Contents ↓

Pattern Devices

Chase

Generates linear chase motion across chunks of points

Motion

  • Timing: Whether timing is Manual or based upon tempo Sync
  • Reverse: Reverse the direction of animation

Manual

  • Speed: Animation speed
  • Range: Maximum of the speed knob

Sync

  • Division: Tempo division used for a unit of animation

Output

  • Level: Maximum output brightness
  • Fade: Amount of rolloff across each chase chunk
  • Invert: Interpolates to the inverse brightness

Division

  • Size: How much of each chase chunk is lit up
  • Chunk: Size of each chunk, in pixels
    • Min: Defines the minimum chunk size
    • Max: Defines the maximum chunk size

Shift

  • Shift: Offset the chase position in each chunk by this amount
  • Range: Depth of the shift knob
  • Alternate: Adjacent chunks chase in opposite directions
  • Interlace: Interlaves the chase effect across neighboring chunks

Wave

  • Waveshape: Shape of the chase oscillation
  • Wrap: How to compute falloff from the chase position
  • Skew: Laterally skews the the waveshape
  • Exp: Applies exponential envelope to the waveshape

Swarm

  • Enabled: Modulates the chase parameters by position in the XY plane
  • X: Center of the swarm on the X-axis
  • Y: Center of the swarm on the Y-axis
  • Size: Size of the swarm modulation
  • Fade Level: Depth of swarm modulation to Fade
  • Brightness Level: Depth of swarm modulation to brightness Level

Chevron

Generates a multi-axis angular shape with motion

Motion

  • Timing: Whether timing is Manual or based upon tempo Sync
  • Reverse: Reverse the direction of animation

Manual

  • Bipolar / Unipolar: Whether speed knob is positive and negative
  • Speed: Animation speed
  • Range: Maximum of the speed knob

Sync

  • Division: Tempo division used for a unit of animation

Center

These settings determine the origin of the generated shape and the point of animation.

  • X: Center of the geometry
  • Y: Center of the geometry
  • Z: Center of the geometry

Slope

These settings determine the generated shape, which may vary from looking like a single plane to

  • X: Slope of the shape on the X-axis
  • Y: Slope of the shape on the Y-axis
  • Z: Slope of the shape on the Z-axis

Shape

  • Stripes: Number of stripes to divide across the entire model
  • Sharpness: How much contrast to draw the shapes with

Level

  • Level: Maximum output level
  • Invert: Interpolates to the inverse brightness

Rotation

  • Rotate: Activates rotation of the axis space
  • Yaw: Rotation about the +Y-axis
  • Pitch: Rotation about the +X-axis
  • Roll: Rotation about the +Z-axis

DMX

Renders color values received from DMX input

The pattern fills the output color buffer with as many consecutive pixels as it can from the latest received DMX data, wrapping across universe boundaries if needed.

  • Universe: DMX universe number (0-indexed)
  • Channel: DMX channel offset (0-511)
  • Byte Order: Specifies color byte order of the received data

This pattern assumes that the received data is in the same pixel-order as the Model. Future versions may allow for re-mapping.

Gradient

Generates a 3D color gradient over the geometry of the model

Colors

  • Blend Mode: See Color Blend Modes →
  • Color Mode: Specifies how the gradient colors are selected
    • Fixed: Defines a static base color
    • Linked: Selects a single reference color from the Color Palette
    • Palette: Generates a gradient based upon the Color Palette

Fixed

  • Fixed Color: Defines the base fixed color using a color picker
    • Hue: The hue slider modifies the base hue
  • Amount: Specifies the gradient depth from the fixed color
  • H: Depth of hue modulation
  • S: Depth of saturation modulation
  • V: Depth of brightness modulation

Linked

  • Index: Selects a slot from the Color Palette
  • Amount: Specifies the gradient depth from the linked color
  • H: Depth of hue modulation
  • S: Depth of saturation modulation
  • V: Depth of brightness modulation

Palette

  • Start: First color position in the swatch to sample
  • Stops: Number of color positions to generate a gradient from

Mode

  • Clamp
    • Clamp: Constrain color values to the end of the gradient
    • Wrap: Wrap color values around the end of the gradient to the start
    • Mirror: Mirror color values around the end of the gradient back towards the start
  • Invert: Generate the gradient in the opposite direction
  • Phase: Offset the starting position of the gradient
  • Scale: Apply scaling to all computed distance values
  • Compress: Limit the range of distance values to ensure all geometry falls within the gradient

X / Y / Z

  • Mode: Define how this axis contributes to the overall gradient
    • Normal: Position on the axis is computed using normalized position
    • Center: Position on the axis is computed using normalized distance from center of the axis
    • Radial: Position on the axis is computed using normalized radial distance from center
  • Amount: Amount of gradient generated by this axis
  • Offset: Offsets the center-position of this axis

Rotation

  • Rotate: Activates rotation of the gradient axis space
  • Yaw: Rotation about the +Y-axis
  • Pitch: Rotation about the +X-axis
  • Roll: Rotation about the +Z-axis

Image

Projects a 2D image file into 3D space

Image

  • File: image file
  • Wrap Mode: determines how the boundary of the image is handled
    • Clamp: constrain points to the boundary of the image
    • Clip: render nothing for points outside the image bounds
    • Tile: wrap points outside the image bounds back to 0
    • Mirror: mirror points outside the image bounds
  • Background Mode: Whether empty points are Black or Clear

Actions

  • Open: select the image file
  • Reload: reload the image file from disk

Rotate

  • Yaw: Rotation about the +Y-axis
  • Pitch: Rotation about the +X-axis
  • Roll: Rotation about the +Z-axis

Move

  • X-Pos: Position of the image on the X-axis
  • Y-Pos: Position of the image on the Y-axis
  • Z-Pos: Position of the image on the Z-axis

Scale / Scroll / Stretch

These operations mutate the handling of the image in 2D image coordinate space.

  • X-Scale: Scale the image on the X-axis
  • Y-Scale: Scale the image on the Y-axis
  • X-Scroll: Adjust the image position on the X-axis
  • Y-Scroll: Adjust the image position on the Y-axis
  • X-Stretch: Stretch the image position on the X-axis (inverse scaling)
  • Y-Stretch: Stretch the image position on the Y-axis (inverse scaling)
  • Scale: Scale the image on the Y-axis
  • Range: Factor for range of scale adjustement (high values are useful with Tile or Mirror modes)
  • Aspect: Scale of the image to its natural aspect ratio

Life

__Project a simulation of Conway's Game of Life__

Motion

  • Timing: Whether timing is Manual or based upon tempo Sync
  • Smooth: Animate between simulation steps
  • Shaping: Bias animation towards the past or future step

Manual

  • Speed: Animation speed
  • Range: Maximum of the speed knob

Sync

  • Division: Tempo division used for a unit of animation

Metrics

  • Width: Width of the simulated 2D game of life matrix
  • Height: Height of the simulated 2D game of life matrix
  • Wrap Mode: How to handle points out of the simulation bounds
    • Clip: render nothing for points outside the simulation bounds
    • Clamp: constrain points to the boundary of the simulation
    • Repeat: wrap points outside the simulation bounds back to 0
    • Mirror: mirror points outside the simulation bounds
  • Antialias: use bilinear interpolation to compute simulation position
  • Ease: Apply sinusoidal easing to state transitions

Output

  • Min: Minimum output level
  • Max: Maximum output level
  • Invert: Interpolate to inverted output

Spawn

  • Reset: Explicitly reset the simulation
  • Limit: Respawn when this lower bound of living cells is reached
  • Density: Initial density of cells on respawn

Move

  • X-Translate: Shift the X-position of the 2D simulation
  • Y-Translate: Shift the Y-position of the 2D simulation
  • Zoom: Zoom into the 2D simulation

Skew

  • X-Skew: Skew the 2D simulation along the X-axis
  • Y-Skew: Skew the 2D simulation along the Y-axis
  • Expand: Expand the view of the 2D simulation (inverse Zoom)

Rotate

  • Yaw: Rotate the projection about the +Y-axis
  • Pitch: Rotate the projection about the +X-axis
  • Roll: Rotate the projection about the +Z-axis

Noise

Generate a moving 3D light field using noise algorithms

Zoom

  • Scale: Scale factor of the noise generator
    • Min: Minimum scale factor
    • Max: Maximum scale factor
  • Levels: Output level of the noise generator
    • Min: Minimum brightness
    • Max: Maximum brightness

Dynamics

  • Level: Midpoint level of the noise generator
  • Contrast: Contrast depth of the noise generator
  • Invert: Interpolates towards inverted brightness

Scale

  • X-Scale: Scaling of X coordinate depth
  • Y-Scale: Scaling of Y coordinate depth
  • Z-Scale: Scaling of Z coordinate depth

Position

  • X-Mode: How X position is computed
  • Y-Mode: How Y position is computed
  • Z-Mode: How Z position is computed
  • X-Pos: Offset base X position
  • Y-Pos: Offset base Y position
  • Z-Pos: Offset base Z position

Position Modes

  • Normal: Position is computed linearly in normalized axis space (0-1)
  • Center: Position is computed as distance from normalized axis center
  • Radial: Position is computed as normalized distance from model center
  • None: This axis does not contribute to noise generation

Animate

  • Speed: Master animation speed
  • Motion: Toggles automatic motion on/off
  • Speed Range: Depth of speed slider control
  • X-Motion: Amount of motion on the X-axis
  • Y-Motion: Amount of motion on the Y-axis
  • Z-Motion: Amount of motion on the Z-axis

Algorithm

  • Perlin: Perlin noise
  • Ridge: Ridged fractal noise
  • FBM: Fractal Brownian Motion
  • Turbulent: Perlin noise with turbulence
  • Static: Totally random unperiodic signal, only Level and Contrast apply

The noise algorithms offer various controls to control their behavior.

Orbox

Morphs between geometric forms in 3D space

Shape

  • Shape 1: First shape to generate
  • Shape 2: Second shape to generate
  • Blend: Interpolation between the two shapes

Output

  • Fill: How much of the shape to fill
  • Invert: Invert the output of the shape
  • Level: Maximum output level

Size

  • Radius: Distance of the shape from Center
  • Width: Width of the generated shape
  • Fade: Size of fade-out from shape width

Center

  • X: Origin of shape position
  • Y: Origin of shape position
  • Z: Origin of shape position

Scale

  • X-Amount: Contribution of the X-axis to shape geometry
  • Y-Amount: Contribution of the Y-axis to shape geometry
  • Z-Amount: Contribution of the Z-axis to shape geometry

Rotate

  • Yaw: Rotation about the +Y-axis
  • Pitch: Rotation about the +X-axis
  • Roll: Rotation about the +Z-axis

Skew

  • X-Skew: Deforms the shape along the X-axis
  • Y-Skew: Deforms the shape along the Y-axis
  • Z-Skew: Deforms the shape along the Z-axis

Planes

Generate a number of overlapping planes in 3D space

Global

  • Yaw: Rotation about the +Y-axis
  • Pitch: Rotation about the +X-axis
  • Roll: Rotation about the +Z-axis

Plane

  • Enabled: An activator button selects and enables each of up to 8 planes
  • Level: Maximum output level of the plane
  • Position: Placement of the plane
    • Min Pos: Lower bound of the Position control
    • Max Pos: Upper bound of the Position control
  • Width: Size of the plane
    • Min Width: Lower bound of the Width control
    • Max Width: Upper bound of the Width control
  • Contrast: Depth of falloff at the edge of the plane
  • Axis: Which dimensional axis the plane is rendered on

Rotate

When the plane Axis is one of X, Y, or Z the plane may be rotated.

  • Tilt: Tilt the axis
  • Tilt Pos: Adjusts the tilt center position
  • Spin: Spin the axis
  • Spin Pos: Adjusts the spin center position

Free

In Free mode, parameters define the planar function Ax + By + Cz + D = 0.

Script

Renders using custom Javascript code

Open a Javascript file from the ~/Chromatik/Scripts folder using the Folder button. The UI will automatically populate with controls based upon the parameters defined in the Javascript file.

The file is monitored automatically and reloads anytime changes in the file are saved to disk.

Reload manually using the Reload button.

See the Javascript API Guide for script implementation details.

Slideshow

Blends between multiple 2D images

Parameters for each image are identical to those for Image, with the addition of a Trigger button to recall the image.

Use the Add Image button to import images to the Image Bin. Transitions controls function identically to the Pattern Bin in Playlist Mode.

Solid

Generates a single solid color across the entire model

Mode

  • Static: Define a static color
  • Linked: Select a single color from the Color Palette

Static

  • Hue: Fixed color hue
  • Saturation: Fixed color saturation
  • Brightness: Fixed color brightness

Palette

Sound Object

Generates a shaped field of light working in conjunction with a Sound Object Modulator

Global

  • Object: Which Sound Object Modulator to draw position from
  • Position
    • Abs: Render the object in absolute position, however it intersects the model
    • Radial: Render the object at fixed radius from the center of the model
    • Box: Render the object at the surface of the model's bounding box
  • Shape Mode
    • Mode 1: First shape mode
    • Mode 2: Second shape mode
    • Lerp: Blending between the two shape functions
  • Constrast: Size of fade-out
  • Mod: Manual modulation value input

Shapes

  • Orb: an orb with fixed normalized radius
  • Box: a prism with fixed normalized edge lengths
  • X: a plane with fixed X-value
  • Y: a plane with fixed Y-value
  • Z: a plane with fixed Z-value

Size

  • Size: Size of the generated shape
  • Mod > Size: Depth of manual modulation input to the size
  • Signal > Size: Depth of signal amplitude modulation to the size

Level

  • Level: Brightness of the shape
  • Mod > Level: Depth of manual modulation to the brightness
  • Signal > Level: Depth of signal amplitude modulation to the brightness

Scope

The scope feature modulates brightness within the generated shape emanating outwards from the point-source of the Sound Object.

  • Scope Time: Audio scope modulation time
  • Scope Amount: Audio scope modulation depth

Sparkle

Generate randomized sparkles on individual points

Level

  • Max: Maximum sparkle level
  • Min: Minimum sparkle level
  • Base: Base output level

Timing

  • Speed: Interpolates between the Slow and Fast values
  • Slow: Periodicity of the slowest sparkles
  • Fast: Periodicity of the fastest sparkles
  • Variation: Amount of variance in sparkle time

Sparkle

  • Density: Density of sparkles relative to points in the model
  • Wave: Shape of the sparkle's brightness curve
  • Sharp: Applies shaping to sharpen the sparkle onset
  • Duration: Percentage of the periodicity during which the sparkle is active

Test

Test routines for debugging

Mode

Iterate Points

Light points sequentially at the fixed Rate.

Fixed Index

Light only the point at an explicit Fixed Index.

Tag

Light up All points matching the given Tag.

Alternately, specify a Fixed Index selected only from fixtures matching the tag.

CPU Test

Performs arbitrary multiplication math in order to force excessive CPU consumption and monitor system degradation.