Creative
Manifold Machine
A funnel of spinning rings built from little box modules, seen head-on as a mandala, that folds into petals and ripples with the music.
Manifold Machine builds a funnel of thirty rings, small and deep at the back and wide at the front, so that head-on it reads as a mandala. Each ring repeats one module made of boxes, such as fins, staples, frames, combs, towers or little lattices, all the way around its circle. Neighboring rings spin in opposite directions while they tilt, breathe and twist, and every few seconds one ring folds away and grows back as a different module. Ink outlines trace every edge, shading gathers in the crevices, and the far rings fade into a dark sky tinted by the current colors. By default the bass folds the rings into petals, the mids ripple them toward and away from you, and the highs stretch the modules outward in a wave around each ring.
Open Manifold Machine
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
World Tour · Mandala · Vortex · Deep Dive · Cathedral · Pulse · Blueprint · Orbit
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Re-Roll Every | World | Seconds between single rings folding away and growing back as a new shape. |
| Outlines | Look | Strength of the ink lines along every edge and crease. |
| Occlusion | Look | How much the modules shade the crevices between them. |
| Fog Distance | Look | How far past the fog start the rings fade into the sky. |
| Fog Start | Look | How far in front of the mandala the fog begins. |
| Speed | Motion | Overall pace of the rings; 0 freezes them while the camera keeps moving. |
| Ring Spin | Motion | How fast each ring turns; neighboring rings turn opposite ways. |
| Swirl | Motion | How far the funnel winds into a vortex from front to back; it slowly winds and unwinds. |
| Roll | Motion | How fast the whole mandala rolls; below zero it rolls the other way. |
| Petals | Motion | How deep the rings fold in and out into petals. |
| Ripple | Motion | How far the rings ripple toward and away from you. |
| Breathe | Motion | How far the modules stretch outward in a wave running around each ring. |
| Camera Speed | Camera | How fast the DRIFT or AUDIO camera travels. |
| Camera Swing | Camera | How far the DRIFT or AUDIO camera swings away from head-on. |
| Orbit | Camera | Turns the view around the mandala. |
| Height | Camera | Raises or lowers the view. |
| Roll Angle | Camera | Tilts the picture. |
| Distance | Camera | How far the camera sits from the center of the mandala. |
| Field of View | Camera | From a narrow lens to a wide one that pulls the outer rings past you. |
Settings reference
World
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| World | CITRUS, LAGOON, LILAC, EMBER, SORBET, TEAL & GOLD, ROSE, SKY, MOSS, MUTED | The colors new rings take; choosing a world regrows every ring from the center outward. |
| World Cycle | 0s–120s | Seconds before the mandala moves on to the next world; 0 holds the chosen world. |
| Re-Roll Every | 0.2s–10s | Seconds between single rings folding away and growing back as a new shape. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Beat Re-Roll | 0–1 | Share of beats that also make a ring fold away and grow back as a new shape. |
Look
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sky | NIGHT, DAY | NIGHT tints a dark sky with the world's colors; DAY brings back the brighter pastel sky, held below full brightness. |
| Outlines | 0–1 | Strength of the ink lines along every edge and crease. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Occlusion | 0–1 | How much the modules shade the crevices between them. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Fog Distance | 5–150 | How far past the fog start the rings fade into the sky. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Fog Start | 0–60 | How far in front of the mandala the fog begins. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity | 0–3 | How strongly the music drives the rings. |
| Response | 0–1 | Higher values smooth the reaction to the music; lower values follow every hit. |
Motion
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 0x–3x | Overall pace of the rings; 0 freezes them while the camera keeps moving. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Ring Spin | 0x–4x | How fast each ring turns; neighboring rings turn opposite ways. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Swirl | 0–0.12 | How far the funnel winds into a vortex from front to back; it slowly winds and unwinds. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Roll | -0.1–0.1 | How fast the whole mandala rolls; below zero it rolls the other way. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Petals | 0x–2.5x | How deep the rings fold in and out into petals. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Ripple | 0x–2.5x | How far the rings ripple toward and away from you. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Breathe | 0x–3x | How far the modules stretch outward in a wave running around each ring. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | DRIFT, STAGE, AUDIO | DRIFT swings slowly in front of the mandala; STAGE holds the view where you set it; AUDIO swings around it while the music plays. |
| Camera Speed | 0x–4x | How fast the DRIFT or AUDIO camera travels. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Camera Swing | 0–2 | How far the DRIFT or AUDIO camera swings away from head-on. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Auto Orbit | -1–1 | Keeps the STAGE view turning around the mandala; below zero it turns the other way. |
| Orbit | -3.14–3.14 | Turns the view around the mandala. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Height | -1.4–1.4 | Raises or lowers the view. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Roll Angle | -3.14–3.14 | Tilts the picture. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Distance | 8–120 | How far the camera sits from the center of the mandala. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Field of View | 30°–120° | From a narrow lens to a wide one that pulls the outer rings past you. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Background
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Background Opacity | 0–1 | How much of the night sky shows; at 0 only the rings draw. |
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
- Start with World Tour, which moves through every color world, then try Mandala for a flat head-on view, Vortex for a winding, faster funnel, or Deep Dive to sit inside the rings.
- Pick a color under World to regrow every ring from the center outward in those colors. World Cycle moves on to the next world after that many seconds; set it to 0 to stay in the chosen world.
- Re-roll Every sets how often a single ring folds away and grows back as a new module, and Beat Re-roll lets a share of the beats re-roll one more.
- Raise Petals, Ripple or Breathe for deeper folds, ripples and stretches; these are the controls the music drives by default.
- Use Swirl and Roll to wind the funnel into a vortex and roll the whole mandala, and Ring Spin to change how fast the rings turn. Speed 0 freezes the rings while the camera keeps moving.
- Drift swings the camera slowly in front of the mandala. Choose Stage to hold your own view with Orbit, Height and Distance, or Audio to swing around it only while the music plays. Field of View runs from a narrow lens to a wide one that pulls the outer rings past you.
- Turn down Outlines or Occlusion for a cleaner, flatter look, and raise Fog Distance to see the far rings more clearly.
- Choose Day under Sky for a pale pastel sky in the colors of the current world. It stays below full brightness, so the brightest worlds look a little softer; Night returns the dark sky.
- Lower Background Opacity to layer the rings over another source in Studio; the sky and the fog fade away while the rings stay solid.