EZPlayer Setup: How to Run Your xLights Show

1. Installing EZPlayer

Getting started with and using the EZPlayer Setup begins with downloading and installing the player on the computer you'll use to run your light show. EZPlayer is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, so you can choose the version that matches your show computer.

Head to the EZRGB website and select EZPlayer from the main menu. On the EZPlayer page, you'll find the available downloads along with a Quick Start Guide. Choose the correct version for your operating system, download the installer, and follow the normal installation process.

In our Twinkle Tips Friday demonstration, we're installing EZPlayer on a Windows computer. Depending on your Windows security settings, you may see a warning when opening the installer. In our case, we selected More Info → Run Anyway to continue the installation.

Once installation is complete, open EZPlayer for the first time. Don't worry about adding sequences or creating schedules yet. The first important step is telling EZPlayer where your existing xLights show lives on your computer.

That's what we'll do next.

Before Moving On

Make sure you have:

EZPlayer installed and running.
Your existing xLights show folder available on the computer.
Your rendered .fseq sequence files in your show folder.
The audio files used by your sequences available in that folder as well.

Keeping your sequence and audio files together will become especially useful when we start adding songs to EZPlayer later in this guide. In the video, EZPlayer was able to locate the matching MP3 automatically when the corresponding FSEQ was added.

Beginner Tip: You aren't moving your xLights show into EZPlayer. Your existing show folder remains the foundation; in the next step, we'll simply tell EZPlayer where to find it.

2. Connecting the EZPlayer setup to Your xLights Show Folder

Once EZPlayer is installed, the next step is connecting it to the xLights show folder you already use. This tells EZPlayer where to find the files it needs to run your display.

From the EZPlayer home screen, click the three-line menu, open Settings, and select Show Folder. Browse to the folder you currently use for your xLights display and select it. Once the change is saved, EZPlayer is connected to your existing show directory.

If you've been using xLights for a while, this should be the same show folder where you save and render your sequences. You don't need to create a second copy of your display just for EZPlayer or move all of your files into a new location.

Why Your Show Folder Matters

Your xLights show folder becomes the common location that helps connect your sequences, audio, and EZPlayer together. In particular, it's a good idea to keep the MP3 audio files used by your show in this folder along with your rendered FSEQ files.

That organization pays off in the next step. When we added an FSEQ file during the video, EZPlayer located the matching MP3 in the show folder automatically. Instead of browsing around the computer looking for the audio file for every sequence, the two files were paired together for us.

Beginner Tip: Connecting your show folder does not change your xLights layout or sequences. You're simply pointing EZPlayer toward the existing files it will use to run your show.

Remember you MUST render your sequences and SAVE them in order to create the FSEQ files. Without the FSEQ files, EZPlayer cannot run the songs.

Check Your Controller Status

After selecting the show folder, return to the main EZPlayer screen. You'll notice a Controller Status area that shows the controllers EZPlayer can see on your network. During our test, the two controllers connected to the small demonstration display appeared online in green.

This gives you a quick check before moving forward. If your controllers are powered on, connected to the network, and visible to EZPlayer, you're one step closer to sending your first sequence out to the lights.

3. Adding Songs and Sequences to your EZPlayer Setup

Now that EZPlayer knows where your xLights show folder is located, it's time to start adding the sequences you want to play. This is where the pieces of your show begin coming together inside the player.

From the Songs page, select Add Song and choose the rendered .fseq file for the sequence you want to add. For a musical sequence, EZPlayer also needs the corresponding audio file. If you've kept your MP3 files inside your xLights show folder as recommended earlier, this process can be surprisingly simple.

During our demonstration, we selected the FSEQ file for Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Because its MP3 was already stored in the show folder, EZPlayer found and selected the matching audio file automatically. That's one of the reasons organizing your xLights show folder before setting up the player can save time later.

Adding Information About Your Sequences

EZPlayer also gives you several options for organizing and fine-tuning each song. You can add information such as the song title, artist, and sequence vendor, which becomes increasingly useful as your library grows.

There are also a few playback adjustments available. For example, you can adjust the volume of an individual song if its audio is noticeably louder or quieter than the rest of your show. You can also compensate for extra time at the beginning or end of an audio track when needed.

Another useful option is Tags. You might create tags such as Classic, Kids, Patriotic, or any other category that makes sense for your display. Once your song library becomes larger, tags provide a quick way to sort and find the sequences you're looking for.

Adding Sequences Without Music

Not every sequence in a light show needs an MP3.

You may have a static sequence for a tune-to sign, landscaping, background lighting, or another part of your display that you want running without music. EZPlayer can add these FSEQ files as well.

In the video, we added a static sequence called Patriotic Panorama. Because it didn't use an audio track, no MP3 was required. Instead, we manually entered the title and artist information before saving it to the song library.

This makes the Songs area more than just a list of music. It's really your library of playable show content, including both musical and non-musical sequences.

Beginner Tip: Before adding dozens of sequences, take a little time to organize your audio files and decide how you want to name and tag your content. A few extra minutes of organization now can make building and managing playlists much easier later.

Once you've added the sequences you want to use, the next step is putting them together into an actual show.

That's where EZPlayer Playlists come in.

4. Creating Your First EZPlayer Playlist

Once your songs and sequences have been added to EZPlayer, the next step is organizing them into a playlist. A playlist tells EZPlayer which sequences you want to run together as part of your show.

Select Playlist from the main menu, then choose the option to create a new playlist. Give it a name that makes sense for your display. In our Twinkle Tips Friday demonstration, we simply called ours 2026 Christmas Show.

From there, you can begin adding songs from your EZPlayer library to the new playlist. Select the sequences you want and add them to the playlist in the order you'd like them to play.

Organizing Different Playlists

You aren't limited to a single playlist. In fact, creating multiple playlists can be a useful way to change what your visitors see without rebuilding your entire show.

For example, you could create separate playlists for:

Your regular Christmas show
Kids' songs
Christmas classics
A shorter show for busy nights
Special events or themed nights
Static or background sequences

As your sequence library grows, the search function also makes finding a particular song much easier. Instead of scrolling through dozens or eventually hundreds of sequences, start typing part of the song title and EZPlayer will narrow down the available choices.

Your Playlist Determines What Plays

It's helpful for beginners to understand the difference between the Songs and Playlist sections.

Think of the Songs page as your library. It contains the individual sequences you've made available to EZPlayer.

A playlist takes selections from that library and turns them into the group of sequences you actually want to run together.

That means you can keep a large library of sequences inside EZPlayer without having to play every one of them each night. Simply create the playlist you want and add the appropriate songs.

Beginner Tip: Give your playlists clear names. Something like 2026 Christmas Show, Kids Night, or Christmas Classics will be much easier to recognize later than names such as Playlist 1 or New Playlist.

At this point, we've installed EZPlayer, connected our xLights show folder, added our sequences, and created our first playlist.

Now we need to tell EZPlayer when to play it.

That's where the EZPlayer Schedule comes in.

5. Setup Your EZPlayer Show Schedule

With your playlist created, the final step is telling EZPlayer when you want your show to run. This is handled through the Schedule page, where playlists can be assigned to specific dates and times.

One of the first things you'll notice is that EZPlayer uses a familiar calendar-style view. Instead of looking at a long list of scheduled events, you can see your show schedule laid out by date and time. For me, this makes it much easier to visualize when a show is scheduled to start and stop.

To create a schedule, select the date and time on the calendar where you want your show to run. Then choose the playlist you created in the previous step.

Setting Your Show Start and End Times

Next, enter the start time and end time for your show.

For example, if your Christmas display runs from 5:00 PM until 10:00 PM, those times define the window when EZPlayer should run the selected playlist.

If you want the playlist to continue repeating throughout that window, enable the Loop option. Once EZPlayer reaches the end of the playlist, it can start again and continue playing until the scheduled show period ends.

Choosing How Your Show Ends

EZPlayer also includes options that control what happens when your scheduled end time arrives.

For example, you may want the song that's currently playing to finish before the show stops instead of abruptly ending the sequence at exactly the scheduled time. These options give you more control over how the show transitions at the end of the night.

Because EZPlayer is actively being developed, some of the scheduling options, descriptions, and locations within the interface may change as the software is updated. However, the basic scheduling process remains straightforward:

Choose your playlist → Set the start time → Set the end time → Choose your playback options → Save the schedule.

Be Careful When Testing a Schedule

There's one behavior worth knowing when you're experimenting with EZPlayer for the first time.

If you create or update a schedule whose start time is right now, EZPlayer may begin playing the scheduled show immediately. We demonstrated this behavior in the video, so when we wanted to test an automatic start, we scheduled the show a few minutes into the future instead.

That gave us enough time to save the schedule, return to the main Player page, and watch what happened when the scheduled start time arrived.

Beginner Tip: For your first test, schedule a short playlist to begin a few minutes in the future. This lets you confirm that EZPlayer starts the show automatically without waiting until your normal evening show time.

Once the schedule is saved, you can return to the Player page and see when the next show is scheduled to begin. In our test, we could see the upcoming show time displayed before anything started.

Then we waited.

At the scheduled time, EZPlayer started the playlist and our test display came to life.

And that's the point where all five steps we've completed finally come together:

Install EZPlayer → Connect Your Show Folder → Add Songs → Build a Playlist → Schedule Your Show

Next, we can cover that first real-world test and a few things you should check before trusting your new schedule to run the display on its own.

6. Testing Your First Scheduled xLights Show

Now comes the part that really matters: will the show actually start on its own?

For our first EZPlayer test, we didn't want to wait until the normal evening show time. Instead, we created a short schedule that would begin just a few minutes later. This gave us enough time to save the schedule, return to the main Player page, and watch EZPlayer prepare to run the show.

On the Player page, EZPlayer displayed the next scheduled show time, giving us an easy way to confirm that the schedule had been recognized. We could also see the scheduled block on the timeline and verify that the controllers connected to our small test display were online.

Check Your Controllers Before the Show Starts

Before running your first scheduled show, take a moment to look at the Controller Status section. During our demonstration, the controllers connected to the test display appeared in green, indicating that EZPlayer could see them on the network.

This provides a useful final check before the scheduled start time. If the playlist is ready but a controller isn't available, you'll want to investigate that before assuming there's a problem with the schedule itself.

For your first test, verify:

Your controllers are powered on and connected to the network.
EZPlayer shows the controllers as available.
The correct playlist is scheduled.
Your start and end times are correct.
Looping is enabled if you want the playlist to repeat.
Your sequence and audio files have been added correctly.

Let EZPlayer Start the Show

Once everything looks correct, resist the temptation to press Play.

The point of this test is to confirm that EZPlayer can start your xLights show automatically from the schedule you created.

That's exactly what we did in the video. We waited on the Player page as the scheduled start time approached. When that time arrived, EZPlayer automatically started the playlist and began sending sequence data to the controllers.

And, right on schedule, the lights behind me came to life.

That successful test confirmed the complete workflow we'd just created:

xLights Show Folder → Songs and Sequences → Playlist → Schedule → Controllers → Lights

Start Small Before Running Your Full Display

If this is your first time using EZPlayer, I recommend doing exactly what we did: start with a small test.

You don't need your entire Christmas display assembled to learn how the player works. A controller and a few props are enough to verify your files, network connection, playlist, scheduling, and output.

Once that simple test works, you can begin adding more sequences and building the playlists you'll use for your actual display.

Beginner Tip: Don't make your first EZPlayer test opening night of your Christmas show. Create a short test schedule ahead of time and make sure the player, controllers, sequences, audio, and schedule all work together.

For our first scheduled test, they did.

The schedule started, the playlist played, and the lights turned on—exactly when they were supposed to.

7. You're Ready to Run Your Show

At this point, you've completed the basic setup needed to run an xLights display with EZPlayer. You've installed the software, connected your existing xLights show folder, added your sequences and audio, created a playlist, and scheduled that playlist to run automatically.

The entire process can be summed up pretty simply:

Install EZPlayer → Connect Your Show Folder → Add Your Sequences → Create a Playlist → Build Your Schedule → Run Your Show

That's really the goal of this Twinkle Tips Friday tutorial. We aren't trying to explore every setting or advanced feature available in EZPlayer. Instead, we wanted to take a fresh installation and walk through the basic steps needed to get an actual xLights sequence playing on real lights.

Keep Testing Before Show Season

Getting your first scheduled show running is only the beginning. Before relying on any show player for an entire season, spend some time testing it with your own controllers, sequences, playlists, and network.

That's exactly what I've been doing with EZPlayer. At the time this video was recorded, I had been running it for roughly two weeks and testing it with several different controller setups. During those tests, my scheduled shows started as expected, and I was able to successfully run sequences through multiple types of controllers.

Of course, your display may be completely different from mine. That's why I recommend starting small, experimenting with the player, and becoming comfortable with the basic workflow before show season arrives.

EZPlayer Is Still Growing

It's also important to remember that EZPlayer is under active development. Some buttons, menu options, scheduling controls, or other parts of the interface you see in our video may move or change as new versions are released. New capabilities are also continuing to be added.

For that reason, this guide focuses primarily on the workflow rather than documenting every button on the screen. The interface may evolve, but the fundamental process of preparing your show remains easy to understand.

Once you understand that process, adding another song, changing a playlist, or adjusting your schedule becomes much less intimidating.

And most importantly, you've crossed the biggest hurdle:

You went from installing a new show player to watching your xLights sequences run automatically on your display.

And here's where the First Look article eventually fits

Once we publish the webinar article, these two pieces complement each other beautifully:

EZPlayer First Look
What is it? Why does it exist? What can it do? How does it compare with the way we've traditionally run shows?

↓

How to Set Up EZPlayer for Your xLights Show
Okay, I want to use it. Show me how.

That's exactly the philosophy we've been developing:

Don't make two pieces of content compete with each other. Give each one a job.

And for this article, the job is crystal clear:

Get someone from a fresh EZPlayer installation to their first scheduled xLights show running on actual lights.