svg-synthesiser

Intro

Greetings, you're probably asking what ist this and why?

Let's start with the what:

This is a project that allows you to create a wav from SVGs, that, when played back with an Oscilloscope/Vectorscope (or a simulator), will display the inputted images.

Now the why:

why not?

Getting started

Currently, theirs no npm repository available, but im planning to add that in future

Requirements

• Node (tested on 18)

• Optional for direct blender integration:

  • Blender (3.1+)
  • Blender folder added to PATH
  • Python (tested on 3.11)

Installation

Download the repository (from master for "stable" and develop for cutting edge), unpack it, open the console in the folder and run:

npm i
npm i . -g

Now you have access to the svs-cli command from anywhere

If you want to use this project to build something on top of it I recommend waiting for the npm version, otherwise just co py the folder into your project in the meantime

Usage

Now that everything is installed you can start creating, first you need a folder with your SVGs, lets say its here:

 ./svgs
    | 1.svg
    | 2.svg
    | 3.svg
    | 4.svg
    | ...

Then you can start the console at ./ and run the following script:

svs-cli folder ./svgs

this will create an ./out.wav file that can then be played back.

for virtual playback I recommend kritzikratzi/Oscilloscope

For more options and settings you can always run an command with --help:

svs-cli folder --help

Usage: svs-cli folder [options] <file path>

Arguments:
  file path                  path to the folder

Options:
  -o, --out <path>           Out path for wav file (default: "./out.wav")
  --fps <number>             Frames per second (default: "24")
  -m, --multiplier <number>  Value used to multiple frameSpeed and sampleRate, will reduce flickering if higher (default: "1")
  --threads <number>         use multiple threads for better performance (default: "1")
  --watch                    watches for file changes and reruns on changes
  -r, --read [path]          read a config file and use that as options (default: path + /svs.config.json)
  -w, --write [path]         writes a config file to be used as options, will stop after writing file (default: path + /svs.config.json)
  -h, --help                 display help for command

Information

• The multiplier will render the same frame multiple times to reduce flickering, a good value is like 2-5
• I recommend using threads when having larger SVGs (or many) as it will speed up render-time, how many depends on your system so just try it out

Blender Integration

I'm planing on making a plugin so all this can be directly started in blender but until then:

To use it, we have a ./test.blend file and run the following command:

svs-cli blender ./test.blend

this will create all the SVGs for the object named "Cube" (to change this use the -s <string> option) and save them into an folder at ./vector-uvs (to auto delete the folder after running use the -c flag)

Then it will create the ./out.wav file

More options:

Usage: svs-cli blender [options] <file path>

Arguments:
  file path                    path to the .blend file

Options:
  -s, --selection <object id>  the blender object to convert to vector uvs (default: "Cube")
  -t, --temp <path>            Path to folder of temp svg files (default: "./vector-uvs")
  -o, --out <path>             Out path for wav file (default: "./out.wav")
  --fps <number>               Frames per second (Default is value from blend file)
  -m, --multiplier <number>    Value used to multiple frameSpeed and sampleRate, will reduce flickering if higher (default: "1")
  --threads <number>           use multiple threads for better performance (default: "1")
  -c, --cleanup                use flag to remove temp files after wav build
  --watch                      watches for file changes and reruns on changes
  -r, --read [path]            read a config file and use that as options (default: path to .blend file + .json => ./test.blend => ./test.blend.json)
  -w, --write [path]           writes a config file to be used as options, will stop after writing file (default: path to .blend file + .json => ./test.blend => ./test.blend.json)
  -h, --help                   display help for command