Kaleider description
A software application that emulates kaleidoscope, mirroring, 3D mirroring and funneling effects

Kaleider manipulates pictures to emulate various Kaleidoscope, Mirroring, 3D Mirroring and Funneling effects.

It is a capable graphics tool for people who are interested in tiling, tessellation and mosaic patterns, with controls for manipulating images and tiles.

Effects can be shifted interactively by clicking and dragging with the mouse, essentially re-rendering the same effect based on different relative positions within the source image, allowing you to experiment with the results and decide when a picture suits your taste.

Aside from any usefulness though, Kaleider is really just entertaining and fascinating to watch while in Automatic Effects mode, with an endless variety of randomly selected effects wandering across the screen according to randomly selected patterns.

This visual experience can also be accompanied by music from the built-in Audio Player.

The package contains a collection of sample photos to serve as source images for Kaleider effects, and a few MIDI audio files.

Here are some key features of "Kaleider":

· The Kaleid Tools panel can reside along the right edge of the screen. It contains convenient buttons for the most common functions and Kaleider effects. The main Kaleider Menu and Windows Taskbar can thus be hidden to make the full screen available for displaying images and rendering effects. A Popup Menu, accessed by right-clicking the mouse, provides another alternative for selecting Kaleider Menu options. An optional Edit Tools bar along the bottom of the screen provides handy controls for manipulating images and tiles. The current mouse coordinates are displayed, which can be especially helpful when creating Mirrors.

· The Shifting Effects feature adds an element of motion to Kaleider graphics. A rendered effect can be clicked and dragged with the mouse to re-render the same effect based on different relative positions within the source image. This motion can be automated with Wandering Effects, according to predefined options and Wander Patterns.

· The Rooms option converts the display into a 3D environment, with Kaleider effects plastered onto the walls, ceilings and floors of various ‘Rooms’. Randomly placed and sized Bubbles, also coated with Kaleider patterns, can appear within Rooms. Room scenes can optionally be split into Dual and Quad Views. Keyboard commands can be used to navigate around the Rooms, or Room can be toggled on to automatically zoom through Rooms, make turns, bounce off walls, etc.

· The Mandala feature shows rendered patterns centered within a shape on the screen. The pleasing symmetries, especially when animated with flowing, pulsating Wandering motion, can be quite mesmerizing to watch. Besides the traditional circular Mandala, the outline shape can be set to Oval, Diamond, Hexagon, Stencil or Stencil Negative. A Stencil picture can produce silhouettes against Kaleider patterns.

· Various Kaleidoscope types can be selected, positioned on the screen, resized as desired, and then rendered.Some of the Kaleidoscope types can also be 'split' to reflect half of the shape onto the other half before rendering, creating different variations of the Kaleidoscope effects. The mirrored side can be chosen by clicking with the mouse.

· The Mirroring feature of Kaleider attempts to emulate generic flat mirrored surfaces. It can often produce effects with unusual symmetries.
3D Mirrors emulate reflection from shiny surfaces that have curvature. Spherical, Ellipsoidal and Cylindrical mirrors are like adjustable fragments of larger reflective balls, eggs and columns. A Skewed Cone mirror reflects from a distorted conical shape. Rippled mirrors resemble the concentric waves that occur when a pebble is dropped into a calm pond. A collection of Fun House mirrors create distortions similar to novelty mirrors in an amusement park.

· The Funneling feature of Kaleider creates 'infinite reflection' effects similar those seen when two mirrors face each other. A Funnel of a particular shape can be selected, sized and positioned as desired, and then rendered to replicate an enclosed portion of the image, with ever diminishing size, toward the center of the shape. Rendered Funnels can optionally be tiled kaleidoscopically across the screen.

· Display sequences can also be captured to Video files, making it possible to share Kaleider performances over the internet. A Video Options screen is available to configure Video Format, Video Size, Frame Rate, Video and Audio Compression Formats, etc. A Video Player is also built into the program.

· For computers that have more than one display screen, the Multiple Monitors Display option can be used to transmit Kaleider generated effects to the secondary monitors. Menus, controls, cursors, source images, effect outlines, etc. only appear on the primary monitor, so that just the final results are seen on any secondary screens. This option might be used, for example, to produce live performances of dynamic art, in which effects are selected and controlled from the computer's main monitor, while the audience sees only the results on a large projection display, perhaps accompanied by music.

· The Animate Colors option causes Kaleider to perform a continuous series of color shifts on the pixels in the current screen display. The resulting effects can be interesting and beautiful, or annoying and ugly, depending on your taste and the current image. The Up and Down Arrow keys can also be used to step forward and backward through the color shifts one at a time (whether or not Animate Colors is activated).

· Veejays and other dynamic motion artists might use the MIDI Control capability to mix Kaleider manipulations into their performances. Signals from a MIDI device can cause images to display, Scripted sequences to begin, music selections to play, and many other actions. It's also possible to play music from an attached MIDI device.


Limitations:

· 16-day trial period