Once upon a time, a car’s lights were simple filament bulbs hooked up to relays and run off the car’s 12-volt electrical system. You could flash your headlights with a tug on the stalk, or turn your indicators on and off with a flick of the wrist, and that was about it. Now, automotive lighting is very much integrated with a vehicle’s computers, and can be controlled in altogether more granular fashion. Tesla enthusiasts put this to great use recently by organizing a massive light show with hundreds of cars that’s all synchronized to music.
As seen on YouTube, Tesla enthusiast Simon Pollock was behind the creation of the huge synchronized show which involved 687 Tesla vehicles descending on a carpark just outside of Helsinki, Finland. Pollock has long run TeslaLightShows.io, a website for downloading and sharing light shows for the Tesla that feature various popular songs or movie themes. The show, organized along with Tesla Club Finland, aimed to beat the previous record of 255 cars achieved in Germany.
Tesla light shows involve flashing the headlights, running lights, brake lights, and indicators, often along with some kind of musical accompaniment. Some shows also go farther, opening the charge port or moving the mirrors to add to the visual effect. Running them on a vehicle is as simple as downloading a custom show file on to a USB stick, plugging it into the vehicle, and then starting the show from the infotainment screen. Custom shows are made using a piece of software called xLights, a tool commonly used to program Christmas light displays. Tesla shares a guide on how to make custom shows on Github for interested owners. Shows are limited to 5 minutes in length.
It might sound difficult to synchronize hundreds of cars into a single massive light show, but there’s a nifty little feature that actually makes it trivially simple. Tesla includes a feature that lets a light show be scheduled for a certain time. Teslas have their clocks synchronized by default over the internet, so you can rely on this to keep them in sync. It’s as simple as loading up a show on all the cars, and setting them all to kick off at exactly the same time.
For the world record attempt, Pollock programmed light shows for multiple tracks. The first, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World: by Royal Deluxe. The second phase then began with “Track 9” by KS BRa & JDJ 030, before transitioning into diehard club classic “Sandstorm” by Darude. Different cars ran slightly different programs to enable the creation of effects that scattered and danced over the field of vehicles, with Pollock creating a total of 66 different show files to map across the fleet. Drone footage was shot by a crew from Flybyguys.com, which captured the feat both up close and from afar.
The ultimate result is stunning, a giant blinking mass of vehicles spread out over the terrain. Doing this at scale is no mean feat, mostly from an organizational perspective. Regardless, Pollock and Tesla Club Finland pulled off a world record here, creating a beautiful kind of automotive art that’s thoroughly modern and quite unlike anything else out there. Here’s to the next one—may it be even larger again.
Image credit: Tesla via Github, header image: Youtube Screenshot/Simon Pollock
Memo to people who make light show videos, projection mapping show videos, drone show videos, dance videos, etc. etc. and so on:
We want to see the light show/projection mapping show/drone show/dancing, not your jump cuts, low camera angles and neurotic editing.
Thanks!
Is nobody gonna mention the fact that he ended with Darude??? Fuckin, old guys unite!! Let’s goo!!!!!!
we’ve come a long way from salt water dimmers. Still the smuggest light show of all time
I prefer this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YsMVA8DoU
So they have a dork fest in Finland now?
687 working Teslas in the same place at the same time? That’s the real miracle.
What they don’t show you is the massive fire that started right after filming ended.
Lighting Designers for the show Pyro technicians for the after show
I thought it was held at a Tesla repair shop.
I think it’s neat. Of course, I’m a sucker for those videos of people’s houses decked out for Halloween or Christmas and set to music, so this is right up my alley.
If I were one of the Tesla owners, I’d be a little nervous about downloading a file from the internet and loading it up on my car, though. Clearly the organizer knows what he’s doing and has developed a good reputation, but seeing how even OEM updates can brick (or at least bork) a modern car, it’d be enough to give me pause.
I’d be worried if I was the owner of one of the cars whose lights were flashing out of sync. Look closely at the video. You’ll see them.
My main issue is using a weird dramatic cover of Everybody Wants to Rule the World like something important is happening. And as much as I love Sandstorm for the nostalgia, that joke was played out long ago. But I suppose all this is on-brand for a Tesla fan. I don’t hate the light show idea though, just the execution.
Great, now he gave Elon a new idea, expecting an X at any time revealing that the next Roadster will be capable of projecting a replica of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, using lots of small color changing high intensity lights embedded into the body panels and also be able to work as a planetarium projector with an over the air update
More likely to play Birth of a Nation
Or charging for the ability to do the light show
I would be okay with that since you can’t see it at Epcot anymore.
Really, all that work and no Gary Numan?!
Kids these days.
More like Flaming Lips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YsMVA8DoU
Tesla stans are fuckin weird
I dunno. We all like to tweak stuff and see what happens. I’m no track rat, but have played with tire pressures for better traction. I once put a Cherry Bomb ‘muffler’ on an old Subaru*. I’m not into mood lighting in cars, but some are, and I see this as a natural progression along those lines.
*I don’t recommend—-unless your intent is scaring deer or maybe attracting the attention of the authorities
I agree with you. All stans are weird. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Weirdness can even be fun as long as no harm is done. I was big into air-cooled VWs when young, but, by the late 80s, the divide between the air- & water-cooled crowds was so tribal & rancorous that I quit going to the meets period. When fans become tribal, they stop seeing non-fans as anything other than Not Us, and that’s a slippery slope, IMO.
Everybody wants to rule the internet?
Snark aside, getting almost 700 devices to all work at the same time can be a chore, and this turned out pretty well considering.
Ok, now do it while going around a track at night
I’ll be honest, I’m not knowledgeable in this area, but this isn’t a new thing at all right? It’s only new or ‘interesting’ because he used Teslas and not just regular lights like, oh I don’t know, any other light show, anywhere, ever?
Maybe it’s just a Tesla thing and I don’t get it..
Is this story filed under “Too much time on his hands” or “Hold my akavit”?
I quit drinking almost 4 years ago because I was a raging alcoholic…but I still vividly remember my akvavit hangover in 2016. My buddies and I bought a bottle on a whim after having a couple beers at a bar and passed it around on my friend’s rooftop until midnight or so.
The next day I couldn’t make it further than my bathroom until 5 or 6 the next night. It was literally puking, drinking water right out of the sink, and then limping back to bed. I had a medium sized gathering scheduled at my apartment that night that I had to call off…my friends still give me shit about it to this day. I’m pretty sure I didn’t drink for a week or two after it which was incredibly rare during that um…era of my life.
That stuff is the devil incarnate. I was an absolute booze garbage disposable for years of my life…like I could drink anything and keep going. Akvavit was the one thing I had to swear off after drinking once.
And this is why God made weed.
Can’t partake currently because of my job, but I’m very much in agreement.
Not even with a prescription?
Unfortunately it’s still a federal crime. I don’t know what Nsane does for a living, but any licensed professionals operating under ethical rules (doctors, lawyers, etc.) or government employees need to weigh the risks.
This. I work in mental health for an agency that receives government funding. I’m a licensed health professional. Cannabis is legal recreationally where I live and work (DC), but we have to play by federal rules at my place of employment and the rules are as strict as any government agency as a result. We test before employment, get tested randomly, and the penalties are some of the strictest imaginable. If you get caught with THC in your system you aren’t just canned, you are barred from working from the agency for a full 5 years.
I lived a green and sober lifestyle for years and very much enjoyed it, but as long as I’m employed where I am right now I can’t partake, medical card or not. And my career is more important than my buzz.
Well, I guess everyone needs a hobby.