How Do I Turn a Video into Particles in My Browser?

To turn a video into particles, open BeamTracer Performer, load the video in FX RACK, and add PARTICLES. CLOUD rebuilds the picture as layers of colored points. Choose EMIT FROM → PERSON to remove the room from the particle picture, then raise HAND STIR to disturb nearby points with tracked hands.

Hi, I'm Trina with BeamTracer.com. Start with a recognizable portrait. When the eyes, hands and shirt are still readable as points, the movement has something to pull apart and return to.

The built-in TRINA · HANDS video, CLOUD mode and PERSON emission. HAND STIR is 0.70, with STIR REACH at 0.30. This demonstration is silent.

How do I make a particle portrait from a video?

Load a video through VIDEO · IMAGE in the FX Rack, then enable PARTICLES under PARTICLES & OUTLINES. Keep MODE → CLOUD and SOURCE → PICTURE. The particles take their colors from the moving source, so expressions and gestures continue playing inside the cloud.

ALL emission keeps the room as well as the person. SWING reveals the space between the four layers.

The MODE buttons change the treatment while the same source keeps playing. The controls below MODE change with the selected treatment.

GRID changes the sampling density. POINT SIZE changes how much of the picture each point fills. If the face becomes hard to read, reduce the swing or bring the points closer together before adding more motion. A higher point count also asks more of the GPU.

How do I keep only the person and react to hands?

Choose EMIT FROM → PERSON in PARTICLES, then raise HAND STIR. Person emission restricts the particle picture to the detected person. Hand stirring moves points near the tracked hands; STIR REACH sets the affected area. Try the opening recipe before changing several controls at once.

The person mask can miss hair or motion-blurred fingertips. Use a well-lit subject with hands inside the frame and inspect the moving result, especially when a hand crosses the face. The layers give a flat video depth; surfaces hidden from the camera remain missing.

How do I make particles flow away from the video?

Choose MODE → STREAM to let particles drift from the picture. DENSITY controls how many appear, LIFE how long they remain, and DRIFT SPEED how fast they travel. SCATTER spreads them away from their starting positions.

STREAM from PICTURE, DENSITY 0.60, LIFE 3 seconds, DRIFT SPEED 0.30 and SCATTER 0.40. Compare the loose trails with the recognizable CLOUD portrait above.

Start with a short life if the picture fills with old particles. Increase it when you want gestures to leave a longer trace. The same input video can make a readable portrait or a drifting field without replacing the source.

How do I draw just the edges as points?

Choose MODE → TIGHT CONTOURS for a dense point treatment around edges and motion. DETAIL sets the point lattice's density and CONTOUR GAIN changes how strongly the edges appear. This mode has its own controls; the CLOUD and STREAM settings do not all apply.

TIGHT CONTOURS with DETAIL 640, CONTOUR GAIN 2.00, POINT SIZE 1.20 and COLOR set to TINT. The source stays in motion throughout the clip.

Can I combine the particle picture with other effects?

Yes. The FX Rack processes effects in order, so an effect placed before PARTICLES changes the picture the particles receive. An effect placed afterward changes the finished particle picture. Add one effect at a time and compare the result before recording.

For a different tracked treatment, try the ASCII hand window. The FX Rack image-effects guide covers the other picture treatments. Save a short recording and watch the downloaded MP4 before using it in a set.