beamgrid/README.md

# BEAMGRID

A JUCE-based VST3 / AU spectrum analyzer with a fully black UI, teal accents,
and a configurable display.

## Screenshots
![Screenshot 01](beamgrid01.png)
![Screenshot 01](beamgrid02.png)

## Features

- **Three display modes** (`MODE` knob):
  - **BARS** - classic log-spaced spectrum bars with peak-hold caps.
  - **SPECTRUM** - a smooth (quadratic-spline) waveform trace of the spectrum,
    with a matching smooth peak-hold wave. Use the `SMOOTH` knob to go from
    raw/edgy to heavily smoothed.
  - **LED** - an LED-meter style view (`LEDS` knob sets LEDs per bar).
- **Frequency range** fixed to **20 Hz – 20 kHz**.
- **HUE** knob rotates the hue of every UI accent (knob arcs, peaks, title)
  without altering the underlying data.
- **UI scaling** dropdown (75% – 300%) in the top-right.
- Per-project **size & scale persistence** (stored in the plugin state).

## Parameters

| Knob        | Range            | Description                                   |
|-------------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| PEAK GRACE  | 0 – 2000 ms      | Grace period before a peak-hold marker decays |
| PEAK FALLOFF| 0 – 1            | Peak-hold decay rate                          |
| BAR FALLOFF| 0 – 1            | Spectrum bar release speed                    |
| BARS        | 8 / 16 / 32 / 64 / 128 | Number of spectrum bands (snaps)          |
| HUE         | 0 – 1            | Rotates the UI accent hue (0.5 = no change)   |
| MODE        | 1 / 2 / 3        | BARS / SPECTRUM / LED                         |
| LEDS        | 4 – 48           | LEDs per bar in LED mode                      |
| SMOOTH      | 0 – 1            | Waveform smoothing amount in SPECTRUM mode    |
| GRID        | 0 – 1            | Grid (frequency/level) visibility / brightness|
| ZOOM        | 98.0% – 102.0%   | Grid zoom about the plot centre               |
| GRID FADE   | 0 – 1            | Fades inner grid lines; outer border stays   |
| CURVING     | 0 – 1            | LED corner radius (0 = square, 1 = rounded)  |
| TILT        | -1 – 1           | Spectral tilt: + boosts highs / cuts lows, - does the reverse (0 = flat) |
| BOOST       | 0.75 – 2.5       | Global display level multiplier (1.0 = unity)                            |
| 3D          | 0 – 1            | Pseudo-3D bevel/shading on bars, LEDs, peaks and curve (0 = flat)        |
| G-ANG       | -180 – 180       | Gradient angle for the 3D shading (0 = top-lit, +/-90 = side-lit)        |

## Building

Requires [CMake](https://cmake.org/) (>= 3.22) and a JUCE-supported
toolchain (Xcode / clang on macOS, MSVC / GCC on Windows, etc.). JUCE is
fetched automatically by CMake.

```sh
cmake -B build -G Ninja
cmake --build build --config Release
```

The built plugins are installed to your system plugin folders:

- `build/BEAMGRID_artefacts/Release/VST3/BEAMGRID.vst3`
- `build/BEAMGRID_artefacts/Release/AU/BEAMGRID.component`

Then rescan in your DAW (FL Studio, REAPER, Logic, etc.).

## Project layout

```
Source/
  PluginProcessor.cpp/.h   Audio processor + parameter layout
  PluginEditor.cpp/.h      Editor UI, knobs, layout
  Analyser.h/.cpp          FFT analysis, banding, peak-hold
  AnalyserComponent.h      Drawing (BARS / SPECTRUM / LED)
  BeamgridLookAndFeel.h    Black/teal styling, hue rotation, rotary drawing
```

## License

See the repository license file.