# Light Show Creator User Guide

Create Tesla light shows, import music, use automatic and manual controls, and export files from your phone.

Custom Light Show is one of Tesla's fun features. Light Show Creator is an app for making your own shows quickly and easily. If that sounds interesting, give it a try:

- [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/light-show-creator/id6446385602)
- [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coding1024.tslshow)
- [Microsoft Store](https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9PL28B7M856D)

![Light Show Creator preview](/media/4ca667d5/preview.gif)

## USB-drive requirements

- Include a folder named `LightShow` at the drive's root. You can extract it from the project's `LightShow.zip` download.
- Format the drive as exFAT, FAT32 on Windows, MS-DOS FAT on Mac, ext3, or ext4. NTFS was not supported in the setup described in this guide.
- Do not place a `TeslaCam` folder at the root of this drive.

Tesla's official guide: https://github.com/teslamotors/light-show

## Create a project

Open the **Projects** page, tap **New Project**, and enter a project name.

## Import music

The app supports MP3 and WAV. I recommend WAV where possible, because some MP3 files can cause problems.

### Android

Select an MP3 or WAV file no longer than five minutes directly from the filesystem.

### iOS

There are two ways to import music:

- Share a music file from another app to Light Show Creator.
- Copy the file into the LightShowCreator directory.

To import by copying, use Apple's **Files** app. Install it from the App Store if it is not already on your device.

![Apple's Files app](/media/4ca667d5/files-app.png)

Open Files and tap **On My iPhone**.

![On My iPhone](/media/4ca667d5/paths.png)

Open the **LightShowCreator** folder.

![The LightShowCreator folder](/media/4ca667d5/creator-path.png)

Inside it, the `music` directory stores imported audio. Copy your music there.

![The app's music directory](/media/4ca667d5/main-dir.png)

After sharing a file, iOS switches to Light Show Creator. Open the **Music** page; the selected track should appear in the list within a few seconds.

![The music list](/media/4ca667d5/music-01.png)

## Share music from another app

You can use a third-party app that supports file sharing, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

![Sharing a music file](/media/4ca667d5/share-01.png)

Choose **Open in another app**, then select LightShowCreator.

![Choosing LightShowCreator](/media/4ca667d5/share-02.png)

The track will appear in the list. Tap the track you want to use to complete the import.

![Selecting an imported track](/media/4ca667d5/select-music.png)

## Use automatic mode

Turn on the **Auto** button. The lights will respond automatically to the music.

![Automatic mode](/media/4ca667d5/auto.png)

You can adjust several settings:

- **Step time:** the duration of each frame. Longer frames use less memory.
- **Rhythm sensitivity:** how sensitively the lights respond to the music. Lower sensitivity should generally use less memory.
- **Beat duration:** the maximum duration of each light activation. Longer durations use less memory.
- **Fog-light switch:** turn this off for the Standard Range Model 3 and Model Y configurations without front fog lights described in the original guide.

## Use manual mode

Manual mode allows more personal editing, much like playing a piano. Each pair of symmetric lights forms a group. Black keys activate both sides; white keys activate one side.

![Manual controls](/media/4ca667d5/manual-01.png)

You can also run automatic mode while recording manually, leaving you to control just a few key lights yourself.

![Combining manual and automatic modes](/media/4ca667d5/manual-02.png)

## Export a light show

Exporting uses sharing, just like importing music. Send the exported files to another app; OneDrive is used in this example:

![Opening the export controls](/media/4ca667d5/export-01.png)
![Selecting a destination](/media/4ca667d5/export-02.png)
![Sharing exported files](/media/4ca667d5/export-03.png)

The app also exports the files to the filesystem:

- iOS: `LightShowCreator/export/`
- Android: `Downloads/LightShowExport/`

If you want to make shows entirely on your phone, without a computer, I strongly recommend a Lightning-to-USB or USB-C-to-USB adapter like this:

![A USB adapter for a phone](/media/4ca667d5/export-04.png)

## Refine a show in xLights

At the time of this guide, the app did not support fades or window and door controls. For those features, put `lightshow.wav` or `lightshow.mp3`, `lightshow.fseq`, and `lightshow.xsq` together in one folder on a computer, then open the project in xLights.

## Questions and answers

### What if the music is too fast to follow in manual mode?

Change the playback speed on the settings page.

### Why does the Windows version not support manual mode?

At the time of writing, no Windows update was planned. The Windows version was designed around a different interaction model from the touchscreen-based mobile version.

### How can I make coordinated shows for multiple cars?

This was on the roadmap. In the meantime, one suggestion was to split the music into several tracks, create a project for each, and use automatic mode to prepare shows for multiple cars quickly.