You’ve might have heard the project from xLights, xLights Around the World. This is a project that takes place every year. One to two songs will be selected and professional lighting experts will go through and design a lighting sequence to go with the music.
Now, why would this matter to you? With this project, you’re able to download and use a professionally designed lighting sequence to use on your own display!
In this tutorial, I am going to help walk you through the steps of downloading the audio and the sequence as well as how to upload and use that same sequence for your own display. Let’s get started!
Setup and Download
The first step is to visit the xLights Around the World Display and download the sequence you want to use in your own setup. This is completely free to use. The audio, however, you will need to purchase separately and the site will direct you to Amazon.
Once you have downloaded both the audio and the sequence, be sure to unzip the sequence files. Open your xLights program and set the show directory to “Change Temporarily” as seen below.
Next, select the home layout file and you should be able to see the layout in your layout screen. Remember, since this is changed temporarily it won’t replace your current files and setups.
Next, click “Sequencer” and select the downloaded sequence file. This should be a .xsq file. If you are using an older xLights version you may be able to change the sequence file to .xml and upload it to xLights.
On this screen, you will be asked to upload the audio file. Just select the file and click “Done”.
Now that everything is uploaded, you can go to the top menu and select “View” and select the “House Preview”. I do recommend saving before you go further.
The process of doing this setup is so that you have the option to go through the sequence, groups, props,etc and make notes of what you can and cannot use. Consider the current setup that you have and decide what you can use from the pre-built sequence.
Even if you don’t have the props that show on the layout, you can still us the house outlines and the designed looks to make it look great on your own display.
Building Your Own Sequence
Now, you will need to close and restart your xLights program. As long as you had originally selected the “Change Temporarily” option in the beginning it should revert back to default when you reopen.
Select “New Sequence” and upload the media file and set the show up as your originally would when creating a new sequence.
Next, click “Import” on the top menu bar and select “Import Effects”. You’ll then upload the sequence file in the .xsq format.
Now, is the opportunity to match up your current display and decide what to use from the pre-built sequence that you’re uploading.
On the left of the screen will be your layout groups and on the left will be the groups from the pre-built sequence. You can drag from the pre-built sequence where and what groups you want to add those presets to. You can leave what you decided not to use. Once done, just click “Save Mapping” and save your file. Click “OK” when done.
Tweaking the Sequence
From here, you would treat this as any new sequence that you would create for your display. Refer to your notes and make any changes and adjustments as needed. Personally, I like to play the audio and watch the sequence in action.
Just make any changes that you want to and remember to have fun with it!