Bass Barrel is a beat-reactive motion effect in FRCTL, the browser VJ studio. Barrel warp that bows the frame in like a fisheye. Map warp to B2/B3; map snap exponent to B1 for drop spikes.
Runs live on video, images, a camera or generated art. Stack it with any other effect, and route LFOs, envelopes or any of ten audio bands to its controls so it moves with the music.
Draws the picture in toward the centre through a lens curve, so the edges bow and the corners fill with stretched border pixels while the middle barely shifts. It has no clock and holds still until driven. Warp sets strength, Snap steepens the response at high intensity, and Spread toward hard right spreads the squeeze inward so the subject shrinks too.
Using Bass Barrel
Where it works
A lens-shaped hit for the drop: the frame bows like a fisheye on the bass, then relaxes. Wide crowd or stage shots suit it, since bowed edges read as a camera move rather than a glitch.
With the music
Without routing it sits at one fixed bow. B2 (sub bass) on Warp bends the frame with the sub and releases it between notes, and an Envelope triggered by the beat on Snap sharpens the curve on the drop.
Starting point
Warp three-quarters, Snap a quarter, Spread hard left for a pure edge bow, then route B2 to Warp.
Controls
Warp
Fisheye / barrel displacement strength.
Snap
Extra hit sharpness via pow(amount, …) weight.
Spread
Where the bow bites. Left keeps it to the edges, right spreads the squeeze toward the centre so the subject shrinks too.