Cymatics FX

Module: Tech · Category: Texture Generators · Tool ID: CymaticsFX

A library of wave-noise Material Functions built on spectral control rather than the usual Perlin/Worley/Voronoi primitives. Drag one into any material graph and you get watercolour bleed, manga paper grain, hatching, magic dissolve, foliage variation, cloth weave, volumetric mist, or a flowmap basis — patterns that are genuinely hard to reach by stacking legacy noise nodes.

Three tabs: Library browses and regenerates the starters, Design tunes a custom variant and exports it as a new Material Function, and Bake renders any of them to a static Texture2D.

Cymatics FX Library tab listing the starter Material Functions with thumbnails and per-row actions, the search counter reading 12 of 12.

The wave and noise function library searched for dissolve, watercolor, strata, weave and hatching — each shown in a material — then a template driven live from the Design tab.

When to use it

• Stylised rendering: watercolour, manga, hatching, ink
• Dissolve and reveal effects that need organic structure
• Per-instance foliage variation without extra textures
• Cloth weave and fabric detail
• Volumetric mist
• Flowmap bases for advection
• Anywhere legacy noise nodes look synthetic

What it isn’t for

• Don’t use it where a plain texture is cheaper. These are procedural functions evaluated per pixel; bake them if the cost matters.
• Don’t expect 3D output from the bake. V1.0 bakes 2D only — see below.

Opening the tool

1. Open the EQLabs Hub and search for cymatics or noise (or browse to Tech → Texture Generators).
2. Click the tool card.
3. On first use, click Regenerate Library.

The starter functions are generated into your project, not shipped as fixed assets. If the Library shows ”⚠ Asset missing — click Regenerate Library”, that is what it means. Regenerating is also how you pick up updated maths after an upgrade.

Library tab

A searchable browser over the 12 starter Material Functions:

Function	Use
MF_Cymatics_TerrainStrata	Layered rock strata
MF_Cymatics_Watercolor	Watercolour bleed
MF_Cymatics_MangaPaper	Manga paper grain
MF_Cymatics_InkBloom	Ink bloom
MF_Cymatics_FoliageVariation	Per-instance foliage variation
MF_Cymatics_MagicDissolve	Dissolve / reveal
MF_Cymatics_Hatching	Cross-hatching
MF_Cymatics_ClothWeave	Fabric weave
MF_Cymatics_PixelDither	Dither patterning
MF_Cymatics_VolumetricMist	Volumetric mist
MF_Cymatics_FlowmapBasis	Flowmap basis
MF_Cymatics_CustomSpectral	Open spectral base for custom work

Control	Notes
Search	Filters by name, description or use-case keywords
Show in Content Browser	Reveals the asset
Open in Material Editor	Opens the function
Regenerate Library	Re-creates the starter functions

Assets are written under /EQLabs/EQLabs/Cymatics/Functions/.

Note (v2.0.2): in 2.0.2 the Regenerate button’s tooltip says “all 11 starter Material Functions”. The generator defines 12, and 12 is what you get - the search counter above the list reads 12 / 12. Fixed in the next release, where the tooltip derives the number from the spec table.

Usage is simply drag-and-drop: put any MF_Cymatics_* into a material graph in place of a noise node.

Design tab

Cymatics FX Design tab with the Hatching template selected, its Scale and AnisoDir parameters, a live preview rendering the pattern, animation Play and Speed controls, and the export destination path.

Build a custom variant from a starter template and export it as its own Material Function.

Control	Notes
Noise Type	The underlying wave-noise family
Template	A starter library function used as the base
Parameters	Tunable values for the chosen template
Reset to Template Defaults	Restores the template’s original values
Preview	Updates live as you tune
Asset Name	Saved as MF_Cymatics_<name>
Export as Material Function	Generates the new function

The preview is resolution-independent: “The exported MF will render the same pattern at any resolution.”

Exports go to /EQLabs/EQLabs/Cymatics/Functions/MF_Cymatics_<AssetName>, and the panel shows the exact destination path before you commit.

Two guards worth knowing:

• Export refuses to overwrite a starter. “Export refused — ‘X’ is a starter library function. Pick another Asset Name (e.g. X_Custom).” Your custom work cannot silently replace a library function, and a Regenerate cannot silently destroy your custom work.
• Export requires a template. “Export failed — no template selected.”

Animating a Cymatics function

The panel’s tip is the thing most people need: wire a Time node into the exported MF’s Phase input pin to animate the pattern in a material. The Design tab’s Play button and Speed slider animate the preview only — the animation in your shipped material comes from that Time node.

Bake tab

Renders any Cymatics function to a static Texture2D — for mobile, VFX graphs, or anywhere per-pixel evaluation is too expensive.

Setting	Notes
Source Material Function	Pick the MF to bake
Resolution	Square, N × N px
Compression	See below
Output Name	Saved as T_Cymatics_<name>
Overwrite existing texture	Off by default — a bake refuses to replace an existing texture unless ticked
Bake to Texture2D	Runs the bake

Compression formats

Format	Engine setting	Use
Grayscale R8	TC_Grayscale	Uncompressed single channel — mobile-friendly
Mask BC4	TC_Masks	Compressed single channel
Color BC7	TC_BC7	High-quality compressed RGB

Single-channel patterns — dissolve masks, hatching, dither — should use BC4 rather than BC7, which spends three channels storing the same greyscale.

Output goes to /EQLabs/EQLabs/Cymatics/BakedTextures/T_Cymatics_<name>.

Limitations, stated by the tool

• The baked Texture2D is static. “Animation runs purely in preview.”
• 2D bake only in V1.0. VolumetricMist (Wave3D) is noted as producing 3D output in a later version.
• Baking needs a CPU bake function for the selected MF; where none exists the tool says so rather than producing an empty texture.

Workflow: a custom dissolve

1. Library → Regenerate Library (first run).
2. Find MF_Cymatics_MagicDissolve → Open in Material Editor to see how it is wired.
3. Design → select it as Template.
4. Tune parameters against the live preview.
5. Set Asset Name to MagicDissolve_Custom (it will refuse the starter’s own name).
6. Export as Material Function.
7. Drag it into your material; wire Time in to animate.
8. If the cost is too high on your target platform: Bake → Mask BC4 at a suitable resolution.

Tips and gotchas

• Regenerate Library first. Missing-asset warnings in the Library mean the functions were never generated in this project.
• In v2.0.2 the Regenerate tooltip says 11; there are 12. Trust the 12 / 12 counter. Corrected in the next release.
• Exports cannot overwrite starters. By design, and it protects both directions.
• Animation in a material comes from a Time node wired to the Phase pin, not from the Design tab’s Play button.
• Baked textures are static. Animated patterns must stay procedural or be baked as a flipbook by another tool.
• Use BC4 for single-channel patterns, not BC7.
• Bake overwrite is off by default. A name clash refuses rather than replacing.
• Regenerating replaces the starters, so keep custom variants under their own names (which the export guard enforces).

Related tools

• EQSynth Lab — the broader procedural texture synthesiser
• Smart Mask & Texture Processor — process the masks these functions produce
• Material Layer Studio — compose layered materials using these functions
• Flowmap Painter — hand-authored flow, where FlowmapBasis is procedural