# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Overview
https://youtu.be/ax8uNpZ0Jtc
Turn your living room into a mini light show with this audio reactive laser-cut Star Illusion. This layered acrylic sculpture comes alive with WLED and the Adafruit Mini Sparkle Motion board, easily creating sound-reactive animations that pulse, spin, and shimmer to your favorite music. The stacked layers, each slightly rotated and resized, create a hypnotic illusion of motion as NeoPixel LED light races along the edges. The result is a psychedelic, audio-responsive art piece that feels like it’s pulsing along with the beat.
This is a fairly easy project that requires a little bit of soldering but no coding at all. WLED can be installed with a few clicks, and animations and color palettes are controlled with your smart phone or web browser. It's also easy to sync up multiple instances of WLED: Make a few with different shapes or put one on top of each of your speakers for a delightful music visualization experience.
## Parts
The Mini Sparkle Motion already has a microphone built-in, and can power the pixels directly through its USB port. It's a great all-in-one solution for this type of project.
### Mini Sparkle Motion - WLED-friendly ESP32 NeoPixel LED Driver
[Mini Sparkle Motion - WLED-friendly ESP32 NeoPixel LED Driver](https://www.adafruit.com/product/6160)
The **Adafruit Sparkle Motion Mini** is part of our series of "Sparkle Motion" boards, that are our attempt to make the best small WLED-friendly smart LED driving board in the whole world. Our resident mermaid,
In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/6160)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/6160/guides)
High-density pixels are a must for this project. You don't need much -- my project only used 8 pixels for a 3" square. You may want to add more pixels if you're making a bigger version.
### Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip 144 LED - 1m White
[Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip 144 LED - 1m White](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1507)
We crammed **ALL THE NEOPIXELS** into this strip! An unbelievable 144 individually-controllable LED pixels on a flexible PCB. It's completely out of control and ready for you to blink. This strip has a white mask, and an extra heavy flex PCB.
These LED strips are even more...
In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1507)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1507/guides)
You'll need a standard USB-C cable for programming and powering.
### USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long
[USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4474)
As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit. This **USB Type A to Type C** cable will help you with the transition to USB C, even if you're still totin' around a USB Type A hub, computer or laptop.
USB C is the latest industry-standard connector for...
In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4474)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4474/guides)
## Additional Materials
- 1/8" clear acrylic -- cast acrylic is slightly better than extruded, but either will work. Check the discount bin at your local Tap Plastics for the best deal.
- [Shiny Aluminum foil tape](https://a.co/d/8NztwJX)
- Black electrical tape
- Clear packing tape
- Windex or plastic polish
If you want to make a case for your project, also get some 1/8" plywood or some pretty 3d printer filament.
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Wiring Diagram
The wiring is very simple for this project. Solder your LED strip as shown:
- 5v --\> +5v
- 32 --\> DI
- G --\> GND
Be sure you're connecting to DI (data IN) rather than DO (data OUT). These strips are directional and won't work if you connect to the wrong end.
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Electronics Assembly
The 144/m NeoPixel strip likely comes with wires already soldered onto the IN end. Look closely for arrows printed on the strip pointing the direction of data flow and be sure the arrows are pointing away from the end you're soldering to.
Connect the wires to the Mini Sparkle Motion as shown: Red (+5v) to the 5v pin, green (DI) to pin 32, and white/black (some lots have different color coding) to G.
These strips are cuttable at any point. I recommend leaving the strip long until you know exactly how many lights you'll be using in your project, and cutting to length during final assembly.
Place a piece of heat shrink over the wire connections, if there's not one there already. I also removed the silicone shielding from my LEDs since they'll be enclosed in the case and don't need extra protection that also takes up extra space.
You'll be able to power the lights directly through the onboard USB port, and the microphone is already integrated -- so that's all the wiring which needs to be done!
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## WLED Installation
This page will guide you through how to install WLED on the Mini Sparkle Motion.
The Mini Sparkle Motion has a USB to serial chip which may need a driver installed before you can install WLED. Head over to the [How to Install Drivers for WCH USB to Serial Chips](https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-install-drivers-for-wch-usb-to-serial-chips) tutorial, and download and install the new driver.
## Install WLED
These next steps require a **_Web Serial_-compatible browser**. As of this writing, that means **Google Chrome** , **Microsoft Edge, Firefox 151** or **Opera** “desktop” browsers. Other browsers (Safari, older versions of Firefox, Explorer and _anything_ mobile) won’t work.
Visit [https://install.wled.me/](https://install.wled.me/)
Plug your microcontroller into your computer with a known good USB cable. Click "Install" and select the port for your board.
Depending on the USB-to-serial bridge chip on the board, you might see one _or two_ serial ports. On Mac, for instance, there might be both “/dev/cu.usbmodem[number]” _and_ “/dev/cu.wchusbserial[number]”. Use the “ **wchusbserial** ” one.
After successful installation, enter your WiFi network name and password when prompted. This must be a **2.4 GHz** WiFi network; ESP32 does not support 5 GHz networks. If it can’t connect, then as a fallback WLED will create its own 2.4 GHz WiFi access point.
If you don't see the "Connect to Wi-Fi" prompt, you'll need to set up your WiFi network using AP (access point) mode. Open up your WiFi settings and look for a WiFi network called `WLED-AP`. Connect to this network using the default password `wled1234`. The WLED interface will pop up in its own browser.
From here, go into Config/Wifi Settings and enter your WiFi credentials near the top. Give your project a name in the mDNS field a little further down the page. Now you can type in "projectname.local" (where "projectname" is your mDNS name) into any web browser on the same wifi network to access your microcontroller.
You can also scan the QR code below to open access point mode.
For more help and troubleshooting tips visit the [Getting Started page on the WLED knowledge base.](https://kno.wled.ge/basics/getting-started/)
## Setup & Preferences
### WiFi Setup
Head to the **WiFi Setup** screen under Config and create a good URL so you can control your project from any web-enabled device. Call it something you'll remember, that's easy to type into any web browser on your WiFi network in order to connect to your project.
In Safari or Chrome on your phone or computer, type in this web address to access the WLED interface: [http://projectname.local](http://projectname.local) (where "projectname" is whatever you put into this field).
Check out the Additional Settings page for more info on accessing your project. WLED has an "access point mode" that doesn't require a WiFi network for when you're out on the go. It's also helpful to download one of the WLED apps to help manage and organize your projects.
## Enable AudioReactive Mode
Do this first before setting up your LED preferences with your GPIO number.
Click on "config" and head to the **USERMODS** tab. Scroll down a bit and you'll find the **AudioReactive** section.
Click the box to enable, then enter the settings and the Digitalmic section as follows:
- Type: **SPH0654**
- Pin I2S SD: **9**
- Pin I2S WS: **10**
- Pin I2S SCK: **23**
The other pins are unused.
**Reboot your Sparkle Motion Mini for changes to take effect.**
## LED Setup
Next, head to the **LED Preferences** tab under the **Config menu**.
Scroll down to **Hardware Setup**. Put your total number of LEDs into the ** Length** field (if you're not sure yet, just put in 15), and change GPIO to pin **32,** the GPIO NUMBER associated with the LED data pin on your Mini Sparkle Motion. Make sure to select the correct **Color Order** for your LEDs as well.
If this number appears in red and won't let you select it, check the previous step: this board is configured with pin 32 assigned to the microphone, so you need to change it there before you can set it up as your LED GPIO.
## Use It
Now you can use any computer or handheld device to control your LEDs.
Make sure your device is on the same WiFi network as your board. Navigate to your custom URL (projectname.local/ ) in a web browser. You'll see a color picker above a whole bunch of color palette choices.
Choose a color, choose an effect, and watch your lights animate and glow!
Save your favorite combinations as presets, create playlists, control the speed and intensity of the animations, and lots more. This web app is incredibly intuitive and easy to use.
Head over to the WLED wiki at [https://kno.wled.ge/](https://kno.wled.ge/) to delve into all the particulars.
## Troubleshooting
_If your lights didn't come on, here are a few things to try:_
1. Head back to WLED and check your pinout configuration under LED Preferences. Be sure the pin number is the correct GPIO for the attachment point you used.
2. Check your wiring! Be sure you connected to the IN end of the LED strip. These strips can be inconsistent so this is a pretty common problem. Use an [alligator clip](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1008) to try connecting the data wire on the other end (the power and ground wires should work from either end).
3. Try re-uploading the WLED software.
4. If the lights come on but you can't control them: i.e. you type in "projectname.local" into your browser and it won't connect, make sure you're on the correct WiFi network. If you're on a different network than the one you set up the sofware on, you won't see the WLED connection.
5. If your lights came on in blue or green instead of yellow, your color order is wrong. See below to fix.
6. If only half your lights came on, be sure you've got the correct number in the "length" field under LED preferences.
7. If your lights came on in a variety of weird colors and looking like a 1950s diner interior, you may have the wrong LED strip type selected. RGBW strips and RGB strips are not the same, so be sure you've got the correct strip type or you'll get very odd behavior.
8. If your microcontroller hangs or keeps rebooting, or gets really hot, you may have the power and ground lines switched. Unplug right away and check: this is a fast way to brick your controller.
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Laser Cutting
This project is very customizable. Below you'll find instructions on how to design your own illusion, as well as the finished file in .svg format, if you'd like to make this one. It's easy to resize or adjust the rotation to get it looking just how you want.
This design was done directly in LightBurn, the software used by the lasers at my local MakerSpace. It's also not too hard to replicate in Inkscape or Illustrator if that's your preferred editing software.
[star_illusion.svg](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/140/884/original/star_illusion.svg?1762203240)
## Size & Depth
I used two pieces of 1/8" acrylic I found in the scrap bin at my local Tap Plastics which were about 20" long and 6" wide. I did some math and figured I could get 12 squares cut out of each piece, at 3" across.
I ended up using 21 layers total instead of 24 because I wanted the finished project to be cube-shaped, and needed to leave some space at the back of my case to fit the microcontroller.
At just 3" across, one strip of lights illuminates the whole thing very well. If I were to make a bigger version, which I very well may, I would try wiring up two strips of lights using the same GPIO data pin so they're mirrored, and putting one at the top and one at the bottom.
## Create Your Own Design in LightBurn
Open LightBurn and select the rectangle tool. Draw a rectangle or square the size you want. Get it exact by typing in dimensions in the Width and Height boxes. Click the lock icon to edit these separately, or leave it "locked" to change height automatically to scale with width.
Look in the toolbar for a button that says "mm" or "in" to change between metric or imperial units.
Select Arrange \> Grid / Array to duplicate this box as many times as you have layers to cut. I used 21 layers so did 3 rows of 7 boxes, and I made the spacing between them pretty small for more efficient use of my plastic.
Import your shape. You can import a vector graphic or copy/paste a simple line drawing of the shape you want. If you're starting from an image, go to Tools / Trace and LightBurn will trace your image and make a vector you can cut.
Move your graphic inside your first box and size it so it fills most of the box but leaves enough around the edges so your finished piece will hold up. If it's too close to the edges it might break so leave a little space around it.
Click the graphic and then the surrounding box. You may need to ungroup the boxes if all of them become selected at once when you click one. Click the "center" button in the toolbar to center the shape inside the box.
Select only the star and copy/paste it into the next box. Center it. Now, add a slight variation in size and rotation to start to create "frames" for the motion effect we're going for.
Select the center radio button in the rotation grid so your star rotates around its center instead of its corner.
I resized the star to 98% (with the lock icon in the "locked" position I just need to change height OR width, not both) and then added 2 degrees of rotation.
Copy this new instance of your star to the clipboard and paste it into the next box. Repeat the same variation -- 98% size and 2 degrees rotation. Center the star, copy the new instance and paste into the fourth box.
Repeat until all the boxes are filled.
Tip: I found that using the tab key to "activate" my changes instead of clicking out of the box made my life easier here, since I didn't need to keep re-selecting the star again and again.
Also, feel free to experiment with the variations. In my finished project I made the last 6 layers shrink and rotate a little bit more: I changed them by 4% and 4 degrees instead of by 2. This makes the motion seem to accelerate a bit as it reaches the back of my box.
All lasers will have different settings for cutting acrylic. The settings will depend on your laser type and amount of power available. For the Aeon Nova laser at my makerspace, a speed of 20 and power of 95% worked great. If you're not sure, start with a scrap piece and do a few test cuts. Getting your laser dialed in so it cuts at the right speed and power will minimize burn marks and flash marks -- very important for this project since we want the acrylic to stay as clear as possible since we're shining light through it.
Once your pieces are cut, it's very important to keep them in the correct order and orientation. With this design it's hard to tell which is right-side-up and which is upside-down or sideways. Stack them up in order right from the laser bed and keep them that way, or you'll be flipping them all around and scratching your head to get them lined up again.
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Assembly
Use some windex and/or some plastic polish to get the pieces as clean as possible. The plastic polish helps remove any burn marks from the laser, and the windex will get all the fingerprints off. Everything will show, so take some time and get them as clean as you can.
Be sure to keep them facing the right way as you clean them.
Stack all the pieces and square them up as perfectly as possible.
Use shiny aluminum foil tape to tape all the pieces together around the edges, leaving about 1/2" of plastic uncovered along the middle of one side. This is where the light strip is placed. The shiny aluminum tape acts as a mirror on the other edges, reflecting the light inwards and spreading it all through the piece.
Cut the LED strip to length, if you haven't already. Use clear packing tape to fix the NeoPixel strip to the part of the acrylic edge you left bare of tape. Line it up so the microcontroller is at the back of the design.
Do NOT use the aluminum tape for this -- it's extremely conductive and you'll short out your light strip if it touches the copper pads on the back.
Once my light strip was covered with clear tape, I did add another piece of aluminum tape over the top to help reflect as much light inside as possible and to cover the end of the light strip.
I also added a little bit of aluminum tape as a narrow frame along the front edge.
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Create a Case
## Laser-Cut Case
There's a cool resource called MakerCase that allows you to enter dimension for a laser-cut box and it'll give you laser-cuttable files in the dimension you want. Choose flat, finger or t-slot corners.
Head to [MakerCase.com](http://www.makercase.com) and choose "Basic Box". Enter the dimensions of your project with "Inside Dimension" selected, making sure to add a little extra space for ease. I added 0.2 inches in each direction.
I made the box square with height, depth, and width all equal. This is deeper than my project size, which will leave a little room at the back of the box for the microcontroller and USB cable.
Click "Download" and open the file in LightBurn.
In LightBurn I added a few elements:
1. I made a hole in the back panel the same size as my smallest star (1.5 in diameter). This allows me to push the project back out of the box if needed, and also gives the illusion of infinite depth, since I can see all the way through the illusion and out the back.
2. I made a USB port hole in the side panel that will fit my USB-c cable
3. I made a rectangular groove in the top panel to accommodate the width of the NeoPixel strip, so the box will fit snugly around the piece.
## 3D Printed Box
Another option is to 3d print a case for this project. I used [Tinkercad](http://tinkercad.com) to design and print a pretty color-shifting box using fancy filament. Here's my finished design, including a lid with a window for the front of the box.
Tinkercad is a drag-and-drop 3d modeling program that's free to use and fairly easy to learn. There are ready-made shapes like boxes and cylinders that you can "squish" together and combine in all sorts of creative ways to end up with the shape you want. The tools are pretty basic, but a lot of fun and surprisingly powerful for making 3d models.
[Here is a link to my project on Thingiverse](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7190179), for your downloading and editing pleasure.
# Star Illusion: Laser Cut Audio-Reactive Light with WLED
## Audio Reactive Effects
Now it's time to start playing around with the audio reactive features in WLED.
Audio reactive light visualization is a deceptively difficult thing to get right. Every year it seems to get better and better, with some software giving a lot of controls to dial in an effect to a specific type of music. But then when you change to a different station, sometimes the effects seem to fall apart.
This illusion has one of the best audio-reactive effects I've ever achieved. It might be because I'm only using 8 pixels, and small-and-simple reads better than big-and-complicated. Also the multi-layer effect just seems to relay the "groove" in the music really well. Whatever the reason, here are the settings I used to get this to really dance to my favorite tunes.
Mic Settings:
- AGC: off
- Frequency Scale: Square Root (energy)
The rest are set to default. There's lots to play around with here! Build the modes below or build your own, and then play with these settings to see what works best with your favorite playlist.
Solid Color Effect:
- Effect: Matripix
- Palette: Color 1
- Color FX: Black
- Color BG: Golden
- Effect Speed: 128
- Brightness: 56
Rainbow Color Effect:
- Effect: Matripix
- Palette: Rainbow Bands
- Effect Speed: 128
- Brightness: 56
## Featured Products
### Mini Sparkle Motion - WLED-friendly ESP32 NeoPixel LED Driver
[Mini Sparkle Motion - WLED-friendly ESP32 NeoPixel LED Driver](https://www.adafruit.com/product/6160)
The **Adafruit Sparkle Motion Mini** is part of our series of "Sparkle Motion" boards, that are our attempt to make the best small WLED-friendly smart LED driving board in the whole world. Our resident mermaid,
In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/6160)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/6160/guides)
### Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip 144 LED - 1m White
[Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip 144 LED - 1m White](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1507)
We crammed **ALL THE NEOPIXELS** into this strip! An unbelievable 144 individually-controllable LED pixels on a flexible PCB. It's completely out of control and ready for you to blink. This strip has a white mask, and an extra heavy flex PCB.
These LED strips are even more...
In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1507)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1507/guides)
### USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long
[USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4474)
As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit. This **USB Type A to Type C** cable will help you with the transition to USB C, even if you're still totin' around a USB Type A hub, computer or laptop.
USB C is the latest industry-standard connector for...
In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4474)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4474/guides)
## Related Guides
- [Adafruit Sparkle Motion Mini](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-sparkle-motion-mini.md)
- [Bendable Sound Reactive Lamp with WLED](https://learn.adafruit.com/bendable-sound-reactive-lamp-with-wled.md)
- [Google Graveyard with Adafruit MagTag](https://learn.adafruit.com/google-graveyard-with-adafruit-magtag.md)
- [PyPortal Air Quality Display](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-air-quality-display.md)
- [CheerLights](https://learn.adafruit.com/cheerlights.md)
- [Wakanda Forever Game](https://learn.adafruit.com/wakanda-forever-game.md)
- [Pixelfed Photo Viewer on Fruit Jam](https://learn.adafruit.com/pixelfed-photo-viewer-on-fruit-jam.md)
- [Chinese Dragon Puppet with Motion-Reactive Flame Effect](https://learn.adafruit.com/chinese-dragon-puppet-with-motion-reactive-flame-effect.md)
- [Fog Machine with Motion Sensor and Adafruit IO](https://learn.adafruit.com/fog-machine-remote-trigger.md)
- [Ninja Timer: Giant 7-Segment Display](https://learn.adafruit.com/ninja-timer-giant-7-segment-display.md)
- [Wireless Control Button for WLED Projects](https://learn.adafruit.com/wireless-control-button-for-wled-projects.md)
- [DIY ESP8266 Home Security with Lua and MQTT](https://learn.adafruit.com/diy-esp8266-home-security-with-lua-and-mqtt.md)
- [Tree Branch Wall Lamp with Sound Reactive Lights](https://learn.adafruit.com/tree-branch-wall-lamp-with-sound-reactive-lights.md)
- [Quick-Start the Pico W WiFi with CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/pico-w-wifi-with-circuitpython.md)
- [Micro:Bit Puppet "Text Message" System!](https://learn.adafruit.com/micro-bit-radio-controlled-puppet.md)
- [Icicle Crown with Pebble Pixels & WLED](https://learn.adafruit.com/icicle-crown-with-pebble-pixels-wled.md)