Terrain Mesh
A curved spectrum landscape with coherent whole-sheet audio motion, additive height-limited ripples, sparse moving stars, smooth bouncing palette lights, eight performance presets, and stable framing.
Terrain Mesh is a horizon-filling audio landscape in the Wire category. Successive live-spectrum ripples alternate evenly across the left, center, and right of the grid as they travel from the distant curve toward the camera, shifting through saturated valley, crest, and peak colors that remain distinct as they climb. Light Ripple Crests can lift the brightest part of each ripple while preserving its palette color. Optional layered displacement visibly reshapes the entire terrain sheet from moment to moment with continuous flowing folds beneath the individual traveling ripples, while an adjustable height limit keeps their combined movement in frame and leaves the far edge readable. Sparse, crisp stars advance with the mids and twinkle subtly with high-frequency detail and occasional beat accents. Smooth palette-colored lights bounce from the displaced surface and cast moving pools of their own color across the terrain. Quiet and loud tracks stay within a comparable motion range. Plasma is the opening look, followed by seven presets that span contrasting terrain scales, displacement styles, and camera compositions; Mono retains its neutral palette with brighter terrain detail. Terrain Mesh requires WebGPU; see Browser Support for current platform details.
Open Terrain Mesh
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.
- Choose a named preset, then use Layered Displacement and Height Limit in Core to balance the broad terrain movement against the traveling ripples. Use Smooth Preset Changes in Animation to blend into the next look. Reset Camera sits with the other Camera controls.
- Use Reset to Defaults whenever you want to return to the original look.
Presets and styles
Plasma · Horizon · Synthwave · Ocean · Ember · Ice · Toxic · Mono · Phosphor Traverse · Chrome Tides · Molten Ridges · Midnight Glass · Prismatic Peaks · Satellite Fm
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Displacement | Core | Controls how far the shape moves away from its base surface. |
| Bloom Strength | Atmosphere | Sets the visible bloom strength. |
| Travel Speed | Animation | Sets how quickly travel changes or moves. |
| Exploration Sway | Camera | Sets how far the camera drifts from side to side as it explores the terrain; 0 keeps it on a straight line. |
Settings reference
Core
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Grid Density | 24–192 | Controls how concentrated the visible elements appear. |
| Width | 60–220 | Sets the visible width. |
| Depth | 90–280 | Sets the visible depth. |
| Displacement | 2–32 | Controls how far the shape moves away from its base surface. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Layered Displacement | On / Off | Makes the whole terrain sheet fold and undulate with the music beneath the individual ripples traveling from the horizon. |
| Height Limit | 4–24 | Caps the combined broad movement and individual ripples so the landscape remains in frame. |
| Raised Peaks | On / Off | Raises spectrum activity above the terrain when on; turn it off to carve the same activity into the surface. |
| Horizon Curve | 0–0.6 | Sets how much the terrain bends downward toward its sides and far edge; higher values give a rounded planet-like horizon and 0 keeps the landscape flat. |
Terrain Detail
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Idle Relief | 0–6 | Sets the height of the rolling hills that are always present, even when the music is quiet; 0 leaves a flat grid at rest. |
| Noise Scale | 0.2–2.5 | Sets the size of the underlying landforms, from broad rolling terrain to tighter formations. |
| Noise Detail | 1–4 | Adds progressively finer layers to the underlying terrain. |
| Persistence | 0.15–0.8 | Sets how strongly the finer terrain layers remain visible. |
| Spectrum Spread | 0.25–1.5 | Controls how far elements separate from the center or from one another. |
Material
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Finish | CHROME, GOLD, COPPER, OBSIDIAN, PRISM, NEON | Chooses a physical terrain finish: Chrome, Gold, Copper, Obsidian, Prism, or Neon. |
| Light Ripple Crests | On / Off | Brightens the top of each traveling ripple while retaining its current palette color. |
| Exposure | 0.35–1 | Sets the overall rendered brightness. |
Atmosphere
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Fog Base | -20–10 | Sets the world height below which the terrain fog becomes solid. |
| Fog Top | -5–32 | Sets the world height where the terrain fog clears into drifting wisps. |
| Distance Haze | 0–0.012 | Sets how strongly distant terrain dissolves into the fog color. |
| Bloom Strength | 0–0.8 | Sets the visible bloom strength. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Bloom Radius | 0–1 | Sets the visible bloom radius. |
| Bloom Threshold | 0.4–1 | Sets the level that must be crossed before bloom appears. |
| Horizon Strength | 0–0.35 | Sets the brightness of the horizon glow. |
| Horizon Width | 0.04–0.3 | Sets how far the horizon glow spreads into the background. |
Horizon Stars
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Show Stars | On / Off | Shows or hides the palette-colored depth field above the terrain horizon. |
| Star Count | 0–64 | Sets how many crisp background stars establish depth above the terrain. |
| Star Size | 0.2–1.5 | Sets the pixel size of the background stars. |
| Forward Drift | 0–1.5 | Sets how quickly the stars advance toward the camera; mids add extra forward motion, and stars re-enter only after passing beyond view. |
| Audio Twinkle | 0–1 | Sets how strongly high-frequency detail and sparse beat accents brighten the stars. |
Colors
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Valley Color | Color | Sets the color of low valleys and quiet parts of the terrain. |
| Crest Color | Color | Sets the middle color reached as terrain ridges rise. |
| Peak Color | Color | Sets the color of the strongest terrain peaks. |
| Ridge Glow | Color | Sets the emissive color of traveling beat ridges. |
| Background | Color | Sets the background. |
| Horizon Glow | Color | Sets the color of the glow behind the terrain horizon. |
| Fog Color | Color | Sets the fog color. |
Audio
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| FFT Size | 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384 | Sets how much frequency detail the terrain can read. Higher values separate nearby frequencies more finely. |
| Input Gain | 0x–3x | Sets how strongly incoming audio drives the visual. |
| Bass Response | 0–2 | Sets how strongly the bass frequencies (below about 250 Hz) raise the terrain; 0 ignores the bass. |
| Mid Response | 0–2 | Sets how strongly the midrange frequencies (about 250 Hz to 2 kHz) raise the terrain; 0 ignores the mids. |
| High Response | 0–2 | Sets how strongly the high frequencies (above about 2 kHz) raise the terrain; 0 ignores the highs. |
| Attack | 0.01s–0.12s | Sets how quickly the terrain rises toward a new peak. |
| Release | 0.08s–0.8s | Sets how gradually the terrain settles after a peak. |
| Gain Memory | 1s–12s | Sets how long the visual response remembers the track’s recent loudness before adapting to a quieter passage. |
| Noise Floor | 0.02–0.2 | Sets the minimum loudness reference so silence and low-level noise do not become full-scale motion. |
Animation
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Smooth Preset Changes | On / Off | Blends terrain shape, color, atmosphere, material, and camera framing when you select another preset. |
| Transition Time | 0.2s–4s | Sets how long a smooth preset transition takes. |
| Transition Easing | LINEAR, EASE IN/OUT, EASE OUT | Chooses the motion curve used by smooth preset transitions. |
| Travel Speed | 0–1.5 | Sets how quickly travel changes or moves. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Beat Shockwave | On / Off | Turns beat shockwave on or off. |
| Beat Ridge | 0–1 | Sets the height of beat-driven ridges that travel from the horizon toward the camera. |
| Ridge Emission | 0–1 | Sets the intensity of the bright core and bloom carried by each traveling beat ridge. |
Bouncing Lights
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Show Lights | On / Off | Shows or hides the smooth palette-colored lights that rebound from the terrain. |
| Light Count | 0–48 | Sets how many bouncing lights travel across the terrain. |
| Light Size | 0.18–1.4 | Sets the visible size of each round light. |
| Audio Bounce | 0–18 | Sets how strongly active audio launches each light after it meets the displaced surface. |
| Terrain Light | 0–2 | Sets how strongly the moving lights color the surrounding terrain. |
Camera
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Camera Mode | LOCKED HORIZON, SLOW SURVEY, AUDIO DRIFT | Chooses a centered terrain-filling Locked Horizon, a 2×-area Slow Survey that fills roughly 70% of the canvas at an angle, or a distinctly wider Audio Drift framing; each change eases smoothly into place. |
| Field of View | 30°–90° | Widens or narrows the camera view. |
| Height | 0–14 | Moves the camera strictly up and down without changing Field of View, zoom, aim, or depth; zero remains safely above the displaced terrain. |
| Exploration Sway | 0–3 | Sets how far the camera drifts from side to side as it explores the terrain; 0 keeps it on a straight line. Use Assign modulation to choose a source. |
| Survey Speed | 0.02–0.5 | Sets how quickly Slow Survey pans, aims, and dollies across the terrain. |
| Audio Lift | 0–8 | Sets how much bass can lift the otherwise stable horizon camera. |
| Look Ahead | 0.15–0.5 | Sets how far into the terrain the camera aims. |
| Reset Camera | Action | Returns the camera to the opening low-horizon position. |
Performance
| Setting | Available values | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Render Scale | 0.5×, 0.75×, 1× | Balances drawing clarity and frame rate by limiting render resolution. |
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 Horizon or Ocean, then balance Displacement, Fog Top, and Horizon Strength; the bounded camera keeps strong peaks in view.
- Keep Layered Displacement on for broad terrain movement, then lower Height Limit if the individual ripples need more visual separation.
- Raise Terrain Light when the bouncing lights should color more of the landscape, or raise Audio Bounce for stronger rebounds without changing the terrain displacement.
- Use a larger FFT Size for detailed melodic material and a smaller one for broader, chunkier motion.