WireLab GUI Guide

How the 16:9 stage, tiles, and scene-derived controls fit together for performance visuals and export. For per-plugin detail, see WireLab VFX Plugins.

Overview

WireLab is a visual stage editor opened from an AudioLab scene. You lay out tiles on a normalized 16:9 canvas, map each tile to controls in the loaded scene JSON, and preview motion with AudioLab headless playback. Audio still runs through the same scene graph; WireLab adds a performance surface for sliders, hot zones, and VFX frames.

  • Scene — The AudioLab patch you load (components, cables, control values).
  • Tiles — Rectangles in stage space (0–1) with an interaction type and optional FRAME plugin.
  • Mappings — Each interactive tile points at a scene control (or VFX plugin control row).

Stage and Tiles

  • The stage is always 16:9. Tile rect values are normalized to stage width and height.
  • Add tiles from the tile list; drag and resize on the canvas. Grid snap helps alignment.
  • Tile order and z-index affect how FRAME layers stack.
  • Slider geometry uses the longer tile edge as the track; handles follow normalized position along that axis.

Control Mapping

WireLab traces the loaded scene to build control options (instruments, mixers, CV-exposed knobs, Visualizer plugin rows). Interaction types include:

  • slider-track — Fader along the long edge of the tile; writes the bound control value during play and export.
  • hot-area — Full-tile hit zone; for SingleTrigger components fires fireSingleTriggerEvent on click/touch.
  • btn-hover — Hover-driven control (where supported by the bound target).
  • x/y mouse — Two-axis pad mapping horizontal and vertical controls.
  • cycle-button — Steps through a small discrete set of values (e.g. mute/solo presets).
  • frame — Hosts a VFX plugin instance with its own control map and optional MIDI routing.

CV bindings (delta/absolute + multiplier) apply during mapped playback the same way as direct slider writes when the scene control is exposed to CV.

FRAME VFX Plugins

  • Choose a plugin from the WireLab VFX catalog (3D, particles, solids, media).
  • FRAME tiles carry frame.pluginDefId, control values, optional per-tile CSS, and MIDI source/sink ids for sequencer-driven effects.
  • MIDI for visuals usually routes through the AudioLab Visualizer sink — duplicate MIDI to audible synths and visual sinks when needed.
  • Plugin-specific parameters appear in the tile dock; map scene sliders or hot areas to exposed controls for live performance.

Playback

  • Play / Stop uses AudioLab headless playback on the loaded scene.
  • Transport BPM syncs tempo-driven VFX and scene sequencers.
  • Mapped tile values are written into scene component controls before and during playback (same contract as onefile export).

Backgrounds

  • Upload JPEG backgrounds to your WireLab library; thumbnails are stored in per-user SQLite.
  • Pick a background for the stage; it is included in onefile export when configured.
  • Slideshow backgrounds (where enabled) cycle images behind tiles without replacing mapped controls.

Export Options

  • Export Settings — Configure splash HTML and placeholders before generating a standalone onefile.
  • OneFile HTML — Self-contained page: splash → full-screen 16:9 stage with mapped tiles and embedded headless audio runtime.
  • Export MP4 — Headless stepped capture of VFX frames (separate video-exporter tab); optional audio render; uses the same FRAME plugin runtimes as the editor.

Open Export Settings before export if you need custom splash copy or boot template placeholders. Saved onefiles land under your user wirelab-exports media folder.

VFX reference: WireLab VFX Plugins · AudioLab patch reference: AudioLab Components