Simulation
Smoke Simulation
Smoke Simulation is a responsive simulated scene in BeamTracer Audio Visualizers, built on WebGPU. Settings, audio modulation, presets, and tips.
Smoke Simulation is a responsive simulated scene in the Simulation category. Open it from the left visualizer list, start an audio source, and use the settings panel to shape its response.
Open Smoke Simulation
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
Circular Glow · Spectrum Bars · Random Chaos · Central Pulse · Dual Mode · Grayscale Fire
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Buoyancy Sigma | Buoyancy & Heat | Sets how strongly hot smoke floats upward; at 0 the smoke does not rise at all, and higher values make it surge up. |
| External Temperature | Buoyancy & Heat | Sets how much extra heat dense smoke keeps picking up on its own, so thick plumes keep rising; at 0 smoke only has the heat it was released with. |
| Vorticity | Vorticity | Controls the strength of the swirling motion. |
| Density Diss | Dissipation | Controls how concentrated the visible elements appear. |
| Velocity Diss | Dissipation | Sets how much of the smoke motion is kept each second; at 1.00 the swirling never slows down, and lower values make the flow settle faster. |
| Hue | Colors | Moves the color around the color spectrum. |
| Saturation | Colors | Moves colors from muted toward vivid. |
| Background Hue | Colors | Moves the color around the color spectrum. |
| Puff Force | Puffs | Sets how hard each random puff pushes the smoke; higher values make bigger, faster sweeping gusts. Available when Random Puffs is on. |
| Spectrum Force | Spectrum Emitter | Sets how hard the Spectrum Mode jets shoot smoke; higher values send louder bands streaming much farther across the screen. Available when Spectrum Mode is on. |
| Circular Force | Circular Emitter | Sets how hard smoke is shot outward from the ring in Circular Mode; higher values send plumes streaming much farther from the ring. Available when Circular Mode is on. |
Settings reference
Core
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Display Mode | DENSITY, COLORED, VELOCITY, SPEED, TEMPERATURE, VORTICITY, PRESSURE, DIVERGENCE | Chooses the display mode or style. |
| Smoke Radius | 5–20 | Sets the visible smoke radius. |
| Smoke Temperature | 0–5 | Sets how hot freshly released smoke is; hotter smoke rises faster and climbs higher. |
| Pressure Iterations | 0–50 | Trades visual detail against performance. |
| Boundaries | On / Off | Turns boundaries on or off. |
Material
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Color Mode | CONSTANT, COS-FUNCTION, VELOCITY | Chooses the color mode or style. |
Buoyancy & Heat
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Buoyancy Sigma | 0–3 | Sets how strongly hot smoke floats upward; at 0 the smoke does not rise at all, and higher values make it surge up. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Buoyancy Kappa | 0–0.5 | Sets how strongly dense smoke is weighed down by its own thickness; higher values make thick smoke sink or rise more slowly. |
| Ambient Temperature | -1–1 | Sets the temperature of the surrounding air that the smoke is compared against; lower values make the smoke rise more, and higher values reduce its lift until it sinks. |
| External Temperature | 0–0.1 | Sets how much extra heat dense smoke keeps picking up on its own, so thick plumes keep rising; at 0 smoke only has the heat it was released with. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Vorticity
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Vorticity | 0–1 | Controls the strength of the swirling motion. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Vort Eps | 0.001–0.1 | Sets the minimum swirl strength that gets boosted; higher values leave gentle eddies alone and reinforce only the strong ones. |
| Vort Dt | 0.1–2 | Scales how much each swirl boost adds to the flow; higher values whip up stronger, livelier curls in the smoke. |
| Vort Dx | 0.5–2 | Sets the horizontal cell width used when finding where swirls are strongest; larger values weaken the swirl boost, and 1 is the baseline. |
| Vort Dy | 0.5–2 | Sets the vertical cell height used when finding where swirls are strongest; larger values weaken the swirl boost, and 1 is the baseline. |
Solver
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Jacobi Alpha | -2–0 | Sets how transparent the jacobi appears. |
| Jacobi Beta | 1–8 | Sets how firmly the flow is kept from bunching up or thinning out; leave it near 4 for the standard look, and note that other values make the smoke behave softer or stiffer. |
| Grid Dx | 0.5–2 | Sets the horizontal cell width the flow uses when smoothing out smoke pressure; leave it at 1 for the standard look, since other values change how tightly the smoke swirls and spreads. |
| Grid Dy | 0.5–2 | Sets the vertical cell height the flow uses when smoothing out smoke pressure; leave it at 1 for the standard look, since other values change how tightly the smoke swirls and spreads. |
| Curl Dx | 0.5–2 | Sets the horizontal cell width used when measuring how fast the smoke is spinning; larger values read weaker swirls, which softens the swirl boost, and 1 is the baseline. |
| Curl Dy | 0.5–2 | Sets the vertical cell height used when measuring how fast the smoke is spinning; larger values read weaker swirls, which softens the swirl boost, and 1 is the baseline. |
Dissipation
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Density Diss | 0.9–1 | Controls how concentrated the visible elements appear. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Velocity Diss | 0.9–1 | Sets how much of the smoke motion is kept each second; at 1.00 the swirling never slows down, and lower values make the flow settle faster. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Temp Dissipation | 0.9–1 | Sets how slowly the smoke cools; at 1.00 it never loses heat, and lower values make it cool down and stop rising sooner. |
Colors
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Hue | 0°–360° | Moves the color around the color spectrum. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Saturation | 0–1 | Moves colors from muted toward vivid. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Hue Animation | On / Off | Turns hue animation on or off. |
| Hue Speed | 0.01–3 | Sets how quickly hue changes or moves. |
| Background Hue | 0°–360° | Moves the color around the color spectrum. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Background Saturation | 0–1 | Moves colors from muted toward vivid. |
| Background Lightness | 0–1 | Moves colors from darker toward lighter. |
| Background Hue Animation | On / Off | Turns background hue animation on or off. |
| Background Hue Speed | 0.01–3 | Sets how quickly background hue changes or moves. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Master Gain | 0x–3x | Sets how strongly the input signal affects master. |
| Bass | 0–3 | Sets how strongly bass registers; higher values make bass hits trigger the Central Emitter and Random Puffs more readily and boost any setting you have set to follow the bass. |
| Mids | 0–3 | Sets how strongly mid-range sound registers; higher values make the Central Emitter produce more smoke on mids and boost any setting you have set to follow the mids. |
| Highs | 0–3 | Sets how strongly high-frequency sound registers; it only has a visible effect on settings you have set to follow the highs, and at 0 the highs are ignored. |
| Smoothing | 0.01–0.8 | Balances immediate audio response against steadier motion. |
Central Emitter
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Central Emitter | On / Off | Turns central emitter on or off. |
| Drag X | 0–1 | Sets where along the width of the screen the Central Emitter releases smoke on each beat, from the left edge at 0 to the right edge at 1. Available when Central Emitter is on. |
| Drag Y | 0–0.5 | Sets how high above the bottom of the screen the Central Emitter releases smoke, from the bottom edge at 0 up to the middle at 0.5. Available when Central Emitter is on. |
| Drag Spread | 0–5 | Controls how far elements separate from the center or from one another. |
Puffs
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Random Puffs | On / Off | Turns random puffs on or off. |
| Puff Count | 1–10 | Sets how many visible elements are drawn. |
| Puff Force | 10–300 | Sets how hard each random puff pushes the smoke; higher values make bigger, faster sweeping gusts. Available when Random Puffs is on. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
Spectrum Emitter
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum Mode | On / Off | Turns spectrum mode on or off. |
| Spectrum Bars | 8–128 | Sets how many frequency bands the width of the screen is split into, each one releasing smoke at its own position; higher values give finer, narrower jets. Available when Spectrum Mode is on. |
| Spectrum Force | 0.5–50 | Sets how hard the Spectrum Mode jets shoot smoke; higher values send louder bands streaming much farther across the screen. Available when Spectrum Mode is on. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Spectrum Position | TOP, BOTTOM, CENTER, MIRROR | Chooses the spectrum position mode or style. |
Circular Emitter
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Circular Mode | On / Off | Turns circular mode on or off. |
| Circular Radius | 0.1–0.5 | Sets the visible circular radius. |
| Circular Force | 0.5–50 | Sets how hard smoke is shot outward from the ring in Circular Mode; higher values send plumes streaming much farther from the ring. Available when Circular Mode is on. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Circular Rotation | 0°–360° | Sets the circular rotation of the visible composition. |
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 moderate audio strength. Large gain changes can overwhelm the motion before you can see what each band contributes.
- Try assigning Bass to Buoyancy Sigma, then compare Mid, High, and Volume while the demo track plays. The slider's live fill shows the signal reaching that control.