Looking for some Holiday Lighting 101 help please!

[Teddy]

This is perhaps a really nube question but I am new to this so here goes?   

I would like to start into this hobby with a set of 4 signing/talking somethings (trees, C9 lights, whatever), but I do not like the way that the typical mail-order coro systems look so pixelated with individual LEDs.  Plus,  say that I go with a singing tree design; I do not see the need for RGB LEDs if the outline is always going to be green and the eyes, etc. will always be white (am I missing something here?).

I have played with LED neon rope in the past on other projects and like the way that it is flexible (even allowing me to make small tight circles), bright and appears as a glowing continuous light.


But how do I control that with X-Lights and what controller is best to accomplish a LED rope type of display(s)?  Also, I would like to perhaps use public domain or purchased sequences, so I would like to follow what looks to be the standard 8 channel per prop (outline, eyes open/shut, 5 mouth gestures) protocol.
 
While I am rather technical (retired computer tech) I am now lost in a sea of research and would appreciate any/all help.

Thanks!

[Gilrock]

First thing you need to do is figure out what type of light you need to control.  You say LED rope but I don't know if it will be controlled by AC plugs or pixel protocol.  The answer to that determines what type of controller you need.  In the end xLights just writes data to channels and then the controller interprets those channels and turns on outputs.  You can program all this in xLights without really knowing what type of light it will be except you kinda need to know if its single channel or full color.  "how do I control with xLights" is a learning curve there is no quick simple answer.

[Teddy]

The LED ropes are 12VDC and are basically a flexible, diffused 5 meter string of 600 SMD 2835 LEDs in a single color. The ropes come in red, green, blue, pink, warm white, bright white, purple, yellow, etc. and can be cut at 1" intervals.  Applying 12VDC to the string will light all of the LEDs so I'm guessing that a multi-channel dumb DMX controller would work, right?  -Or is there a better way? 

I also appreciate you comment on X-Lights... I need to dig in to that software and immerse myself.

Thank you!

[superdave]

Welcome to the hobby!  You might want to check the 101 Manual found at: https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/auschristmaslighting-101-manual.1889/

That's one of the best places to start from, in my opinion.

I've also tried to collect links for people to quickly find resources: http://LightsFAQ.com
You'll find links to some additional sites and YouTube channels that can additionally help you sort though how it all pieces together!