Daft Time

Daft Time is a clock and time-based visual in BeamTracer Audio Visualizers, built on WebGPU. Settings, audio modulation, presets, and tips.

Default demo track · live audio-reactive settings

Daft Time is a clock and time-based visual in the Date and Time category. Open it from the left visualizer list, start an audio source, and use the settings panel to shape its response.

Open Daft Time

Launch the visualizer with its matching left-nav entry selected.

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

Clock · Default · Daft Time · Neon Shatter · T-Rex · Countdown

Clock is the opening look: a chrome time readout on a dark stage. Default shows the wordmark as clean chrome lettering, and Countdown swaps the clock for a timer with the same styling.

The Daft Time preset opens as a clean chrome logo with Liquid Drops off and Drop Coverage at 0. Enable Liquid Drops when you want to add rounded drops to the surface. Its optional colored Tip Flares appear at the strongest lit edges, grow and fade in place, and can be tuned without moving the logo.

Neon Shatter carves glowing chips out of the chrome shell while colored wire lights orbit it, and T-Rex switches to the skeleton model framed from below so it towers over the camera.

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
Key 1 Position X	White Key Lights	Controls key 1 position x; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Key 1 Position Y	White Key Lights	Controls key 1 position y; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Key 1 Position Z	White Key Lights	Controls key 1 position z; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Key 1 Intensity	White Key Lights	Sets the visible key 1 intensity.
Key 2 Position X	White Key Lights	Controls key 2 position x; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Key 2 Position Y	White Key Lights	Controls key 2 position y; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Key 2 Position Z	White Key Lights	Controls key 2 position z; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Key 2 Intensity	White Key Lights	Sets the visible key 2 intensity.
Emitter Position X	Colored Emitters	Controls emitter position x; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Emitter Position Y	Colored Emitters	Controls emitter position y; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Emitter Position Z	Colored Emitters	Controls emitter position z; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Emitter Spread	Colored Emitters	Controls how far elements separate from the center or from one another.
Emissive Brightness	Colored Emitters	Sets the visible strength of emissive brightness.
Emissive Beam Width	Colored Emitters	Sets the visible emissive beam width.
Flare Size	Tip Flares	Changes the size of the strongest edge highlights.
Flare Brightness	Tip Flares	Changes the visible intensity of the strongest edge highlights.
Bg Hue Speed	Colors	Sets how quickly bg hue changes or moves.

Settings reference

Core

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Mesh Mode	FONT, MODEL, TIME	Chooses the mesh mode or style.

Time Display

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Clock Font	DAFT PUNK, HELVETIKER, ORBITRON, BEBAS NEUE, MONTSERRAT, OSWALD, RIGHTEOUS, BLACK OPS ONE	Chooses the clock font mode or style.
Display	CLOCK, COUNTDOWN, DATE	Chooses the display mode or style.
Time Zone	ACCOUNT DEFAULT, UTC, BERLIN, PACIFIC, NEW YORK, HONG KONG, LONDON, TOKYO, PARIS, MOSCOW, SYDNEY, MANILA, ROME, CAIRO, ANCHORAGE, DUBAI, DALLAS	Chooses the time zone mode or style.
Format	12H, 24H	Chooses the format mode or style.
Show Seconds	On / Off	Shows or hides seconds.
Hours	0–99	Controls hours; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Minutes	0–59	Controls minutes; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Seconds	0–59	Controls seconds; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Start / Stop	On / Off	Turns start / stop on or off.
Play Alarm Sound	On / Off	Turns play alarm sound on or off.

Model Source

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Model	BEAM, T-REX SKELETON, POOL FLOAT, PALM TREE, STORMTROOPER, MY MODEL (UPLOADED)	Chooses the model mode or style.

Mesh Transform

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Mesh Scale	0.1–2	Sets the visual mesh scale.
Mesh Scale X	0.1–2	Sets the visual mesh scale x.
Mesh Scale Y	0.1–2	Sets the visual mesh scale y.
Mesh Scale Z	0.1–2	Sets the visual mesh scale z.

Geometry & Droplets

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Thickness	0.001–1	Sets the visible thickness.
Smooth	0–2	Controls smooth; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Liquid Drops	On / Off	Turns liquid drops on or off.
Drop Coverage	0–10	Controls drop coverage; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Drop Size	0.2–3	Sets the visible drop size.
Drop Roundness	0–1	Controls drop roundness; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Drop Variation	0–1	Controls drop variation; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Drop Lift	0–1	Controls drop lift; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Invert	On / Off	Turns invert on or off.
Seed	0–1000	Controls seed; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Carve Radius	0–20	Sets the visible carve radius.
Carve Count	0–50	Sets how many visible elements are drawn.

Text Layout

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Text	Text	Sets the text used for text.
Font Size	1–50	Sets the visible font size.
Font Depth	0.1–20	Sets the visible font depth.
Curve Quality	1–36	Trades visual detail against performance.
Letter Spacing	-50–100	Sets the spacing between visible elements.
Line Spacing	0.1–3	Sets the spacing between visible elements.

Bevel

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Bevel	On / Off	Turns bevel on or off.
Bevel Thickness	0–5	Sets the visible bevel thickness.
Bevel Size	0–5	Sets the visible bevel size.
Bevel Smoothness	1–20	Controls bevel smoothness; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Bevel Offset	-2–2	Controls bevel offset; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Bevel Curvature	0–1	Controls bevel curvature; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.

White Key Lights

Setting	Available values	What it changes
White Key Lights	On / Off	Turns white key lights on or off.
Key 1 Position X	-100–100	Controls key 1 position x; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 1 Position Y	-100–100	Controls key 1 position y; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 1 Position Z	-150–150	Controls key 1 position z; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 1 Intensity	0–5	Sets the visible key 1 intensity. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 2 Position X	-100–100	Controls key 2 position x; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 2 Position Y	-100–100	Controls key 2 position y; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 2 Position Z	-150–150	Controls key 2 position z; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Key 2 Intensity	0–5	Sets the visible key 2 intensity. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.

Colored Emitters

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Colored Emissive Lights	On / Off	Turns colored emissive lights on or off.
Emitter Position X	-100–100	Controls emitter position x; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Emitter Position Y	-100–100	Controls emitter position y; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Emitter Position Z	-150–50	Controls emitter position z; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Emitter Spread	0.1–3	Controls how far elements separate from the center or from one another. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Emissive Brightness	0–10	Sets the visible strength of emissive brightness. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Emissive Beam Width	0–1	Sets the visible emissive beam width. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Emissive Beam Focus	0–1	Controls emissive beam focus; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Show Light Sources	On / Off	Shows or hides light sources.
Wireframe Lights	On / Off	Turns wireframe lights on or off.

Chrome Surface

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Chrome Contrast	0.5–2	Controls chrome contrast; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Chrome Specular	0–1.5	Controls chrome specular; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Material Roughness	0–1	Moves the surface from polished toward matte.
Surface Bulge	0–1	Controls surface bulge; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.
Liquid Scale	0.25–3	Sets the visual liquid scale.
Surface Ripple	0–1	Controls surface ripple; higher values increase the effect and lower values reduce it.

Tip Flares

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Tip Flares	On / Off	Shows or hides small colored highlights at the strongest lit edges.
Flare Count	0–12	Sets the maximum number of visible highlights.
Flare Size	0.2–3	Sets the visible size of each highlight. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Flare Brightness	0–1	Sets the visible intensity of each highlight. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.
Ray Length	0–1	Stretches or shortens the flare rays.
Twinkle	0–1	Sets how much each anchored highlight gently pulses.

Colors

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Bg Top	Color	Sets the bg top.
Bg Bottom	Color	Sets the bg bottom.
Bg Hue Animation	On / Off	Turns bg hue animation on or off.
Bg Hue Speed	0.01–1	Sets how quickly bg hue changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source.

Audio

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Master Gain	0x–5x	Sets how strongly the input signal affects master.
Bass Intensity	0x–3x	Sets the visible bass intensity.
Mid Intensity	0x–3x	Sets the visible mid intensity.
High Intensity	0x–3x	Sets the visible high intensity.
Smoothing	0.01–0.8	Balances immediate audio response against steadier motion.

Camera

Setting	Available values	What it changes
Distance	60–320	Sets the spacing between visible elements.
Height	-120–120	Sets the visible height.
Cinematic Orbit	On / Off	Turns cinematic orbit on or off.
Orbit Speed	0.1–5	Sets how quickly orbit changes or moves.
Camera Position	On / Off	Turns camera position on or off.

Some controls appear only after you enable a related mode or style. The settings panel always reflects the options available for the current selection.

Interesting fact

Default demo track · live audio-reactive settings

The chrome Discovery wordmark was a physical studio object, not a computer-generated render. Exhibition documentation says the letters were made by hand, chromed, and carefully lit with a rainbow of real lights—with no CGI or retouching—before Mitchell Feinberg photographed them. The finished cover remains in Feinberg’s Covers portfolio, and the making-of account appears in photographs from the 9321 Daft Punk exhibition.

Tips for a better audio visualization

Keep the clock face readable; route audio to the surrounding material, particles, or glow rather than every time element.
Try assigning Bass to Key 1 Position X, then compare Mid, High, and Volume while the demo track plays. The slider's live fill shows the signal reaching that control.

Daft Time

Open Daft Time

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