks! How are you sending audio?
I was curious about this as well.
The dog-quad are sold out I need it now before Christmas
Weird problem... just hooked up my first string of 50 LEDs... WLED only sees the first 30 LEDs. Trying to change it to 50 in WLED, and it jumps back to 30. What am I missing? Cheers! -C
I’m assuming you figured it out by now, but maybe you weren’t clicking “save” on WLED?
followed this to the letter but its not outputting to the lights, any ideas cause its driving me mad. cheers
Great video and great to hear that WLED works so well. Btw. Which type of led strips (chipset or even product) do you use and which PSU?.. Had bad experiences with ws2812b rgb stripes.
You’re pretty cool for a Wolverine. (From a Buckeye)
Nice song to demo, you should follow that with "In the Big House" by Pop Evil
I am new to this whole thing and still in the process of figuring out what to buy. What type of controller should I get as I am just starting out.
Go Blue
Great videos!! Would you be able to connect a Dig-Quad to Xlights using the same process and still control 4 different elements?
You should do an update to this video. I understand it's way easier not in a great wled and X lights and fpp
I have chase going in wled and when the yellow light bulb is let up they all go dark. So I think xlights is talking to them but when I hit play nothing happens. Any ideas?
Are there any projects like this one, but for a LED matrix instead of string?
The universe model with 512 channel limit is straight from the DMX lighting protocol. Interesting for sure.
hi sir how you control multiple esp in a single computer ? you have multiple ips. in your video
I just installed 654 ws2811 LEDs around the house. They are all on one continuous data string. Is there a way to break up that string into controllable sections without having to have a esp8266/esp32 controller at each section?
Sorry, I am beginner level on this, and really love it. I have a silly question someone with some experience can answer ... When you append two or more led strips, in case the led is on the second or beyond strip, how each led knows if the color being sent on data line, belongs to it or not. Thanks!
Thanks Dr Zzs. Worth noting but I assume if we have rgbw strips that's 512/4=128 pixels per universe?
Between you and Rob we get a little spoilt for help and info. Robs video is a little enthusiastic for my setup (I don't want to buy falcon controllers when we have awesome wled). Now, if you fancy talking about running an xlights show using falcon player on RPI, I'd be very grateful.
I got a test running a Vixen show using FPP. I personally use Multicast so I don't have to worry about the IP address.
@@Shoopity good to know it's do-able. Does unicast just reduce the amount of traffic on the network at the expense of setup time? Each controller knows to ignore anything but it's universe messages.
@@cyberdave17 For starters, like I said, it's just certain people's "opinions". I don't think anyone has sat down and done great tests (future video @DrZzs ?); most data is anecdotal and theoretical. www.vixenlights.com/vixen-3-documentation/setup-configuration/sacn-output/ says to just use multicast if you're using wifi since there's no physical stuff happening. doityourselfchristmas.com and falconchristmas.com have some discussions. Personally I find it easier to set up multicast since you don't have to worry about wrangling IP addresses.
I’ve got this all set up but when I start my show or test it on xlights the node mcus lag between controllers and they’re not in sync, an I doing something wrong?
I am trying to figure out why the developer would use this universe idea?
Now I’m lost should I get nodmcu. Or diguno or digquad
Will you be updating your method now that half of the menus you have shown, don't exist? Truly informative video BTW.
I can’t seem to get all my lights to work only parts of my light work and have one nodemcu with 422 pixels I have 4 universes 2 dose not light up at all and 3 and 4 mostly light up
Me beeing interested in controlling lights and synching to music, but not interested in christmas displays, would really love if it was possible to run xlights with spotify.
First? :D Loving WLED thanks for introducing me to it Drzzs
So if these lights are individually addressable, would I be able to (hypothetically) make a grid of lights on the side or roof of my house, and individually address each light to make a picture/sequence that can also go with the music?
So each run has its own controller and power supply? Help
Great quick start demo!
Q. Do you know if it will handle one controller running 2 strings of equal number of nodes in parallel. Can you have middle starting point?
Thanks for sharing but I have to add this... Go Bucks!
So it there away to download the show and play it from pi
how to get the sound to a FM transmitter using the NodeMCU
Is this just something you have to do with wled? I have an easy 20k Pixels in xlights, and I don't do any of this stuff. You literally just drag the prop to the port in visualizer. Xlights does the rest for you.
So, noon here, I broke 300 pixels into 5 segments (the 0 segment is off, so lights don't show) how can I control 1-5 segments in xlights? I'm using one nodemcu?
Great intro, thank you! There has GOT to be a repository of songs with xLight show files...
there is, explained how to use it here: ruclips.net/video/9I2PsgyKZPg/видео.html
I'm little confused, you have 15 different EsPixelSticks controllers?
I saw this live and just order lights, nod mcu and was playing with xlight.
I didn’t realize you had so many controllers running your LED lights on the house. Is there a reason you did this? Sorry for my ignorance. I assume the reason is because the nodeMCU must have a maximum number of LED’s that it can control and maybe that was the reason?
cool