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Skyler Lehmkuhl 39978e59b3 Unify selection systems and make region/lasso cut robust
Collapse the two parallel selection systems into one. The RegionSelect
tool (rect + lasso) now cuts the geometry along the region outline and
selects the resulting sub-pieces into the standard `Selection` ID-sets,
exactly like every other tool. The vestigial floating `RegionSelection`
(drag never wired; commit/delete/copy were stubbed) and all its plumbing
are removed, so Group, Convert-to-Movie-Clip, Delete, and Properties all
operate uniformly from lasso, rect, marquee, and click selections.

Region cutting is reworked onto a robust planar arrangement:

- Replace fragile incremental "split a fill by one cut edge" logic with
  planar face re-tracing (`retrace_fills_after_cut` + `trace_faces`),
  which correctly handles arbitrary holed/concave fills.
- `extract_subgraph` no longer frees vertices still referenced by kept
  boundary edges (fixed Group leaving freed-but-referenced vertices that
  a later alloc reused and corrupted).
- `split_fill_by_*` direction fix (was producing disconnected boundaries
  rendered as stray diagonals).
- `fill_interior_point` (area-centroid + inward-step fallback) for
  reliable inside/outside classification of non-convex pieces.
- Coincident-edge dedupe + degenerate-fill removal (edge-adjacent shapes
  no longer make zero-area sliver fills).
- Dangling-edge pruning, near-coincident endpoint welding, induced-
  subgraph expansion, and tracking of `split_edge` sub-edges, so
  self-intersecting freehand lassos cut correctly.

Region-select capture is available behind LIGHTNINGBEAM_DUMP_REGION=1 for
turning a misbehaving cut into a deterministic test. Extensive regression
tests added in vector_graph/tests/region_cut_select.rs.
2026-06-21 14:47:11 -04:00
.github/workflows fix build issues 2026-06-02 13:52:32 -04:00
daw-backend Fix save crash on zero/sparse-audio projects (phantom pool placeholder) 2026-06-20 18:46:19 -04:00
docs note nam build requirements 2026-03-01 10:47:13 -05:00
lightningbeam-core improve detection 2025-01-31 07:12:12 -05:00
lightningbeam-ui Unify selection systems and make region/lasso cut robust 2026-06-21 14:47:11 -04:00
nam-ffi Fix NAM runtime errors on linux 2026-03-06 06:37:25 -05:00
packaging Build Linux packages 2026-02-19 15:50:23 -05:00
screenshots Update readme 2025-11-23 21:58:34 -05:00
scripts Add automatable volume and pan control to default instruments 2026-03-23 23:27:05 -04:00
src Add automatable volume and pan control to default instruments 2026-03-23 23:27:05 -04:00
src-tauri Bump version to 1.0.4-alpha 2026-06-02 13:10:52 -04:00
tests work on tests 2025-11-12 08:52:16 -05:00
vendor deduplicate node list 2026-02-21 09:42:05 -05:00
.gitignore Build Linux packages 2026-02-19 15:50:23 -05:00
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ARCHITECTURE.md Add initial docs 2026-02-11 19:10:58 -05:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Add initial docs 2026-02-11 19:10:58 -05:00
Changelog.md update changelog 2026-06-02 15:09:24 -04:00
LICENSE License under GPLv3 2026-02-25 00:52:06 -05:00
README.md Update README 2026-02-11 19:11:11 -05:00
STREAMING_TO_DISK_PLAN.md docs: export now ~1.74x realtime (4x win); GPU-bound on composite, CPU wins won't help 2026-06-21 09:12:30 -04:00
TODO.md docs: mark Phase 3/3.5/4 done in plan checklist; flag stale JS-era TODO entries 2026-06-21 01:22:17 -04:00
create_release.sh update release script 2026-06-02 15:11:35 -04:00
package.json Record audio tracks 2025-10-23 01:08:45 -04:00
pnpm-lock.yaml Record audio tracks 2025-10-23 01:08:45 -04:00

README.md

Lightningbeam

A free and open-source 2D multimedia editor combining vector animation, audio production, and video editing in a single application.

Screenshots

Animation View

Music Editing View

Video Editing View

Features

Vector Animation

  • GPU-accelerated vector rendering with Vello
  • Draw and animate vector shapes with keyframe-based timeline
  • Non-destructive editing workflow
  • Paint bucket tool for automatic fill detection

Audio Production

  • Real-time multi-track audio recording and playback
  • Node graph-based effects processing
  • MIDI sequencing with synthesizers and samplers
  • Comprehensive effects library (reverb, delay, EQ, compression, distortion, etc.)
  • Custom audio engine with lock-free design for glitch-free playback

Video Editing

  • Video timeline and editing with FFmpeg-based decoding
  • GPU-accelerated waveform rendering with mipmaps
  • Audio integration from video soundtracks

Technical Stack

Current Implementation (Rust UI)

  • UI Framework: egui (immediate-mode GUI)
  • GPU Rendering: Vello + wgpu (Vulkan/Metal/DirectX 12)
  • Audio Engine: Custom real-time engine (daw-backend)
    • cpal for cross-platform audio I/O
    • symphonia for audio decoding
    • dasp for node graph processing
  • Video: FFmpeg 8 for encode/decode
  • Platform: Cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows)

Legacy Implementation (Deprecated)

  • Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript
  • Backend: Rust (Tauri framework)

Project Status

Lightningbeam is under active development on the rust-ui branch. The project has been rewritten from a Tauri/JavaScript prototype to a pure Rust application to eliminate IPC bottlenecks and achieve better performance for real-time video and audio processing.

Current Status:

  • Core UI panes (Stage, Timeline, Asset Library, Info Panel, Toolbar)
  • Drawing tools (Select, Draw, Rectangle, Ellipse, Paint Bucket, Transform)
  • Undo/redo system
  • GPU-accelerated vector rendering
  • Audio engine with node graph processing
  • GPU waveform rendering with mipmaps
  • Video decoding integration
  • 🚧 Export system (in progress)
  • 🚧 Node editor UI (planned)
  • 🚧 Piano roll editor (planned)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Rust (stable toolchain via rustup)
  • System dependencies:
    • Linux: ALSA development files, FFmpeg 8
    • macOS: FFmpeg (via Homebrew)
    • Windows: FFmpeg 8, Visual Studio with C++ tools

See docs/BUILDING.md for detailed setup instructions.

Building and Running

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/skykooler/lightningbeam.git
# Or from Gitea
git clone https://git.skyler.io/skyler/lightningbeam.git

cd lightningbeam/lightningbeam-ui

# Build and run
cargo run

# Or build optimized release version
cargo build --release

Documentation

Project History

Lightningbeam evolved from earlier multimedia editing projects I've worked on since 2010, including the FreeJam DAW. The JavaScript/Tauri prototype began in November 2023, and the Rust UI rewrite started in late 2024 to eliminate performance bottlenecks and provide a more integrated native experience.

Goals

Create a comprehensive FOSS alternative for 2D-focused multimedia work, integrating animation, audio, and video editing in a unified workflow. Lightningbeam aims to be:

  • Fast: GPU-accelerated rendering and real-time audio processing
  • Flexible: Node graph-based audio routing and modular synthesis
  • Integrated: Seamless workflow across animation, audio, and video
  • Open: Free and open-source, built on open standards

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

[License information to be added]