Hello everyone,
Has anyone figured out how to transition from one scene to another over time?
For example I’d like to slowly fade from my afternoon scene to my evening scene in 20 minutes at sunset.
Thoughts?
Mr.smith
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Not that I am aware of. You would have to write this up in WebCore and then use Async mode to make all the commands execute at the same time.
There’s definitely no “built-in” way; but the closest simulation you could do is create a series of Scenes and then activate them using individual schedules.
Not a great option.
WebCoRE to the rescue?
Such a shame. Scenes are such a powerful feature. I feel like SmartThings is falling behind.
Do you know of any other DIY smart home / smart lighting system that has automatic gradual scene transitions?
Lutron? Hue? Insteon?
I’m not even sure which (if any) higher-end systems do it; but probably one or more of: Savant? Control4? Crestron? KNX?
SmartThings isn’t falling behind any particular DIY competitor, are they? They just “never” seem to take on any really “hard” stuff. I’m not sure if the market really cares.
Your request is a nice feature; but also a niche feature. Most folks don’t miss it unless they’ve had it before, are really imaginative, or are shown it by a competitor.
ST Scenes are really poorly performing and constrained at the moment. Even in basic form.
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If you have LIFX bulbs, you can create a LIFX scene which has slow transition options. That’s what I am doing currently. And then I use webCoRE to trigger those scenes at a certain time of day or with a Harmony activity.
Obviously this will only work with LIFX Bulbs. The scenes are created with the LIFX app. Then you set the transition time. then you link your LIFX account with webCoRE. And trigger the scenes via any automation from Smartthings.
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I don’t spend much time nowadays looking for solutions for things that should be built in. I understand that webCoRE is third party and also cloudbased but man oh man is it powerful!
You have absolutely complete control and the ability to bring your ideas to life.
YMMV
I guess I’m so used to X10 where everything just worked. Scene transitions were pretty easy to do. That was 15 years ago though and I expect that somehow things have gotten simpler and features easier to use. I guess that is not the case.
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I agree that ST scenes perform poorly. I don’t think these devices can even handle that much data. Even now some scenes seem to misfire and some fixtures occasionally ignore the scene and it has to be re-fired or somewhere in between. My very first experience with Z-Wave was in a home that had scenes that would transition throughout the day or during dinner parties and such. That was 2010.
With ActiveHome - in my X10 days - I could create an evening to night transition that lasted 20 minutes. I could create a transition between any scene and a “movie mode” with very little effort. Even my 90 year old dad was doing it.
I’m frustrated that these so-called new systems don’t have the most basic features. Timers, for example - or the ability to daisy-chain Routines (I think I mean a condition engine). My problem is that I’m an idealist and not a programmer I guess. The simplicity of the older systems really makes me hate Webcore too. Why do I have to program what used to be built-in? Why are we struggling to get these products to work for us?
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Because SmartThings isn’t designed for “us” (the ~7000 users of the Community). It is designed for the hundreds of thousands of “average consumers” who don’t know that “gradual Scene transitions” should be a standard feature … or should be easily added from a 3rd party.
That’s why we developed and sell ActionTiles. To supplement the platform. SmartThings is a platform - not a solution.
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