camera

cameraInput · sources · schema v1

Webcam input (LOCAL ONLY). Live <video> -> WebGL2 texture; gain / mirror / on params. The captured stream is local to your browser tab and is NOT sent to other rack-mates — collaborators see a presence badge ("user X has CAMERA active") via Y-awareness, not the video itself. Multiplayer streaming (WebRTC + SFU) is deferred to a future phase. Spec: .myrobots/plans/module-camera-input.md.

CAMERA is a webcam-as-source video module. The card requests getUserMedia, runs a live <video> element, and hands it to the engine, which samples each decoded frame into a GPU texture and renders a fullscreen pass-through: the shader aspect-fits the camera frame into the engine's canvas (cover-cropping the off-axis by default so a 16:9 webcam fills the frame with no black bars), optionally flips it horizontally for a selfie mirror, and multiplies the RGB by a gain before sending it downstream. When no frame is available, or while disabled/paused, it shows a dark navy idle pattern (a faint vertical gradient, brighter toward the top) rather than black, so an unconfigured card reads as alive. Usage: drop CAMERA in, pick a device and grant access, then patch OUT into any video module (mixer, effect, OUTPUT screen). Use it as the live face/scene layer of a video patch.

the faceplate

2 inputs · 1 outputs · 4 params

about this module

Hover a control, or open the patch panel and hover a jack.

inputs

id	cable	what it does
`gain`	cv	CV input that modulates the Gain control (linear scale, paramTarget=gain). Patch an LFO or envelope here to pulse the camera's RGB brightness; combines with the on-card Gain fader. control voltage (CV); modulates gain (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob)
`mirror`	gate	Gate input that drives the Mirror toggle. It is level-sensitive (edge: gate): the image is horizontally flipped while the level is held high (above 0.5) and un-flipped while low, so an LFO/clock/gate flips the mirror in time. With nothing patched, the on-card Mirror button owns the state. gate / trigger; modulates mirror (summed directly (the destination DSP scales it)); gate — acts while the level is high (reacts to both edges)

outputs

id	cable	what it does
`out`	video	Video output carrying the live camera frame: aspect-fitted, optionally mirrored, gain-multiplied RGB. Patch into any downstream video module. RGB video stream

params

id	label	range	default	curve
`gain`	Gain	0..2	—	linear
`enabled`	On	0..1	—	discrete
`mirror`	Mirror	0..1	—	discrete
`fillMode`	Fill	0..1	—	discrete

controls

control	what it does
On	On (discrete 0/1, default 1 = on). The card's Pause/Resume button: off (Pause) stops the camera track to release the hardware and renders the idle navy pattern; on (Resume) re-requests the stream.
Fill	Fill (discrete 0/1, default 1 = fill). Aspect-fit mode set by the card's Fit toggle: 1 = Fill/cover-crop (fills the canvas, crops the off-axis, no bars), 0 = Letterbox/contain (fits the whole frame with black bars). Neither ever distorts the source aspect; when the source already matches the output aspect the card shows a non-interactive Native badge instead.
Gain	Gain (linear, 0 to 2, default 1). RGB multiplier applied to the camera frame in the shader (src.rgb * gain, unclamped): 0 = black, 1 = unity, 2 = doubled (bright/clipped) RGB. CV-modulatable via the gain input.
Mirror	Mirror (discrete 0/1, default 1 = on). Horizontally flips the frame for a selfie mirror (shader thresholds uMirror at 0.5). Settable from the on-card Mirror button or held high by the mirror gate input. The param is shared across collaborators.

source

camera-input.ts on GitHub.