Beatline.xyz

04/05/2025

Testing my setup for an upcoming event. I am running "Pulse" to detect the BPM for the music that is transmitted using Ableton link.

Two copies of LaserOS, each with a different beat count for beam changes. It creates a more deliberate impression.

02/03/2025

I found it impossible to stop working on this program this weekend. Not quite there but I can select and edit the keyframes in the top right edit panel. The updates are all immediate in real-time.

I am pushing to implement key frame editing by mouse after which I want to make some purposeful animations to evaluate the UI.

28/02/2025

This is going incredibly well. The BeatLine beam editor is coming along nicely. Beatline beam editor is a web based program that will allow users to compose ILDA laser animation files and export them as .ILD file tuned to a any BPM and galvo scan rate.

Here you see the latest state of the timeline editor and underlying animation engine.

In this test it is animating two HTML circles on a browser using radius, color and position channels. There will be a whole lot more value channels for a wide range of beam patterns.

The Beatline beam editor is like CAD software and mathematically accurate. It allows users to create complex value animation curves by placing key frames (those yellow dots) that specify when a variable should be what value and how to get there by means to a large collection of transition functions called easing's.

You can expect lightning speed even on old laptops because the program pre-computes the animation sequences which are then simply played back. But in this specific program real-time isn't a big deal although I probably will add real-time output via the Helios Laser DAC for which you can find a web driver on my github page https://github.com/dinther/helios_dac-for-browser

The timeline editor also has many features that allow easier management of the multitude of value channels and key frames.

One feature I am particularly pleased with is the ability to collapse multiple value channels into a single line while still being able to see all the key frames. No more hunting for that elusive keyframe hiding in some obscure collapsed channel.

You can also box select keyframes across multiple value channels and shift them together along the time line. I am sure selected group scaling will follow at some point. Those red circles in the graphic are selected keyframes)

14/02/2025

Work keeps getting in the way of working on beatline, progress is slow but it is happening.

A white back I wrote a fast value animation lookup library that uses key frames and easing functions between the key frames.

Now I am working on a timeline UI where many such animation curves can be viewed, synchronized and tweaked. All real-time of course.

A complex laser animation might have hundreds or more of these animation curves so everything needs to be very fast.

This as the animation data has an unlimited resolution only the parts of the curves you can see are rendered. For this I use SVG which renders faster on a browser than bitmap graphics.

08/12/2024

Busy laser weekend on Waiheke Island in New Zealand. "Island Time" festival was on. Can we come to your party next?

New client contracted beatline to provide the lasers for a party event on Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland New Zealand.Super fun chill vibe but very ...

29/11/2024

Animations in the Beatline Beam Editor need to be accurate and FAST. There are amazing animation libraries out there but they are not fast enough.

In the beam editor most properties if not all can be animated which means there may be hundreds of animated values in play for a single beam.

I have written a light weight insanely fast animation class that precomputes a dense timeline using value keys with ease functions and then performs simple time indexed value lookups.

This makes it possible to have very complex value animations with advanced easing functions and still lookup values at a rate of 100 million values per second anywhere in the timeline.

I am working on the value key editor now so it can slot right into the beam editor UI.

https://github.com/dinther/ValueAt.js

25/11/2024

The most important job for Beatline beam editor is to produce very accurate animations that match the audio track even if the BPM varies a little.

In the UI the user can specify the BPM but then make fine adjustments along the way to keep things in sync.

This is the time base the animation engine uses. Animations based on beats and bars.

The dumb animation is just for me to visualize how well it is working.

11/11/2024

A little bit of progress on some UI stuff of the beam editor. I will have to re-do the circle source generator.

I came to the realization that an arc, circle and spiral are all the same thing. I also have to de-couple hot beams from the actual geometry points because the hot beams should not be re-ordered when less points are required to draw the same.

A source will have several color providers. This can be a fixed color, a color gradient as shown, an image or even video. I like the gradient editor because it is so compact yet it does everything you need it to do.

Each source can be transformed (translation, rotation and scale) the actual laser points are calculated at the very end for each frame in real-time based on the capability and fps requirements you have.

10/11/2024

If you want your Medusa mirror in the middle of the room but not your laser... I got you covered soon.

Place your laser out of harms way.

I am working on a receiver mirror that can mimic a virtual projector placement. In the video I have some stands holding up the receiver mirror so I can move it around during testing but the final design will have the light weight receiver mirror hanging under the Medusa nano mirror. Together requiring just half a foot of head room.

This solution is perfect for venues with low ceiling height and where there are limited options to place the laser itself.

07/11/2024

Time is running out for Christmas. While I tinker building a shop to replace Etsy, you can buy the Medusa nano today.

Order your Medusa nano mirrors and hit the link below.
Increase the quantity so you can experiment while saving on shipping.

https://buy.stripe.com/14kbKA42B1rN97a5kk

Mirrors are mailed by post in a C5 envelope. No tracking shipping takes 6 - 11 days.

07/11/2024

Still squeezing more miracles out of my laser cluster of 4 with expander lenses before the show on 9 Nov.

Playing "Yari - Blue Bay (3 layers)" included with LaserOS.

The Lasers are all level but the expander lenses can do this on the ceiling or on the floor or both just by adjusting the Y scale and Y positions.

06/11/2024

*********
Etsy suspended my account and did not give a reason. Paid orders have been shipped regardless. Maybe it was a bad idea to trust big tech.
*********

Finally I am ready to offer the Medusa nano mirror for sale. It has been a long road to get here. I have 20 mirrors available and 60 more in a week.

Order your Medusa nano mirror now and you have it ready for your Christmas show.

Checkout my new shop: Medusa nano laser effect mirror (130mm) https://etsy.me/3YEptm9