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#Animation #Blender #cablesGL

Collection of real-time Patches, 2026

During the summer of 2024 I started to use cables.gl for the creation of my realtime VJ sets. I keep comming back to the tool, using it for various tasks and exploring new possibilities. Often the projects incorporate low poly assets modeled and animated in blender. Other projects include Blender Conference 2024, Modularfield 2025, denoised and Pygmy Tyrant.

I see a lot of potential in the tool for performing and interacting with digital characters and try to do so while syncing up the motion with generative audio, as well as sample based sounds.

Running Rat Synth

This is one of the most fun patches created with the base rat 3D model and animation I created for the library animation. The animation and postprocessing of the scene is synced to a generative audio patch in VCV Rack. And live performed with a 4x4 encoder midi controller.

• Youtube: Patch059 - running rat synth
• Youtube: Patch061 - Rat Step Sequencer

Circuit Drifter

This cables patch implements a full gameplay loop with only visual scripting, excluding one small vector math helper node. Cables was missing a dot product node; as the math is pretty simple I was able to write it myself. The small game is based on a sphere cart controller, which is common for arcade style games where the vehicle movement needs to feel nice in motion, but does not have to be physically accurate.

• View: Circuit Drifter
• Edit: Circuit Drifter

Midi Controller

As the video featuring the top view of the controller together with visuals I created a digital twin to flip the metaphor upside down. The model is created as a parametric with Blender, and then manually prepared for the import and rendering in cables.gl.

• Youtube: Patch060 - Free Running CV Recorder
• View: Midifighter Digital Twin
• Edit: Midifighter Digital Twin

To preserve the material properties, in this case mainly the base color, I use gltf.transform by Don McCurdy to bake all PBR Materials that do not use textures in Blender in simple to import palette textures. These pallettes contain the GLTF material data baked down to BaseColor, MetallicRoughness and Emissive textures.

Looom *.svg Weave Playback

I’m a big fan of the drawing and animation App Looom by IORAMA and thus have created multiple diffrent projects with it. One neat trick of the tool is the ability to export the tools vector drawings as an animated *.svg¹ files. This patch shows how to render these with cables.g, in the html context.

Rat Flipper

This is just a fun little spin of a patch by Pandur that explores and explains the integration for the Rapier physics library in cables.gl.

• View: Rat Flipper
• Edit: Rat Flipper

Pixel Sorting & Feedback Patches

For an music video project I am collecting a wide range of visual feedback, glitch art and pixel sorting effects. Some I recently got to test on a 12x3m LED wall. Something I would reccommend and do again any time I have access to similar hardware. The base reaction diffusion feedback patch I use for these workflows is available on the cables plattform for anyone to build upon.

• View: Fun with Feedack
• Edit: Fun with Feedack

Reaction Diffusion Stickers

I enjoy the cables.gl community challenges. The topics give you a nice starting point to work on, and the time for each topic is just long enough to do something interesting. Building upon an old Blender project, and some new insight how to wire feedback patches in cables, I created a reaction diffusion patch.

The patch constantly displaces a text input, and simulates the grey

I then post-processed one of the many screenshots, vectorized the design, cleaned up tiny areas by hand, and extended the design with a border, matching the proportions of the original design.

• View: Fun with Feedack
• Edit: Fun with Feedack