Welcome to the Tesla Light Show xLights guide! You can create and run your own light shows on Tesla vehicles.
A custom show can be run on a supported vehicle by loading it via a USB flash drive. Create and share your shows with others! A single show can be shared and run on any supported vehicle; they are not model-specific. The sequence data is stored in a .fseq file and the music comes from your choice of .mp3 or .wav.
Multiple light show repositories can be found online. A screenshot from TeslaLightShare.io is below.
Model S (2021+)
Model 3
Model X (2021+)
Model Y
Running Software v11.0 (2021.44.25) or newer
Must contain a base-level folder called "LightShow" (without quotation marks and case sensitive).
The LightShow folder must contain at least 2 files:
The fseq filename must match the mp3/wav filenames
Multiple shows can be stored on 1 USB drive (2023.44.25+ Vehicle Software)
Must be formatted as exFAT, FAT 32 (for Windows), MS-DOS FAT (for Mac), ext3, or ext4. NTFS is currently not supported.
Must not contain a base-level TeslaCam folder.
Must not contain any map update or firmware update files.
Insert the flash drive into one of the front USB, USB-C ports, or glovebox USB port, then wait a few seconds.
In Toybox, select Light Show and tap Schedule Show.
If the files on the USB flash drive meet the requirements, then the custom shows will be available to select from the drop-down menu.
The maximum number of commands during a custom show is 3500:
In this example, two lights will be turned on and off again, one will be ramped and turn off again, and one closure will start moving. Because they're aligned, this effect only counts as two transitions - One at the beginning, and one at the end of the effect.
You can use both the mp3 and wav format (.wav is recommended). Make sure the file is encoded with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz; less common 48 kHz files won't properly sync to the light show.
Visit xLights Downloads to download and install the xLights application.
Download and unzip tesla_xlights_show_folder.zip, which is the Tesla xLights bare project directory.
Open the xLights application.
IMPORTANT: In File > Preferences > Sequences > FSEQ Version, select "V2 Uncompressed".
In File > Select Show Folder, navigate to and select the unzipped project directory, then select Open.
Select the Layout tab to view the Tesla 3D vehicle model.
Make sure that the 3D preview checkbox is selected.
Select the Sequencer tab. For the best editing experience, only the timeline and House Preview are needed.
Note that the official Tesla Model S .xmodel file includes the superset of lights and closures that are needed for all supported vehicles, and should be used to generate shows for all vehicle types. See light channel locations for information about where the lights are on each vehicle.
An example sequence is provided that can be run on the vehicle and/or opened in xLights. These instructions cover how to open it in xLights.
lightshow.xsq
example file, then select Open.In the Sequencer tab, double click groups in the timeline to reveal individual left / right control.
Follow the getting started instructions to set up the xLights project.
Select File > New Sequence
Select Musical Sequence
Navigate to your chosen .wav or mp3 file, select it, then select Open. Note that .wav files may be hidden unless file type is set to xLights Audio Files.
In the Wizard tab select Custom
Change the Frame interval to 20ms then select OK.
Note: any value between 15ms and 100ms is supported by the vehicle, but 20ms is recommended for nearly all use cases. The maximum show size limits do not depend on the frame interval.
Select Quick Start and wait for the sequencer to load
In the top left of the timeline, select "Group View" in the view selector. You can also choose "Old View" for the pre-update layout.
If using the recommended "Group View", you can double click the light groups to reveal and hide individual left/right control. Placing light effects in the group object will activate both the left and right light
If using the old view, double click on "GRP Tesla Model S" to view all channels
For more information on the workflow of creating xLights sequences, please use existing online resources. The rest of these instructions contain Tesla-specific information for show creators.
A Python validator script is provided to help check if your custom light show sequence meets these limitations, without needing a Tesla vehicle.
For usage, run:
python validator.py lightshow.fseq
macOS users should use this command instead:
python3 validator.py lightshow.fseq
Expected output looks like:
> python validator.py lightshow.fseq
Found 2247 frames, step time of 20 ms for a total duration of 0:00:44.940000.
Used 16.45% of the available memory
Most lights available on the vehicle can only turn on or off instantly, which corresponds to 0% or 100% brightness of an 'Effect' in xLights.
The minimum on-time for boolean light channels to produce light is 15ms, although human eyes will have a hard time seeing anything this short! Minimum on-time or off-time of 100ms generally makes the show more pleasing to look at.
In this example, the Left Front Fog turns on and off 3x:
Some channels can have a slow ramp in the intensity during turn-on or turn-off, to create graceful visual effects: | Channel | Model S | Model X | Model 3/Y |
---|---|---|---|---|
Outer Main Beam | Ramping | Ramping | Ramping on LED reflector headlights; Boolean on LED projector headlights |
|
Inner Main Beam | Ramping | Ramping | Ramping | |
Signature | Boolean | Boolean | Ramping | |
Channels 4-6 | Ramping | Ramping | Ramping | |
Front Turn | Boolean | Boolean | Ramping |
To command a light to turn on or off and follow a ramp profile, place the effect with the corresponding keyboard shortcut:
Ramping Function | xLights Effect Brightness | Hotkey |
---|---|---|
Turn off; Instant | 0% | empty timeline |
Turn off; 500 ms | 10% | W |
Turn off; 1000 ms | 20% | S |
Turn off; 2000 ms | 30% | X |
Turn on; 500 ms | 70% | E |
Turn on; 1000 ms | 80% | D |
Turn on; 2000 ms | 90% | C |
Turn on; Instant | 100% | F |
The keyboard layout is designed to be easy to use. Note that the effect types are grouped into vertical keyboard rows and sorted by duration.
Left inner main beam, Turn on; 2000 ms, effect duration 1s: causes the light to ramp from 0% to 50% intensity over 1s, then instantly turn off (because of the empty timeline).
Left inner main beam, Turn on; 2000 ms, effect duration 4s: causes the light to ramp from 0% to 100% intensity over 2s, then stay at 100% intensity for 2s, then instantly turn off after 4s.
Left inner main beam, Turn on; 2000 ms for 2.06s, Turn off; 2000 ms for 1.9s, Turn on; 2000 ms for 2.06s: causes light to ramp to 100% intensity, then down close to, but not reaching, 0% intensity, then back up to 100% intensity, then instantly turn off.
The following tables and images help show which channels are controlled on each car. Some vehicles have lights that do not exist, or have multiple lights driven by the same control output - see notes in Light channel mapping details for this information. | Light Channel Name | Identifier in image - Model S/X | Identifier in image - Model 3/Y |
---|---|---|---|
Outer Main Beam | 1 | 1 | |
Inner Main Beam | 2 | 2 | |
Signature | 3 | 3 | |
Channel 4 | 4 | 4-6 | |
Channel 5 | 5 | 4-6 | |
Channel 6 | 6 | 4-6 | |
Front Turn | 7 | 7 | |
Front Fog | 8 | 8 | |
Aux Park | 9 | 9 | |
Side Marker | 10 | 10 |
In custom xLights shows, the following closures can be commanded: | Channel | Model S | Model X | Model 3/Y | Supports Dance? | Command Limit Per Show |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liftgate | Yes | Yes | Only vehicles with power liftgate | Yes | 6 | |
Mirrors | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | 20 | |
Charge Port | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 | |
Windows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 | |
Door Handles | Yes | - | - | - | 20 | |
Front Doors | - | Yes | - | - | 6 | |
Falcon Doors | - | Yes | - | Yes | 6 |
To command a closure to move in a particular manner, place an effect with the following keyboard shortcuts:
Closure Movement | xLights Effect Brightness |
---|---|
Idle | empty timeline |
Open | Q |
Dance | A |
Close | Z |
Stop | F |
For Idle, Open, Close, and Stop, there is no minimum xLights effect duration in order for the command to take effect. For example, the following sequence has a liftgate open command with duration of only 1s ahead of the dance that comes later, and this is sufficient to open the liftgate all the way:
For Dance, the xLights effect must persist until the dancing is desired to stop.
Closure Movement | Approximate Duration (s) |
---|---|
Open Liftgate | 14 |
Close Liftgate | 4 |
Open Front Doors | 22 |
Close Front Doors | 3 |
Open Falcon Doors | 20 |
Close Falcon Doors | 8 |
Windows | 4 |
Mirrors, Door Handles, Charge Port | 2 |
For lights that are controlled by multiple OR'd channels, keep in mind that some shared off-time on all of the OR'd channels is required to cause an apparent flash of the light.
This example will cause Aux Park lights to turn on constantly on Model 3/Y:
This example will cause the Aux Park lights to flash on Model 3/Y (note the blank time between each box compared to the other example):
(Left side marker || Left aux park || Right side marker || Right aux park)
requests from xLights.(Left side marker || Left aux park)
(Right side marker || Right aux park)
(Channel 4 || Channel 5 || Channel 6)
.Because channel 4 acts as the leader for setting ramping duration on all platforms, a ramping effect must sometimes be included on Channel 4 even when Channel 4 is not turned on.
In this example, each channel blinks 3x and ramps down after its last blink. Notice how an Turn Off, 500ms effect is added always on Channel 4, even when it's Channel 5 or Channel 6 that were turned on.
In this example, Channel 4 & 6 ramp up and ramp down again. Notice how Channel 6 has the Turn On; Instantly effect while Channel 4 defines the effect to be Turn On; 1000ms for both channels.
(Left tail || Right tail)
requests from xLights - note that the license plate lights xLights channel will have no effect on these vehicles.All old .fseq files are fully compatible with the new light show update. You only need to convert old show files if you want to edit them with the refreshed XLights configuration.
Create a new folder for the converted project and copy the old audio file over.
Close XLights
Download and unzip tesla_xlights_convert.zip
Open XLights. In the "Controllers" tab under Show Directory, select "Change Temporarily"
Select the old_tesla_xlights_show_folder in the extracted tesla_xlights_convert folder.
Open your old .xsq file.
Select Tools -> Package Sequence and save the .zip file in the new folder.
Reopen XLights and create a new sequence with the song from the new folder.
Select Import -> Import Effects and choose the .zip file you created earlier.
In "Map Channels" Window, select "Load Mapping" and choose "mapping.xmap" located in the "convert to new format" folder.
Press "Ok", the old sequence will import. It's recommended to use the "Old View" for working with converted files.
Press "Render All" to see the imported effects in the preview.