ORBIS

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Create custom orbs (the orb editor) ​

ORBIS can load orbs you author yourself — shader, palettes, controls, and audio reactivity — from a single .orbis file. You build one in the orb editor, a browser app with a live preview that uses the same rendering engine as ORBIS, then import the file in the app. For every field in the format, see the .orbis file format reference; for tweaking the built-in orbs instead, see Customize your orb.

Before you start ​

  • The editor and custom-orb import are free and open source — no unlock.
  • The editor runs entirely in your browser — nothing you author is uploaded anywhere. Drafts autosave locally; Export is how you keep your work.

Author an orb ​

  1. Open orbis.protolabs.studio/editor.
  2. Pick a starting point from New from template… — My First Orb is a fully-commented minimal shader; Prism is a real volumetric raymarch.
  3. Shader tab — edit the GLSL fragment. The injected prelude (expand it at the top) gives you uTime, uLocalCamPos, the brand colors, click uniforms, and every uniform you declare. Your code compiles on each pause; errors show below while the last good shader keeps rendering.
  4. Controls tab — Add control creates a uniform + settings field + palette entry + binding in one step. The sliders here are exactly what the ORBIS settings panel will show for your orb. Save the current values as a palette when you like them.
  5. Bindings tab — wire live signals into uniforms (her voice level, your voice level, voice state, mood, time). See the signals table.
  6. Use the simulator bar under the preview to test reactivity: scrub the voice state, set a level source to pulse or manual — or mic to drive it with your real microphone — and pin mood values.
  7. Export .orbis downloads the file.

Import into ORBIS ​

  1. In ORBIS, open the drawer → Orb → the Style panel.
  2. Click Import .orbis and pick your file. ORBIS validates it, compiles the shader, saves it to app data (it survives updates), and switches to it.
  3. Imported orbs appear in the variant list tagged Imported. Select one and Remove this orb deletes it.

Re-importing a file with the same id replaces the previous version — the iterate loop is: edit in the editor → export → import again.

If the import is rejected ​

  • Validation errors — the message lists what's wrong (the format reference documents every rule). Fix in the editor's JSON tab if it's structural.
  • “shader failed to compile” — the GLSL didn't compile on your machine's GPU; the editor's Shader tab shows the same diagnostics.
  • “collides with a built-in orb” — pick a different id in the Meta tab; only re-imports of your own imported orbs may reuse an id.