custom effects, brightness control

[prankousky]

Hi,

I just got this running thanks to the help in the (now solved) issue #7; so I thought I'd pitch an idea to implement a feature allowing users to chose an -or ideally, multiple- effect(s) to use.

My test light is a WLED; it will run the Meteor effect when started manually (usually my lights are started via scene to automatically be set to correct brightness, color, and perhaps effect).

I thought the following might be nice additional features:

• define which effect (or effects) to apply when using this script
• allow to cycle through those effects via configurable period of time
• define brightness to apply when initially starting this script

Something like

media_lights_sync:
# (...)
  use_current_brightness: False
  effect: "Breathe" # OR if multiple effects
  effects:
    - "Breathe" 
    - "Smooth Meteor"
    - "Twinklefox"
  cycle_effects: True # and IF TRUE
  cycle_period: 5    # apply different effect every 5 minutes
  brightness: 120
# (...)

Also something that just came to mind while typing this: define an effect and/or color in case cover art is either plain white (or brighter than threshold ), and/or if there is no cover art available.

Unfortunately, I am having a very hard time with writing appdaemon scripts (simply not enough knowledge about programming), so I cannot implement this, at least not any time soon.

Cheers!

[ericmatte]

Hi @prankousky,

Thank you for your suggestions.

For the brightness,
I've added int the last release an option to give you more control over the brightness: #4. Now, you can use use_current_brightness: true if you don't want the app to control the brightness (if false, the app will always use maximum brightness when changing lights).

As for the effects part,
the goal of this simple app is to sync your lights with the changing album covers on your TV; not to control scenes and effects on your lights.

---

That said, I think that for your use case, you should take a look at using Home Assistant Automations instead.
Unlike AppDaemon app, you don't need a programming background to set those up, and they can be done directly in the UI :)

So you could for example create an automation that cycles your lights effect each 5 minutes, or something to set the desired brightness when you turn on your TV.

I will close this issue for now.