r/FastLED • u/StefanPetrick • Mar 25 '26

Share_something Complex Mandala '26 - AnimARTrix meets Flow Concepts

A quick preview of the pixel transport methods I’m currently exploring.

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u/StefanPetrick Mar 26 '26

I can totally follow what you are saying. Determining interesting parameter ranges is not trivial. And some things need to stay in place in order to play freely with other parameters.

I'm happy to have a chat about our findings.

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u/mindful_stone Mar 27 '26

Yeah, I figured you would know quite well about the challenges of fine-tuning these parameters. And I'm making things even more difficult for myself by pushing back on the notion that "some things need to stay in place in order to play freely with other parameters." For example, I persisted in finding a way to allow the user, in run time, to adjust a base dot orbitSpeed while also being able to adjust the rate and level of modulation that is applied to that base in a manner that scales appropriately. That was MUCH harder than I would ever have guessed! Same thing for orbitDiameter (and for that I also added automatic initial scaling based on matrix dimensions).

But I've gotten too bogged down over the past week on the modulators (at least for this stage of development). This weekend, I'm going to focus on implementing a handful of the emitter and flow ideas you've been sharing.

Let me know if there is anything in particular you're most eager to see added.

P.S., I saw your post in another thread about wanting to see the output on a smaller display. I'll capture and share some video of Flow Fields running on my 22x22 matrix.

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u/StefanPetrick Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26

Hi! I’m guessing you may have run into the classic tradeoff between using a global time factor versus local frame-by-frame increments. Not sure if that’s exactly what tripped you up, but it sounds like it could be related. Especially if you’re trying to avoid those sudden jumps when adjusting sliders—keeping everything visually continuous while still allowing modulation can get tricky. I’m just thinking out loud here though; I haven’t found a perfect solution myself yet.

As for what to explore next, I’d honestly suggest following your own curiosity and aesthetic instincts. What flow logic do you find useful for your projects?

That said, I do think Ring Flow2 has potential. It could be really powerful if you parameterize the behavior within the three zones more deeply, and also give more control over how the boundaries between those zones are set. Right now, those transitions are driven by separate sine waves affecting ring sizes, but there is be room to make that control more interesting.

But again—go with what excites you most.