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Geometry effect

Crystal Kaleidoscope

Crystal Kaleidoscope is a kaleidoscope and geometry effect in FRCTL, the browser VJ studio. Animated triangular crystal cells with offset mirrored shards.

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.

Try Crystal Kaleidoscope free All effects

The untouched demo art: an eye inside a triangle over wavy teal, blue and peach lines — Source

A grid of square crystal cells, each a spinning six-point star in green, blue and magenta — Crystal Kaleidoscope, default settings

What Crystal Kaleidoscope does

Tiles the frame into a grid of small crystals, each holding its own spinning triangular mirror of a patch near the picture's centre. Cells drift and turn at different rates, red and blue sit slightly off the green, and rainbow seams glow along every fold. Cells sets how many crystals fit across, Shard scatters which patch each one reflects, and Chroma drives the tint and seam glow.

Using Crystal Kaleidoscope

Where it works: Glittering backdrops for set visuals and loops for a pack, where the source doesn't need to stay recognisable. Every cell spins on its own, so it keeps moving over a static cover image with no routing at all.
With the music: It animates on its own clock, and Speed sets how fast the cells turn. Put B8 on Chroma so the hats flicker the seams, and a beat-triggered Envelope on Shard throws each crystal's patch sideways on the hit.
Starting point: Cells at centre, Shard at a quarter, Chroma at three-quarters and Speed a little under centre, so the seams glow while the spin stays calm.

Controls

Cells: Crystal grid density / scale.
Shard: Per-cell sample offset jitter.
Chroma: Spectrum tint and seam glow strength.
Speed: Rate of the effect motion. Centre is the authored speed, hard left a tenth of it.

Pairs well with Crystal Kaleidoscope