How To: Setup Effects with the Red Series Smart LED Strip | SmartThings

How To: Setup Effects with the Red Series Smart LED Strip | SmartThings

Intro

The process is very similar to setting up a notification on our switch, dimmer, and fan + light using the installed device handler. For example, you can have the strips flash red and blue like police lights when your alarm is triggered. The “would be” criminal thinks the police have already arrived and high tail it out of there. We will show you how to do this a little later in this article.

First, let’s outline the different types of effects that exist on this strip. They are broken down into 3 categories:

  1. Quick Effects: The same as notifications on our switch line
  2. Custom Effects: Allows you to combine multiple colors, transitions, timing, etc. to create a customized effect
  3. Pixel Effects: There are currently 46 pixel effects pre-programmed into the controller with some really cool animations that take advantage of the individually addressable LEDs - More will be added via firmware update based on community feedback (LZW45 - Pixel Effects List)

Let’s go through some examples of how to implement these effects in SmartThings.

Resources

Device Handler (mandatory) - LZW45 Device Handler Instructions

Creating Quick Effects

Like mentioned above, quick effects are similar to notifications on our switch line. Let’s create a simple quick effect to turn the strip purple and have a chase effect when the front door is unlocked between sunset and sunrise: 

  1. Open up your SmartThings App and click on your LZW45
  2. Click on the three dots at the top right of the screen and select, "Settings"
  3. Scroll to where it says, "Quick Effect 1" (you'll see options for color, level, duration, and effect)
  4. In this example, since we want the lightstrip to flash red once the motion sensor is triggered, we'll change the values to the following:
    1. Quick Effect 1 - Color = Purple
    2. Quick Effect 1 - Level = 100%
    3. Quick Effect 1 - Duration = Indefinitely
    4. Quick Effect 1 - Effect = Chase
  5. Click back and go back to the Home Screen
  6. Now you should see the Quick Effect listed at the bottom of the Home Page called, "YOUR CONTROLLER NAME (Quick Effect 1)" -- turn it on
  7. That is it for the Quick Effect. Save it and you should now have the LED strip chase purple when the front door is left unlocked between sunset and sunrise (NOTE: You'll need to setup an automation to do this -- instructions here -- note: the vernacular is different in that the KB article says, "Notification", but the premise is the same)

Creating Custom Effects

In this example, we can build custom effects using the four dimensions above (color, level, duration, and effect). We're essentially going to modify the built in Quick Effects. In this example, we'll have the LED flash Red & Blue when an alarm is triggered. We'll try our best to simulate police lights.

  1. Start by opening this site up in a separate tab (thanks Nathan Fiscus for the amazing tool!): Inovelli LED Strip Toolbox (nathanfiscus.github.io)
  2. First, click on, "Time Unit" and select, 100ms
  3. Now click on, "Add New Effect", enter the following values and click, "Save":
    1. Color = Red
    2. Effect = Flash
    3. Brightness Level = 99
    4. Duration = 5
  4. Click on, "Add New Effect", enter the following values and click, "Save":
    1. Color = Blue
    2. Effect = Flash
    3. Brightness Level = 99
    4. Duration = 5

  5. Keep the iterations at indefinitely to keep the effect going
  6. Now click on, "Show Parameter Values" and you should see the following:
    1. Parameter 22: 8802
    2. Parameter 23: 25443
    3. Parameter 24: 1285
    4. Parameter 30: 255
  7. Now open up your SmartThings app, locate your LZW45 and click on it
  8. Next, click on, "Settings" and scroll down to where it says, "Custom Effect String 1" and enter in all four values above separated by commas: 8802,25443,1285,255
  9. Now go back to the Home screen and you should see a, "child device" called, "YOUR CONTROLLER NAME (Custom Effect)" -- turn it on to test it
That’s it! If you want this to go off based on a separate event (ie: motion is detected) you'll have to setup an automation using Smart Lighting. Please reach out if you have questions -- we're happy to help!

Creating Pixel Effects

At the date/time this article was written (Jan 12, 2021) there are 46 built in pixel effects (on firmware version 1.20). The full list can be found here: LZW45 Pixel Effects.

In this example, we can select the Aurora Pixel Effect and let it run at 100%. Before we do so, remember, the Device Handler needs to be installed. Let's begin:
  1. Open up the SmartThings App and select your LZW45
  2. Click on the three dots at the top right of the screen and select, "Settings"
  3. Scroll down to where it says, "Pixel Effect String 1" and enter in the following: 46,100 (NOTE: See logic below)
    1. 46 = Aurora Effect (# from the LZW45 Pixel Effect List)
    2. 100 = Brightness Level
  4. Now go back to the Home Screen and you should see a child device at the bottom called, "YOUR CONTROLLER NAME (Pixel Effect 1)" -- turn it on
That's it -- you now have your Pixel Effect running on your lightstrip!

Pixel Effect Logic

To enter in the string value as shown in the screenshot above (ie: 46,100) you need to go to the LZW45 Pixel Effect Chart and select the effect you want (ie: 1-46) and the brightness level you want (1-100) and combine them with a comma. As shown above, Aurora (#46 on the chart) + brightness level of 100 would be 46,100.