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Play⚓︎

Play is where you turn your creations into shows, play them on your projectors, and schedule them to run automatically.

Shows⚓︎

A show has one timeline for each location it plays on. For example, a show might have one timeline for the Garage door on one Illumibot and another for the Porch on a second. When you play the show, every timeline plays on its own projector at the same time.

Each show card on the Play tab shows:

  • the show's name and how many timelines it has
  • Play show (green) and Stop show (red) buttons
  • its schedule, if it has one, with a Paused switch

Tap a card to open the show.

Creating a show⚓︎

  1. Tap Create (+).
  2. Under Where does this show play?, pick one or more locations. Only locations with a wall photo are listed.
  3. If you're offered a choice, pick how to build it:
    • Automatic — we write the scenes and build the show for you. See Automatic timelines.
    • Manual — you arrange the clips on a timeline yourself.
  4. Give your show a name. The timeline editor opens.

You can also send a creation straight to a show. In the gallery, open its menu and tap Add to Show. It's added to the end of the show you pick.

The timeline editor⚓︎

The editor has one timeline for each location. Use the selector at the top to switch between them. Add Timelines adds more locations to the show.

Each timeline has a main track for your video and image clips, plus overlay and audio tracks.

Adding clips⚓︎

Tap add on a track. The picker has four tabs:

  • Prompts — your AI creations.
  • Uploads — your own images, videos and audio. See Uploading your own media.
  • AtmosFX — decoration videos you've bought.
  • Timelines — timelines you've already exported, so you can reuse them as clips.

The audio track only takes audio from Uploads.

Editing clips⚓︎

Select a clip to use:

Action What it does
Split Cut the clip in two at the playhead.
Swap Replace the clip with a different one.
Edit Move, Size, Warp or Mask the clip, and set its Opacity.
Extend Use AI to continue the clip from its last frame (costs tokens).
Transition Choose how this clip blends into the next one (see below).
Copy / Delete Duplicate or remove the clip.
Volume Set the clip's volume.
  • Trim a clip by dragging its edges.
  • Reorder clips by long-pressing one on the main track, then dragging it.
  • Undo and Redo are in the playback controls.
  • Snapping makes clips stick to each other as you move them.

Transitions⚓︎

  • Built-in: Fade, Fade Black, Fade White, Dissolve, Slide, Wipe and Radial.
  • AI Transitions: AI makes a short video that morphs one clip into the next. Choose This transition or All transitions (every cut at once). AI transitions cost tokens.

Cues (lighting)⚓︎

On Illumibots with newer firmware, you can add a Cue at any point on the timeline. A cue sets DMX lighting levels or Arduino pins at that moment. See Automations & integrations.

Saving and exporting⚓︎

A timeline must be exported to a video before it can play on your projector. Tap Save and choose:

  • Save Only — keep your edits without exporting.
  • Save & Export Locally — build the video on your phone. It's free, but don't switch apps while it runs, or the export may fail.
  • Export in Cloud — build the video on our servers and keep using your phone. Choose Fast, Medium or High quality. Each shows its token cost before you confirm. Turn on Apply surface mask to keep the video inside your masked area.

The export options also let you pick which locations to export.

Cloud exports show their progress on each timeline card: Queued, Compiling…, then Completed (or Failed).

Playing a show⚓︎

  • Play show (or Play all inside a show) sends each timeline's exported video to its projector.
  • If another show is already playing on one of those projectors, the app asks before stopping it.
  • Stop show stops playback on every projector in the show and turns off its schedule. To start the schedule again, turn Paused off.

Inside a show, you can also:

  • Rename it with the pencil icon.
  • Use ⋯ to Clone show or Delete show.
  • Preview every timeline together using the transport bar at the bottom.
  • Tap a timeline to view it full screen and Share, Download or Edit it.

Scheduling⚓︎

Open a show and tap Schedule to have your Illumibots play it automatically. Every Illumibot in the show must be online to save a schedule.

  • When:
    • Repeats — pick weekdays (none selected means every day), plus Starts at and Ends at. You can also choose Run all day instead.
    • Once — pick a single date and time.
  • Only between — limit a repeating schedule to a First day and Last day.
  • Playback:
    • Loop until the window closes (on by default). Turn it off to play the show once each time it starts.
    • Fades between scenes over — set the crossfade length.
  • Play in sync — with several Illumibots, they play off one shared clock.
  • Before the show / After the show — switch the projector on or off automatically.
    • You can switch it on up to 5 minutes before the show starts.
    • With PJ Link, you can also blank or mute the projector.
    • Set up projector power first in the Projector Control Hub.
  • When shows collide:
    • Priority — a higher-priority show takes the projector from a lower one.
    • Can be cut off mid-scene — turn this off to let the current scene finish before anything takes over.
  • Paused — the Illumibots keep the schedule but don't run it.

Tap Save or Save and play now. Remove schedule clears it.

Schedules are stored on the Illumibots themselves, so they keep running even when your phone is off. An offline Illumibot picks up changes once it's back online. See every schedule under Scheduled shows on Home, or per device under Settings → Scheduled Shows.

Automatic timelines⚓︎

Automatic builds a whole show from a short description.

  1. Where does this play? — pick your locations.
  2. Describe your show:
    • What story would you like to build? (required)
    • What's the vibe? (for example Calm & elegant or Playful & fun)
    • Story or Effects
    • How long?
  3. Pick your show from three ideas. Tap Save as story to keep an idea for later.
  4. Pick your scenes — generate images for each scene, then Approve the ones you like. Animate turns them into clips (costs tokens). You can Regenerate a scene or edit its prompt.
  5. Arrange your show — reorder the clips and add AI transitions. The last transition loops back to the start. Add N transitions fills every gap at once.
  6. Build timeline. The show opens in the timeline editor, where you can fine-tune it.

The History and Saved stories buttons on the Play tab let you resume an unfinished automatic show or start a new one from a saved story. A show built this way has an Edit scenes button to go back into the flow.

Library⚓︎

Tap Library on the Play tab to manage your media:

  • Uploads — your own images, videos and audio.
    • Filter by type.
    • Tap an item to Rename, Download or view Details.
    • Long-press to select several to download or delete.
  • AtmosFX — decoration videos you own.
  • Timelines — every exported timeline. Filter by Illumibot and sort by date.

Uploading your own media⚓︎

Tap Upload, choose Image, Video or Audio, then choose Camera or Files. Give it a name and confirm.

The app checks videos before uploading. Keep yours within these limits:

  • Up to 1 GB per file, and one file at a time.
  • Video no larger than 1920×1200.
  • At least 0.2 seconds long.
  • Standard range, not HDR.
  • A single video stream, exported as a normal MP4. For video with transparency, use WebM.

If a video is rejected, the app tells you why. Re-exporting it as a standard MP4 usually fixes it.

Slideshows are going away⚓︎

Slideshows (scene groups) were the older way to play content, and they're being retired in favour of timeline shows. If you still have slideshows, the Play tab shows Slideshows are going away:

  1. Tap Open to see your slideshows.
  2. Open one and tap Convert to a timeline show to move its scenes into a new show.
  3. Delete any you no longer need.

You can't create new slideshows.