Play FX Rack controls

BeamTracer FX Rack sliders can follow your hands, face, music, or a controller. Open Assign modulation beside a slider and choose the source you want. Use Visual Source when tracking a camera or video, then adjust the route while you watch the slider and the effect respond together.

How do I move a slider with my hands or face?

Any slider can follow the camera instead of the music. Open its source picker and choose from Camera tracking: Hand in view and Face in view (1 while one is tracked), Hand X and Hand Y, Fingertip X and Fingertip Y, Pointing, Mouth X and Mouth Y (where your mouth is in the picture), Pinch (thumb and index finger together), Hand open (fist to open palm), Hand near and Face near (how close to the camera), Hand depth (your hand held toward the camera or back, against your face), Mouth open, Head turn, Body speed and Object count. The rack starts tracking what that source needs on its own; TRACK doesn't have to be on. The moving meter shows the value applied to the effect.

• Put your camera (or a video) under the effects with VISUAL SOURCE first: the sources read what the picture shows, so Hand X follows the hand you see, mirrored with the camera.

How do I try hand height with BABY TRACK?

Use BABY TRACK with your camera or an uploaded pointing video, then assign Hand Y to TRACK → LINE SIZE under STYLE. Your hand height changes the tracking line size while the look's boxes keep following the picture.

1. Add VISUAL SOURCE and select your camera or upload a video showing a hand.
2. Open LOOKS and select BABY TRACK.
3. Open TRACK, expand STYLE, find LINE SIZE, and select Assign modulation.
4. Choose Camera tracking → Hand Y and move your hand up and down while watching the line size.
5. Use RECORD for your camera, or RENDER → RENDER VIDEO → SAVE VIDEO for an uploaded video in MP4 or WebM.

• Assign Hand open to Blur → Amount to soften the picture as you open your hand, or Hand X to Zoom → Amount to zoom in as your hand moves right.
• This works on the visualizer's own sliders too, while you play in Performer.
• A source holds its last value while your hand or face is out of view. Camera tracking needs RECORD. FX Rack routes can follow tracking from an uploaded video during RENDER.

How do I make an effect follow the music?

Every slider in the rack has Assign modulation. Open its source picker and choose bass, mids, highs, volume, the beat, or one of the LFO generators. Up to slider keeps the response between the control's minimum and your selected endpoint. The moving meter shows the value currently applied to the effect. In the POINT CLOUD look with PUSH LAYOUT: FOREGROUND, assign LFO B to PARTICLES → PEAKS, LFO A to HAND STIR and Peak to STIR REACH, each Up to slider: the cloud pushes toward you with the music while your hand stirs it harder and wider as the track swells. Or assign bass to Barrel → Amount for a fisheye that bulges on every kick, or mids to Kaleido → Spin for a kaleidoscope that turns faster as the music fills in.

How do I make an effect react only above a threshold?

Assign an audio source, open its green pill, and choose Gate · react above a threshold. Set Threshold above the incoming input level. Gate opens when input reaches the threshold and closes below it. Attack (s), Release (s), and Smooth shape the response; Release and Smooth can leave a tail after closure.

The graph labels Incoming input and Shaped output separately. Compare input with the dashed Gate threshold line. The green line shows shaped output. Threshold uses the source’s 0–1 scale; zero opens the Gate even at zero input. Gate changes the assigned control without muting the soundtrack.

For supported controls, Up to slider sets the maximum response. A settled closed Gate returns toward zero, or the closest valid value for the control. Applied shows the current effect value; Maximum shows the value set by the handle. Use Inverted when you want the response reversed.

How do I see what a modulation route is doing?

Open an assigned control’s green pill to see Input, Envelope, Smooth, and Output. Input is the incoming source; Envelope follows Attack (s) and Release (s); Smooth rounds that response. Output includes Amount and Polarity. The control’s Applied meter shows the resulting effect value, which uses the control’s own range.

The history separates Incoming input from Shaped output and shows the current Attack, Release, and Smooth values below it. For Exponential or Logarithmic, the Curve graph labels Input and Response on a 0–1 scale; it shows that mapping before the other route settings. Use the live history to see their combined response. Source unavailable means the source cannot currently supply a value; Held · no new evaluations means the displayed sample has not changed.

How do I play the rack from a MIDI controller?

The MIDI / OSC strip at the bottom of the rack shows whether a MIDI controller (MIDI) and the OSC bridge (OSC) are connected; hover a light for details. Press LEARN there, click any slider, effect, HIDE or HIT button, then move a knob, press a pad or press a key on your keyboard. Open the strip to see your devices, connect the OSC bridge, and remove what is mapped to the rack; the settings icon opens Performer Settings → MIDI for everything else (MIDI & OSC Integration):

• a slider follows a knob or fader
• an effect under ADD AN EFFECT switches it on from a pad (adding it if needed) and hides it on the next press
• HIDE hides and shows that effect from a pad, a key, or its OSC address (…/hide)
• HIT punches the effect from a pad
• FX Rack (the rack's own on/off) is listed in the learn banner

A choice such as Gradient Map → Palette or ASCII → Characters steps to its next option on each press.

Where do I go next?

Return to the FX Rack overview to choose another task. Compare controls in the effects reference, or follow the rendering guide to save your result.