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>
---
 src/gpu/effect.h | 13 ++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

(limited to 'src/gpu/effect.h')

diff --git a/src/gpu/effect.h b/src/gpu/effect.h
index ed90ac7..b9709a4 100644
--- a/src/gpu/effect.h
+++ b/src/gpu/effect.h
@@ -49,16 +49,19 @@ class Effect {
 
   // Helper: get initialized CommonPostProcessUniforms based on current dimensions
   // If aspect_ratio < 0, computes from width_/height_
-  CommonPostProcessUniforms get_common_uniforms(float time = 0.0f, float beat = 0.0f,
+  CommonPostProcessUniforms get_common_uniforms(float time = 0.0f,
+                                                  float beat_time = 0.0f,
+                                                  float beat_phase = 0.0f,
                                                   float intensity = 0.0f,
                                                   float aspect_ratio = -1.0f) const {
     return {
         .resolution = {static_cast<float>(width_), static_cast<float>(height_)},
-        ._pad = {0.0f, 0.0f},
         .aspect_ratio = aspect_ratio < 0.0f ? static_cast<float>(width_) / static_cast<float>(height_) : aspect_ratio,
         .time = time,
-        .beat = beat,
+        .beat_time = beat_time,
+        .beat_phase = beat_phase,
         .audio_intensity = intensity,
+        ._pad = 0.0f,
     };
   }
 
@@ -130,8 +133,8 @@ class MainSequence {
   void init_test(const GpuContext& ctx);
   void add_sequence(std::shared_ptr<Sequence> seq, float start_time,
                     int priority = 0);
-  void render_frame(float global_time, float beat, float peak,
-                    float aspect_ratio, WGPUSurface surface);
+  void render_frame(float global_time, float beat_time, float beat_phase,
+                    float peak, float aspect_ratio, WGPUSurface surface);
   void resize(int width, int height);
   void shutdown();
 
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