Example Built with Kernel FX Ships with Voro as an example. It may change between versions.

Purpose

Isochrome treats the image as a transparent specimen under stress. Bright and dark structure, or the image alpha, defines the specimen. The simulated material and polarizer angles turn that stress into coloured fringes.

Use

Place Isochrome under Effects in the Image view and connect a picture to image. Choose Luma for footage or Alpha for text and graphics. Adjust Applied Stress and Thickness to change the fringe pattern, then rotate the Analyzer Angle.

For an additional localized load, connect a grayscale image to pressure.

Inputs and outputs

• image supplies the specimen and optional source colour.
• pressure adds a scalar load. Black or an unwired input is neutral.
• out is the polarized image blended with the source.

Controls

• Specimen Source chooses Luma or Alpha. Transparent Background can confine the effect to source alpha.
• Applied Stress sets the load. Structure Scale controls how broadly the picture is measured.
• Fine Stress and Bending change how edges and curvature contribute.
• Pressure Map sets the additional load strength; Load Angle sets its direction.
• Material and Thickness change the optical response.
• Polarizer Angle and Analyzer Angle orient the two polarizers.
• Picture Through Glass brings source colour into the result. Mix at zero passes through the original RGBA image.

Notes

The material choices are artistic approximations, not calibrated stress measurements. Changing stress or thickness moves the fringes; Spectral Saturation changes their colour separation without moving them.

Ports

Inputs

• image image required
  RGBA
• pressure image
  single channel

Outputs

• out image
  RGBA

Parameters

Stress

Mix (Mix) Float op('isochrome').par.Mix

Blend the untouched picture to the complete polarized-stress result. Zero is an exact RGBA passthrough.

Default:

0.82

Range:

0 to 1

Specimen Source (Source) Menu op('isochrome').par.Source

Luma treats picture structure as the specimen; Alpha turns text, mattes and motion graphics into the stressed shape.

Default:

luma

Options:

luma, alpha

Transparent Background (Background) Menu op('isochrome').par.Background

Confine keeps the specimen, residual temper and pressure load inside the picture's alpha, so nothing grows into transparent background; Everywhere applies the sheet across the whole frame as before.

Default:

confine

Options:

confine, everywhere

Applied Stress (Stress) Float op('isochrome').par.Stress

Overall load carried by image structure, residual temper and the optional pressure map. It changes fringe order, not a post colour gain.

Default:

0.9

Range:

0 to 16

Structure Scale (Scale) Float op('isochrome').par.Scale

Width of the broad structural measurement as a fraction of picture width, so the same specimen keeps its scale from HD to 4K.

Default:

0.022

Range:

0.001 to 0.12

Fine Stress (Detail) Float op('isochrome').par.Detail

Blend broad load paths toward fine image structure without changing material or polarizer settings.

Default:

0.32

Range:

0 to 1

Bending (Bending) Float op('isochrome').par.Bending

Contribution of local curvature to the stress tensor. Low values follow edges; high values reveal plates, folds and enclosed forms.

Default:

0.5

Range:

0 to 3

Residual Temper (Temper) Float op('isochrome').par.Temper

Frozen-in manufacturing stress. It keeps broad quiet regions alive without temporal noise or feedback.

Default:

0.05

Range:

0 to 1.5

Temper Scale (Temperscale) Float op('isochrome').par.Temperscale

Number of broad residual-stress cells across the specimen.

Default:

3.4

Range:

0.35 to 18

Pressure Map (Pressure) Float op('isochrome').par.Pressure

Strength of the optional scalar pressure input. Black or unwired is neutral.

Default:

0.12

Range:

0 to 2

Load Angle (Loadangle) Float op('isochrome').par.Loadangle

Direction in degrees of stress added by the pressure map.

Default:

25

Range:

-180 to 180

Polariscope

Material (Material) Menu op('isochrome').par.Material

Relative stress-optic response and dispersion for four transparent material families; this is an artistic specimen choice, not a laboratory calibration.

Default:

acrylic

Options:

acrylic, polycarbonate, glass, resin

Thickness (mm) (Thickness) Float op('isochrome').par.Thickness

Optical path through the specimen. More thickness increases fringe order through the same stress field.

Default:

4

Range:

0.1 to 20

Polarizer Angle (Polarizer) Float op('isochrome').par.Polarizer

Input polarizer angle in degrees relative to image X.

Default:

0

Range:

-180 to 180

Analyzer Angle (Analyzer) Float op('isochrome').par.Analyzer

Analyzer angle in degrees. Ninety degrees is crossed; matching Polarizer is parallel.

Default:

90

Range:

-180 to 180

Dispersion (Dispersion) Float op('isochrome').par.Dispersion

Separation of red, green and blue retardance. Zero retains the physical inverse-wavelength split; positive values exaggerate it coherently.

Default:

0.28

Range:

0 to 1.5

Polarizer Leakage (Leakage) Float op('isochrome').par.Leakage

Imperfect extinction through nominally crossed polarizers. Raise it for practical plastic-sheet looks; zero gives an ideal dark field.

Default:

0.04

Range:

0 to 0.35

Picture Through Glass (Picture) Float op('isochrome').par.Picture

How much source colour modulates the white illumination behind the specimen. Zero shows pure stress colour; one preserves the picture inside it.

Default:

0.65

Range:

0 to 1

Spectral Saturation (Saturation) Float op('isochrome').par.Saturation

Scale spectral separation around the transmitted luminance without changing fringe position.

Default:

0.95

Range:

0 to 2.5

Lamp Exposure (Exposure) Float op('isochrome').par.Exposure

Illumination behind the polarizers after physical transmission.

Default:

1.45

Range:

0 to 6