This web app gives users the opportunity to interact with creative projects uploaded by developers using an interface anyone can use.

From Small Experiments To Entire 3D Worlds.

Synth will be the place on the web you can upload anything from a short creative experiment to a full on generated 3D world or game. The web app will give developers and creative coders easy access to assignable UI components like waveform generators, timelines, step sequencers, faders, buttons and joysticks. Drag and drop music and video to use as assets in your project. Control effects using audio analysis. Display your project fullscreen while controlling the scene with a second screen device. Imagine modeling a scene, exporting it to Three.js and then being able to navigate that scene using a second screen controller. This is a game changer!

Here are just some of the possible projects:

• Audio visualizations
• Webcam toys
• Vector artwork
• 3D scenes
• Video effect generators
• Data visualizations
• Web Audio API experiments
• Interactive music videos

Use Your Devices With Synth.

Synth integrates with your existing devices. The web app can display full screen on a TV or computer monitor with Google Chromecast. The web app will also support using second screen devices like smartphones and tablets to control visualizations on your desktop or laptop computer. Input audio and video for use in projects from external devices. The web app will support popular input devices like Leap Motion. 

Being creative means pushing the limits of your medium. 

Synth is a whole new way to be creative online! Creative coders upload new visuals that users can remix into their own looks. The visualization can be anything from a webcam toy to something that uses audio input to a 3D world the user can navigate. The possibilities are endless! 

Creative coders will be featured.

Developers and creative coders that choose to create visualizations for Synth will be able to have the opportunity to get their work featured in a gallery. Developers that upload WebGL projects can publish their projects for the public to use. Developers will have a dedicated section to create and publish interactive experiences using this web app. 

Tools for developers.

Synth is a modern video synthesizer for the web. Developers will be able to hook up their WebGL scenes to AV sources, UI controllers and input devices. Developers will be able to publish aspects of their Three.js, d3, Babylon.js and Famo.us projects to the UI components library used by Synth. Developers will get instant access to audio analysis, synthesized waveforms generated by the web app, and a host of other input devices supported by Synth. The features supported by this web app will be a huge upgrade from dat.gui! 

Features for everyone.

Users visiting the app to experience projects shared by developers will be able to remix the projects by adding their own content like images, music and video. Users can use the controls served by a project and save the state they are in with presets. Everyone can share projects to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest. The UI components library available in the web app will be so flexible a developer could even make a project users can build their own 3D scenes with a GUI. 

What Synth can already do.

• Drag and drop music and video 
• Use external devices to playback audio and capture video 
• Manually control parameters of the visualization
• Save presets to your local filesystem

Recently, the alpha build was updated to support external devices for audio playback. This video demos using music on an iPhone to power the audio analysis in Google Chrome on my desktop computer. 

The alpha version of Synth has been available for the past year. This proof of concept includes a visualization by engineer and digital artist Steve Belovarich that will also be available in the web app. Synth recently was selected as a Codepen Pick. The alpha build was also featured on Chrome Experiments. 

Play with Synth alpha today at http://kineticvideo.co.

UI Components In Progress.

Steve developed custom UI elements for the alpha version of the web app that will serve as the inspiration for the beta project. Below is an example of the look and feel for the proposed UI components that reference analog signal processing but still keep a flat look and feel so they do not become skeuomorphic. These custom UI elements react to both touch and mouse events. The joystick control is constrained by circular motion for a more natural feel. Any controller can output it's values for use in other controllers or can be recorded on a timeline to be looped later. Proposed UI elements are sliders, joysticks, timeline, button grid, keyboard, experimental music instruments, filters, file picker, and more!

What Features Will Be Available During Beta? 

The beta project will include a complete refactor of the code from the ground up, making Synth faster and more efficient. Synth Beta will adopt Famo.us but still provide support for Three.js. Famo.us mixed mode rendering is an ideal solution for this web app. Synth will also use WebRTC for advanced features including remote control from a touch device. MongoDB will be used to store saved presets and timelines. 

The beta project will include several features suggested by existing users and a wishlist by the project's creator Web Engineer and Electronic Artist Steve Belovarich:

• User profiles 
• Featured content by developers and creative coders
• Remote touch controls from tablet / mobile device 
• Ability to record and edit parameters of a project on a timeline
• OBJ and STL file import/export 
• Import Famo.us, d3, Three.js and Babylon.js, Vanilla JS projects
• Better UX/UI for audio and video playlists 
• Create saved states that can be saved by users as presets
• Better fullscreen support for tablets 
• First person controls
• Audio analysis
• Step sequencer for video/audio assets
• Mix video planes, images, text, and html snippets with 3D mesh 
• Map keyboard shortcuts and UI elements to audio synthesis
• Create different oscillators
• Add secure payment gateway 
• Add bug reporting package
• Add better support for Google Chromecast

When will the finished app be available?

The planned released of the web app is Spring 2016. Support the Kickstarter and get early access to the private beta in the second quarter of 2015. After the beta expires, a free version of the web app will be made available that will allow users to interact with projects uploaded by developers. The paid version web app will unlock advanced features for developers and will be available for as low as $1.99/month. A subscription to the finished web app will mean unlimited upgrades to the web app for the extent of the subscription. If you get access to the beta as a reward, you will unlock all the features in development for the extent of the beta.

What Can You Do To Help?

Synth needs your help to go into the Beta phase of the project. The web app needs funds to secure hosting on new servers. Your donation will go directly to fund the equipment needed to host the project during beta and into the launch of the web app. Help make this web app a reality and become an early beta tester today!

What Does Your Contribution Mean?

Your donation will ensure Synth can exist through the release of the web app in 2016. Only Kickstarter supporters and select industry professionals will be selected for private beta access to the web app. Backers get early access to the beta version of the web app. The beta is expected to begin second quarter of 2015. Synth Version 1.0 is expected to be released in Early 2016.

If the project raises a significant amount of funds that will allow Steve to purchase popular input devices to use with Synth and to hire more engineers and Synth will be delivered faster and more efficiently. If the Kickstarter raises the minimum operating costs needed to host the beta project which is the goal, this will be sufficient for the lead engineer to proceed immediately on development of the beta. Steve will have servers up and running in minutes after receiving the funds. 

Who is the Engineer/Artist?

Synth is developed by web engineer and electronic artist Steve Belovarich.  He previously produced experimental 3D visualizations displayed at Electric Art Exhibition in Syracuse, NY and has developed sketches for clients using Three.js and WebGL. Steve has been developing web sites for fifteen years and is currently the Lead Web Application Engineer at Mediahound, Inc. He has a M.F.A. Computer Art from Syracuse University and B.S. Electronic Arts from Rensselaer. His taste for visual design combined with an education in computer graphics and industry experience in visual post production for television and internet video makes him perfectly suited for the task of developing this web app. Steve Belovarich has been the sole developer on the project thus far and has intimate knowledge of the technology needed to see the web app well through the beta phase of production.

Risks and challenges

Synth has already undergone a year of development. The proposed functional changes to the web app do not require much exploration either. The lead engineer on the project has already deployed a web app that uses web sockets and currently uses the same Framework (Famous/Angular) where he works at Mediahound. The learning curve will be minimal, so for the most part coding will be mostly just doing.

There is a risk that the project has a sole developer, but with more funding possibly some more engineers could be brought on to expedite the beta build of the web app.