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DitheronParameters

Loscillator

Loscillator draws a source-driven phosphor beam through a frame. It can sit close to the image as a clean electronic contour or loosen into a wandering field of light.

Choose a beam style

Style offers Ocelot, Electron, and Neon Lines. Ocelot is the default. Each style interprets the source differently, so set a style before dialing in threshold and smoothing. Wildness is available with Ocelot and Electron only. Raising it lets the beam intermittently lose source lock and reach into darker regions.

Form the beam

ControlWhat it changes
Beam WidthThickens the core beam from 0.25-12.
DensityRaises the population of source-feature traces. Lower this if your spans go wild!
IntensityRaises beam energy from 0-4.
Beam ColorSets the beam color.
ThresholdIn Ocelot, higher values reveal more. In Electron and Neon Lines, higher values enforce a stricter brightness cutoff.
SmoothingMoves from detailed contours toward broader, more ordered traces.
Motion CompensationMakes traces follow moving source features more tightly.

Afterglow retains fading phosphor from earlier source frames. Persistence extends and strengthens directional traces behind the live beam. Use them separately: afterglow makes a temporal glow, while persistence gives the path a longer trailing direction.

Introduce analog movement

Trace Wander adds drift to the beam. Above 1, it can shift the whole trace field. Wobble Amount adds periodic displacement, and Wobble Frequency sets the number of wobble cycles across the beam. Distort folds and splits the path; above 1, it reaches frame-scale distortion. Burn In drives strong source features toward white-hot cores. Flicker adds phosphor fluctuation and high-range dropout. Seed changes the repeatable contour phase and motion.

Try this: a phosphor portrait

  1. Choose Style: Ocelot and set Threshold so the beam finds the brightest facial edges and highlights.

  2. Raise Smoothing until small texture gives way to an intentional contour.

  3. Add a narrow Beam Width, a chosen Beam Color, and a modest Afterglow.

  4. Bring in Motion Compensation for a moving shot, then use low Trace Wander only if the contour needs a hand-drawn instability.

Try this: an unstable electronic transition

Start with Style: Electron, set a strong Intensity, and add Persistence for a directional trail. Keyframe Wobble Amount upward at the cut, then reduce it after the transition. Add Distort sparingly. It can split the beam into a full-frame event quickly.

When the beam feels too loose

Lower Trace Wander, Wobble Amount, and Distort before reducing Intensity. If the beam catches too much of the image, adjust Threshold with the style in mind: higher reveals more in Ocelot, but removes more in Electron and Neon Lines. If retained trails hide the live contour, lower Persistence before removing Afterglow.