Space
Planetary Accretion
Planetary Accretion is a space-themed audio-reactive scene in BeamTracer Audio Visualizers. Shape its response in your browser with settings, audio modulation, presets, and tips.
Planetary Accretion 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 Planetary Accretion
Launch the visualizer with its matching left-nav entry selected.
Interesting facts
Real planets grow through collision: over millions of years, small bodies in a young star's disc repeatedly crash into and stick to one another, gradually building up mass until a handful of dominant bodies remain. BeamTracer's N-body gravity sandbox turns that long, patient process into a fast, audio-reactive spectacle rather than a scale simulation of real accretion timescales.
- Growth is a snowball process. Dust grains coalesce into pebbles, pebbles into kilometer-scale planetesimals, and planetesimals into protoplanets — each stage only proceeds if collisions are gentle enough for material to stick rather than shatter.
- The Moon may be impact debris. The leading explanation for the Moon's origin holds that a Mars-sized protoplanet struck the young Earth a glancing blow, throwing molten material into orbit that later gathered itself into the Moon.
- Building a rocky planet is slow. Terrestrial worlds like Earth and Mars are thought to take on the order of tens of millions of years to fully assemble after their star ignites — vastly longer than the seconds-scale mergers you can trigger in a preset.
- Gas giants raced ahead. Jupiter and Saturn appear to have built their cores and grabbed most of their gas within roughly the solar system's first 10 million years, before the surrounding disc dissipated.
- Scientists can date the last big hit. Because a radioactive form of hafnium decays into tungsten on a short half-life, researchers use the ratio of the two elements in rock samples to pin down when a planet's last giant collision happened.
These details are summarized from NASA StarChild's explainer on the Moon's origin, NASA Science's "How Do Planets Form?", and NASA JPL's "Cultivating a Planetary Garden".
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
Default · Audio Rings · Spaghetti Monster · Tight Orbit · Nebula Storm · Micro Cosmos
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Simulation Speed | Core | Sets how quickly simulation changes or moves. |
| Local Gravity | Core | Sets the downward pull on moving elements. |
| Body Spin | Visual | Sets the body spin of the visible composition. |
| Sun Light Intensity | Visual | Sets the visible sun light intensity. |
| Radius | Audio Rings | Sets the visible radius. |
| Amplitude | Audio Rings | Controls the distance of the motion from its resting position. |
| Opacity | Audio Rings | Sets the overall transparency. |
| Distance | Camera | Sets how far the camera sits from the subject. |
Settings reference
Core
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Planet Count | 100–3000 | Sets how many visible elements are drawn. |
| Simulation Speed | 0.1–4 | Sets how quickly simulation changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Sun Mass | 20–300 | Sets how strongly the sun pulls the planets toward it and how large it appears, so higher values give faster, tighter orbits and a bigger sun. |
| Local Gravity | 0–0.01 | Sets the downward pull on moving elements. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Local Gravity On | On / Off | Turns local gravity on or off. |
| Collision Merge | On / Off | Turns collision merge on or off. |
| Softening | 0–10 | Softens gravity at very close range so planets passing near the sun or each other are not flung away violently; higher values give gentler close encounters. |
| Grid Cell Size | 20–240 | Sets the visible grid cell size. |
Spawn
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Spawn Radius Min | 80–600 | Sets the visible spawn radius min. |
| Spawn Radius Max | 120–800 | Sets the visible spawn radius max. |
| Spawn Polar Min | 0°–180° | Sets one edge of the vertical band, measured from the top pole, in which new planets start; 90° is the flat middle plane, so keeping both Spawn Polar sliders near 90° gives a thin disc. |
| Spawn Polar Max | 0°–180° | Sets the other edge of the vertical band, measured from the top pole, in which new planets start; spreading it far from Spawn Polar Min gives a thicker, rounder cloud. |
| Min Mass | 0.2–8 | Sets the smallest mass a new planet can start with, which also sets how small the lightest planets look. |
| Max Mass | 0.5–20 | Sets the largest mass a new planet can start with, which also sets how big the heaviest planets look. |
| Min Velocity | 0–25 | Sets the slowest sideways speed a new planet can start with around the sun. |
| Max Velocity | 0–30 | Sets the fastest sideways speed a new planet can start with around the sun. |
Visual
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Body Size | 0.2–3 | Sets the visible body size. |
| Body Roughness | 0–1 | Moves the surface from polished toward matte. |
| Body Metalness | 0–1 | Moves the surface from non-metallic toward metallic. |
| Body Spin | 0.1–5 | Sets the body spin of the visible composition. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Sun Size | 0.2–3 | Sets the visible sun size. |
| Sun Light | Color | Sets the sun light. |
| Sun Light Intensity | 0–200000 | Sets the visible sun light intensity. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Audio Earth Skybox | On / Off | Turns audio earth skybox on or off. |
| Rock Texture | Text, up to 200 characters | Sets the text used for rock texture. |
Realistic Sun · Sun Fx
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Glow | On / Off | Turns glow on or off. |
| Rays | On / Off | Turns rays on or off. |
| Flares | On / Off | Turns flares on or off. |
| Fx Occlusion | On / Off | Turns fx occlusion on or off. |
Realistic Sun · Sun Detail
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Spatial Frequency | 1–12 | Sets how tightly the visible surface pattern repeats. |
| Temporal Frequency | 0.01–1 | Sets how quickly temporal frequency changes or moves. |
| H | 0.1–1.5 | Sets how much fine detail the sun's surface keeps, so higher values give a grainy, turbulent surface and lower values smooth, large blotches. |
| Contrast | 0.05–1 | Sets how strongly the sun's surface pattern varies between light and dark areas, so higher values give bolder swirls. |
| Flatten | 0–1 | Breaks the sun's surface pattern into patches with calm, featureless areas between them, with 0 leaving the pattern untouched. |
| Fresnel Power | 0.1–6 | Sets how tightly the bright rim glow hugs the sun's edge, so higher values give a thin, sharp rim and lower values a wide, soft one. |
| Fresnel Influence | 0–2 | Sets how strong the bright glow around the sun's edge is, with 0 removing it. |
Realistic Sun · Sun Appearance
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Tint | 0.01–1 | Sets how hot the sun's color looks, with low values giving a deep red-orange sun and high values shifting toward yellow-white. |
| Base | 0–10 | Sets how strongly the surface pattern drives the sun's brightness, so higher values make the surface brighter and more varied. |
| Offset | 0–3 | Adds a constant glow across the whole sun surface, lifting the dark areas without changing the pattern. |
| Brightness | 0–2 | Sets the visible strength of brightness. |
| Visibility | 0–2 | Sets how much of the sun's surface is shown, so low values fade away part of the sphere and high values show all of it. |
| Direction | -1–1 | Chooses which side of the sun fades away when Visibility is low, with positive values keeping the side facing the sun light and negative values keeping the opposite side. |
Realistic Sun · Sun Motion
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Animation Speed | 0.005–0.2 | Sets how quickly animation changes or moves. |
| Noise Speed | 0.01–0.4 | Sets how quickly noise changes or moves. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Master Gain | 0x–3x | 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. |
Audio Rings
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| FFT Sun Ring | On / Off | Turns fft sun ring on or off. |
| Radius | 1–3 | Sets the visible radius. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Amplitude | 0.5–20 | Controls the distance of the motion from its resting position. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Opacity | 0–1 | Sets the overall transparency. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Ring Color | Color | Sets the ring color. |
| Time Domain | On / Off | Turns time domain on or off. |
| Shockwave Echo | On / Off | Turns shockwave echo on or off. |
| Echo Count | 2–15 | Sets how many visible elements are drawn. |
| Echo Speed | 0.01–0.2 | Sets how quickly echo changes or moves. |
| Echo Decay | 0.5–0.99 | Sets how long echo decay remains visible. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Camera Angle | DEFAULT, TOP, ISO, PLANET ORBIT, SOLAR ORBIT, CORONA | Chooses the camera angle mode or style. |
| Auto Camera | On / Off | Advances through the available eased camera views using the current BPM. |
| Beats Per View | 1–32 beats | Holds each view for this many beats before beginning the next camera move. |
| Remaining | Live readout | Counts down the current hold and previews the next camera view. |
| Distance | 120–1400 | Sets how far the camera sits from the subject. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Elevation | 5°–89° | Tilts the camera from a low, side-on view at 5° up to looking straight down on the orbits at 89°. Available when Camera Angle is Default. |
| Auto Rotate | On / Off | Turns auto rotate on or off. |
| Auto Rotate Speed | 0–1 | Sets how quickly auto rotate changes or moves. |
| Position | Live readout | Shows the current position. |
| Up | Live readout | Shows the current up. |
Dust Cloud
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Enabled | On / Off | Turns enabled on or off. |
| Particle Count | 1000–1000000 | Sets how many visible elements are drawn. |
| Inner Radius | 50–500 | Sets the visible inner radius. |
| Outer Radius | 200–1200 | Sets the visible outer radius. |
| Thickness | 1–80 | Sets the visible thickness. |
| Particle Size | 0.01–1 | Sets the visible particle size. |
| Opacity | 0.01–0.5 | Sets the overall transparency. |
| Taper | 0.5–5 | Controls how much the shape narrows along its length. |
| Color | Color | Sets the color. |
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 Simulation Speed, then compare Mid, High, and Volume while the demo track plays. The slider's live fill shows the signal reaching that control.