Circle Fun!

Jeremy C Framstad from Grace Community Church in Fremont, Ohio brings us this cool circle look with pixel tape.

From Jeremy: Our lighting team has done quite a few LED tape designs over the past few years and we wanted to attempt a pixel tape design. LED tape usually has 3 DMX channels for Red Green and Blue. We’ve found that it works great for many applications, but we wanted to also be able to control each LED on the tape. The Crossing Church has this amazing circle set this past year and we took our cues from them. We wanted 14 circles so we purchased 14 rolls of Pixel Tape and found a Pixel driver by a company called SmartShow. We purchased 7 Dual Universe Drivers that run on ArtNet.

We had a local company roll ½ steel rod to form our circles at varying diameters. We had 3, 4, and 5-foot diameter circles. We had some Tendo Spandex left over from another set that we stretched and glued to the steel circle. After that glue dried, we glued a 1″ piece of vinyl around the circumference of the circle to which we then attached LED tape to the outside and Pixel Tape to the inside. The circles were hung with 1/8″ black steel cable at varying heights. The power supplies, dmx decoders, and pixel drivers all were mounted in the ceiling.

For ease of use, we made each circle its own DMX universe. Each pixel had 3 address, 1 – Red, 2 – Green and 3 – Blue. It allowed us to control each pixel independently of each other. Our lighting platform is Jands Vista and our console surface is an L5. There were enough built-in effects to help us create some great lighting looks. To finish out this stage, we had 16 Mac101s sitting on the stage which created some great backlighting looks.

Pixel tape has revolutionized what is possible with church stage designs on a budget. Unlike traditional LED tape that only allows you to control entire strips at once, pixel tape gives you individual control over every single LED diode. This opens up incredible possibilities for chasing effects, rainbow patterns, and synchronized light shows that would have cost thousands of dollars just a few years ago. The WS2812B protocol used in most pixel tape products means you can create complex animations and even video-style effects on your stage without investing in expensive LED video panels. For churches looking to upgrade their worship experience, this technology bridges the gap between basic RGB lighting and professional concert-level productions.

The circular shape of this design carries deep symbolic meaning for worship environments. Circles represent unity, wholeness, and eternity—concepts that resonate powerfully in a church setting. When combined with the ability to animate light flowing through these circular forms, you create visual metaphors that reinforce your message. The varying sizes of the circles in this design create visual depth and interest, drawing the eye upward and creating a sense of movement even before the lights begin to animate. Stage designers have found that geometric shapes like circles translate exceptionally well on camera, making this style particularly effective for churches with live streaming or broadcast ministries.

One of the most impressive aspects of this build is the clean installation. By mounting all power supplies and controllers in the ceiling, the visible rigging remains minimal and distraction-free. The 1/8″ black steel cable virtually disappears against dark backgrounds, giving the circles an almost magical floating quality. This approach to cable management is essential for creating professional-looking stage designs, especially in smaller venues where the audience sits closer to the stage. The combination of LED tape on the exterior and pixel tape on the interior provides multiple layers of lighting options—from subtle solid colors to dynamic animated effects—giving the lighting designer tremendous flexibility for different moments in the service.

Links:
SmartShow ArtNet LED Driver
Pixel Tape
Tendo Fabric

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Related Designs

• Circle of Christmas – Another stunning circular stage design featuring suspended ring elements with integrated lighting
• Dripping in LED – Vertical LED tape installation creating cascading light effects
• Advent Rings – Concentric circular design perfect for seasonal worship themes
• Glowing Lines and Bars – Linear LED elements arranged for maximum visual impact
• Tubes in Town – Pixel tube lighting design with similar addressable LED technology

Pro Tips for Pixel Tape Circle Designs

Plan Your Power Distribution: Pixel tape draws significantly more power than standard RGB tape because each LED has its own control chip. Calculate your power needs carefully—each WS2812B LED draws about 60mA at full white. For a 5-meter strip with 30 LEDs per meter, that is 9 amps at 5V. Use multiple power injection points for longer runs to prevent voltage drop and color inconsistencies at the end of your strips.

Test Before You Build: Pixel tape can be finicky, and nothing is worse than discovering a dead pixel in the middle of your completed circle. Test each strip thoroughly before installation, and always buy extra footage to account for mistakes or defects. Map out your DMX addressing scheme in advance to avoid conflicts, and label everything clearly during the build process.

Consider the Viewing Angle: LEDs have a limited viewing angle, typically around 120 degrees. When building circular frames, position your tape so the LEDs face toward your primary audience. If you want the circles to look good from multiple angles, consider using diffusers or positioning tape on both the interior and exterior of the frame as Jeremy did with this design.

Invest in Quality Controllers: The controller makes or breaks your pixel tape design. Cheap controllers often have limited effect capabilities or unreliable ArtNet/sACN implementation. The SmartShow drivers mentioned in this build are a solid choice, but also consider professional-grade options from companies like ENTTEC, Advatek, or Falcon if your budget allows. Good controllers will give you smoother fades, more reliable connections, and better software support.

Related: DMX vs XLR Cables – Cable science for church lighting.

Related: Cloth Sun – Moving stage designs for worship.

Related: Sticky Notes – Learn how geometric shapes can transform your stage with this creative design using over 6,000 colorful sticky notes.