Critter & GuitariOther
Audio-reactive video synthesizer whose visuals are Python/Pygame modes
EYESY is a video synthesizer from Critter & Guitari that turns incoming audio and MIDI into live visuals, output over HDMI or composite video. A Raspberry Pi Compute Module runs the visuals, and each "mode" is a Python script that draws with the Pygame library; five knobs and a row of buttons control the current mode, and scenes store favourite settings. Modes and scenes can be managed from a browser through the built-in web editor once EYESY is on WiFi through a USB adapter.
The operating system and the modes live on a microSD card. To update, write the current disk image to a card of 8 GB or more with balenaEtcher; this wipes the card, so download your modes and scenes first (section 6.1 of the manual). The same step restores a card that has problems, and an EYESY on OS 2.3 is upgraded to OS 3 this way. If a USB drive containing a Modes folder is plugged in at boot, EYESY runs its modes, scenes and settings from the drive instead of the card, which is a way to try modes without touching the internal card. Modes written for OS 2 need converting from Python 2 to Python 3 for OS 3. The predecessor ETC has its own entry.
Port of the EYESY operating system to a standard Raspberry Pi running Patchbox OS with a Blokas Pisound audio card, with install scripts and MIDI CC control.
Unofficial faster video engine and fifteen extra audio-reactive modes for EYESY OS 3.1, with a browser control page and a way back to the stock engine, installed over WiFi from a computer.
by FreeMark
| Version | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 0.11 | 2026-10-04 | Date of the commit named "stereopsis 0.11". |
Critter & Guitari's collection of Python 3 EYESY modes: scope modes (S) and trigger modes (T) such as oscilloscopes, grid patterns, image modes and a MIDI note printer, one folder per mode.
Official EYESY operating system: the Python/Pygame video engine, web editor and file manager, delivered as a microSD disk image for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module inside EYESY.
Web page in Critter & Guitari's EYESY documentation for designing colour palettes with offset, amplitude, frequency and phase sliders per channel and copying the result as JSON. Based on a tool by Karsten Schmidt.
by Critter & Guitari, Karsten Schmidt (original tool)
Web page in Critter & Guitari's EYESY documentation that converts an OS 2 Scenes.csv file into a zip of OS 3 scenes to upload to the EYESY and unzip.
Command-line EYESY simulator that runs a mode folder in a Pygame window with on-screen knobs and an audio file as input, for developing modes without the hardware.