How Do I Turn a Video into a 3D Time Cube?

In BeamTracer PERFORMER, load a moving video, add TIME CUBE, and wait for FULL CLIP to finish preparing. Move PLAYHEAD to reveal its recorded moments in 3D. Choose PERSON to isolate the performer, then turn ONION SKIN on to keep faint poses around the selected frame.

Hi, I'm Trina with BeamTracer.com. Watch the hands as the playhead moves. You can scrub the gesture forward and backward, or turn the camera to see the poses from the side.

TRINA · HANDS with BACKGROUND → PERSON and ONION SKIN on. The playhead moves through recorded moments in both directions. All demonstrations are silent.

How do I build a Time Cube from a video?

Load a clip with a visible movement, then add TIME CUBE after VISUAL SOURCE. BeamTracer samples 64 frames across the full clip. The first frame sits at the front of the block and the last at the back; dragging PLAYHEAD chooses how far through that interval you look.

What is the difference between Time Block and Frame Stack?

TIME BLOCK shows a volume of recorded moments. CROSS-SECTION exposes the selected rectangular plane in 3D. FRAME STACK separates the pictures into layers, while 2D FRAME shows a single selected moment flat. Try each view on the same gesture before adjusting the camera.

The VIEW buttons change how the captured interval is drawn. PLAYHEAD continues selecting moments from the same prepared clip.

In FRAME STACK, FRAMES chooses how many layers appear, FRAME SPREAD separates them, and FRAME TWIST turns neighboring layers. These controls change the presentation of the stored pictures. They do not add new source frames.

FRAME STACK with 12 frames, FRAME SPREAD 0.60 and FRAME TWIST 0.30.

How do I keep faint poses while scrubbing backward?

Turn ONION SKIN → ON to retain faint layers on both sides of the playhead in the three 3D views. The selected frame moves through those fixed layers. GHOST OPACITY controls how visible they are, and GHOST RANGE controls how much of the captured interval they cover.

ONION SKIN stays on at the same playhead position. GHOST OPACITY changes from 0 to 0.12, then 0.22.

Start with low ghost opacity so the current pose stays readable. PRESENT OPACITY controls that selected frame separately. 2D FRAME remains a single flat image even with Onion Skin enabled.

How do I orbit the cube without changing the recorded movement?

Use CAMERA → ORBIT, PITCH and DISTANCE to change the viewpoint around the prepared pictures. SIZE has a shared CUBE SIZE, plus separate WIDTH, HEIGHT and TIME DEPTH controls. Turn CUBE OUTLINE on when you want the time axis to remain visible.

ORBIT moves from −40° to 40° with PITCH at 14°. The source clip is unchanged.

Can I use a live camera or visualizer instead?

Yes. Cameras, screens and visualizers use RECENT HISTORY, which keeps up to eight seconds of recent pictures. Let the captured-seconds readout fill before choosing HISTORY → FROZEN. An uploaded video can also use Recent History when you want to capture it together with a changing live visualizer.

Full Clip reads the uploaded video from beginning to end. Recent History records what is happening at Time Cube's position in the rack. Effects above the cube become part of its captured pictures; effects below it treat the finished volume. The Time Cube reference explains the background and motion-sculpture options.