Software
We use a program called Xlights (www.xlights.org) to program each of the songs. The software is free and only asks for donations to help the developers who spend many hours throughout the year improving the software. Each song can take 8+ hours to program a minute of show.
How it looks
This is a preview of our layout in Xlights – we have to generate the models, make sure they are connected to the right output and tell the software how many “pixels” are in each prop/how its wired. It is even in 3D so that you can place all your props in the right spot
Lights – (Pixels)
The lights in our display are very different from traditional Christmas lights. We use LED lights that are called pixels (12V WS2811 RGB pixels) for everything. Pixels give you the ability to create any color you want and can control each individual pixel. Each pixel requires 3 wires- a power, ground and data cable. We currently have close to 20,000 pixels in our show.
Props
Each item in the show is called a prop and are usually purchased from a vendor or built from scratch. The majority of props are made from Coro (corrugated plastic) that have been machine cut to hold the pixels.
We also have a 3D printer where we design and print some of the props and parts in our display.
Controllers
The lights receive the information from multiple network connected controllers that translate the information and output to the strand of lights. Each controller can control a maximum of 16,000 lights and also have the ability to control other parts of the show.
Running the Show
We run the show off 1 Raspberry Pi – a microcomputer not much bigger than a credit card. Specific software is designed for this and it sends all the information to the controllers, to tell each of the outputs what color, what pixel, and how it should function. This computer is processing over 125,000 channels of data during the show.
