Prismatic Tetrahedra
Turn five interlocked tetrahedra into a buzzing neon sign: thick glowing tubes, a defective flicker, power surges and a waveform that bends every tube.
Prismatic Tetrahedra builds the classic star of five interlocked tetrahedra from thick glowing tubes in red, white, yellow, blue and cyan. Each tube carries bright rim lines along its edges and casts a colored halo into the dark, and the sculpture fills the frame edge to edge while it tumbles slowly. The tetrahedra drift in and out of their symmetric arrangement, so the crossings keep weaving in real depth, and a small tremor gives the whole sign an electric buzz. Every few seconds the red tube stutters dark like a failing sign, and every several seconds all of the tubes surge brighter for a moment. The live waveform travels along the joined tube segments and bends their spans while every corner stays anchored. Five more looks swap the neon for chrome, gold, ceramic and an iridescent finish, and Material Layout can keep one surface across the sculpture, cycle surfaces across tetrahedra, or place a different surface on each face of a tube.
Open Prismatic Tetrahedra
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
Neon Motel · Neon Circuit · Chrome Crossing · Solar Forge · Ceramic Chamber · Aurora Glass
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beam Thickness | Structure | Sets the width of every tube; the default is about a tenth of an edge. |
| Rotation Speed | Motion | Sets how fast the whole sculpture tumbles. |
| Waveform Bend | Motion | Bends the joined beam segments with the canonical audio waveform while keeping every tetrahedral corner fixed. |
| Tremor | Motion | Adds a small fast wobble, like a buzzing sign. Zero holds the sculpture steady. |
| Glow | Glow | Sets the colored halo each tube casts into the dark around it. |
| Power Surge | Glow | Sets how strongly every tube briefly flares brighter every several seconds. Assigned to beats, it also flares on the music. |
| Surface Light | Material | Sets the colored light of every tube or surface while keeping darker turned-away sides. |
| Iridescence | Material | Adds an angle-dependent color shift to the physical surface. |
Settings reference
Structure
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Frames | 1–5 | Sets how many of the five interlocked tetrahedra are shown. |
| Beam Segments | 3–12 | Sets how many joined pieces carry waveform bends along every tetrahedral edge. |
| Beam Thickness | 0.06–0.45 | Sets the width of every tube; the default is about a tenth of an edge. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Cluster Size | 0.5–1.35 | Scales the sculpture in the frame. One fills the frame edge to edge; lower values pull it back to show every point. |
| Interlock Spread | 0–0.35 | Moves the tetrahedra centers apart to reveal or tighten their depth crossings. |
Motion
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Rotation Speed | 0–0.8 | Sets how fast the whole sculpture tumbles. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Interlock Drift | 0–0.6 | Lets each tetrahedron turn slowly out of the symmetric star and back, so the crossings keep changing. |
| Waveform Bend | 0–0.45 | Bends the joined beam segments with the canonical audio waveform while keeping every tetrahedral corner fixed. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Tremor | 0–3 | Adds a small fast wobble, like a buzzing sign. Zero holds the sculpture steady. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Mids To Spin | 0–1 | Adds a restrained rotation response from the shared mid-frequency level. |
Glow
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Glow | 0–2 | Sets the colored halo each tube casts into the dark around it. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Tube Flicker | 0–1 | Sets how deeply the first tetrahedron stutters dark for a moment every few seconds. Zero keeps it steady. |
| Power Surge | 0–1 | Sets how strongly every tube briefly flares brighter every several seconds. Assigned to beats, it also flares on the music. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Material
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | NEON, PRISMATIC, CHROME, GOLD, CERAMIC, IRIDESCENT, FROSTED GLASS | Chooses the surface mode or style. |
| Material Layout | MATCHING SURFACES, MIXED FRAMES, MIXED FACES | Chooses the material layout mode or style. |
| Palette | MOTEL, SPECTRUM, POLAR, SOLAR, JEWEL, PORCELAIN, AURORA | Chooses the palette mode or style. |
| Surface Light | 0.2–1.5 | Sets the colored light of every tube or surface while keeping darker turned-away sides. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Roughness | 0.02–1 | Changes reflections from mirror-sharp to softly scattered. |
| Metalness | 0–1 | Changes the physical surface from dielectric paint to reflective metal. |
| Iridescence | 0–1 | Adds an angle-dependent color shift to the physical surface. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Background
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Background Opacity | 0–1 | Fades the black plate and glow while keeping the tetrahedral tubes opaque for layering. |
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 Neon Motel for the red, white, yellow, blue and cyan neon sign.
- Lower Cluster Size to pull the whole star back inside the frame, or raise it for a tighter crop.
- Set Tube Flicker to zero for a steady sign, and lower Power Surge for fewer flares.
- Raise Glow for a wider colored halo around every tube; it also follows the bass by default.
- Use Waveform Bend to make the tube spans carry more of the live waveform without breaking the tetrahedral corners.
- Choose Chrome Crossing, Solar Forge, or Ceramic Chamber to compare reflective metal, gold, and softly scattered ceramic surfaces.
- Use Background Opacity at zero when layering the sculpture in Studio.