Common cathode RGB LED Cube: Can/should it be done?
Yes, you can make an 8x8x8 RGB LED cube with common-cathode LEDs.

Unfortunately, it won't be any simpler than a similar cube made with common-anode LEDs.

The reason is simple: it can seen from symmetry that common-cathode isn't any different from common-anode except for swapping the cathode and the anode:







simulate this circuit &ndash; Schematic created using CircuitLab

The driving circuitry is just the same, except you swap positive voltages for negative voltages. Instead of NPN transistors, you have PNP transistors. Instead of current sources, you have current sinks. Just different. Not simpler.

You could design an LED cube with fewer shift registers regardless of the choice of common-cathode or common-anode. However, you then have to multiplex more LEDs, meaning each gets a smaller slice of time in which it can be on. At some point, the duty cycle of your LEDs becomes so low that you can't reasonably make them bright enough.