Planetoidal Life
Planetoidal Life is a space-themed audio-reactive scene in BeamTracer Audio Visualizers, built on WebGPU. Settings, audio modulation, presets, and tips.
Planetoidal Life 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 Planetoidal Life
Launch the visualizer with its matching left-nav entry selected.
DNA Helix
Choose DNA HELIX under Visualization, then choose a DNA View. SINGLE keeps the original colorful helix and its scrolling perspective. LIQUID places several dark-backed molecules in blue water, with gently bending axes, drifting particles and colored base pairs. The waveform travels along the helices and changes their width as the music plays. The DNA LIQUID preset opens the layered water view with automatic following.
Use Mouse Controls to move around the strands, or turn orbit off and enable Auto Follow for a gentle drifting view. Zoom moves closer or farther away, and the palette changes the base-pair colors.
Tendrils
Choose TENDRILS under Visualization (or the Tendrils preset) for four to eight rope-textured tentacles braided along a diagonal through the frame, with glowing embers caught in the gaps between them and a dark teal glow that softens toward the edges. The ropes wrap around one another without ever passing through each other.
- The music moves the braid. Louder passages make the ropes writhe faster in tighter coils, bass pulls the braid tighter, beats make the embers flare and surge along it, and highs add a sheen to the ropes and a flicker to the embers.
- Sound travels along every rope. Each rope carries its own slice of the spectrum and the waveform from one end to the other, so you can watch a kick swell through the braid. With no sound playing the ropes keep their shape.
- Shape it in the Tendrils section. Tentacles, Braid, Writhe, Thickness, Embers, Ember Color, Rope Detail, Edge Blur and Background each change the picture, and every slider can take an Assign modulation route.
Interesting facts
Earth's own beginning was violent: a molten early world, an era of heavy asteroid bombardment, and, somewhere in that chaos, the first stirrings of life. BeamTracer's staged progression — molten core, drifting "creatures," a cratered aftermath — is a symbolic narrative built for sound, not a documentary timeline of actual events.
- Earth's first era earned a hellish name. Geologists call the period from about 4.5 to 3.8 billion years ago the Hadean, after the Greek underworld, because the young planet's surface was largely molten rock.
- The crust — and the oceans — cooled fast. Within a few million years the surface solidified enough for water vapor to condense and rain out, forming Earth's earliest oceans while the planet's interior stayed intensely hot.
- A bombardment scarred the inner solar system. Roughly 4 billion years ago, a spike in asteroid impacts is thought to have repeatedly melted, buried, and reworked Earth's surface, a period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment.
- The bombardment probably didn't sterilize Earth. NASA-funded modeling found no realistic scenario in which the impacts wiped out the whole planet, suggesting heat-tolerant microbial life could have persisted in refuges — or even used impact-driven hydrothermal heat to get started.
- Life's timing may track the oceans. Some researchers now argue life could have emerged around the same time Earth's oceans first appear in the geologic record, rather than waiting until after the bombardment fully subsided.
These details are summarized from NASA Astrobiology's "Did Hades Freeze Over?", NASA Science's "What is the Late Heavy Bombardment?", and NASA Astrobiology's coverage of microbial habitability during the bombardment.
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
Asteroids · DNA Helix · DNA Liquid · Genesis · Tendrils
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Particles | Core | Sets how many particles and objects fill the scene, such as asteroids, flocking creatures or molten debris, so higher values give a denser, busier scene. Available for Classic and Genesis. |
| Tentacles | Tendrils | Sets how many ropes braid through the frame, from four to eight. |
| Braid | Tendrils | Sets how tightly the ropes wrap around one another: low values let them loop wide and loose, high values pull them into a tight, steep twist. Bass tightens the braid further. |
| Writhe | Tendrils | Sets how far and how fast the ropes writhe. Louder music makes them writhe faster, in tighter coils. |
| Thickness | Tendrils | Sets how thick each rope is. |
| Embers | Tendrils | Sets how many glowing embers drift through the gaps in the braid, and how hot they burn. Beats make them flare and surge along the braid. |
| Rope Detail | Tendrils | Sets how fine and deep the twisted strands and fibers of each rope are. |
| Edge Blur | Tendrils | Softens and darkens the picture toward the edges of the frame, keeping the center sharp. |
| Glow | Material | Sets the visible strength of glow. |
| Background Hue Shift | Colors | Moves the color around the color spectrum. |
| Hue Speed | Colors | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. |
| Speed | Animation | Sets how quickly speed changes or moves. |
| Intensity | Animation | Sets the strength of the selected visual effect. |
Settings reference
Core
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Visualization | CLASSIC, DNA HELIX, GENESIS, TENDRILS | Chooses the visualization mode or style. |
| DNA View | SINGLE, LIQUID | Keeps the original single helix or opens several molecules drifting in water. |
| Tunnel Type | STAGE I, STAGE II, STAGE III | Chooses the tunnel type mode or style. |
| Particles | 0.1–1 | Sets how many particles and objects fill the scene, such as asteroids, flocking creatures or molten debris, so higher values give a denser, busier scene. Available for Classic and Genesis. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Tendrils
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Tentacles | 4–8 | Sets how many ropes braid through the frame, from four to eight. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Braid | 0–1 | Sets how tightly the ropes wrap around one another: low values let them loop wide and loose, high values pull them into a tight, steep twist. Bass tightens the braid further. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Writhe | 0–2 | Sets how far and how fast the ropes writhe. Louder music makes them writhe faster, in tighter coils. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Thickness | 0.4x–2x | Sets how thick each rope is. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Embers | 0–2 | Sets how many glowing embers drift through the gaps in the braid, and how hot they burn. Beats make them flare and surge along the braid. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Ember Color | Color | Sets the color of the embers and the light they cast on the ropes. |
| Rope Detail | 0–1 | Sets how fine and deep the twisted strands and fibers of each rope are. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Edge Blur | 0–1 | Softens and darkens the picture toward the edges of the frame, keeping the center sharp. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Background | Color | Sets the color of the glow behind the braid. |
Material
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Glow | 0.5x–2x | Sets the visible strength of glow. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Colors
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Palette | Color | Sets the palette. |
| Background Opacity | 0–1 | Fades the deep-space backdrop, starfield, corona halo, lens flares and the glow behind the braid so the spheres, helix, molten planet or ropes can float over your own footage, while the subject itself stays in place. |
| Background Color | Color | Sets the background color. |
| Background Auto Hue | On / Off | Turns background auto hue on or off. |
| Background Hue Shift | 0–1 | Moves the color around the color spectrum. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Background Hue Speed | 0.01–1 | Sets how quickly background hue changes or moves. |
| Hue Animation | On / Off | Turns hue animation on or off. |
| Hue Speed | 0.01–1 | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Master Gain | 0x–2x | 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 | 0.01–0.95 | Balances immediate audio response against steadier motion. |
Animation
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 0.2x–3x | Sets how quickly speed changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Intensity | 0.3x–2x | Sets the strength of the selected visual effect. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Asteroid Spread | 0.1x–3x | Controls how far elements separate from the center or from one another. |
| Asteroid Gravity | 0.1x–3x | Sets the downward pull on moving elements. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Mouse Controls | On / Off | Turns mouse controls on or off. |
| Auto Follow | On / Off | Turns auto follow on or off. |
| Zoom | 0.5x–3x | 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
- Use bass for the largest orbital or camera motion and highs for stars, sparks, or glow accents.
- Try assigning Bass to Particles, then compare Mid, High, and Volume while the demo track plays. The slider's live fill shows the signal reaching that control.