Brinstar

Brinstar is a project idea kept in the portfolio as a sketch of where the visual-effects work wanted to go — not as an active product. The site at brinstar.top still renders, the audio-reactive modules still wire up, and the shader pipeline still runs. It just hasn't been touched in a while, and parts of it are technically broken in interesting ways. Including it here because the idea still has legs even if this instance doesn't.

The pitch

Pick a track, drop a video on the canvas, then layer effect modules over it that respond to the audio in real time. Each module is a self-contained shader pass with its own parameter rack — the operator dials values until the visual matches the moment, then keeps dialing.

What's wired

• Audio-reactive controls — track selection, playback transport, frequency-band routing.
• Video layer — brightness / contrast / gain on a base video feed.
• LSD module — hue shift, distortion, kaleidoscope, fractal warp, feedback loop. The visual signature you'd expect from the name.
• DXM motion magnification — amplification factor, frequency-range selection, pyramid levels, chromatic attenuation, mode toggle. Closest to a serious computer-vision technique on the rack.
• Stubs — mushrooms, DMT, MDMA, ketamine, cannabis modules wired into the UI as placeholders for the next pass.

Why keep it up?

Two reasons. One: the motion-magnification path is real research and worth re-opening when there's a venue that benefits from it. Two: the module-rack architecture is the pattern we'd build a proper effects-engine product on top of — Brinstar is the cheap version of "what would the UI look like." Calling it broken is half a joke; the parts that work, work, and the parts that don't are signposts for the rebuild.