Ken Wallace

In my last post, I broke down how to build highly customized, trigger-based lighting timelines in IdolSync. But let's be honest sometimes you just want to press a button and let the software do the work.

For those moments, I built a feature called The Shaman.

The core magic of IdolSync is perfectly syncing your smart lights to your media (video, music, or a timer). The engine behind this is our Config Files, which tell the app exactly what lighting you want at any given time.

Since this is the most complex part of the app, here is a quick primer on how to build one:

• Step 1: Prepare Your Scenes. Before creating a config file, you need your lighting scenes ready. You can pull existing scenes directly if you use a Hue Bridge, or capture custom scenes right in the IdolSync Lighting Tab (perfect if you are mixing Hue, WiZ, LIFX, and Apple Home devices).

• Step 2: Create the Config. Head to the Library Tab and hit the "+" button. The app will walk you through selecting your media and choosing your lights.

• Step 3: Add Your Triggers. This is where you plot out your atmosphere. You can add standard lighting scenes or drop in Special Effects (like animated loops or static flashes).

• The Transition Magic: IdolSync naturally creates smooth transitions (like a video cross-dissolve) between your regular lighting scenes. But for Special Effects? It uses hard cuts. They trigger exactly when they should and snap to the next scene the second they finish.

• Manual Overrides: You can even build custom on-screen buttons to trigger immediate light effects (and optionally jump to a specific video point). Once the effect ends, the video and lights snap right back to where they were.

I'll be releasing in-depth video tutorials on this soon! And of course, if you just want the vibe without the timeline editing, you can always fire up The Shaman it will analyze your media and do all the heavy lifting for you.