Harmonographe
Virtual pendulums weave rosettes you can export as GIFs
A simulation of a harmonograph, the Victorian instrument in which damped pendulums guide a pen. You can add as many axes as you like, each with its own amplitude, frequency, phase, damping and direction. Start from a preset (Lissajous, Rotary 3, Fleur, Bloom) or a random draw, then export the animation as a GIF or WebM. Phase or rotation drifts from frame to frame, and a "perfect loop" option produces a seamless loop.
What shines
- Unlimited axes, each with amplitude, frequency, phase, damping and direction
- Standalone HTML file: the gif.js encoder and its worker are injected from base64 through Blob URLs, so it works offline
- Native WebM export via MediaRecorder with a VP9 → VP8 fallback; GIF and WebM exports verified working in a headless browser
- "Perfect loop": phase and rotation increments are rounded to multiples of 360°/frame count
- Seeded xorshift random generator, phase jitter and frequency detuning in ppm for organic-looking animations
How to use it
Pick a preset (or 🎲 Random), click "Start preview", then "Export GIF" or "Export WebM"
Made with
- JavaScript
- Canvas 2D
- gif.js 0.2.0 (Web Workers, embarqué en base64)
- MediaRecorder API (WebM VP9/VP8)
- HTML/CSS