LIFXtend 0.7: LIFXshows and AmbientLIFX

1) Importing a LIFXshow:

If you switch the tab to LIFXshows, there is a button at the bottom: "Import".
Click on it and select SceneCommands.txt from the included LIFXshows Folder (in your LIFXtend download).
(NOTE: You can also open SceneCommands.txt with a text editor, it explains a lot more detail than this post)



2) Run a LIFXshow:

Select the imported show on the left, then your bulbs will automatically assigned to the different groups a show can have.
You can change that assignment by selecting the bulb, then specify the group at the bottom. If you select group 0, your bulb will not be included in the LIFXshow.



After you assigned you bulbs, click start to run your LIFXshow. It should look like the first part of the YouTube video at the top. You can disable repeat if you just want your LIFXshow to run once.

While your LIFXshow is running, you will see the commands scrolling by on the right. This can help you trouble shoot. You can also stop the LIFXshow at any time.





3) How a show is defined:

Each command needs to start on a new line. If you add // at the start of the line it will be disregarded during execution (also known as "commenting")

All commands follow the basic format: [TIME] [BULBGroup] [Command] [(Parameters)]
Time is either in seconds since the last command, or you can specify a time by using TIME:

Commands are:

on

off

color [hue] [sat] [brightness] [transition time] where hue:0-360 sat:0-100 brightness:0-100 and transition time in microseconds

white [kelvin] [brightness] [transition time] where kelvin:3000-8500 brightness:0-100 and transition time in milliseconds

The file SceneCommands.txt basically consists of the following commands:

Scene:
1, 1, on
// 1 second after starting the show, the bulbs in group 1 will be set on

1, 2, on
// 1 second after the last command, the bulbs in group 2 will be set on

2, 1, color, 110, 100, 100, 100000
// 2 seconds after the last command, the bulbs in group 1 will change their color to HSB(110,100,100), bright green, with a transition phase of 100'000 micro seconds/ 0.1s
// HSB means Hue, Saturation, Brightness. They act the same as the sliders in LIFXtend. Hue is 0-360, saturation and brightness range form 0 to 100.

0, 2, color, 300, 100, 100, 100000
// 0 seconds after the last command [=at the same time as the last command], the bulbs in group 2 will change their color to HSB(300,100,100), bright pink, with a transition phase of 100'000 micro seconds/ 0.1s

2, 1, color, 300, 100, 100, 3000000
0, 2, color, 110, 100, 100, 3000000
// 2 seconds after the last command, the bulbs in group 1 will change to pink, while the bulbs in group 2 to will change to green. The transition is 3'000'000 micro seconds/ 3s

5, 1, off
0, 2, off
// 2 seconds after the last command, both groups get switched off.

And that is just what it does, if you have more questions look at the file itself.

4) Explanation of the rest of the LIFXshows featured in the video

While importing SceneCommands.txt you should have spotted all the other LIFXshows.

Random.txt:
[0.2-1], 1, color, [0-360], 100, 100, [100-100000]

This LIFXshow features only one group (that is why the bulbs all change at the same time to the same colors).
It only contains one command. You have to realize that if this LIFXshow is played while using the "repeat" option, it will repeat this command indefinitely.
The interval between two commands is random between 0.2 and 1 second. It always addresses group 1 (the only group) and it changes the color.
The hue is randomly chosen from the whole spectrum (0-360), the saturation and brightness is always at 100%. Transition time is also randomly chosen.

MultiRandom.txt:
[0.05-0.25], 1, color, [0-360], 100, 100, [100-100000]
[0.05-0.25], 2, color, [0-360], 100, 100, [100-100000]
[0.05-0.25], 3, color, [0-360], 100, 100, [100-100000]
[0.05-0.25], 4, color, [0-360], 100, 100, [100-100000]

Here it is important to note the differences to Random.txt:
There are 4 groups, and the interval is much lower. But the rest is the same.
You can also see it in the video: Each bulb changes it's color randomly on it's own.

SmoothColors.txt:
[1-3], 1, color, [0-360], [30-50], [30-100], 1000000
[1-3], 2, color, [0-360], [30-50], [30-100], 1000000
[1-3], 3, color, [0-360], [30-50], [30-100], 1000000
[1-3], 4, color, [0-360], [30-50], [30-100], 1000000

This LIFXshows is inspired by the "Pastel" effect in the official android app.
We have again 4 groups, but the interval is much higher. Each command delays between 1 and 3 seconds, so it takes between 4 and 12 seconds to run the LIFXshow.
So each group of bulbs changes their color every 4 to 12 seconds. The hue still ranges from 0 to 360, but the saturation is much lower, between 30-50. Also the brightness can be lower, between 30-100.
The transition time is always 1 second (1'000'000 micro seconds).

ColorCandle.txt:
[0.02-0.2], 1, color, [38-42], [70-100], [80-100], [2000-10000]
[0.02-0.2], 2, color, [80-98], [70-100], [80-100], [2000-10000]
[0.02-0.2], 3, color, [130-150], [70-100], [80-100], [2000-10000]
[0.02-0.2], 4, color, [270-290], [70-100], [80-100], [2000-10000]

Very similar to the other LIFXshows before, but the hue for each group is very limited, creating 4 different candle colors.


The last part of the video is AmbientLIFX, and I will explain that more thoroughly in another post.