CamMod turns camera motion into MIDI CC. It maps four motion measurements, horizontal position, vertical position, distance and overall movement, onto up to four controller lanes, so you can sweep a filter with your hand or open a reverb by leaning in. It makes no sound of its own.
The idea
Most modulation is either a shape you drew or a knob you have a spare hand for. CamMod adds a third source: movement in front of a camera. It follows motion and rough position, not gestures or faces, and that simplicity is what makes it predictable enough to perform with.
The four sources behave differently. X position, Y position and Area / distance are places you can hold still. Motion energy measures how much is moving, wherever it is, so it never rests; it suits a reverb send or a tremolo depth better than anything you need to hold steady.
Controls
Pick one of the four lanes to edit it. Each lane has:
- Source: X position, Y position, Area / distance, Motion energy, or Off.
- CC Number and MIDI Channel: where the lane sends.
- Min and Max: the CC range the movement covers.
- Curve: linear, exponential, logarithmic or S-curve.
- Smoothing: the control that decides whether a lane is playable. Camera tracking is noisy; high smoothing is steady but lags, low smoothing is immediate but twitchy.
- Rate: how often the lane sends, in messages per second.
A summary of all four lanes stays visible while you edit one, and on a wide screen all four editors appear side by side. Hold freezes every lane at its current value. Capture settings holds the camera choice, Sensitivity and Mirror.
Getting started
Choose a camera and grant permission; nothing starts until you do. Then try a preset:
- Filter Sweep: one heavily smoothed lane on cutoff, the steadiest start.
- Spatial Mix: step across the frame to move in the mix.
- Energy FX: stillness is dry, activity washes it out.
- Theremin: moving sideways sends modulation, moving closer is louder.
- Twitch: almost no smoothing, jittery on purpose.
The default lanes use controller numbers most instruments already understand, such as modulation (CC 1), expression (CC 11), brightness (CC 74) and resonance (CC 71).
CamMod sends controllers, not notes. Camera tracking has some delay, which is fine for sweeps and swells but not for triggering rhythm.
