Oscillators
There are 4 discrete oscillators that can be used by and of the 6 Signal Selectors in SensaSynth2. Changing the parameters for an Oscillator changes the appearance of that Oscillator everywhere it is used in that Preset. To layer 2 different Oscillators in a Layer, use two different Oscillators.
Oscillators 1 and 2 have extra parameters for the Dwell functionality, explained below. Otherwise each of the Oscillators has the same interface. The photo examples below use screen grabs of the Oscillator 1 interface as an example.
A.
Usage in Current Preset
Shows where the Oscillator Signal Source is used in the current preset. The six Signal Selectors each have a letter of the alphabet associated with it which is shown highlighted here if it is currently set to this Oscillator Signal Source. When this is unchecked, the panel appears as defined by the current preset. If any of the Signal Selectors are set to the Oscillator in question, changing any of the values here will then naturally show on the panel. If you do check the Override Preset toggle, however, then regardless of what the current preset has for Signal Selector A, the Oscillator Signal Source is:
- Assigned to Signal Selector A
- The Color Engine used by A is set to full white (R255, G255, B255) so that there is no color gating (tinting) of this signal
- The Color Engine used by the B and C Selectors is turned off (set to R0 G0 B0)
When you are finished editing these parameters and hit the Back button to go back to the Make Presets section, then this override is removed and the preset reverts to the settings in the current preset.
B.
Frequency
This slider changes the rate of oscillation from slow to fast – in other words the frequency with which the oscillator ramps from its brightest value to its darkest value.
C.
Set Phase on Start
The Oscillator algorithm introduces small occasional variations – on a “pixel by pixel” basis – to the frequency of a given ramp up /ramp down cycle. This is what creates the overall look across all the pixels in a Sensacell display of a common oscillation frequency (apparent oscillation rate) but a random phase (the position at a given time in the ramp up / ramp down cycle) . When the Sensacell is powered on, it takes a little while for these variations to fully randomize the phase of all the LED pixels. In the this period the oscillations start in sync and gradually become more random.
After a preset is uploaded to the panel for “standalone” playback (rather than temporarily previewed through SensaSynth2) the preset can have these additional Start Conditions that do a one-time reset of the phase for each LED pixel. The first option, No Intervention, does not reset the phase at all – it is at whatever state of randomization preceded it. The next option, Sync on Start
D.
Dwell
The Cross Fader lets you configure the transition time between the Idle Layer and the Active Layer when a sensor changes state. How a sensor defines its state status is not simply determined by external triggering (for instance by touching the Sensacell panel with your hand) but more precisely by how the Trigger Mode values are configured to interpret changes in