Particle Man
Particle Man is a particle-driven audio-reactive scene in BeamTracer Audio Visualizers. Shape its response in your browser with settings, audio modulation, presets, and tips.
Particle Man is a particle-driven audio-reactive scene in the Particles category. Open it from the left visualizer list, start an audio source, and use the settings panel to shape its response.
Open Particle Man
Launch the visualizer with its matching left-nav entry selected.
Move the figure with your hand
In this example, Hand is set to Follow: the visualizer moves toward the tracked hand as it crosses the picture. Use the playback controls to pause or replay the motion.
- Switch to Performer, pick Particle Man, and put your camera under it: open the FX Rack, add Visual Source, choose your camera and set its Visualizer to Over.
- Under Hand Tracking, leave Hand on Follow and raise a hand. The whole figure glides to it and stays under it on screen; push your hand toward the camera and it comes nearer, pull it back and it drifts away.
- Scatter sends it to the other side instead. With no hand in view it returns to the middle.
Set Hand to Draw Path, then point with one finger and trace a loop in the air (or drag one with the mouse). A thin line shows what you drew, then the figure walks it, round and round for a closed loop or back and forth along an open stroke, until Path Life runs out. Hold up an open palm for a moment, or double-click, to clear it.
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
Neon Dream · Golden Hour · Midnight · Reactor Core · Crystal Matrix · Neural Storm · Stardust · Ember Drift · Deep Sea · Plasma Wave · Cosmic Egg · Total Eclipse
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Material | Sets the visible size. |
| Size Variation | Material | Sets the visible size variation. |
| Curl Frequency | Material | Sets how tightly the particle curl pattern repeats. |
| Curl Amplitude | Material | Controls the distance of the motion from its resting position. |
| Max Distance | Material | Sets the spacing between visible elements. |
| Hue Speed | Colors | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. |
| Hue Speed | Colors | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. |
| Hue Speed | Colors | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. |
| Speed | Animation | Sets how quickly speed changes or moves. |
| Rotation | Animation | Sets the rotation of the visible composition. |
Settings reference
Core
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Geometry | AUTO, BOX, CYLINDER, TORUS, TORUS KNOT, SPHERE, CONE, OCTAHEDRON, ICOSA | Chooses the geometry mode or style. |
| Auto Mix | On / Off | Turns auto mix on or off. |
| Mix Mode | AUTO, BEATS, TIME | Chooses the mix mode or style. |
| Cycle Interval | 2s–30s | Sets how many seconds pass before the figure rebuilds itself with a fresh random mix of detail; available when Auto Mix is on and Mix Mode is Time. |
| Beat Threshold | 0.1–0.8 | Sets the level that must be crossed before beat appears. |
Material
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 0.5px–4px | Sets the visible size. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Size Variation | 10–100 | Sets the visible size variation. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Curl Frequency | 0.5–5 | Sets how tightly the particle curl pattern repeats. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Curl Amplitude | 0.2–3 | Controls the distance of the motion from its resting position. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Max Distance | 0.5–4 | Sets the spacing between visible elements. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Colors
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Start Color | Color | Sets the start color. |
| Auto Hue | On / Off | Turns auto hue on or off. |
| Hue Speed | 0.01–0.5 | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| End Color | Color | Sets the end color. |
| Auto Hue | On / Off | Turns auto hue on or off. |
| Hue Speed | 0.01–0.5 | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Background | Color | Sets the background. |
| Auto Hue | On / Off | Turns auto hue on or off. |
| Hue Speed | 0.01–0.5 | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Reactive | On / Off | Turns audio reactive on or off. |
| Master Gain | 0.5x–3x | Sets how strongly the input signal affects master. |
| Bass Intensity | 0–2 | Sets the visible bass intensity. |
| Mid Intensity | 0–2 | Sets the visible mid intensity. |
| High Intensity | 0–2 | Sets the visible high intensity. |
| Smoothing | 0–0.99 | Balances immediate audio response against steadier motion. |
Hand Tracking
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Hand | FOLLOW, SCATTER, DRAW PATH, OFF | In Performer with your camera on, FOLLOW draws the figure to your hand, SCATTER makes it flee, and DRAW PATH lets you point and draw a curve in the air (or drag with the mouse) for the figure to walk along; with no hand in view it stays in the middle. |
| Hand Strength | 0–3 | How hard your hand, or the drawn path, pulls or pushes the figure. |
| Hand Depth | 0–3 | How far the figure moves toward you or away as you hold your hand nearer the camera than your face, or farther back; with DRAW PATH, how deep the drawn curve runs. 0 keeps the figure on one plane. |
| Path Speed | 0–1 | How fast the figure walks along the drawn path. |
| Path Life | 2–30 | How long a drawn stroke stays before it fades; holding up an open palm for a moment clears it. |
| Show Path | ON, OFF | Draws the path itself as a trail of dots while you draw it, larger where it comes toward you, then fades it out as the figure take it over. |
Animation
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Rotate | On / Off | Turns auto rotate on or off. |
| Speed | 0.05–0.5 | Sets how quickly speed changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Rotation | 0–1 | Sets the rotation of the visible composition. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom | 6–20 | Sets the visual zoom. |
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
- Let bass control particle scale or spread, while highs drive sparkle or trail detail for a clearer sense of depth.
- Try assigning Bass to Size, then compare Mid, High, and Volume while the demo track plays. The slider's live fill shows the signal reaching that control.