Space
Binary Star
Binary Star is a space-themed audio-reactive scene in BeamTracer Audio Visualizers, built on WebGPU. Settings, audio modulation, presets, and tips.
Binary Star is a space-themed audio-reactive scene in the Space category. Open it from the left visualizer list, start an audio source, and use the settings panel to shape its response.
Open Binary Star
Launch the visualizer with its matching left-nav entry selected.
Interesting facts
Solar systems with a single star, like ours, are actually the exception: most stars in the galaxy share their orbit with at least one companion. BeamTracer's live gravitational simulation of one to three stars turns that orbital dance into an audio-reactive instrument rather than a physically exact stellar-dynamics model.
- Company is the norm, not the exception. More than half of all stars visible in the sky have one or more companions, and binary and multiple-star systems are roughly twice as common in the galaxy as lone stars like the Sun.
- Our nearest neighbor is a trio. Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to the Sun, is made of two Sun-like stars orbiting each other roughly every 80 years, plus the small, faint red dwarf Proxima Centauri further out.
- The night sky's brightest star has a hidden partner. Sirius, the brightest star we see, is actually a binary: Sirius A is paired with Sirius B, a white dwarf smaller than Earth but so dense that its gravity was first inferred from a subtle wobble in Sirius A's motion decades before anyone saw it.
- Some binaries trade material. In close pairs, gas can flow from one star onto its companion — in the most extreme cases, material pulled toward a dense companion glows brightly in X-rays as it falls in.
- A binary pulsar proved gravitational waves were real. Timing the radio pulses from the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, discovered in 1974, showed its orbit slowly shrinking exactly as general relativity predicted for energy lost to gravitational radiation — indirect proof of gravitational waves decades before LIGO's direct detection, and worth a Nobel Prize.
These details are summarized from NASA Science's "Multiple Star Systems", NASA's image feature on the Alpha Centauri triple star system, NASA Science's Hubble measurement of Sirius B, and NASA's Imagine the Universe explainer on the Hulse-Taylor pulsar.
Quick start
- Start the demo track, choose a local audio file, or enable a live input.
- Try a preset or style first, then open the section for the part of the image you want to change.
- On a control with Assign modulation, open the source picker, choose a signal, and watch the slider's live fill.
- Use Reset to Defaults whenever you want to return to the original look.
Presets and styles
Binary Star · RGB · Fire · Stars · Orbits · Pulsar
Audio modulation
On a control with Assign modulation, select the activity icon to open Modulate with. Choose a named source, or choose — None to leave the control unmodulated. After you assign one, its name appears below the slider; select that name to edit the route, or use Clear modulation to remove it. The slider track shows the live signal reaching the control.
| Modulated control | Section | What the route changes |
|---|---|---|
| Particle Opacity | Core | Sets how transparent the particle appears. |
| Gravity Force | Material | Sets the downward pull on moving elements. |
| Max Accel | Material | Caps how hard a star can pull on a particle in a single moment, so low values give soft, lazy swirls and high values snap particles sharply toward the stars. |
| Max Velocity | Material | Sets the top speed any particle can reach, so lower values keep the cloud slow and heavy and higher values let particles streak across the screen. |
| Color Cycle | Material | Controls how strongly particle color shifts with speed, so at 0 the particles stay one color and higher values cycle fast-moving particles through Particle Color 1, 2 and 3 more times. |
| Star Hue Shift | Colors | Moves the color around the color spectrum. |
| Hue Shift | Colors | Moves the color around the color spectrum. |
| Orbit Speed | Animation | Sets how quickly orbit changes or moves. |
Settings reference
Core
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Star Count | 1 STAR, 2 STARS, 3 STARS | Chooses the star count mode or style. |
| Particle Count | 10000–300000 | Sets how many visible elements are drawn. |
| Particle Size | 1–48 | Sets the visible particle size. |
| Particle Opacity | 0.1–1 | Sets how transparent the particle appears. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Star Size | 32–320 | Sets the visible star size. |
| Auto Calibrate | On / Off | Turns auto calibrate on or off. |
| Calibration Target FPS | 30–120 | Sets the frame rate that Auto Calibrate aims for when it raises or lowers the number of particles. Available when Auto Calibrate is on. |
| Calibration Step | 1000–30000 | Sets how many particles Auto Calibrate adds or removes at each adjustment, so larger steps settle faster but in coarser jumps. Available when Auto Calibrate is on. |
| Calibration Window | 2s–20s | Sets how long automatic performance calibration runs. |
Material
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Gravity Force | 100–30000 | Sets the downward pull on moving elements. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Max Accel | 0.01–2 | Caps how hard a star can pull on a particle in a single moment, so low values give soft, lazy swirls and high values snap particles sharply toward the stars. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Max Velocity | 0.2–16 | Sets the top speed any particle can reach, so lower values keep the cloud slow and heavy and higher values let particles streak across the screen. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Gather Rate | 0.9–1 | Sets how quickly gather changes or moves. |
| Gravity Falloff | 1–3 | Sets the downward pull on moving elements. |
| Ring Size | 0–200 | Sets the visible ring size. |
| Mass Variance | 0–1 | Gives each particle a slightly different weight so some are pulled harder than others; at 0 the whole cloud moves in lockstep and higher values spread it into looser, more varied streams. |
| Color Cycle | 0–3 | Controls how strongly particle color shifts with speed, so at 0 the particles stay one color and higher values cycle fast-moving particles through Particle Color 1, 2 and 3 more times. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Colors
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Particle Color 1 | Color | Sets the particle color 1. |
| Particle Color 2 | Color | Sets the particle color 2. |
| Particle Color 3 | Color | Sets the particle color 3. |
| Background | Color | Sets the background. |
| Star 1 Color | Color | Sets the star 1 color. |
| Star 2 Color | Color | Sets the star 2 color. |
| Star 3 Color | Color | Sets the star 3 color. |
| Star Hue Shift | 0°–360° | Moves the color around the color spectrum. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Hue Shift | 0°–360° | Moves the color around the color spectrum. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Hue Animation | On / Off | Turns hue animation on or off. |
| Hue Speed | 0.01–1 | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Master Gain | 0x–3x | Sets how strongly the input signal affects master. |
| Smoothing | 0–0.99 | Balances immediate audio response against steadier motion. |
| Beat Explosions | On / Off | Turns beat explosions on or off. |
| Explosion Force | 0–4 | Sets how hard each beat throws the particles outward from the stars, so higher values make bigger bursts. Available when Beat Explosions is on. |
| Explosion Decay | 0.75–0.98 | Sets how long explosion decay remains visible. |
| Beat Sensitivity | 0.5x–3x | Sets how strongly the input signal affects beat. |
Animation
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit Mode | On / Off | Turns orbit mode on or off. |
| Orbit Radius | 0–900 | Sets the visible orbit radius. |
| Orbit Speed | 0–3 | Sets how quickly orbit changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Third Body Orbit | 0.1–2 | Sets the third body orbit of the visible composition. |
| Mouse Influence | 0–1 | Controls how far your pointer drags the first star away from its orbit, from 0 (ignores the pointer) to 1 (follows it fully). Available when Orbit Mode is on. |
| Input Smoothing | 0–0.99 | Balances immediate audio response against steadier motion. |
Some controls appear only after you enable a related mode or style. The settings panel always reflects the options available for the current selection.
Tips for a better audio visualization
- Use bass for the largest orbital or camera motion and highs for stars, sparks, or glow accents.
- Try assigning Bass to Particle Opacity, then compare Mid, High, and Volume while the demo track plays. The slider's live fill shows the signal reaching that control.