Vixen Lights is the free, open-source software most LED dance crews (including Light Dance Pro) use to program the lighting effects on their costumes. It lets you drop colour patterns, chases, and flashes onto a timeline that runs against your music — exactly how a video editor works, but for light. This tutorial walks through the full 5-step workflow we use on every LDP show, with the programming tips we only learned after years of touring.
The stack pairs Vixen Lights with LDP’s addressable LED costumes and wireless controllers, so what you design on screen is exactly what plays back on stage. If you are new to LED programming, start here — you can be running your first effect in under 30 minutes.
01 INTROWhat Is Vixen Lights & Why We Use It 02 PREPWhat You Need Before Starting 03 INSTALLDownload & Install Vixen 04 SETUPSet Up Your LED System 05 MUSICImport Your Music 06 MARKERSAdd Markers for Key Moments 07 EFFECTSDrop Effects & Preview 08 TIPSPro Programming Tips 09 PITFALLSCommon Mistakes to Avoid 10 FAQCommon Questions
What Is Vixen Lights & Why We Use It
Vixen Lights is free Windows software originally built for Christmas light shows — think giant suburban displays synchronised to music. Its timeline engine, addressable-pixel support, and deep effect library turned out to be a near-perfect fit for stage LED costumes too.
Reasons we standardised on Vixen at LDP:
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Free & Open Source
No per-seat licence, no trial expiry — install on every laptop your crew touches.
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Sample-Accurate Timeline
Effects lock to the music down to the millisecond — the tightness audiences read as “professional”.
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Deep Effect Library
Strobe, chase, twinkle, plasma, custom curves — everything an LED costume show needs out of the box.
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Addressable Pixel Support
WS2812, WS2811, APA102 — the controllers your LDP costume already uses.
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Active Community
Years of forum threads, presets, and tutorial videos — the answer to most problems is already documented.
What You Need Before Starting
- Windows 10/11 PC (Vixen is Windows-only; Macs can run it under Parallels or Bootcamp)
- The final music track as MP3 or WAV
- Your LED costume pixel count — e.g. LDP Tron suit = 1,400+ WS2812 pixels
- Controller + wireless transmitter — included with every LDP suit; sets up the data pipeline from Vixen to the costumes
- Rehearsal video (optional but recommended) — lets you sync effects to choreography cues, not just the music
Step 1: Download & Install Vixen Lights
Head to the official Vixen Lights download page. Click [Release Builds] , then pick the latest 64-bit installer (currently Vixen-3.11.1-Setup-64bit.exe). It’s free, open source, and works with every LDP-supported LED controller out of the box.
Step 2: Set Up Your LED System
Open Vixen. Click [Setup Preview] — this is where you tell Vixen how many LEDs you have and how they’re physically arranged (torso, arms, legs, helmet). Then click [New Sequence] to open the timeline editor.
If your setup is more complex — multi-dancer crew, custom pixel layout, DMX integration — message LDP support and we’ll send you the exact profile file for your suit configuration.
Step 3: Import Your Music
Click the music icon in the timeline header and import your track (MP3 or WAV). Vixen will draw the audio waveform along the timeline — this is your most important reference for timing effects to the beat.
Tip: use the final mixed-down version of your track, not a demo. Even small edits (an extra hit, a shifted drop) will shift every effect you’ve already placed — painful to fix 4 hours into programming.
Step 4: Add Markers for Key Moments
Markers are the backbone of a tightly synced show. Drop one at every moment your lights need to react: beat drops, lyric hits, choreography accents, blackout cues. Vixen shows each marker as a vertical white line on the timeline — you then snap effects to those lines.
A typical 3-minute LDP show has 40 -80 markers. Do this pass first, with the music playing back in Vixen — don’t try to place effects and markers at the same time.
Step 5: Drop Effects & Preview
With markers placed, open the Effects panel and drag effects onto the timeline. Start with the five effects we use on 90% of LDP shows:
- Solid Color — baseline wash between big moments
- Chase — a line of light running down the suit, great for buildups
- Strobe — high-contrast flash on the beat drop
- Meteor — a comet effect, looks great for energetic transitions
- Color Fade — slow cross-fade, perfect for slower sections
After each section, click Preview and watch the waveform play back. Vixen’s built-in preview is fast — run it every 30-60 seconds of work rather than hitting preview only at the end.
Pro Programming Tips (from 10+ Years On Stage)
The five things we wish someone had told us when we started programming LED shows:
- Anchor effects to the music, not the choreography. Lights off the beat are obvious. Lights that don’t match a foot placement aren’t — nobody sees it.
- Limit your palette to 3 -4 colours per section. Cyan + white + red beats rainbow chaos every time. Audiences read blocks of colour, not individual pixels.
- Build “blackout moments” before big drops. Half a second of total darkness before the chorus hits multiplies the impact of whatever comes next. Cheapest effect in the toolkit.
- Keep a “starter sequence” file. Save your first working show as template.vix. Every future show starts from this file so you never re-build the preview layout from scratch.
- Program to a rehearsal video. Once the dance is locked, film a clean front-view rehearsal and play it on a second monitor while you place effects. You’ll spot choreography cues you’d miss from the music alone.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Over-Programming
Filling every second with effects washes out the big moments. Let some sections breathe with a solid wash or blackout.
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Skipping the Markers Pass
Effects that aren’t locked to musical markers will drift visibly on stage — always lay markers before effects.
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Too Many Colours
Above 4 colours per scene, the audience reads it as “random”. Lock a 3-colour palette per song section.
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Forgetting Brightness Headroom
Programming at 100% means no room to push brighter on stage. Aim for 70-80% peak in the editor.
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Not Saving Versions
One bad save can cost a week of work. Use Save As after every big change — v01, v02, v03.
FAQ: Vixen Lights for LED Dance
Is Vixen Lights free?
Yes, Vixen is 100% free and open source. No per-seat licence, no paid upgrades. The project is maintained by a volunteer community.
Does Vixen Lights work on Mac?
Vixen Lights is Windows-only. Mac users can run it in Parallels, VMware Fusion, or Bootcamp, which all work reliably for timeline-based programming.
How long does it take to program a 3-minute LED dance show?
Plan on 20 -40 hours of programming time for a 3-minute show. Marker placement takes 1-2 hours; effect placement and refinement takes the rest. Complex multi-dancer shows can push higher.
Can Vixen Lights control LDP suits wirelessly?
Yes. Export the finished sequence from Vixen, load it onto LDP’s wireless controller, and the transmitter syncs every suit on stage simultaneously. The laptop doesn’t need to be connected during the show.
Do I need coding skills to use Vixen Lights?
No. Vixen is a timeline-based editor, similar to Premiere Pro or Final Cut. You drag effects onto tracks and time them to the music — no scripting involved.
What if my LED layout is custom (not an LDP suit)?
Vixen supports fully custom pixel layouts. You can define any arrangement in the Setup Preview. Contact LDP support if you want us to build a profile for your hardware.
Still Stuck? Watch the Full Walkthrough
If the written steps aren’t clicking, our YouTube tutorial walks through the entire workflow in real time with narration — from download to first completed sequence in about 15 minutes.
