James Tucker from Christ’s Church in Jacksonville, FL brings us these fun diffusion towers.
They were launching a new series and launching their new screens Easter Sunday. James wanted some big color to take up some real estate on their new black curtain. He also wanted to free up all his scenic LEDs for back/side light for a season.
They turned to LED tape. They had previously created an LED tape design with clear Coroplast https://churchstagedesignideas.com/diffused-led-tape/ and they had most of the supplies still in storage.
They built 5 giant Coroplast walls out of 12′ long 1×4 wood and 8′ long 1×4 wood. They skinned with semi transparent Coroplast accordingly. The walls had jacks on the back so they could stand up on their own and be moved around if needed. To add some branding to go with the series, they purchased 3 rolls of silver tape from Home Depot and made “greater than” symbols on each flat.
To light up the walls, they took their old tape out of storage and purchased several more rolls. Cutting the tape in half and attaching the tape to 8′ 1x2s had worked well in the earlier build, so they rinsed and repeated the same process. They wanted to be able no not use the crummy 4 pin connectors/extensions so they attached each 8′ led tape strip to a 25′ section of 22/4 alarm cable. In all they had 30 led sticks. To attach to the walls, they simply stapled the strips to the upstage side of the wall stiles.
For control, they purchased four 24-channel 8-way decoders from Amazon. The tape was wired in pairs to give them individual control of each panel. On their console, they patched in 15 “generic RGB” fixtures. Having 15 individual panels patched gave them the ability to do some great chase effects for worship looks and 3 color fans for static looks.
To fill out the look, they used some 8′ tall R 40 strips wetheyhad in storage from a theater and kept them parked mostly at 30% for a nice brown glow.
The great part of this set was there wasn’t a ton of cutting custom lengths of wood. When they were done with the set, they were able to easily dismantle it, store, and re-use the wood for future endeavors. The 30 tape sticks with 25′ cable would be easy to re-use for awesome tape sets.
Links:
Planning an LED Wave Pattern That Reads Clearly
The strongest part of this idea is the separation between the visible surface and the light source. Semi-transparent Coroplast softens individual LED points, while the repeated diagonal tape pattern gives each wall a recognizable shape even when the color is static. Before building full-height panels, make a small sample with the exact Coroplast, LED tape, and spacing you plan to use. View it from the back row and through the livestream camera. If the LEDs appear as harsh dots, increase the distance between the tape and plastic or add another diffusion layer; if the panel looks dim, reduce that distance or use a more transmissive material.
Lay out the wave on paper before cutting lumber. Mark panel widths, wave peaks, valleys, and the location of every LED stick so the pattern continues smoothly across seams. A full-scale chalk line or painter’s-tape layout on the floor helps volunteers see how the sections relate. Number the panels from stage left to stage right and give every LED stick, cable, decoder output, and console channel a matching label. Consistent labeling makes troubleshooting faster and allows the wall arrangement to be recreated without relying on one person’s memory.
Power, Control, and Scenic Safety
Calculate the electrical load from the tape manufacturer’s wattage specification, the installed length, and the intended brightness. Use power supplies, decoders, wire gauges, connectors, and circuit protection that are appropriately rated for the calculated load. Long low-voltage cable runs can create voltage drop, so test the farthest strip for color consistency at full white. Divide a large installation into manageable zones instead of asking one supply or cable path to support the entire wall. Have a qualified person review the power plan and keep power equipment ventilated, secured, and accessible for inspection.
Build lighting looks with the congregation and cameras in mind. Slow waves, alternating color bands, and restrained gradients often read better than rapid chases during songs or speaking moments. Program a neutral static look as a dependable fallback, and set sensible intensity limits before rehearsal. Photograph useful looks and note their cue names so another operator can reproduce them. Because translucent panels can reveal cable shadows, route and secure wiring consistently behind the framing rather than letting it hang against the diffusion surface.
Freestanding scenic walls also need a deliberate stability plan. Size bases, stage jacks, ballast, and approved anchors for the height, weight, room, and likelihood of contact. Keep panels clear of exits, sprinklers, heat sources, and performer traffic, and ask the church’s facilities or safety lead to approve the installation. Inspect staples, framing, cables, connectors, and supports before each use. Disconnect power before servicing a strip, and remove any damaged component until it can be repaired or replaced.
Pro Tips for LED Wave Panels
Prototype one bay: Test diffusion distance, brightness, color mixing, and camera appearance on a small section before purchasing material for the complete wall.
Label both ends: Put the same identifier on each LED stick, home-run cable, decoder output, and console fixture to shorten setup and troubleshooting time.
Plan a service path: Mount drivers and connections where volunteers can inspect them without dismantling the entire scenic wall.
Save reusable building blocks: Store the LED sticks, labeled cables, and control map together so the lighting system can become lines, columns, arches, or another wave later.
Related Designs
- Cool Option for LED Tape – Explore another practical way to mount and reuse LED tape in a church stage design.
- Walled Out LED Tape Design – See how repeated illuminated lines can create a bold wall-scale pattern.
- LED Tape Diffusion – Compare an approach for softening LED points into a cleaner scenic glow.
- Separated Coroplast – Discover how spaced Coroplast elements add depth and respond to colored light.
- Coroplast. Two Ways. – Find two more treatments for transforming lightweight plastic sheets into stage scenery.
That’s one hard working and talented husband I have. Just the one. I only have one.
Great job! I like that you faced the LED tape toward the wall for a nice glow and not directly at the audience.
Looks Great! What lights did you put between the panels? Are those incandescent par cans or led par cans?
Hey Justin.
The fixtures between the set pieces are some old old Altman R40 8′ strip lights loaded with 45 watt lamps. I “rescued” them from a theater a while back.
In regards to the decoders, did you have any issues addressing them dmx? I have the same decoder, and I cannot get it to communicate with my lighting console. The 10 FUN switch is off, I have tried to assign different addresses to it with no luck. In the FUN mode the unit works great. Also in dmx mode it passes dmx without issue.
The name is Tobie Smith, not Tobie Smoke th (stupid auto text)
With the decoders you used did you experience any flicker on camera from the LED strips? I’m using the same set up and I’m getting some flicker. enough to be distracting
Jesse, I never saw this and its been a few months… sorry.
No flicker on our 3 JVC cameras on Imag or stream, If you are shooting some B roll with a DSLR with some insanely high frame rate, you will see flicker.
Jesse, I never saw this and its been a few months… sorry.
No flicker on our 3 JVC cameras on Imag or stream, If you are shooting some B roll with a DSLR with some insanely high frame rate, you will see flicker.