Build pictures from signals.

Start with a ramp or oscillator. Fold it, compare it, turn it into a key, then mix its color and history.

These original software instruments borrow useful controls from video synthesizers and compact mixers. They explore their visual techniques; they do not reproduce electrical signals, genlock, hardware timing or factory presets.

Source / rampShape / modulationThreshold / keyColor matrixA/B / output

Ramps, oscillators and logic

LZX-inspired instruments expose coordinate ramps, signed modulation, phase, folding, comparisons and a full nine-route RGB matrix.

Orthogonal Ramp Weave — balance horizontal and vertical fields.
Ring Modulation Canopy — play with interacting frequencies.
Triple Key Contour Map — threshold a continuous field into shaped regions.
Chroma Fan Matrix — route, amplify and invert each RGB contribution.

Reference manuals: Scrolls, DWO3, DSG3, Keychain, SMX3.

A/B mixing and transitions

The V-8 workflow separates effects on each input from the transition between A and B. FLOOD keeps that separation in the performance desk.

Center Wipe Iris — radius and soft-edge geometry.
Diamond Curtain Exchange — a patterned transfer field.
Wandering Picture Windows — moving window compositions.
A/B desk — fifteen blend and transition modes with clean endpoints.

Reference: Roland V-8 brochure and owner’s manual.

Mosaic, paint and sample hold

Sima-style workflows make strong images with a few direct operations: pixel blocks, stepped color, held motion and soft keys.

Mosaic Frost Sampler — coarse spatial sampling.
Poster Paint Floor — quantized color and threshold control.
Sample Hold Cascade — a stepped procedural motion study.

Bring cameras or files into any instrument using its three media slots. Each slot has alpha, blending, color and mesh controls.

Reference: manufacturer-authored Sima SFX-10 manual, archived by ManualsLib.

Recall, preview and take

Videonics workflows distinguish the current source, next source, input effects and the final take. Use banks for recall and named workspaces for a whole performance setup.

Choose A or B, then trigger a clip.
Edit its look and store it on a bank pad.
Preview the next source, then use the crossfader or timed transition.
Save a named workspace before a show.

Reference: manufacturer-authored Videonics MX-1 manual, input-effects chapter.

Play with history deliberately

Feedback starts at zero in the video instrument collection. Raise its mix to activate trail scale, rotation and decay. Clear trails resets the image history. Saved workspaces recall settings and media, while the evolving feedback picture starts fresh.

Three named looks give each instrument a different starting geometry. Your edits save separately for every look and deck. The resolution control changes the rendered image; higher values require more GPU capacity.