WS2811 12V - arduino UNO - mega issues with getting it running

Hello,
I bought 12V WS2811 LED Dots, So it has 3 connections: GND, 12V and DIN.
12V goes to the powersupply 12V+
GND goes to GND of arduino and 0V of powersupply
DIN goes to pin 5 of arduino (pwm compatible)
The LED's are not really reacting to the signal coming from arduino pin5, i added a normal LED and resistor to see if someting is happening on pin5, ... it is.
seems i have to make from 5V control signal a 12V control signal. I have a bunch of NPN transistors, but not a PNP one... anyone a suggestion ?

greetings
Jasuper

seems i have to make from 5V control signal a 12V control signal

No you don't, you will kill the first controller if you do.
That sort of strip will control three LEDs for every one LED position you specify, so if your strip has 30 LEDs for example the code is written as if you had just 10.