To get xLights installed, head over to the xLights Quick Start Guide. This will walk you through downloading and installing the software. Be sure to install the Vamp Plugins as well.

Once the software is installed, head to the Controllers tab to set up your Sparkle Motion board.

Controller Setup

Be sure your Sparkle Motion board is set up with WLED and plugged in to power. It doesn't need to be plugged into your computer, just running on the same WiFi network. 

Click "Add Ethernet" and set up your board as shown. Mine is called Butterfly1 in WLED so I kept the same name in xLights. Choose WLED as the vendor and model, and Generic ESP32 as the variant. Change the protocol to DDP. Click save.

Model Setup

Next head to the Layout tab. Click the Matrix tool and draw a box in the black area - don't worry about the size or shape yet, just get it onto the field.

Click one of the dots on the matrix to select it. In the lower left, set up the parameters as shown. Give it a name, and click the "Don't Zig Zag" box since our matrix is not serpentine.

• Under # Strings, enter 1. This means there's one data line feeding all the LEDs. 
• Nodes/String: total number of pixels on this data line. Enter 400 for a 1 meter net or 800 for a 2 meter net. 
• Strands/String: Total number of rows in your net. 20 for a 1m net or 40 for a 2m net.
• Starting Location: Change this so it matches your net's orientation

If you have a 4 meter net, or two smaller nets you'd like to "merge" into one, add a second matrix and set it up the same way. For my setup. I'm using one 4m net and I have attached a second data line at the 801st pixel.  Drag it into place under the first matrix to line it up.

If you have multiple models, you can create a Group. I've grouped my two net sections into one group called Net1. When I run animations on the Group, the whole net will act as one continuous matrix instead of two separate pieces.

Save your models once you're happy with the layout.

Connect Ports

Create a Sequence

Let's create a test sequence and see if we can get our lights responding. In the "Sequence" tab in xLights, go to File > New Sequence. 

Select the "Butterfly Effect" animation and drag it to your timeline, on the line that has your matrix model or group. Drag the handle out so the effect takes up a good chunk of the timeline, and press "play". You should see the animation appear on the onscreen model in the lower left of the screen.

To send your sequence to the LED net, click the light bulb button in the top center of the screen.

Troubleshooting

If your net doesn't respond, here are a few things to try:

• Check your settings in WLED. Be sure the board is working and showing animations on the net before setting up your controller in xLights.
• If you've set up a 2D matrix in WLED, try setting it back to 1D strip before configuring xLights. Having two different matrix definitions can confuse things.
• Be sure you've saved your controller settings and clicked "Upload Output" 
• If your matrix is trying to join 20 ports on the controller, change the "string" number to 1
• Be sure your computer and the controller are on the same WiFi network
• Did you click the light bulb icon? That's what turns the show on and off / starts and stops sending data to the lights.
• If it's just not working, try deleting all your models and controllers and start again. 

More Resources

xLights is a pro-level program with lots of functions and settings. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but the possibilities are grand. Here are a few links with tutorials and inspiration to get you started.

• xLights Quick Start Guide
• xLights Beginner Tutorial (YouTube)
• xLights Sequences Sharing/For Sale

There are dozens of tutorials available on YouTube and even online courses available for learning this massively deep program. Go wild.