FrunkShow

A sequencer for the lights on your car

Lay lights and closures out on a timeline over a track you own, watch it play back on a schematic of the car, and export a folder the Model Y reads off a USB stick.

Not built yet. The lock sound ships first.

What it will do

The player — first

Import a .fseq and its matching audio, check them against every rule Tesla publishes, play the show on the car diagram, write the folder out again.

Uncompressed version 2 files at 48 or 200 channels. Channels a Model Y does not have are marked ignored.

The editor — after the player

Lanes grouped the way the car is built — headlamps, front lower, sides, rear, closures — over a waveform with a tap-tempo grid. Left and right pair on one row, with a split toggle and a mirror.

Portrait: a step grid. Landscape: arm the recorder, tap the pads in time, and what you played lands on the timeline.

Both export LightShow/ holding lightshow.fseq and lightshow.wav at 44.1 kHz. 48 kHz files drift out of sync.

What the car will and will not let you do

The file

Channels
48 (Model Y)
Frame interval
20 ms
Interval range the car takes
15–100 ms
Longest show Tesla allows
4 hours
Longest show FrunkShow writes
10 minutes
Audio
44.1 kHz wav or mp3
Default file basename
lightshow

Closure budgets

Mirrors
20 commands
Windows
6 each
Liftgate
6
Charge port door
3
Total dancing, recommended
30 s or less

Tesla’s numbers. Past the budget, the extra commands are ignored.

Things that surprise people

  • Most Model Y lights are on or off, not dimmable.
  • A light needs 15 ms on to emit anything, and about 100 ms to read as a flash.
  • The aux park lights and side markers share a circuit: they flash only if all of them are off at once.
  • The doors, the frunk and the handles do not move on a Model Y.
  • Side markers are North American, the rear fog light is not.
  • Closures move. Run a show in a driveway or car park, never on or near a public road.

Worth doing now

  1. Read the USB guide

    Where most attempts fail.

  2. Check your car qualifies

    Custom shows need 2021.44.25 or newer; more than one show on a drive needs 2023.44.25. Tap the software version on the touchscreen.

  3. Put your name down

    An account is free and takes an email address. You hear from me when the player opens.

    Three creations in 24 hours without one, no daily limit with one.

Questions

Can I import a show somebody sent me?

Yes, once the player ships. Give it a .fseq and the matching audio. Compressed files are refused; re-export them uncompressed.

The car says “Light Show” instead of “Custom Light Show”. What did I get wrong?

The car found no valid show. Check four things: the folder is LightShow with that capitalisation, at the top level; the .fseq and the audio share a basename; the drive has no top-level TeslaCam folder and no map or firmware files; the drive is exFAT or FAT32.

Will it support my Model 3, S, X or Cybertruck?

Later. Tesla lists Model S from 2021, Model 3, Model X from 2021, Model Y and Cybertruck. FrunkShow starts with the Model Y from 2020 to 2024, and each further model needs a day of testing on a real car.

When will it be ready?

No date. The order is lock sound, player, editor. Each goes live when it works on a real car.

Acceptable use

  • Use your own recordings or music you have rights to.
  • No public sharing of copyrighted audio through these tools.
  • No use on or near public roads.
  • No automated or bulk use of the storage or email features.

Sources are on the credits page.