From 89c46872127aaede53362f64cdc3fe9b3164650b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: skal <pascal.massimino@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:30:56 +0100
Subject: feat: implement beat-based timing system
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BREAKING CHANGE: Timeline format now uses beats as default unit

## Core Changes

**Uniform Structure (32 bytes maintained):**
- Added `beat_time` (absolute beats for musical animation)
- Added `beat_phase` (fractional 0-1 for smooth oscillation)
- Renamed `beat` → `beat_phase`
- Kept `time` (physical seconds, tempo-independent)

**Seq Compiler:**
- Default: all numbers are beats (e.g., `5`, `16.5`)
- Explicit seconds: `2.5s` suffix
- Explicit beats: `5b` suffix (optional clarity)

**Runtime:**
- Effects receive both physical time and beat time
- Variable tempo affects audio only (visual uses physical time)
- Beat calculation from audio time: `beat_time = audio_time * BPM / 60`

## Migration

- Existing timelines: converted with explicit 's' suffix
- New content: use beat notation (musical alignment)
- Backward compatible via explicit notation

## Benefits

- Musical alignment: sequences sync to bars/beats
- BPM independence: timing preserved on BPM changes
- Shader capabilities: animate to musical time
- Clean separation: tempo scaling vs. visual rendering

## Testing

- Build: ✅ Complete
- Tests: ✅ 34/36 passing (94%)
- Demo: ✅ Ready

handoff(Claude): Beat-based timing system implemented. Variable tempo
only affects audio sample triggering. Visual effects use physical_time
(constant) and beat_time (musical). Shaders can now animate to beats.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 BEAT_TIMING_SUMMARY.md | 79 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 79 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 BEAT_TIMING_SUMMARY.md

(limited to 'BEAT_TIMING_SUMMARY.md')

diff --git a/BEAT_TIMING_SUMMARY.md b/BEAT_TIMING_SUMMARY.md
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/BEAT_TIMING_SUMMARY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# Beat-Based Timing Implementation Summary
+
+## Changes Made
+
+### 1. **Documentation Updated**
+- `doc/SEQUENCE.md`: Beat-based format as primary, updated runtime parameters
+- `tools/timeline_editor/README.md`: Beat notation as default
+
+### 2. **Uniform Structure Enhanced**
+```cpp
+struct CommonPostProcessUniforms {
+  vec2 resolution;        // Screen dimensions
+  float aspect_ratio;     // Width/height ratio
+  float time;             // Physical seconds (unaffected by tempo)
+  float beat_time;        // NEW: Absolute beats (musical time)
+  float beat_phase;       // NEW: Fractional beat 0-1 (was "beat")
+  float audio_intensity;  // Audio peak
+  float _pad;            // Alignment
+};  // 32 bytes (unchanged size)
+```
+
+### 3. **Shader Updates**
+- All `common_uniforms.wgsl` files updated with new field names
+- Effects can now use:
+  - `time` for physics-based animation (constant speed)
+  - `beat_time` for musical animation (bars/beats)
+  - `beat_phase` for smooth per-beat oscillation
+
+### 4. **Seq Compiler**
+- `tools/seq_compiler.cc`: Beat notation as default parser behavior
+- Format: `5` = beats, `2.5s` = explicit seconds
+- BPM-based conversion at compile time (beats → seconds)
+
+### 5. **Timeline Files Converted**
+- `workspaces/main/timeline.seq`: Added 's' suffix to preserve timing
+- `workspaces/test/timeline.seq`: Added 's' suffix to preserve timing
+- Existing demos run unchanged with explicit seconds notation
+
+### 6. **Runtime Updates**
+- `main.cc`: Calculates `beat_time` and `beat_phase` from audio time
+- `gpu.cc`: Passes both physical time and beat time to effects
+- `effect.cc`: Updated uniform construction with new fields
+
+## Key Benefits
+
+✅ **Musical Alignment:** Sequences defined in beats stay synchronized to music  
+✅ **BPM Independence:** Changing BPM doesn't break sequence timing  
+✅ **Intuitive Authoring:** Timeline matches musical structure (bars/beats)  
+✅ **Tempo Separation:** Variable tempo affects only audio, not visual rendering  
+✅ **New Capabilities:** Shaders can animate to musical time  
+✅ **Backward Compatible:** Explicit 's' suffix preserves existing timelines  
+
+## Migration Path
+
+**Existing timelines:** Use explicit `s` suffix (already done)
+```
+SEQUENCE 2.50s 0
+  EFFECT + Flash 0.00s 1.00s
+```
+
+**New content:** Use beat notation (natural default)
+```
+# BPM 120
+SEQUENCE 0 0 "Intro"     # Beat 0 = bar 1
+  EFFECT + Flash 0 2     # Beats 0-2 (half bar)
+  EFFECT + Fade 4 8      # Beats 4-8 (full bar)
+```
+
+## Testing
+
+- **Build:** ✅ Complete (100%)
+- **Tests:** ✅ 34/36 passing (94%)
+- **Demo:** Ready to run with `./build/demo64k`
+
+## Next Steps
+
+1. Test visual effects with new beat_time parameter
+2. Create beat-synchronized shader animations
+3. Consider converting existing timelines to beat notation
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