rasterize

rasterize · utilities

Audio -> video raster mapper. Each video frame paints a fixed run of audio samples (samples/frame, ~800 at 48k/60fps) as voltage-per-pixel into the 1024x768 frame in raster order; a scan cursor drifts + wraps through the frame. Faithful raster mapping (NOT an oscilloscope trace) - a steady tone paints drifting horizontal bands whose spacing tracks the audio frequency vs the line/frame rate. Fully untamed: no limiter, no anti-alias.

An audio→video raster mapper — it crosses the streams by writing your audio signal directly into a video frame as voltage-per-pixel. Every video frame it takes a fixed run of audio samples and paints them, in raster (left-to-right, top-to-bottom) scan order, into the 1024×768 frame: each sample's value becomes a pixel's brightness, and a scan cursor advances and wraps through the frame across frames. This is the FAITHFUL raster mapping (like an analog scan-converter), NOT an oscilloscope trace — a steady tone paints horizontal bands whose spacing and drift track the audio frequency against the line/frame rate, and anything noisy paints texture. It is deliberately untamed: no limiter, no anti-aliasing, no feedback guard — the only ceiling is the 8-bit pixel saturation. The audio also passes through clean (THRU), so RASTERIZE can sit inline on a signal chain while feeding a video module from its OUT.

the faceplate

5 inputs · 2 outputs · 4 params

about this module

Hover a control, or open the patch panel and hover a jack.

inputs

id	cable	what it does
`in`	audio	The audio signal to rasterize — its samples are painted as pixel brightness into the video frame. audio signal
`cursor`	cv	CV that displaces the SCAN cursor (the pixel offset where painting starts each frame), so you can scrub the running scan position with an envelope or LFO. control voltage (CV); modulates cursor (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob)
`samplesPerFrame`	cv	CV that displaces the SAMP/F control (how many samples are painted per frame), modulating how fast the scan sweeps the frame. control voltage (CV); modulates samplesPerFrame (multiplicative ≈ octaves — ±1 CV spans the param’s log range)
`gain`	cv	CV that displaces the GAIN applied to each sample before the brightness map, so a modulator can swing the image from dim to blown-out. control voltage (CV); modulates gain (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob)
`wrap`	cv	CV that toggles the WRAP mode (accumulate-and-wrap vs. clear-on-wrap) under gate control. control voltage (CV); modulates wrap (integer buckets — CV selects a discrete step)

outputs

id	cable	what it does
`thru`	audio	Clean audio passthrough — the input signal unchanged (the raster path is non-destructive), so RASTERIZE can sit inline in an audio chain. audio signal
`out`	mono-video	The painted raster frame as a mono video texture for downstream video modules. mono video stream

params

id	label	range	default	curve
`cursor`	Scan	0..?px	0	linear
`samplesPerFrame`	Samp/F	16..8000	800	log
`gain`	Gain	0..8	1	log
`wrap`	Wrap	0..1	0	discrete

controls

control	what it does
Scan	SCAN — the starting pixel offset of the scan cursor into the 1024×768 frame. It RE-SEATS the running cursor on each change, so it scrubs by moving; the running cursor then drifts on by itself, and re-selecting a value it already shows does nothing (#2000).
Gain	GAIN — a linear gain applied to each sample before it's mapped to pixel brightness; raise it to brighten/clip the image, lower it to darken (0–8).
Samp/F	SAMP/F — how many audio samples are painted per video frame (16–8000, default ~800 ≈ four-fifths of a scanline at 48k/60fps, since a line is 1024 px); higher values sweep the frame faster and pack more signal per frame.
Wrap	WRAP — what happens when the scan cursor reaches the end of the frame: 0 wraps around and keeps accumulating (toroidal drift), 1 clears on wrap for a clean top-to-bottom repaint sweep.

source

rasterize.ts on GitHub.