A Control Signal is composed of a set of modulators which are mapped onto Parameters. Those Parameters are injected into particle systems which drive particle animations such as size, color, rotation and movement of particle systems.
¶ Parameters Convention
All Control Signal parameters are Alpha Float values, which means they always exist on a gradient between 0-1. Parameters are updated on Tick, so every single frame they are dynamically re-calculated. The convention for implimenting Control Signal Parameters is just that, a convention, that said many particles are designed for these as best practices:
¶ A Params
These are used for low latency stream modulators, such audio reactive waveforms, biofeedback and arbitrary input signals.
A- Raw, or closest to raw signalA1- One cycle per beat, smoothed signal, optimized for bass hits or heart beatsA2- Any type of post process on the A signal, such as A1 inversedA3- Reserved for higher volitility signals for subtler effects or otherwise synced with other A signals
¶ MOD Params
These are mapped onto LFO modulators, and oscillate over a period of one or multiple beats.
MOD- Constant frequency cycling once per musical measure / every 4 beatsMOD1- Lower frequency LFO, such as mapped toTime Cycle 2/ every 8 beatsMOD2- Sometimes an inverse ofMOD1MOD3- Lower frequency atTime Cycle 3or lower / every 16 beats
¶ Signal Types
¶ 🔊 Audio Reactive Signal
Currently Audio reactivity is not implimented, and it will be back in a future version.
A- Raw audio signal smoothedA1- Bass signalA2- Midtone signalA3- High pitched / treble note signal
¶ 〰️ Biofeedback Signal
In Microdose Beta we will be adding biofeedback input support with the Polar OH-1 optical heart sensor, connected via CHROMA Hub mobile.
¶ 🔌 OSC Input Signal
In Microdose Beta we will be adding support for arbitrary signals input by OSC.
- HZ / Frequency - The freqency of the OSC signal input is procesed at the same HZ as the current framerate
¶ Notes
¶ 📊 Modulators
Modulators are a modular data stream of alpha values which can be submodulated recursively with other modulators.
¶ 🎛️ Control Signal in TouchOSC
This is what the Control Signal panel looks like in the Touch OSC interface:
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SELECT - On the lower left is the Select Panel which is used for previewing all available signals.
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UPDATE - The update button at the lower left just fetches the latest data incase it falls out of sync due to network overload.
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READOUT - In the upper center is the Readout Panel which shows the current state of each signal parameter.
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BPM - The BPM driving parameters can be modified on a slider between
30-180BPM. -
TAP - The BPM phase and sync can be input by tapping this on the beat.
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CLOCK - In the lower center is the clock system which drives all time cycles which in turn drive LFOs.
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RESONANCE (In Development) - Currently not operational, will be implimented to create hypnotic trances with shader effects.
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TUNING (In Development) - Currently not operational, will be implimented to assign a global tuning frequency such as
528Hz.