One of these is $12 off Amazon plus power supply (5V or 12V) for whatever your pixels are. It’s got about 150 effects and when you set it with your phone it will stay at that effect unless you change it. You can power the unit on and off and it’ll go back to the last effect you had. They work really good. Not Xlights obviously but a great way to run some pixels for really cheap.
xlights own effects? i think they did not add more since a while ago.
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you can use shaders or make your own video either using a free professional software or simply searching for a video on your own
I used a Sound Blaster 3 into the USB port and then plugged my transmitter into that. Way better audio than you could get off the PiCap's onboard audio output.
The electronics wizards will tell you the exact numbers but you can probably get away with 150 12V pixels without injection. I would have power at the beginning, between candy cane 2/3, 4/5, 6/snowman and the power will then feed 150 each way. You can use a fuse block like this or something similar to distribute the power and you can buy tees to make it easier. I'd use 5amp fuses on each run.
I added floods into my shows a couple months ago, I have a different setup but hopefully still helpful. These are the lights: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W6VYLY3/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_E7KTXJMTAQDGTW3WWMKR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
They're controlled by this guys, an espidelstick set to DMX mode https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072XT1V77?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Then I just have a dmx cable with a split end connected to the pixelstick and into the floodlights. This way I can control both them turning on and off and the color. I am also using the same pixelstick to program moving head dmx lights, as these floodlights only take up 6 channels each and I have like 500 or so channels to work with.
The bad news is they're wireless, so they might not work with your existing show, and it's kind of a different setup, but I love those things, they're cheap and reliable, I've had no issues with them.
It’s inevitable that eventually you’re gonna have to have to add in wire to span some gaps. Just keep it less than 15 foot between pixels for the data. You can use connectors like this and wire like this or similar to connect them. It’s not very hard to do just make sure you connect the wires in the proper order.
What are you putting on the power supply to get it to turn on. Generally you need some type of load on it. We use to use testers to make them fire up.
Computer PC Power Supply Tester, ATX/ITX/IDE/HDD/SATA/BYI Connectors Power Supply Tester, 1.8'' LCD Screen (Aluminum Alloy Enclosure) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076CLNPPK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_EQB61TAP5YRDSE4CEKP8
The marine buttsplices crimp and heat shrink since they are made for boating and watersports so they are as watertight as the old soldering and heat shrinking method, but much quicker. Connectors-Waterproof Electrical Connectors-Butt Splice for Marine,Boat,Stereo https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L29DLGN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_glt_fabc_VV2M3TB6CWHP4VX02VBS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I picked up this bundle over the summer: https://www.amazon.com/Scotchlok-Butt-Connector-1000-Pack/dp/B08HBXQRGN/ref=sr_1_4
I prefer the UR2 over the UY2 as this allows me to power inject or balance with a single set of loks and if I don't need the 3rd connection, the hole fills with the gel.