Work / Software · Visuals · Performance
CLIFT
Open
- WebThe browser version. Open it and play; microphone optional.Run
- Terminal (C/C++)The original. ncurses, PipeWire audio, Ableton Link, a WebSocket server for live coding. 190 scenes in 19 categories.Source
- clift2 (C)The modular rewrite. Scenes register themselves, seven render modes, a mature auto mode, a live-coding REPL with its own bytecode, macros.Source · soon
About
Three generations
CLIFT started in the terminal. clift_terminal is C and C++ on ncurses: 190 scenes in nineteen categories, dual decks, PipeWire audio, Ableton Link to stay in time with the music software, and a WebSocket server so live-coded text can be laid over the image. It is best seen in Cool Retro Term.
clift2 rebuilt it as modular C. Scenes register themselves at start-up instead of living in one enormous switch, render modes multiplied (ASCII, classic, surface, Braille, block, shade, dots), the auto mode learned to follow build-ups and drops, and a small REPL with its own bytecode lets the visuals be live-coded directly.
CLIFT Web brings it to the browser with no install: 235 scenes in 24 banks, drawn on the GPU, with post-effects, two decks, recording and remote control.
In the World
The scenes of CLIFT are also part of World, the stage for the next live-coding concert, where 441 of them can be placed on the canvas and cued by the music.
Features
- 01
Two decks
Live mini-previews of both decks, eight mix patterns, transitions timed in beats (1 to 16), and an auto mode that follows the music.
- 02
Hundreds of scenes
In named banks with a searchable browser and favourites. Each scene is a function that fills a character buffer, so writing a new one is a few lines.
- 03
Effects and render modes
Glitch, mirror, 3D tunnel, dither and twenty more, plus render modes beyond plain ASCII (surface, particles, splines, 3D city, plasma, terminal).
- 04
GPU-drawn characters
In the browser, the character grid is drawn by a WebGL shader from a glyph atlas, with CRT tint, glow, scanlines, vignette and chromatic offset in the same pass.
- 05
Live coding on top
The terminal versions run a WebSocket server that lays the code played on stage over the image. The web version takes scene, effect and tempo changes from afar the same way.
- 06
Audio-reactive
Microphone input, analysed every frame, and a beat clock. Whole banks of scenes answer to the sound.
- 07
Editors
A code editor and a node editor. Scenes made in them land in their own Custom bank.
- 08
Runs anywhere
The web version is one page with no build and no server; it opens from disk. The terminal versions run in a terminal, best in Cool Retro Term.
Media
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CLIFT terminal — with a generative FoxDot server
Elsewhere
Credits
- Code — Crash Server