kaleidoscope effect
SourceEffect01/ ORIGIN
The number of repeats in a kaleidoscope is not a choice but a consequence: two mirrors at an angle produce 360 divided by that angle reflections, so a 60 degree pair gives six and a 30 degree pair gives twelve. Brewster's 1817 instrument made this arithmetic into a toy, and the toy sold in the hundreds of thousands before he could enforce a patent. The word he coined is Greek for the observation of beautiful forms, which is a fair description of arithmetic doing aesthetic work.
02/ SWEEP
SEGMENTS sweep
03/ SPEC
This effect samples a single angular wedge of the source and reflects it repeatedly around the frame centre, so the output is genuinely periodic rather than merely symmetrical. SEGMENTS runs from 3 to 16 with a default of 10 and sets how many times the wedge repeats, which mirrors the physical relationship between mirror angle and reflection count. ZOOM from 0.5 to 5 scales how much of the source the wedge samples, and is what decides whether a recognisable feature appears in every repeat. SATURATION is an advanced control. In kott the sampling is per pixel, so seams between wedges stay hard rather than softening.
it can move to the music
Every control of this effect can follow a track. Pick a signal in the studio’s audio panel (the beat, the downbeat, a build, the bass, or an EQ band you set yourself), point it at segments or any other control here, and set how far it moves. The sound comes from your microphone, a browser tab or a file you load, and it is analysed on your own machine.
how the audio routing works04/ FAQ
- What is a kaleidoscope effect?
- A kaleidoscope effect samples a wedge of an image and reflects it repeatedly around a centre point, producing radial symmetry. It reproduces what two angled mirrors do optically.
- How many SEGMENTS should a kaleidoscope have?
- Six to twelve matches common physical kaleidoscopes, since those correspond to 60 and 30 degree mirror pairs. Three keeps the source readable, and sixteen turns it into pure pattern.
- How do I keep the subject recognisable in a kaleidoscope?
- Lower SEGMENTS to 3 or 4 and reduce ZOOM so each wedge samples a larger area of the source. Narrow wedges sample too little to carry anything identifiable.
