With LED technology becoming more advanced and readily available, more and more churches are turning to it for their stage designs. But like with any new technology it comes with its price and steep learning curve. This is the reason LightPixel Designs was formed, in order to help bridge the gap.
Types of LEDs
There are two types of LEDs: the standard analog LEDs, and the newer digital pixel LEDs. Each of these types come in various forms form strips to nodes and everything in between.
Analog LEDs are just standard RGB and each connected in series exhibits the same color, so If I have an 8ft long strip all of the LEDs on this strip will be the same color. The color however can be changed and set by controllers, which are DMX ready. At LightPixel Designs we have modified the whole concept of the RGB controller. We don’t believe in cutting, crimping, or soldering wire unless that’s truly what you want to do.
Instead we do everything over RJ45 cable meaning you can connect controllers to the LEDs by a standard RJ45 patch cable making the connection truly plug and play. We still do offer the standard screw terminal controllers but we have adapters that can convert any screw terminal controller to use our signature RJ45 technology. This conversion also works on the other end, in that we can make your already owned LEDs use our RJ45 technology.
For the digital LEDs which are commonly known as pixels, allow you to control every LED individually on the strip. We also have the same RJ45 system which allows longer runs of data and makes connections simple. Pixels however take up large amounts of data, as each led requires 3ch of DMX data, meaning 170 pixels takes up a whole universe. To make pixels usable for the average church who doesn’t have tons of universes available to pixel map these LEDs we use media severs to map live video across the LEDs.
Central Church (Miami, FL)
They contacted us to help them redo their stage design and help make it more modern with through the use of LEDs. We designed and provided the following set for them, the total installation only took half a day.
Equipment Used
- 3 LightPixel Designs Pixlar RGB (27ch DMX controller)
- 12 Pixlar 1000 (1-meter-long RGB profile with diffusion)
- 14 Pixlar 1500 (1.5-meter-long RGB profile with diffusion)
- Mounting Screws
- Various lengths of RJ45 Patch Cables
- 3M Command Strips
Project Details
The back wall was divided equally to make the spacing between each strip equal making installation easy. The spots for each strip was marked with tape and then using a level the strips were mounted to the wall. The strips will hold up with just command strips but due to the humidity we chose to reinforce it with two small screws one in the top and one in the bottom. The strips already have the mounting holes for the screws to go into.
After the strips were on the wall it was just a matter of connecting them the RJ45 patch cable and plugging the cable right into the controller. The controller has the power supply built in and is addressable to any value. The client told us the hardest part of the install was cleaning the cables but that they had it all hanging and working within a couple hours.
We provided the client with the rendering below as well as the instructions on how to assembly it. Our team was on stand by for any questions they had and to provide support, the installation so simple they had no questions an going into this nobody had any LED experience.
The Pixlar RGB pictured to the left is a high density RGB profile. It features our signature RJ45 already attached, which can be adapted for any controller you may already own. Each unit comes in standard sizes such as 0.5m, 1m, and 1.5m; we can also make custom sizes if required. Each strip feature 72 RGB 5050 LEDs per meter and runs off 12v.
Westside Believers Church (Taft, CA)
Their creative contacted us to help them redo their stage design and help make it more modern with through the use of LEDs. They came to us with pictures and videos of Hillsong’s recent stage design and wanted to mimic it on their stage. We designed and provided the following set for them, the total installation was about three days, which is typical of for Pixel installations as there is more work involved.
Equipment Used
- 26 rolls of Pixel Tape (5-meter-long rolls with 30 pixels per meter)
- 2 LightPixel Designs Artnet controllers (32 universe controller)
- 11 Pixel Receivers (2 Pixel SPI outputs each)
- Wood for the frames
- Various lengths of 3-core extension cable
- 12 – 5v Power supplies
- JST Jumpers for corners
- MadMapper
Project Details
The frames were built by the client in order to save the shipping cost. They felt comfortable soldering and cutting the strips so we provided rolls and instructions and they made the frames themselves.
For churches not comfortable with soldering or cutting we can make the pieces exactly to the size you require. To make the corners on the strips, we used JST connectors making each strip modular, if a strips breaks it can easily be swapped out without having to redo the whole frame. The frames were then hung with aircraft cable in the desired layout.
Our team handled the mapping and hardware configuration of the shapes. We choose to use MadMapper to pixel map the strips as it allows Live video input via Syphon from other applications. They were already using QLab to play their videos so we were able to use syphon and take their Live videos and play it over the pixels. Other installs we do we also use MadMapper and most of the time take live input from ProPresenter, which many churches already have.
About LightPixel Designs
LightPixel Designs was started in the later half of 2015, with the sole purpose of revolutionizing LED technology within the stage design community; especially church stages designs. Our team had worked previously with several churches to help introduce them to LED technology.
In our first experiences with LED we had many long nights throughout the set change and faced countless obstacles. We quickly learned that LEDs require a large amount of time to implement and can be a real pain to work with some times. Our company was started with the mission that we would help churches and others implement LED technology faster and easier than every before. Our company is now working with churches across the globe with their stage designs, as well as developing new technology in order to keep simplifying the process.
Our goal as a company is to enable anyone to pick up our products and within a few minutes have a completely working piece, all without pulling their hair out or breaking the bank.
Our team is willing and capable to help you and your church join the LED revolution. Please visit our website to learn more about our services and contact us directly to learn about our special rates for the CMG community.
Written by Alex Roscoe, CEO of LightPixel Designs
